Search Results for: Portugal

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has warned the British government that it has two months to prove it will implement a 2006 European Union (EU) law saying how roadside working time and tacograph checks should be undertaken, or face legal action.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE BRITISH road transport sector has to play catch up with many of its European Union (EU) competitors regarding the introduction of sulphur-free fuels, a report from the European Commission has shown. Although the UK Petroleum Industry Association has indicated it expects Britain to switch to sulphur-free fuels by a 2009 deadline imposed by the European Union (EU), in June the government admitted the issue was complicated because "the UK fuel distribution network can only accommodate a single grade of diesel", preventing small introductory sales of sulphur-free diesel.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

TACOGRAPH spotchecks by British highways officials and police have revealed that continental lorry drivers are far more likely to break European Union (EU) working time rules on UK roads than Britons. Looking at newest available EU-wide comparative data 27,418 of offenders detected in 2003-4 on British highways were UK citizens, while 11,565 were from the much smaller pool of drivers from other EU member states.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE NEED to limit particulate matter in Britain and continental western Europe has been underlined by the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) latest assessment of pollution in Europe. In its fourth annual environmental health check of Europe, central Asia and Asiatic Russia, the agency concluded that much of western, central and south east Europe, especially urban areas, "experience daily average PM10 concentrations in excess of 50 ?g/m3…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE INTERNATIONAL Civil Aviation Organisation (IAEA) has failed to strike an agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from commercial aeroplanes, despite intense negotiations at its ruling assembly, in Montreal, Canada. Speaking for the European Union (EU), Luis Fonseca de Almeida, Portugal civil aviation director general said: "We are disappointed".…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

APPALLING drinking water quality problems still pose major health hazards for some south-eastern Europe countries wanting to join the European Union (EU), the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) latest assessment of European pollution has concluded. For example, Albania’s "urban water rarely has even preliminary treatment" through "the lack of adequate…facilities and the unreliable supply of chemicals."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission’s latest inspection of the Portuguese Research Reactor, of the country’s Nuclear and Technology Institute, at the Sacavém campus, near Lisbon, has called for improvements to radiation safety controls. Although a Brussels report welcomed the installation of new monitoring devices for liquid discharges from the reactor into the environment, it said they could be strengthened.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

TACOGRAPH spotchecks by British highways officials and police have revealed continental van and lorry drivers are far more likely to break European Union (EU) working time rules on UK roads than Britons. Looking at newest available EU-wide comparative data 27,418 of offenders detected in 2004-4 on British highways were UK citizens, while 11,565 were from the much smaller pool of drivers from other EU member states.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has secured approval for new European Union (EU) legislation that will force EU member states to improve their surveillance, monitoring and publicity regarding cases of bluetongue. With the disease rampaging across northwestern Europe, the EU’s Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health have agreed to make monitoring compulsory in all infected countries, while bluetongue-free member states must undertake "surveillance proportionate to the risk".…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE BRITISH road transport sector has to play catch up with many of its European Union (EU) competitors regarding the introduction of sulphur-free fuels, a report from the European Commission has shown. It shows that as long ago as 2005, member states such as Germany, Italy and Ireland were already selling this environmentally-friendly petrol and diesel, while Britain was still selling low sulphur fuel, of between 10 and 50 parts per million sulphur content.…