Search Results for: Netherlands

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AD Rutten, chief operating officer (COO) of the Netherlands’ Schiphol Group running Amsterdam airport had a busy Christmas and New Year. With Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year old Nigerian ‘underpants’ bomber, trying to blow up a A330-300 Airbus en route to Detroit from Schiphol airport on Christmas Day, Rutten has been working hard.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

CO2 emissions statistics released by the European Commission show that while British motorists are ignoring government calls to buy smaller cars, their vehicles are at least getting greener. Across the European Union (EU) the CO2 emitted by passenger cars is falling fast: looking at 2008, a report said the average specific CO2 emissions from passenger cars were 153.5g CO2/km.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE and KEITH NUTHALL

SYRIA is such a staple of Middle East political turmoil, it is easy to forget that it is a near neighbour of Europe: less than 200 miles of sea separate it from Cyprus and it borders Turkey, which could be a European Union (EU) member by 2020.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AFTER the disappointment of the Copenhagen summit on climate change, it is perhaps encouraging to note that the auto industry – so often painted as the bad boy of the climate change issue – really is reducing its vehicles’ carbon dioxide emissions.…

BY MARK ROWE and KEITH NUTHALL

THIS April, the UK will launch a feed-in tariff for electricity, which the government said will accelerate take-up of green energy among the general public. According to the European Commission’s energy directorate-general, the European Union (EU) already uses at least 20% more energy than is justified, which has led to twin concerns – the need to reduce consumption of fossil fuels and to encourage consumers to switch to green energy tariffs and sources.…

BY EMMA JACKSON

THE EUROPEAN Commission has committed Euro 17.9 million to market dairy products over three years across the European Union (EU). The money will be spent by dairy industry organisations in 11 member states, who will also contribute funds, along with their national governments.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RUSSIA and Ukraine appear to have headed off an oil transit dispute that could have created a repeat of last year’s major disruption of European natural gas supplies. Moscow and Kiev have signed an agreement increasing by 30% the fees Ukraine charges on transporting Russian oil to the European Union (EU) – this alters a 2004 contract and the change had sparked a diplomatic tussle.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE UNITED States is claiming victory in a trade dispute with China, after Beijing announced it would scrap subsidies for products including body lotion, liquid detergent, soap and fancy soap. Washington had argued these China-christened ‘famous brands’ handouts were export subsidies banned by the World Trade Organisation (WTO).…

BY DAVID HAWORTH and ALAN OSBORN

LINES are being drawn for another titanic battle in Brussels between the tobacco industry and anti-smoking activists. And the weapon of choice is lobbying.

The first phase, forcing cigarette companies to sell their product in plain, unbranded packets without logos, has already started following the 31-page document of non-binding recommendations (not a directive) published last year by the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers and which was briskly approved by the European Parliament.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, EMMA JACKSON and ERIC LYMAN

THE COPENHAGEN climate change conference ended on December 18 with an accord where key world economies promised to make binding agreements to cut carbon emissions. But detail on exactly how much will be settled at a later date, meaning its long term effects on the oil and gas industry are unclear.…