Search Results for: Latvia

THE EXTENT of waste in Europe’s austerity-hit public health services was one of the ‘elephants in the room’ – a big issue seldom discussed – identified by a professionals’ conference in Brussels, Belgium, on September 4 and 5.

150 delegates at the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) annual conference heard that, on average, between 3% and 10% of budgets for European Union (EU) national health systems was lost through waste, but in some cases could even reach 30%.…

POLAND, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will collectively receive EUR2.5 million from the European Commission to prevent spread of African Swine Fever (ASF) from Russia and Belarus.

The Commission said the money is for “preventive measures which include cleansing and disinfection of vehicles, surveillance and laboratory testing, awareness campaigns and even the use of wild boar repellents and preventive early slaughter of pigs in risk backyard farms”.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) treasuries are losing almost Euro EUR200 billion-a-year in unpaid VAT lost because of non-compliance or non-collection, a European Commission report has concluded. The Commission called on EU member states to simplify their VAT systems and broaden the tax base to improve collection, criticising “complicated tax systems with multiple rates…” It said governments should “broaden national tax bases and…limit tax exemptions and reductions…”

A study of data into 26 member states covering the years 2000 to 2011 calculated that EUR193 billion was lost in 2011, comparing predicted and actual VAT revenues.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) treasuries are losing almost Euro EUR200 billion-a-year in unpaid VAT lost because of non-compliance or non-collection, a European Commission report has concluded. A study of data into 26 member states covering the years 2000 to 2011 calculated that EUR193 billion was lost in 2011, comparing predicted and actual VAT revenues.…

The 9.5MW J920 FleXtra gas engine formally installed in May this year by the municipal utility Stadtwerke Rosenheim, in Bavaria, Germany, ticks off a number of important innovations. The largest gas engine yet developed by the Austrian company GE Jenbacher, the unit is seen by the company as an illustration of the role distributed energy is now playing in Germany’s ‘Energiewende’ – the country’s policy to halt all nuclear power by 2022 and replace it with natural gas, renewable energy, and greater use of energy efficient technologies.…

WITH Europe’s economy still struggling to deal with the fall-out of the global financial crisis, its co-generation sector has had to fight to expand, or in some cases hold its position. Tightening national government budgets have meant that the co-gen industry has had to argue persuasively for public subsidies and tax breaks, or even the right to have equal treatment with renewable energies.…

EASTERN European textile and clothing companies used to have a cost advantage in serving wealthy western European markets, but that has long been eclipsed by Asian competition – added value technical textiles may offer them a sustainable future.

In Poland’s hard-pressed textile industry, its fast-growing technical branch may constitute the future of the national industry, experts in the country’s industry say.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has released a detailed action plan designed to boost energy innovation and new technology across the European Union (EU). Written as a ‘communication’ policy paper, it stresses: “EU energy technology and innovation strategy is an integral part of the EU energy policy.”…

Poland confirmed plans in 2012 to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant with a view to importing supplies from Qatar, it seemed like the latest example of eastern European energy ministries trying to avoid energy dependence on Russia. Plans to develop shale gas in Poland and the Baltic States fall into the same category, along with policies to build energy infrastructure linking Poland and its Nordic and Baltic neighbours.…

A EUROPEAN Commission-promoted pharma industry cooperation group has launched a series of initiatives devoted to boosting the supply of medicines across Europe. The ‘Platform on Access to Medicines in Europe’ has been created under a ‘Process on Corporate Responsibility in the field of Pharmaceuticals’ launched in 2010 by European Union (EU) industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani.…