Search Results for: Poland

EUROPEAN Union (EU) and Canadian oil exporters are to benefit from a new free trade deal struck between the EU and Canada. Once the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) has been ratified (probably in 2015), it will lead to all existing non-food duties imposed on goods traded between the parties being scrapped.…

POLAND has become one of the hottest destinations in Europe for commercial real estate investment as investors look to capitalise on the country’s continued economic stability and potential for growth. Given the financial fragility of many other European Union (EU) states, this 38 million population country, which avoided recession during the credit crunch, is increasingly regarded as a key commercial property market.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) anti-fraud agency OLAF has concluded EU airport runway construction projects maybe riddled with corruption. The conclusion comes in a report it commissioned from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) into EU public procurement. It concluded between 37%–53% of airport runway construction works contracts were probably dirty in some way – the highest proportion in the six sectors it examined.…

THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled Poland needs to reform its airport access legislation to ensure airlines have an equal chance of securing slots through its administration of European Union (EU) open skies deals. The court agreed with the European Commission that Poland’s competition system for choosing between two airlines who want the same access, could lead to unfair discrimination.…

The southern African nation of Botswana has a glittering reputation for its gem diamonds, of which it is largest producer in the world. But on a continent where widespread corruption and poor governance have until recently inhibited foreign investment, Botswana – with a population of only two million people in a landlocked area larger than France – has acquired a reputation as a poster child for financial probity.…

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) anti-fraud office OLAF could have opened the way to a new focus of EU forensic accounting, unveiled a study that claimed in 2010 alone, between Euro EUR1.4 and 2.7 billion was lost to corruption in public procurement tenders within just five sectors in eight EU member states.…

A major international survey of education standards has found serious weaknesses in the EU countries when compared to levels in other parts of the world. In spite of the heavy investment in higher education in recent years in the EU, the study suggests that a fifth of the working age population has worrying low literacy and numeracy skills and a quarter of adults lack the digital skills needed to effectively use ICT.…

Poland’s new reverse-charge VAT law on certain steel products is causing confusion within the Polish steel industry. Introduced on October 1 to curb growing tax frauds, some producers and distributors fear they are unsure how to implement the new rules and that an incorrect interpretation could even spark bankruptcy.…

THE EUROPEAN Parliament has voted to reduce the support the European Union (EU) gives to the traditional biofuel sector, backing European Commission proposals to amend the renewable energy directive (2009/28/EC). MEPs agreed that the law should insist that first-generation biofuels (from long-standing sources, notably food crops) should not exceed 6% of EU energy consumption in transport by 2020, compared to the 10% target for all biofuels in the existing legislation.…

THE DIRECTOR of the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) has said continued pathogen contamination involving meat traded across Europe underlines the need to fight opposition to European Commission proposals to modernise meat inspection systems.

Stephen Rossides called on meat inspectors not to block future progress: “The current meat inspection system is focused on old risks,” Rossides said.…