Search Results for: Poland

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has formally threatened legal action against Poland over its charging of a reduced 7% VAT rate on children’s clothes, accessories and shoes which Brussels says breaks European Union (EU) law. Under the EU VAT directive 2006/112/EC, member states are bound to levy standard rate VAT of at least 15% on all products and services, unless they have been given special permission to lower taxes.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Tripoli and Beirut

THE OPENING up of Libya’s economy could not have come at a better time for international oil companies, which have been beset in recent years by dwindling easily accessible oil reserves, tighter controls over exploration rights and extraction, and heightened security concerns.…

BY MARK ROWE

THE EXPANSION of the European Union (EU) eastwards has been welcomed by most industries, and the tobacco market is no exception, although the EU enlargement has also created a series of problems for the industry to manage. The accession of Bulgaria to the EU club in 2007 brought a significant tobacco industry player into the fold.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RUSSIA has agreed to lift its import ban on Polish meat exports, which it has maintained for two years because of health concerns. The agreement could unblock attempts to forge a European Union-Russia trade and energy deal.

ENDS…

BY MARK ROWE

SKY high prices for precious metals have prompted a rise in thefts of catalytic converters from a wide range of motor vehicles; the problem is so serious that the British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA) has linked up with the Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland (ACPO) to tackle the issue.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

RUSSIA and eastern European countries will be eager consumers of car rental and company fleet leasing services in the next few years but would-be players in these markets should know that a slew of administrative problems, supply delays and tax complications may await them.…

BY MARK ROWE

RUSSIA’S booming economy means that those old images of grey queues for low-grade fuel to run Moskvich and other Soviet era cars are long gone. Instead, the country’s fuel retail sector has an incentive for dramatically overhauling the present state of affairs, which predominantly involves poorly established, locally run chains and Western chains fighting – sometimes unsuccessfully – for market share.…

BY CHRIS JONES, in Paris

AUTO manufacturers in Europe are calling for greater support from national governments and European Union (EU) institutions in promoting eco-driving – where good motoring styles are adopted which reduce the greenhouse gas and other polluting emissions from vehicles.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ENVIRONMENTAL health officers may think there are a lot of smokers in the UK – in 2005, 24% of adults aged 16 or over in Britain smoked cigarettes, but spare a thought for officials in Greece – home of Europe’s keenest smokers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

WITH the European Commission waiting for due data by June 2008 on the performance of member states regarding the recycling and reuse of materials taken from end-of-life vehicles, a Brussels interim reports has stressed progress is still lacking.…