Search Results for: Portugal

Higher education institutions are being warned they could be a target for money laundering, with fees being financed by the proceeds of crime, including corruption, which might also buy property, cars and other items for students.

The problem has been highlighted in a series of reports.…

The food halal market for Portugal, a largely Christian country that was in the early Middle Ages part of the Muslim world, has been expanding, serving a growing local Muslim community and Muslim tourists keen to taste Portuguese food.

Between 711 and 1249, most of Portugal was under Muslim rule, which influenced its language and culture.…

INTRODUCTION

While debates continue over whether Aristotle actually said ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts’, the concept that a system can deliver more impact than each element of its technology acting alone is well established in the textile sector.…

African students have been benefiting from an informal innovative online initiative helping them find jobs after they graduate. The iDEASlab (1) has in particular enabled higher education students to launch business ideas after graduation.

The network’s academics are Angolans based in the USA, Russia and Angola, who, inspired by their time at university, decided to work together informally to create development in their places of birth.…

The European Union (EU) is currently considering reforming its excise duty rules for tobacco products, with the tobacco industry and commentators seeing the negotiation on the integration of e-cigarettes being one of the hottest topics. Today, e-cigarettes in the EU are treated just like any other product, falling under EU VAT rules, and are not subject to EU-excise laws that apply for conventional tobacco products or spirits for instance.…

The Moroccan garment manufacturing industry is targeting market diversification in the UK as one way of recovering from Covid-19.

Clothing makers in thus key European near-sourcing hub are still struggling with the impact of the pandemic, with general secretary of the Moroccan Textile and Garment Industry (AMITH) Fatima-Zora Alaoui highlighting to Just Style the postponement of its production showcase Maroc in Mode, which had been scheduled for October, until March 2022.…

THE RULING council of the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) is preparing to agree major reforms to the International Cocoa Agreement, which should see the agreement increase its commitment to boost sustainability in the chocolate sector.

Council members are considering final changes committing the ICCO to ensuring that cocoa production, processing and manufacture is socially, economically and environmentally sustainable.…

The Angolan government has been implementing several measures to improve the weak reputation of its higher education system, such as stricter accreditation and assessment laws, with some experts saying these changes need to be implemented more comprehensively.

Since the current President João Lourenço took office in 2017, after almost 38 years under José Eduardo dos Santos’ command, the country has undergone significant change.…

With the United Nations security council backing the reappointment of António Guterres as UN secretary general for another five years, it is time to ask whether the global body’s political leadership needs a major overhaul.

The answer surely has to be ‘yes’.…

Long after the January 10, 2020, deadline set by the European Union’s (EU) 5^th anti-money laundering directive (5AMLD) (1) for member states to establish public ultimate beneficial ownership (UBO) registers, a Transparency International (TI) report (2) has alleged widespread non-compliance.…

Corruption increased in 2020 across the 27 European Union (EU) countries according to 32% of participants in Transparency International’s latest survey of over 40,000 people, the ‘Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) – European Union 2021’ (1). As regards other respondents, 44% saw no change and only 16% a fall, year-on-year.…

Cape Verdean public universities are competing to raise their country’s profile as an international HE centre – launching new modern facilities, degree courses taught entirely in English and multiple international agreements.
Being a tourism-dependent archipelago highly affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, the Cape Verde GDP dropped 14.8% last year – the worst economic performance in its history.…

Nearly a year on from a spottily-respected UN-brokered ceasefire between Libya’s warring factions, the country’s universities are hoping a planned new national government will deliver sufficient stability to overhaul their higher education system. Their goal is raising standards in both teaching and research.…

The under-developed system of higher education of African archipelago country São Tomé & Príncipe is growing slowly amidst expanding demand, being assisted by international projects and funds.
One major potential initiative that may cause significant progress, however, involves this Lusophone country being chosen by the Pan African Institute for Development (PAID) to host a future International University of Development Sciences.…

Oil companies decarbonising their portfolios are getting out their cheque books for floating offshore wind projects.

Bottom-fixed offshore wind farms familiar in some places worldwide are generally limited to water no more than about 60 metres deep. Beyond that, it becomes economically unfeasible to connect the increasingly large turbine assemblies to the seafloor by either monopile or jacket foundations.…

EUROPEAN confectionery and sugar processing associations have appealed to the European Parliament not to reimpose market controls on the European Union’s (EU) sugar sector. MEPs have pressed for new restrictions during the ongoing negotiations about reforming the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).…

For a religion to be strong, it must be confident in itself: solid in its convictions and robust in its humility. While its true adherents should imbue its principles within their souls, such depth of faith should enable believers to accept others may follow a different creed.…

The director general of the European Textile and Apparel Confederation,

Euratex, has warned that the military takeover in Myanmar could halt what has been a boom in clothing export sales to Europe, which grew 40% in 2020, year-on-year.

Dirk Vantyghem told just-style this has been achieved through a major increase in Chinese investment into the country’s clothing industry – its upstream textile segment remains small.…

In the modern textile industry, coating, surface modification and laminating are the key means to tailor textiles and nonwovens to create functional products for specific, often high-performance, applications.

Such techniques have offered the sector potential advantages as it entered uncharted terrain in 2020, being at the forefront in humankind’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.…

BRITISH and European Union (EU) confectioners must take care to ensure their products meet new origin rules if they want them covered by the duty free goods provisions of the new EU/UK trade agreement struck on Christmas Eve.

The 1,256-page deal includes complex and comprehensive origin rules, such as for chocolate, which can be deemed made in the EU and Britain if all dairy, eggs and honey used are sourced locally, as well as at least 40% of grains, malt, starches and wheat, (which must also not exceed 30% of costs).…

Many of European Union’s 27 member states appear to have been dragging their feet when implementing a key provision of the fifth anti-money laundering directive (5AMLD) (1), setting up a public ultimate beneficial ownership (UBO) register.  The registers should have gone live for the corporate world on January 10, 2020, and two months later on March 10 for trusts.…

The Amílcar Cabral University, the only public university in Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest and politically fragile countries, is looking to expand its educational services and attract more funds, trying to overturn past student dissatisfaction with its work.

After nine years leaning on a public–private partnership with the Lisbon, Portugal-based Lusófona University, the UAC (Universidade Amílcar Cabral in its Portuguese acronym), ended in 2013 after the government jeopardised the agreement.…

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) financial watchdog has stressed how the EU needs to simplify its spending systems, which would make fraud is tougher to commit and easier to detect. The EU Court of Auditors has formally issued an ‘adverse opinion’ on the audited expenditure during 2019 of the 27-country union.…

The European Chief Prosecutor (ECP) of the embryonic European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has challenged the 22 European Union (EU) states (1) that have signed up to an enhanced cooperation pact underpinning its existence to properly fund the new institution. Without enough money, the EPPO will not be effective, ECP Laura Codruţa Kövesi told Fraud Intelligence.…

The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has released a white paper saying that the accounting profession needs to learn from the challenges of Covid-19, investing in boosting communication skills. This will enable accountants to be more effective pro-active trusted partners with their clients, able to adapt to flexible and remote working even after the pandemic subsides.…

THE NEW campus of the University of Cape Verde (Uni-CV), which has cost almost USD60 million to build and should open next March (2021), is expected to attract more national and international students and researchers to this island country. The launch of this modern facility has been delayed from July (2020) because of Covid-19, but it is hoped the March opening will stick.…

IT goes without saying that can manufacturers and fillers have to comply with regulatory controls specifying how they make and fill cans, but maybe the biggest compliance challenge for the industry is following the world’s multifarious rules on food labelling. 

Canners and fillers with contracts to supply labelled cans have to take special care given these labelling rules do not just vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, (or even within jurisdictions), these regulations are a very dynamic topic – they change, often. …

THE PORTUGUESE textile and clothing industry has proved to be an example of resilience during the Covid-19 pandemic due to its clusters, flexibility, investment in research and development (R&D) and good ethics, a Oporto and Brussels-based clothing industry innovation agency has argued.…

A LEGAL challenge has been made at the European Court or Justice (ECJ) to a new European Union (EU) regulation that orders sellers of paints and coatings containing titanium dioxide (TO2) – an important whitener –  to include health warning messages on packages.…

DAIRY products are supposed to be healthy, tasty, clean and legal, but unfortunately, as with other industries, criminals seek to exploit demand created by honest suppliers through smuggling, mislabelling, adulterating and selling unsafe stock.

These concerns prompt regular action by police, for whom food fraud and related crime is an increasing risk worldwide, and given the international nature of today’s supply chains, cross-border collaboration between law enforcement forces is of special value.…

With the fall out from the Covid-19 pandemic set to prompt an increase in already staggeringly high levels of digital identity fraud, financial institutions and businesses should develop more sophisticated tools to tackle the issue, researchers have warned. The fact the disease has hit when open banking applications are proliferating means fraudsters have more portals to target “particularly through identity fraud” attacks, suggests a July (2020) report from financial platform Finextra in collaboration with software providers Feedzai, headquartered in Portugal (https://www.finextra.com/finextra-downloads/research/documents/148/how-to-prevent-payments-fraud-amid-global-disruption.pdf).…

A MAJOR expansion in collecting sales information within the digital economy across the European Union (EU) and beyond has been proposed by the European Commission, to crack down on widescale tax evasion.

The EU executive has proposed reforms to an EU directive on administrative cooperation between tax authorities (see https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/sites/taxation/files/2020_tax_package_dac7_en.pdf)…

Forensic linguistics is a new field, aiding detection of lies and deception within verbal and written statements, but it is developing, and artificial intelligence/machine learning offers new opportunities for this technique to become increasingly useful.

That is the view of Professor Jack Grieve, Professorial Fellow in Corpus Linguistics, University of Birmingham, UK, who sees a “great opportunity” in such work, although significant research is needed before such studies can yield useful work.…

SLOWLY, but surely, the UK’s associated offshore financial centres are moving towards opening public beneficial ownership registers, probably by 2023. But much detailed work will be undertaken first, to ensure they work efficiently. Keith Nuthall reports.

The dominos are falling.…

Carbon emissions within the European Union were falling fast last year (2019) even before the Covid-19 crisis halted much of the EU economy and slashed CO2 releases, according to new figures from EU statistical agency Eurostat. It argues that tightening regulatory controls were the key reason for a 4.3% year-on-year EU-wide fall in CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion (including oil and oil products, coal, peat and natural gas).…

The European Commission has launched a series of infringement procedures for shortcomings in national legislation implementing the European Union’s (EU) fourth and fifth anti-money laundering directives (4AMLD and 5AMLD), including one against Britain, even though it left the bloc on January 31 (but remains subject to EU law during a transitional period to December 31. …

In a case that could open the floodgates to multimillion dollar cross border lawsuits against auto makers involved in Europe’s 2015 ‘Dieselgate’ scandal, a senior European Union (EU) judge has advised that car buyers should be able to sue Germany-based Volkswagen from a court in neighboring Austria.…

Only five European Union (EU) member states out of the current 27 have fully and properly complied with a requirement to set up public ultimate beneficial ownership (UBO) registers by January 10 (2020) under the fifth anti-money laundering directive (5AMLD), according to research by campaign group Global Witness.…

While new financial technologies and associated developments in machine learning and artificial intelligence offer AML/CFT solutions, anti-money laundering specialists are concerned about new risks being posed by new business and industrial innovations.

Banks are starting to adopt AI-based machine learning, but terrorists and criminals can use technology too: “It is really an AI arms race in financial crime”, said Kamer Yüksel, chief data scientist for Munich-based artificial intelligence start-up hawk:AI’s and author of more than 35 publications on AI.…

DIGITAL textile printers continue to seek for technological ways by which they can leverage the innate advantages their equipment has over conventional printing, and one is exploring the use of nanoparticles in finishing chemicals – delivering innovation that can sharpen the existing competitive advantage in design and sustainability enjoyed by digital printers.…

South-east Asia is not known for a tradition of eating dairy products, but actually consumers in the region’s most populous country Indonesia (population 270 million people) have been eating cheese for more than a century (partly thanks Indonesia’s historic links with the Netherlands) and the country has a thriving domestic dairy industry.…

The European Commission has launched infringement proceedings against eight countries over their failure to write the European Union’s (EU) fifth anti-money laundering directive (5AMLD) into national law by the January 10, 2020 deadline. The EU executive on February 12 sent letters of formal notice, the first stage in EU legal procedures, to Cyprus, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain for not having notified any 5AMLD implementation measures.…

PORTUGAL’S digital textile printing sector generates sales of USD164 million annually (as of 2019), according to analysists BlueWeave Consulting & Research Pvt Ltd, which predicts it is poised to grow, benefiting from its close proximity to European customers, at a time when Europe’s market for digitally printed textiles is booming, with the technology in increasing high regard.…

Like other European cities, the sheer number of cheap nail salons that have exploded in Barcelona in recent years has reached saturation point. There is one, however, that has a waiting list. Dvine creates the ‘art nails’ that have become the statement accessory of Rosalia, the Catalan singing sensation who swept the 2020 Grammy Awards.…

From smartphones to space satellites, applications for conductive adhesives (transferring heat, electricity or both) are expanding rapidly and their innovative use and market size show little size of abating as new avenues reveal themselves through growth in sales and R&D programmes.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has called on EU member states and other EU institutions to work harder to fight the scourge of food fraud, which can damage the commercial health of legitimate manufacturers and risk consumer health. In a detailed policy statement (called ‘council conclusions’ in EU jargon), ministers said an EU “legal definition of food fraud” should be created that would underpin future regulatory actions fighting such wrongdoing, which can include deliberate mislabelling and the use of illicit ingredients.…

E-cigarette manufacturers in the United Kingdom pondering a Brexit from the European Union (EU) that is currently scheduled for January 31 are hoping to benefit from looser rules than currently apply in the EU, if the UK does quit the EU.…

A free trade deal between Europe and Australia is in the making but European Union (EU) trade negotiators have managed to generate some serious concerns among Australian dairy industry in the process. The EU wants Australia to recognise the exclusive rights of EU cheesemakers to the traditional names of almost 60 different types of cheeses through Australia recognising EU geographical indications (GI) within any agreement.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission – the European Union (EU) executive – has claimed its Erasmus+ higher education exchange initiative is significantly boosting tertiary studies for African students and academics, with 8,500 Africans benefiting this year (2019).

In a report on the programme, which has been hailed as a flagship of the EU’s positive international impact, the Commission said that this figure was poised to keep growing, so that it will have helped more than 35,000 African students and academics by 2020.…

The news that major American retailer Barneys New York has entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy and plans to close all but two stores is yet another warning sign for the industry that brands should not rely upon department stores to sell their product.…

Europe’s transition to electric vehicle ownership is developing at two clear speeds, with richer countries headed for mass market penetration in the early to mid 2020s but poorer countries lagging. 

This is posing a regulatory challenge for manufacturers – EV sales have to increase Europe-wide for carmakers to meet tough European Union (EU) CO2 emissions limits.…

WOLLASTONITE has been described by a Canadian producer as “a white mineral for a greener world,” and it seems governments, businesses and industries agree – with wollastonite is set to see increased market growth in its traditional uses plus a new focus on its powerful qualities to help tackle climate change.…

WOLLASTONITE has been described by a Canadian producer as “a white mineral for a greener world,” and it seems governments, businesses and industries agree – with wollastonite is set to see increased market growth in its traditional uses plus a new focus on its powerful qualities to help tackle climate change.…

RECRUITING and retaining a skilled workforce in the European textile and clothing sector is today’s biggest challenge, speakers told the June 14 general assembly of Euratex, the European textile and clothing industry association.

In a sense, this is a positive problem with the sector experiencing positive growth.…

MARCH’S approval by the European Parliament of new European Union (EU) electricity market rules, designed to increase consumer choice, boost renewables access and cap power subsidies, were hailed by the European Commission as a new dawn for the creation of the EU’s much vaunted Energy Union.…

While today 12 out of every 100 Europeans are tattooed or have some sort of permanent cosmetic treatment, experts are increasingly concerned that these skin colouring agents may contain hazardous substances, known or suspected to have adverse health effects causing cancer, allergies or mutations.…

THE LONG lines of customer to the cash register in Inditex stores – the giant Spanish company behind High Street fashion brands Zara, Bershka and Pull&Bear (among others) – are also now buying personal care products as well as clothes. They funnel customers through shelves that are not only bursting with low-cost impulse buys, such as hair accessories, smart phone covers and key rings, but now also Inditex scents.…

THE LEGALISATION nationwide of recreational cannabis in Canada last October (2018) was a groundbreaking move – a first for a major western country – and from this coming October 17, at the latest, one that may have significant implications for the beauty business.…

THE GLOBAL sustainability trend continues to push boundaries in digital textile printing innovations and the Spanish market is no exception.

A spokesperson from the Spanish Textile Machinery Association (amec amtex – Asociación Española de Constructores de Maquinaria Textil) hailed digital printing as “one of the niches of the future for those companies oriented to more and more sophisticated market based on a sustainable and efficient production”.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) chocolate, biscuit and confectionery industry association CAOBISCO has raised concerns that EU exporters will be unable to exploit the reduction of Japanese tariffs under the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), in force since February 1. CAOBISCO is concerned about how the deal includes rules of origin forcing its members to demonstrate how they source specific volumes of ingredients from the EU, rather than their value, which would be easier to demonstrate.…

EUROPEAN universities need to embrace change by continuing to forge alliances with innovative companies and independent research groups to use and develop their knowledge in cooperation with the outside world, experts agreed at the March 8 launch of the European University Association (EUA)’s new report ‘The role of universities in regional innovation ecosystems’.…

BODY artists in Europe may have to reconsider the pigments that they use in future, with the European Union (EU) drafting new rules that could regulate what chemicals can be used in tattoo inks. While today 12 out of every 100 Europeans are tattooed or have some sort of permanent cosmetic treatment, experts are increasingly concerned that these skin colouring agents may contain hazardous substances, known or suspected to have adverse health effects causing cancer, allergies or mutations.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission today (March 18) gave competition law approval for France’s VINCI Airports to take over control of London Gatwick Airport from current owner Ivy Topco Ltd, a Cayman Islands registered company.

The European Union (EU) executive, acting as the EU’s senior competition authority, approved the deal which would see VINCI acquiring 50.01% of the issued share capital of Ivy Topco.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission is getting tough in enforcing compliance with the 4^th anti-money laundering directive (2015/849), with a large majority of member states now facing infringement proceedings. The European Union (EU) executive said on March 7 that it had sent letters of formal notice opening legal proceedings to six EU countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia, Sweden, and the UK) over their failure to apply its anti-money laundering and terrorist financing rules.…

EUROPEAN Union member states are dragging their feet implementing the fourth anti-money laundering directive’s (4AMLD 2015/849) beneficial ownership rules. Only five countries met the June 26, 2017, AMLD4 deadline for having an ultimate beneficial ownership (UBO) register under national law – Britain, Denmark, France, Germany and Sweden- according to the European Commission. …

It is hard to avoid either a cosmetics store or an advertisement for one in Chinese cities today. A mind-boggling wave of new retailers set up by investment firms to cash in on the cosmetics and personal care boom are eagerly seeking franchisees around the country.…

DIGITAL production technologies could help African manufacturers pick up business lost by Chinese rivals because of the trade war in the USA, with brands looking to take advantage of the free trade agreements that many African countries have with the USA and Europe.…

Centre right members of the European Parliament’s special committee on financial crimes, tax evasion and tax avoidance (TAX3) have hit out at the 18 EU member states, that offer citizenship or residence in exchange for investments. The MEPs, members of the European People’s Party (EPP), spoke out November 14 as the committee handed down a draft report*, with findings and recommendations, including phasing out such rights.…

Commercial partners are being sought to upscale a scientific research project developing a nano-technology-based hair colouring treatment which has “strong capabilities to revolutionise the cosmetics industry”, academics claim.

Researchers at Louisiana Tech University, in the USA, have developed a technique to dye or treat hair without using external chemicals, which can be harmful to hair.…

SUB-SAHARAN Africa may not have been the most fertile ground for technological innovation in the clothing, textile and fibre sectors but speakers at an International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) conference in Nairobi, Kenya, September 7-9, stressed the best way ahead.…

A new report from Transparency International has found that only 11 major exporting countries in the world significantly punish companies that pay bribes abroad. The report, called ‘Exporting Corruption’, also found that more than half of world exports come from at least 33 jurisdictions, including several European Union (EU) member states, where companies that export corruption along with their goods and services face weak consequences. …

SPAIN’S personal care product market is continuing to grow after years of post-financial crisis weakness. Spain’s skincare, cosmetic and perfume industry continues to mature, and has turned in solid sales figures for 2017, reflecting the optimistic mood of the economy after the ‘lost’ years of the recession.…

THE INTERNATIONAL Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) has released an ambitious policy plan designed to steer the industry towards sustainability. Called the Berlin Declaration, having been released at the fourth World Cocoa Conference, of governments, farmers, traders, grinders, processors, manufacturers, researchers, trade unions, civil society organisations, trade unions, consumer organisations, it says higher farm gate prices should be paid.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has launched a wide-range of initiatives to fight fraud, counterfeiting and corruption as it seeks to help law enforcers gain an advantage against cross-border crime.

A key element of this work is the so-called EU ‘security union’, about which proposals were tabled by the European Commission in April.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) food and drink exporters could be major beneficiaries of a revised EU-Mexico trade agreement which will remove almost all bilateral tariffs left by a year 2000 deal. Under a new agreement struck in principle, Mexican import duties on EU exports of cheeses, such as gorgonzola and roquefort, and pasta (of up to 20%), will be removed, along with duties on chocolate and confectionery, (that can exceed 20%).…

THE NONWOVEN adult incontinence market in Europe is offering hygiene product manufacturers and brands a chance to profit in a wider sanitary segment that has been and remains highly competitive.

Western Europe has a high per capita consumption in sanitary protection and a fiercely competitive retailing environment, according to Miles Agbanrin, an analyst for market researcher Euromonitor International.…

THE DECISION of the European Commission not to propose a harmonised European Union (EU) approach for excise duty on e-cigarettes and other novel tobacco products has been welcomed by the tobacco sector for avoiding punitive taxation on a nascent segment.

But should such rules ultimately be introduced the tobacco sector may not oppose them if they reflect the lower health risks involved in consuming such products by enabling lower excise duty bands.…

SOUTH Korean companies in the digital textile print supply chain are aware that Asian rivals beat them on price, but are managing to stay afloat through better quality, company managers have told Digital Textile.

“Chinese products are very competitive with their prices, but their quality is still not good enough to satisfy global standards,” said Hani Kim, a manager at the overseas sales department of Unitrade, a Seoul-based manufacturer of heat transfer film for digital textile printing.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced its latest funding for helping European Union (EU) member states fight animal diseases, such as bovine tuberculosis, rabies, bovine brucellosis, African swine fever and lumpy skin disease, by allocating more than EUR140 million for 2018.…

OECD SAYS 49 JURISDICTIONS WILL AUTOMATICALLY EXCHANGE TAX INFORMATION THIS YEAR

THE IDENTITY of 49 jurisdictions that will automatically exchange tax information in 2017 under a global standard has been revealed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD).…

It has been weeks since quotas limiting European Union (EU) sugar production were scrapped on September 30, and while its impact has yet to become clear, experts agree that EU output will rise, at least in the short term. The EU executive, the European Commission is predicting that EU sugar production will increase 20% in the coming year.…

THE EGYPT government and leather industry is planning to boost the country’s leather exports by 80%, to USD1 billion by 2020, through modernising the sector and developing dedicated manufacturing hubs. The Egyptian leather sector took a major hit in terms of lost sales and output during the political and economic instability following the 2011 revolution, and there has been no major investment for the past 15 years to upgrade facilities and improve output.…

COMPANIES and citizens defrauding European Union (EU) revenue collection (including customs duties and cross-border VAT fraud) and spending programmes, may from 2020 face direct criminal proceedings brought by a European Public Prosecutor. The EU Council of Ministers has approved establishing this new institution in 20 of the 28 EU member states – Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia.…

CHINA’S imposition of temporary safeguard duties to protect its sugar industry have been challenged at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), with sugar giant Brazil arguing Beijing’s tariffs break global commerce rules. In a signal that Brazil might be considering launching a disputes case against China, diplomats for the South American country told a WTO safeguards committee meeting that the duties broke the WTO agreement on safeguards and the general agreement on tariffs and trade (GATT). …

COMPANIES and citizens defrauding European Union (EU) revenue collection (including
customs duties and cross-border VAT fraud) and spending programmes, may from 2020 face
direct criminal proceedings brought by a European Public Prosecutor (EPPO). The EU
Council of Ministers has approved establishing this new institution in 20 of the 28 EU
member states – Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia,
Germany, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal,
Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia.…

International police agency Interpol and its European Union (EU) counterpart Europol have
announced what they say is the biggest hit ever against online piracy with law enforcers
taking down more than 20,500 websites selling counterfeit goods seized in 26 countries.
Participating countries were Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Britain,
Colombia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland,
Italy, Latvia, Moldova, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Ukraine, the USA
and China special administrative region Hong Kong.…

Of course, it is not doing this by increasing policing and the number of suspicious transaction reports, but by liberalising what is now a criminal activity, the growing, processing, sale and consumption of cannabis for recreation.

By doing so, it plans to be the first G20 country to legalise and regulate the recreational use of cannabis nationwide by July 2018.…

WITH the introduction of Bill C-45 into the Canadian House of Commons earlier this year, and its securing a second reading vote in June (see https://openparliament.ca/bills/42-1/C-45/), Canada’s government has moved closer to removing millions of dollars of dirty money from its economy.…

IT would be hard to design a jurisdiction with a greater exposure to money laundering than Macao. A small autonomous Chinese jurisdiction, next to the populous province of Guangzhou, which relies on a huge gambling sector for its income, it is no wonder that Macao has come under pressure from international assessors to run a tight ship regarding anti-money laundering (AML).…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) member states and the European Commission have agreed to strengthen monitoring and information sharing systems on food fraud, to help prevent the emergence of damaging scandals such as this summer’s Netherlands egg contamination scandal. Rapid common risk assessment procedures are to be created including swift convening of Commission/member state meetings to exchange relevant scientific information.…

HIGH-END internationally-focused brands are seeking out Vietnam’s traditional artisans to source orders of high-quality, handmade textiles, moving away from the low-cost, mass-produced materials often associated with the country’s textile and garment industry.

These labour-intensive products include indigo-dyed fabrics, hand-woven textiles, and lacquer silk, all of which are created using traditional methods by skilled craftspeople.…

CONFECTIONARY manufacturers in India are having to grapple with their products and ingredients attracting a wide range of tax rates under the country’s new goods and services tax (GST), which started to be levied from July 1.

India’s GST Council, a body representing the central and state governments, has been deciding which goods will be covered by the zero, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% tax rates allowed under India’s GST legislation. …

THE GREEK government says that it and seven other European Union (EU) member states may launch legal action over the Chinese government’s refusal to ban China-registered trademarks of products falsely marketed as traditional EU-made foods.

A document released by Greece’s economy and development ministry has claimed that France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Romania and Spain have agreed to join forces to finance a case in the Chinese courts.…

EASTERN and central European food consumers have often complained that international branded food tastes worse in their countries than in western Europe – even when comparing the same brands in similar packaging.

But the question is whether these grumbles are effectively urban myths – or if there is evidence suggesting that these differences are real.…

Donald Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the 2015 Paris Climate Treaty will not halt moves to cut fossil fuels or reduce decarbonisation requirements on the non-energy minerals sector and other industries, say experts.

Trump called for a new “fair” deal that would not disadvantage US businesses and workers and claimed that China and India had “no meaningful obligations” placed on them by the agreement.…

India’s Ready Roti, makers of Harvest Gold bread, is planning a major expansion with new products following a 65% stake sale to Mexico’s Grupo Bimbo. Rajan Makani, deputy general manager, brands, for Ready Roti in New Delhi told just-food that the deal “will be beneficial for Indian consumers”, with the tie up sparking the launch of “many new products”. …

The European Union (EU) and China have struck a geographical indications deal involving both parties preventing the names of 100 traditional food and drink items from either jurisdiction being used by manufacturers not based in their historic production regions or following standardised production techniques.…

Singapore will review its 80 bilateral agreements on avoiding double taxation to ensure they do not help companies avoid paying tax where relevant business activity took place. This follows its signing the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD)-sponsored Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting.…

Turkish textile entrepreneurs have been signalling a willingness to relocate their units to Bangladesh, tapping into the south Asian nation’s geo-economic significance, officials and diplomats say.
Interest was notably shown by Turkish investors in week-long seminars on Trade & Investment Opportunities in Bangladesh’, organised by  the Bangladesh embassy in Ankara, in April and this month (May), in five Turkish cities, including the capital Ankara, key textile production centre Istanbul, Kayseri, Bursa and Kocaeli province.…

Italian state-controlled oil and gas producer ENI has cemented its role as a major gas player in Mozambique, after further defining in 2017 the scope of its Coral FLNG (floating liquified natural gas) project in this southern African country. However, doubts are emerging that ENI will actually deliver significant volumes of Mozambique’s huge gas reserves to Italy, and consequentially the rest of Europe, as an alternative and more secure source of natural gas.…

A case detected last May (2015) at Lisbon international airport, Portugal, says much for the worrying scale of the laundering of illicit funds from Europe into mainland China. A nondescript Chinese couple travelling from Lisbon to Shanghai via the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Dubai was stopped carrying more than EUR1 million in large denomination notes found elaborately wrapped in ‘danger, chemicals’ packaging within packets marked ‘FRAGILE’.…

The Spanish manufacturer of cereal-based products Cerealto has reached an agreement to buy two factories from Spain-based bread and pastry manufacturers Grupo Sirio. With this move, Cerealto has said in a statement that it will “fortify its plans for expansion within southern Europe”.…

HONG Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) will ease listing requirements for certain infrastructure companies, notably those involved in projects aiding the Chinese government’s Belt and Road Initiative. This aims to promote transport infrastructure helping move Chinese goods to central Asia, southeast Asia, Africa and Europe.…

AUTOMOTIVE parts and vehicles have become the second most dangerous category of goods in the European Union (EU) in 2016, according to the most recent annual report of the EU’s ‘Rapid Alert System for non-food dangerous products’, or RAPEX.

The system routes safety alerts about consumer products within the 28 member states of the EU.…

IMPROVING airport management is often a matter of examining good practice overseas and for airports wanting to improve the time taken to move transfer passengers from one flight to another, their executives might learn from Helsinki Airport.

Finland’s key international airport has the fastest passenger flow in Europe for transfer passengers going on to other European destinations, with a minimum connecting time between flights of just 35 minutes, according to Finavia, the state company that operates Finland’s 21 commercial civilian airports.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has taken a significant step towards the creation of a European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), but its chosen procedure may mean the powers of EU anti-fraud office OLAF will be undiminished, at least for some countries.

The latest European Council – the EU summit of heads of government – on March 9 agreed that the creation of the EPPO should be mandated through the EU’s ‘enhanced cooperation’ procedure.…

Anti-corruption campaign group Transparency International (TI) has called on major financial centres to be more open about their anti-money laundering (AML) efforts, claiming survey data indicates governments are being overly secretive. In a report based on studies of 12 developed jurisdictions called ‘Top Secret: Countries Keep Financial Crime Fighting Data to Themselves’, TI has said that only 36% of basic anti-money laundering indicators drawn from internationally accepted guidelines is available to the public and regularly updated.…

Argentina’s centre-right government has said that it is determined to remove money laundering and dirty money in the country, having assumed office in December 2015, but Argentina’s highly combative politics makes this a complex task. The new administration of President Mauricio Macri has accused its centre-left predecessor, led by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of failing to effectively fight money laundering in Argentina, indeed levelling charges that this former government was itself deeply corrupt.…

Researchers believe designers will expand the use of graphene in textiles for bio-medical, sportswear, fashion, furnishings, military and security equipment.

Isolated by scientists from graphite in 2004, a layer of pure carbon, graphene is the thinnest known compound. It is just one atom thick (a million times thinner than a human hair), the strongest compound ever discovered (between 100-300 times stronger than steel), the lightest material (with one square metre weighing only 0.77 milligrams) and very flexible.…

SMART e-textiles are set to revolutionise the industry in the coming years as the wonder material of the 21st century is introduced into an array of innovative applications.

Researchers believe designers will expand the use of graphene in textiles for bio-medical, sportswear, fashion, furnishings, military and security equipment.…

WHILE Japan has freed up its electricity market, in 2015, end-user price regulation was still applied to household electricity markets in 12 European Union (EU) member states (46% of electricity and 54% of gas price offers from different service providers), Europe’s electricity industry association Eurelectric spokesperson Anamaria Olaru told Energy World.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has approved the creation of a significant holding by Japan’s Marubeni Corporation and Toho Gas Co Ltd in the Portugal gas distribution sector, green-lighting their acquisition of shares in Portugal’s Galp Gás Natural Distribuição. Henceforth, the Japanese companies will share control with Portugal’s Galp Energia SGPS, a key oil, gas and power generation company.…

THE EUROPEAN Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is investigating if European Union (EU)-wide controls are needed to protect consumers against substances used in tattoo inks and permanent make-up (PMU) – with one solution expanding the scope of the EU cosmetics directive.

While the printing ink industry has suffered a recession, the tattoo and PMU ink sectors are booming in the wake of a huge increase in purchases of tattoos EU-wide.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission of president Jean-Claude Juncker came to office in 2014 promising to focus on major projects and programmes – with major telecoms reform and expansion being a key goal.

His team has now delivered on that pledge, proposing a comprehensive package of competition changes and funding proposals that, if approved, would change the EU’s telecoms market controls, set ambitious targets for EU-funded broadband roll out and strengthen the role of BEREC as a European regulator.…

CLOTHING manufacturing will be completely changed by the internet and digital printing over the next five to 10 years, Lutz Walter, secretary general of European Technology Platform for the Future of Textiles and Clothing (ETP) – the largest European textiles research and innovations network – told just-style at a October 12-13 ‘European Textiles: Going Digital – Going High-Tech’ conference in Brussels.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has finally been instructed to draft a European Union (EU) directive authorising an EU financial transaction tax, which would apply to 10 of the EU’s 28 member states.

Meeting on the margins of a Eurogroup session in Luxembourg on Monday (Oct 10), the governments of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain agreed to push ahead with the project.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission’s latest EUR500 million support package for European farmers, finalised at an August 26 European Union (EU) committee in Brussels, will not ease the dairy crisis, European dairy groups have warned.

“Production cuts is the label used to describe the current package of measures,” said the EU farm lobby group European Milk Board (EMB)’s president Romuald Schaber following the initial announcement of the plans in July.…

One month after the UK’s Brexit referendum vote to leave the European Union (EU) on June 23, the British clothing industry has been weighing up the immediate impact and trying to assess what might happen in advance of any longer-term trade solution.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has accused six European Union (EU) member states of failing to detect enough fraud in EU spending programmes where their governments have a significant management role. In its latest annual report on the ‘Protection of the European Union’s financial interests – Fight against fraud 2015’, the Commission said Austria, Britain and Finland had reported “a very low number of fraudulent irregularities, in particular in relation to the amount of frauds allocated to them” for  EU agricultural spending.…

Europe in 2016 has been witness to significant milestones passed in deployment of new, full-scale demonstration and commercial tidal stream and wave energy projects.

This is encouraging for the European Union (EU), which wants clean, renewable ‘ocean energy’ to provide a tenth of its power by mid-century.…

BRAZIL’S textile sector needs to look to boost exports by producing quality products to survive the current recession, a major industry conference has been told. Brazilian textile and yarns makers must invest, innovate and globalise if they want to ride out the recession, said the majority of speakers addressing the International ABIT Congress, organised by the Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association (ABIT – Associação Brasileira da Indústria Têxtil e de Confecção), staged in São Paulo on June 1 and 2.…

THE UNITED States Trade Representative (USTR) has highlighted its continuing concern about intellectual property rights violations in the pharma sector, citing claims that 20% of medicines sold in India are fakes.

In its annual ‘Special 301 Report’, the USTR said it notes “its particular concern with the proliferation of counterfeit pharmaceuticals that are manufactured, sold, and distributed in trading partners such as Brazil, China, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Peru, and Russia.”…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced that it will propose a ‘services passport’ system by December 31, designed to simplify administrative procedures for service providers, such as accountants, auditors and bookkeepers, who want to expand to foreign member states. EU internal market, industry, entrepreneurship and SMEs Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska said: “The cross-border provision of services in the EU is underdeveloped, in particular in the area of business services – such as accounting…” The passport system would give accountants more information, boosting legal certainty and clarity about relevant professional rules in another member state.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has chiselled a new template for international organic food trade deals with its new agreement with Chile. The deal involves EU regulators recognising Chilean exports as organic when produced and controlled under Chilean controls; and Chilean regulators accepting EU food exports as organic in Chile when produced under EU organic rules.…

Kazakh aircraft have been improved under the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)’s ‘No Country Left Behind’ initiative.

The project started following investigations which uncovered concerns about the air-worthiness of aircraft in the central Asian country.

Resources and manpower were provided by a number of countries and was a co-operative effort between Portugal, Turkey, Singapore, Ukraine and the ICAO’s Air Navigation Bureau.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has made its first formal call for proposals under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), to help finance key European Union (EU) energy infrastructure projects. In this round of subsidies, EUR200 million will be made available for projects designed to eliminate structural bottlenecks impeding the flow of energy between EU countries.…

The European Commission should not accept the voluntary ‘traffic light’ food labelling system used in the UK where ‘red’ means high, ‘amber’ medium, and ‘green’ low levels of fat, sugar, salt and calories, seven European Union (EU) member states are arguing.…

Australian and New Zealand confectionery and ice cream manufacturers have been broadly supportive of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement that was finalised towards the end of 2015, recognising the potential for securing export sales in lucrative Asian markets. That said, there is some caution, given the TPP delivers more potential for America’s juggernaut of a confectionery sector to roll into local stores.…

A report released yesterday (Mar 10) by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) has advised textile manufacturers to support government efforts to tighten environmental rules, saying they are unlikely to cause a loss of business.

The report is an attempt to dispel the widely-held view that tighter environmental rules increase costs and damages business – especially in emerging market manufacturing hubs.…

It has taken more than half a decade for the cosmetics markets of eastern Europe to finally shrug off a long-running period stagnation that has characterised the regional market. Two underlying features – the financial crisis of 2008 and the completion of multinational takeovers in the noughties that saturated these post-communist markets – lay behind the extended period of slow, low or non-existent growth.…

The European Commission has noted that while the number of patent settlements in the European Union (EU) pharmaceutical sector declined in 2014, it is still optimistic that such deals will be used to avoid legal action in future. It says in a report that there were 76 patent settlements concluded between originator and generic companies in the EU pharmaceutical sector in 2014.…

THE EUROPEAN Parliament has given its political support for strong action by the European Commission in the coming year to propose and implement concrete actions to create an ambitious Energy Union. Its goal is to freely trading power between the European Union’s (EU) 28 member states.…

A two-year joint-operation between Europol and the Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) has shut down a EUR300 million money laundering and counterfeit goods network focused on Spain. ‘Operation Snake’ closed in on the gang on May 11, with more than 200 officers searching 65 residences and making 35 arrests.…

The European Commission has launched a review of whether subsidies promoting electricity generating and distributing capacity breaks European Union (EU) state aid rules. These are designed to make sure member states do not give their industries an unfair advantage in the EU’s single market.…

AFTER a difficult few years brought about by a global economic recession, Portugal’s footwear and clothing industries is growing and underpinning the country’s business recovery.
Last year (2014) the country’s shoe exports hit a record high of around 89 million pairs sold overseas, bringing in EUR1.8 billion (USD2.06 billion) in receipts according to the Portuguese Association of Industrial Footwear, Accessories, Leather Goods and Substitutes (APICCAPS), helping a country still recovering from crippling government austerity measures.…

BRUSSELS DETAILS UPCOMING EU VAT REFORMS

THE EUROPEAN Commission has released a statement outlining the subject of planned VAT legislative proposals to be made next year (2016). These will reduce the administrative burden on businesses through VAT regimes varying between European Union (EU) member states.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed a European Union (EU) directive that would force EU member states to automatically share information about their tax rulings. Under the proposals, national tax authorities would every three months send a short report to all other member states on all their cross-border tax rulings.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission may block or impose conditions on a planned acquisition by US-based Cargill of the industrial chocolate business of its American rival Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). The European Union (EU) executive’s directorate general for competition has opened an in-depth investigation into the deal, to assess whether it could damage the availability of reasonably priced supplies of this key confectionery input.…

The UK is lagging behind many other European Union (EU) member states when it comes to energy efficiency and is fiddling the figures to show it is making better progress than in reality, according to the latest report from the Brussels-based Coalition for Energy Savings.…

GERMAN-made automobiles were the largest source of reports regarding potentially dangerous motor vehicles made to the European Union’s (EU) RAPEX consumer alert network in 2014, analysis of its data shows.
There were 194 notifications to the system relating to automobiles and parts last year, the fourth largest category following toys (650), clothing and textiles (530) and electrical appliances (217).…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed a European Union (EU) directive that would force EU member states to automatically share information about their tax rulings. Under the proposals, national tax authorities would every three months send a short report to all other member states on all their cross-border tax rulings.…

MEXICO represents a powerful investment opportunity as the second largest consumer of ‘beauty and personal care products’ (BCP) in Latin America, after Brazil. While a relatively mature BCP market makes growth a creative challenge, the country is increasingly popular as a location for BCP production facilities.…

SWITZERLAND could soon be recognised as a country fully compliant with international standards on releasing tax information to fight global tax evasion.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development’s (OECD) Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes has ruled Switzerland has made sufficient reforms to receive its ‘Phase 2’ peer review.…

ADDITIONAL pressure is being placed on Macao anti-money laundering (AML) authorities to reduce the illicit flow of money between the Chinese special administrative region (SAR) and mainland China. This month (February 2015), officials from mainland China’s ministry of public security (effectively the police force) have this month been meeting Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) officials to set up a system that monitors transactions through UnionPay (China’s state-owned card payment clearing company) in Macao.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) should invest in gas interconnections between member states to make its mooted EU Energy Union a success, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) has claimed.
Speaking (Feb 6) at a conference on the topic in Riga, Latvia, Maria van der Hoeven, said: “If done right, [the Energy Union] could be enormously beneficial to the region in terms of boosting economic growth, promoting energy security, completing the internal market and encouraging investment.”…

AIRPORT development projects are a key part of the Euro EUR315 billion development plan released before Christmas by the European Commission. A keystone of the pro-growth policies of new Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, the plan involves the EU, especially the European Investment Bank (EIB), leveraging public funds to generate private capital.…

Given today’s uncertain global economic environment, it is up to CFOs to manage expectations and push for their companies’ long-term growth through clear planning and a responsible corporate culture. Business leaders from across the globe discussed how to navigate these issues at the seventh ACCA Poland CFO European Summit, staged in Warsaw, on November 19.…

THE COMPREHENSIVE Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union (EU) will make it easier for both jurisdictions to recognise each other’s nursing certifications. Political leaders celebrated the end of negotiations in September in Ottawa, Canada (Sept 26).…

THE INCOMING European Union (EU) energy and climate change Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete and his boss, the future European Commission vice-president for the energy union Maroš Šefčovič have highlighted the need for smart grids and electricity interconnections as way to make Europe more self-reliant for energy.…

THE INCOMING president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker has united the Commission’s portfolios of energy and climate action, nominating Spain’s Miguel Arias Cañete as energy and climate commissioner. If confirmed by the European Parliament, he will serve for the next five years.…

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) finance ministers agreed at an EU economic and finance ministers (ECOFIN) meeting on the scope of the long-threatened ‘financial transaction tax’, and 11 governments pledged to reach an agreement on its details by the end of the year.…

THE AVERAGE tax burden in the developed countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) have continued to rise, up 0.4% in 2013, to 34.1% of GDP, compared with 33.7% in 2012 and 33.3% in 2011. A new OECD report said the largest 2013 increases were in Portugal, Turkey, Slovakia, Finland, and Denmark, which has the highest tax-to-GDP ratio among OECD countries – 48.6%, followed by France, 45%, and Belgium, 44.6%.…

THE IDENTITY of the new European Union trade commissioner charged with bringing the planned Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) to conclusion was unveiled today. Cecilia Malmström of Sweden, who is currently the EU’s home affairs commissioner, has been nominated to hold this sensitive position from November 1.…

Energy savings of up to 30% are possible if clothing and textile producers apply a “simple” system of cost assessment, a Brussels conference of industry experts has been told. Yet too many companies lack fine-tuned energy data and are certainly unable to quantify the money they are losing or know how to focus on the problem.…

A potential bonanza of new projects may be offered to Chinese construction companies following the set-up of a new development bank with lots of cash for infrastructure projects. This July marked the launch of the so-called ‘BRICS Bank’, a new multilateral development bank, operated by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.…

ECUADOR, an important confectionery exporter to the European Union (EU), has struck a new bilateral free trade agreement with the EU, which will eliminate tariffs on imports to Europe. The new trade deal is supposed to take effect in late 2016, and until then a system of preferential tariffs will be in place.…

THE LATEST European Commission annual report on European Union (EU) anti-fraud measures has highlighted concerns that member states may be doing far too little to detect EU-related financial crime. Keith Nuthall reports.

A 2013 Report on the Protection of the EU’s Financial Interests noted that some member states reported “very low numbers of fraudulent irregularities” – but the Commission does not believe this is because they are clean.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has launched the second phase of its fuel cells and hydrogen joint undertaking, sinking EUR1.33 billion into hydrogen-based energy and transport fuel technology until 2020. The European Union (EU) is planning to contribute up to EUR665 million, leveraging at least EUR665 million from private sources.…

THE LATEST European Commission annual report on European Union (EU) anti-fraud measures has highlighted concerns that member states may be doing far too little to detect EU-related financial crime.
Brussels’ 2013 Report on the Protection of the EU’s Financial Interests noted that some member states reported “very low numbers of fraudulent irregularities”.…

Latin America’s cosmetics and personal care products sector has boomed as consumers take advantage of their rising disposable incomes. The region (including Mexico) accounted for 17% of global sales in the beauty and personal care industry, according to market analysts Euromonitor International in 2013. …

European Union (EU) police agency Europol has hailed as a success a two-day operation against illicit scrap dealers, which yielded 271 arrests and identified 146 cases of theft across Europe. Law enforcement teams, backed by the EU unit, checked 8,300 scrap metal dealers in 20 European countries.…

HELPING AND ADVISING EUROPEAN CONSUMERS SHOPPING AND TRAVELLING ABROAD

WHEN CAN ECC-NET OFFICES HELP YOU?

• Air travel

So much can go wrong: flights can be delayed or cancelled; luggage can be lost or damaged; and hidden fees can be charged.…

PERSONAL income taxes have risen in 25 out of 34 Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) member developed countries over the past three years, said an OECD report. Rates have risen, while tax-free allowances and tax credits have fallen. The steepest rises were in the USA, Portugal and Slovakia, with the average OECD tax burden on employment incomes increasing by 0.2% in 2013, to 35.9%.…

Final statistics to be published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in the fall are expected to confirm that the average CO2 emissions of new cars sold in the European Union (EU) in 2013 were already below the European Union’s (EU) 2015 required target.…

Venezuela’s pharma sector is in critical condition as medicine manufacturers and traders are struggling to get their hands on hard currency, hindering them from importing medicines and manufacturing ingredients and materials. US dollars are crucial for most industries in the country’s import-reliant country, which earns most hard currency from oil exports.…

LONG-TERM support for the wave and tidal energy industries has been announced by the European Commission, which this spring said it intended to support “the rapid development of key ocean energy technologies at the European level”.

European Union (EU) energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger said: “Ocean energy has a significant potential to enhance the security of supply”, adding that “a wide portfolio of renewable energy sources -including ocean energy” was necessary if non fossil fuels were to become “mainstream and integrated into the European energy system.”…

WHEN the Percassi family, owners of the successful make-up brand KIKO Make Up Milan, purchased in October 2013 a UNESCO-listed historic industrial site called Crespi d’Adda in northern Italy, it was not only a sign of their success, but proof of the old adage that tough economic times can be good for the beauty industry. …

AFTER six years of financing some of the largest infrastructure projects across Africa, a groundbreaking multilateral development institution – the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) – has attained its investment grade international credit rating. Moody’s Investors Service assigned the corporation an A3 (long term) /P2 (short term) foreign currency debt rating, making the AFC, headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria the second highest investment grade rated financial institution based on the African continent, following the long-established Africa Development Bank (ADB).…

AUSTRIA

The location of ECC Austria in central Vienna means many consumers drop by to receive advice or lodge complaints in person with the ECC’s five staff members. A top priority in 2013 was increasing public awareness about e-commerce fraud; a brochure aimed at combatting the problem was published and more than 600,000 were distributed throughout Austria.…

WHEN a company issues a motor vehicle recall, there are a number of short term and long term implications. The company must consider the costs of repairing the vehicles, any legal costs that might arise, and, of course, its reputation.

But Paul Nieuwenhuis, co-director of the Centre for Automotive Industry Research at Cardiff Business School in the UK, said companies often decide to cut costs when manufacturing a vehicle, calculating that the costs associated with issuing a recall as a result would be worth it.…

PHARMACEUTICAL manufacturers in the European Union (EU) can only protect their active ingredients against exploitation by generic manufacturers for 15 years, even when securing patent protection expiring at a later date. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that the maximum combined duration of protection gained from patents and supplementary protection certificates approved during patent applications is 15 years.…

A NEW chair of the European Union Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) scientific committee has been elected –Professor Maria Beatriz da Silva Lima, a pharmacology and pharmacotoxicology specialist from the University of Lisbon, Portugal. The vice chair will be Professor Markus Perola, of Finland’s National Institute for Health and Welfare.…

THE WORLD’S tobacco trade is not always a straightforward affair, being held up by export and import licence applications, port dues, quality checks, corruption and unusual red tape. A new World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Trade Facilitation, struck last December, is designed to ease some of these difficulties.…

A COMPREHENSIVE European report has informed consumers across the European Union (EU), Norway and Iceland about their legal rights to credit card refunds.

Written by a publicly-funded network of European Consumer Centres (ECC-Net), the report explains what rights are enjoyed by all EU citizens, and those in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein – members of the EU-associated European Economic Area (EEA).…

The Association of Portuguese Distributors (APED) has warned that a controversial new law effectively banning supermarket discounts will harm consumers, food suppliers and retailers. APED president Ana Isabel Trigo Morais said that the “negative impacts” of the law would cause price rises.…

EU VAT FORUM PILOT EXTENDED ONE MORE YEAR THE EUROPEAN Commission is to carry out an evaluation of the European Union (EU) regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 that says EU listed companies must use international financial reporting standards (IFRS) to produce their consolidated accounts.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has released a report claiming that original product and generic pharmaceutical manufacturers are increasingly cooperating, and where they strike agreements, they are less likely to restrict generic sales.

Its 2013 survey on the issue said 183 patent settlement agreements were concluded between originator and generic companies in 2012 within the European Union (EU), compared to 120 in 2011.…

SPANISH meat producers secured increasingly healthy prices in 2013 as the country crept out of recession in the second half, figures from its ministry of agriculture, food and the environment (MAGRAMA) show.

Category E pork (55% – 59% leanness) rose by 11.4% on 2012 to average EUR1.936 per kilo, 10.3% greater than the European Union (EU) average, peaking at EUR2.171/Kg.…

An interim report from the European Universities Association (EUA) on the pattern of public funding for universities has highlighted how the character of funding for HE institutions in Europe is changing, largely though not entirely, as a result of the economic pressures facing governments.…

A DETAILED report on tax rates levied in 30 rich countries has been released by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD). It said that ratios of tax revenues to GDP rose in 21 of these 30 countries in 2012 (the largest in Hungary, Greece, Italy and New Zealand), falling in nine countries, with the steepest falls in Israel, Portugal and Britain.…

ALTHOUGH Colombia’s pharmaceutical sector has enjoyed growth over the past few years, new price controls could disrupt the sector’s expansion if they are poorly planned, industry representatives claim.

Their concerns focus on the reaction to maximum price controls on medication recently approved by the government.…

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.…

TECHNICAL and security experts have gathered at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to consider how to roll-out developing automated border control (ABC) systems, which offer hard-pressed airports the ability to better process surging passenger numbers.

Staged at ICAO’s headquarters, in Montréal, Canada, from October 22 to 24, the agency’s ninth symposium and exhibition on MRTDs [machine readable travel documents] biometrics and border security debated ABC developments such as newly-emerging technologies; trust issues; reliability; non-intrusiveness; biometrics; effective inspections tools; trusted traveller programmes; challenges to border integrity and ways to address them.…

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%.…

A SPECIAL European Union (EU) VAT scheme allowing travel agents to pay one VAT payment on the profits they make from selling services applies to all their customers, and not just travellers, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled. The European Commission argued at the ECJ that the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Poland and Portugal should not allow travel agents to use this perk for non-travelling customers buying non-core services, but its case was rejected.…

CROATIA became a European Union (EU) member state on July 1, and will be hoping that its significant olive oil sector will grow though eased EU market access and production support from Brussels.

Marta Bogdanic, director of projects for the food business group at the Croatian food and retail group Agrokor, which produces and sells a range of award-winning Croatian olive oils, and owns the largest olive groves in Croatia, told Oils & Fats International that Croatia’s EU accession will pose several challenges for the country’s olive oil sector.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) will scrap the last remaining export refund available for meat exporters, following a 20 year liberalisation process.

Yesterday, (Thursday) the EU’s ‘management committee for the common organisation of agricultural markets: animal products’ agreed to scrap refunds payable for exports of frozen whole chickens (65-70%) to certain destinations, notably in the Middle East and the Commonwealth of Independent States (ex-USSR countries).…

THE EUROPEAN Commission is threatening legal action against Portugal for offering tax benefits to non-resident companies more than 25% owned by Portuguese residents, while denying them to other non-resident companies. Brussels says this breaks European Union (EU) fair trading rules and could ask the European Court of Justice to order Portugal to reform these rules.…

‘LA TORRE PUIG,’ the 22-storey Puig Tower now being fitted out in the Plaza de Europa, of the Catalan capital, Barcelona, for Puig SL, the family owned fragrances and fashion firm, will be yet another landmark building for one of Europe’s most beautiful cities.…

THE EUROPEAN Parliament (EP) public health and environment committee, which is handling the draft tobacco products directive (TPD), went a step further from the European Commission on July 10, when it voted to introduce a “positive list” of approved ingredients to be used in tobacco products.…

THE ACRONYM ‘PIGS’ to mean Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain, was never very kind. It was abusive European Union (EU) jargon claiming that these countries were poor and their governments, profligate. Sadly, the international financial crisis showed that there was some truth in this and the four countries have since 2008 had to slash public spending to stave off national bankruptcy, and their collective road and public transport sectors have suffered.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU)-favoured Nabucco pipeline carrying Azerbaijan gas to western Europe will now almost certainly never be built, after Azeri gas consortium Shah Deniz decided to sell its gas to the rival Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). The decision came after Greece announced it would sell its natural gas grid operator DESFA to Azeri state energy company SOCAR: the TAP pipeline would run through Greece to Italy, linking with pipelines in Turkey.…

European metal thieves have been targeted by an international law enforcement operation coordinated by European Union (EU) police agency Europol. Its officials said that more than 120 tonnes of stolen copper was confiscated in Italy alone and there were many arrests, with 37 made in just country – Bulgaria.…

PORTUGAL’S Faro Algarve Airport may not be the first airport that leaps to mind when considering where to test-run the latest in air travel security equipment, but the airport is trialling a cutting-edge airport security system.

Located in the country’s southern Algarve region, it is a small airport with seasonal peaks and troughs of traffic that processed 5,672,377 passengers last year (2012) – the majority of whom arrived on budget carriers between June and September.…

 An interim report from the European Universities Association (EUA) on the pattern of public funding for universities has highlighted how the character of funding for HE institutions in Europe is changing, largely though not entirely, as a result of the economic pressures facing governments.…

The Argentine government’s economic protectionism is thwarting the growth of e-book sales, experts at the International Book Fair in Buenos Aires said this week.
The country’s 39th book fair, which ended on Monday, was attended by a total of 1.1 million people, said fair organisers.…

THERE are many ways to maintain and repair a road, so it always makes sense to look widely at good practice examples. Here The Surveyor has used its foreign correspondent team to assess techniques in some diverse pars of continental Europe.…

THE ARAB Spring may have increased short-term doubts about the political stability of Europe’s southern and eastern Mediterranean neighbours, but the long-term case for energy cooperation between these regions is surely unarguable.

Europe needs more energy than it can generate, and it has (for the time being at least) money to buy energy from north Africa and the Levant.…

CORRUPTION costs the European Union (EU) EUR323 billion a year, three times more than previous estimates,  a study by the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, Germany, and the Brussels office of Germany’s Bertelsmann Stiftung (Foundation) suggests. In an April 9 report to the European Parliament, Hertie and Bertelsmann Stiftung calculated that EU member states could increase annual tax revenues by roughly this much if they reduced corruption to levels found in Denmark, ranked by Bertelsmann Stiftung as the least corrupt in the EU.…

TO listen to opposing sides in a polarised debate, February 14, 2013, could go down in European business history as a St Valentine’s Day Massacre of Europe’s capital markets or as the start of a beautiful love affair with regulation that could help to prevent speculative trading turning boom to bust.…

POLITICAL battle-lines are being drawn over the oncoming debates at the European Parliament and the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers on the shape of the revised tobacco products directive. While formal amendments have yet to be proposed, preliminary discussions are giving the industry a good idea of the challenges to be faced over the coming months.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has welcomed Thailand lifting its longstanding ban on bovine product imports from European Union (EU) member states, but has complained that Bangkok is insisting on expensive inspections for approved exporters.

Live cattle, beef, veal and other bovine products from Austria, Belgium, Britain, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, and Slovenia and Spain have been prevented from entering Thailand since 2001 over concerns about BSE.…

THE FAILURE of nine European Union (EU) member states to properly protect the welfare pregnant sows – breaking an EU law agreed 12 years ago – has caused the European Commission to threaten legal action over the issue.

It has given the governments of Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Poland and Portugal two months to say how they will resolve the problem or face a possible case at the European Court of Justice (ECJ).…

PHARMACEUTICAL companies seeking pharmacovigilance and pharmacoepidemiology information from across the European Union (EU) can now consult two new databases. Created by the public-private partnership PROTECT project, they are the Drug Consumption Database and the PROTECT ADR [adverse drug reaction] database.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) confectionery manufacturers and their suppliers stand to boost their export sales and reduce import costs with the launch of talks to forge the two largest bilateral trade deals ever sought by the EU – with the USA and Japan.…

THE GREEN light has been given to 11 European Union (EU) member states to forge a harmonised financial transaction tax, the first time common taxation has been agreed through the EU’s ‘enhanced cooperation’ system. This allows EU member states to pass EU laws that apply to a limited group of member states – in this case Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia and Slovakia.…

Both producers and importers of olive oil in the United States will be following their government’s actions closely in the coming months as decisions on proposed legislative changes could greatly impact the industry.

The sharply divided US Congress has failed to pass a new, multi-year farm bill to replace the 2008 law that expired this year.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has put forward an action plan aimed at creating a lasting remedy for Europe’s troubled olive oil sector which has suffered a near-calamitous loss of profitability in recent years. Unveiled last June, the plan follows a sequence of temporary and not wholly successful boosts to the sector in the form of injections of private storage aid between October 2011 and May last year.…

BY MARK ROWE

TO describe recent times as difficult for the eastern European cosmetics industry would be something of an understatement. Since 2010, some countries have experienced dizzying declines in production and sales that indicated the industry was more or less in tune with the wider economic mood across the region.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

Counterfeit, mislabelled and substandard meat products have been seized in an international police operation spanning 29 countries, coordinated by Interpol and European police agency Europol. Sausages, ham, lamb, chicken and beef were seized, a Europol spokesman told globalmeatnews.com.…

BY MARK ROWE

ANYONE looking for straightforward conclusions about the impact of the recession on eastern Europe’s cosmetics market is likely to be disappointed. Some countries, such as Poland, fared relatively well in the crisis, while others such as Latvia faced punishing economic contraction, therefore signals coming from the region in these uncertain and ever-changing times, are hugely varied.…

BY CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS

A PROPOSED European Union (EU) directive should deliver more transparency and better governance for collective management of copyright and related rights on behalf of publishers and authors, a Brussels conference has been told.

The European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers are now debating this tabled law on on collective management of copyright and related rights.…

BY ROBERT STOKES, IN MALAGA

RANDOM House is bullish about selling more English and Spanish language titles in Spain and Latin America as a result of its planned merger with Penguin Books and outright purchase of Spain’s Random House Mondadori (RHM).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has granted legal protection to speciality Portuguese goat and sheep meat and a Slovene pork product. This prevents meat traders using their names in marketing unless these products are made in their home area by traditional production.…

BY ROBERT STOKES, IN MALAGA

RANDOM House is bullish about selling more English and Spanish language titles in Spain and Latin America as a result of its planned merger with Penguin Books and outright purchase of Spain’s Random House Mondadori (RHM).…

BY ROBERT STOKES

PLASTICS moulds made in half the time and at two-thirds of the current price suddenly look more than a dream to European mould-makers battling against tough price competition, particularly from the far east.

The European Commission recently reported the success of Foinmoulds, a Euro EUR1.2 million European Union (EU)-funded R&D project to increase productivity and efficiency of injection processes by integrating metallic foams into moulds.…

BY MARK ROWE

THERE is consumer demand in Europe for making confectionery packaging more sustainable, but in the European Union (EU) manufacturers are motivated more in going green by EU legislation.

They are developing ways of reducing, reusing and recycling packaging, and changing its composition to help.…

BY ROBERT STOKES IN MÁLAGA

THIS year I have abandoned my premium brand sun screen in favour of a Deliplus private label product sold by the Spanish supermarket group Mercadona for around EUR 5.00, saving around EUR 12.00 into the bargain.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has been flexing its regulatory muscles to push the roll-out of high-speed broadband networks – trying to fine-tune European Union (EU) competition rules to encourage this development. Brussels is using its current legal powers and consulting on creating new rules and policies, with action being driven by pro-free market Dutch digital agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is threatening legal action against Belgium, Spain, France, Cyprus, Poland and Portugal over alleged failures to bring their national electronic money regulations in line with European Union (EU) law, notably the e-money directive 2009/110/EC. The legislation tries to harmonise market entry conditions amidst a common level of prudential supervision.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE ORGANISATION for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) has released a detailed report on how taxes are paid and structured in its 34 member countries, noting they rose in 26 countries during 2011. Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Slovakia taxpayers were among those hardest hit, with taxes falling in the USA and New Zealand.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPE’S confectionery industry is fighting rearguard moves at the European Parliament to delay the abolition of European Union (EU) quotas on EU sugar production. A report from French conservative MEP Michel Dantin on the new EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has proposed that the quotas stay until 2020 – they are currently to be phased out by 2015.…

BY ROBERT STOKES

ALGAE have been heralded as the universal raw material of the future for biofuels, agricultural feed, nutritional supplements, biochemicals and cosmetics. They gobble up CO2, can clean up waste water, and many will thrive in seawater when the fresh variety is usually limited to the sunnier climes where algae can be grown more cheaply.…

BY ROBERT STOKES

ALGAE have been heralded as the universal raw material of the future for biofuels, agricultural feed, nutritional supplements, biochemicals and cosmetics. They gobble up CO2, can clean up waste water, and many will thrive in seawater when the fresh variety is usually limited to the sunnier climes where algae can be grown more cheaply.…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) consumer alert network RAPEX has reported that Portugal has relaunched tough action against imported cosmetics it deems a potential health risk. Last year saw a spate of filings from Portugal about seizures and sales bans and Lisbon has now redoubled its efforts this year, with eight products targeted by consumer protection authorities in February alone.…

BY LEAH GERMAIN

THE EUROPEAN Commission is taking legal action against 14 European Union (EU) member states, it thinks are failing to protect egg laying hens against animal welfare abuses. According to the Commission, the countries have failed to comply with EU legislation that prohibits farmers from keeping egg-laying hens in confined, tiny cages smaller than 750 square centimetres.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

PORTUGUESE authorities have clamped down on personal care products they regard as potentially harmful for a second month running, European Union (EU) consumer warning network RAPEX has reported. Action was taken against eight products in October, including customs seizures and sales ban.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) consumer safety network RAPEX has warned certain skin whiteners have been blocked from sale over health concerns. The main problem was illegal hydroquinone use, breaching the EU cosmetics directive. This was why Portugal customs blocked imports of Democratic Republic of the Congo-made imports of Angel Cosmetics’ Clairmen brand and ‘Caro White’ cream, plus Ivory Coast-made ‘Skin Light’ cream; Austrian shops withdrew Ivory Coast-made ‘Skin Light’ cream; while France warned about French-made ‘Fair & White’ cream.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

DOUBTS are growing about the wisdom of encouraging biofuel use in the European Union (EU) as a cornerstone of environmental policy aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The EU has painted itself into a corner with its renewable energy directive.…

BY ROBERT STOKES

NATIONALISM and the energy industry have made uneasy bedfellows throughout history, yet Scotland is attracting substantial international investment in renewables despite having, since May and for the first time, a majority government committed to winning independence from the UK.…

BY MICHAEL KOSMIDES, IN ATHENS

A spectre is haunting Europe: the spectre of a possible Greek Euro exit and default. GrExit, as it has been termed, could have catastrophic repercussions for European and possibly the global economy or it could provide some kind of solution for the troubled Eurozone and the heavily indebted country.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A EUROPEAN Union (EU)-funded research project will this month start developing a prototype polymer-zinc car battery, significantly lighter, safer and more environment-friendly than existing batteries. Their lead acid, lithium and nickel bases have waste disposal, weight and chemical stability problems.…

BY MONIKA HANLEY, LEE ADENDORFF, MARK ROWE, ALAN OSBORN, MINDY RAN, GERARD O’DWYER and MARTINA MARECKOVA

FOR an industry that generates energy, heat and maybe cooling, the European cogeneration sector has been operating on a decidedly low output in recent years.…

BY MINI PANT ZACHARIAH

PORTUGUESE bakery group Dan Cake has confirmed to just-food that Indian-made versions of its ‘Danesita’ biscuits, cookies and cakes will enter the Indian sweet bakery market by the year end. It follows Dan Cake and India-based Phadnis Group inking a 66:34 joint venture last month to set up a production facility in Chakan, 30 kilometres from Phadnis’ Indian headquarters in Pune, central India.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A EUROPEAN Union (EU)-funded research project is about to start developing a prototype zinc-polymer car battery, which its scientists hope will be significantly lighter, safer and more environment-friendly than existing batteries. These are of course based on lead acid, lithium and nickel – all carrying problems associated with waste disposal, weight and chemical stability.…

BY MARGUERITE-JEANNE DESCHAMPS, MINI PANT ZACHARIAH and WANG FANGQING

While sales of alcohol in pubs and bars in North America, Europe and the UK have seen a steady decline since the global economic downturn, experts are saying the shift from on-trade to off-trade sales of alcohol has not really had a financial impact on the alcoholic beverage industry as a whole.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A CONSULTANTS report for the European Commission on the impact of biofuel expansion has warned that a reliance on bioethanol could damage the European Union’s (EU) fossil fuels security of supply.

Written by experts from Wood Mackenzie, Ricardo and Celeres, the paper – just released by Brussels – says that with bioethanol sources focused on Brazil and a few other countries, "there is a risk of a high degree of reliance on few sources of ethanol supply."…

BY ALYSSA MCMURTRY

Illicit tobacco problem is reborn in high tax Spain

In the 1990’s Spain was a by-word for smuggled tobacco, but then the country successfully stifled the black market. Now, with higher taxes, contraband tobacco is back in Spain, and legitimate traders are worried.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

SCIENTISTS from a Euro EUR14.6 million research project are to unveil progress at a June 1-3 nanotechnology conference in Budapest on their goal of using nano-medicine to fight Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers in the NAD Project have tried to make a virtue out of the environmental concern that nano-particles can breach the blood-brain-barrier.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is undertaking a series of detailed studies on water scarcity, which will feed into a major policy initiative planned for 2012, almost certainly including legislative reform. The work follows growing concern that Europe is doing too little to conserve its drinking water resources, and that a firm hand from Brussels may be needed to secure future supplies.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

Big European food retailers have been delighted with a new ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) slapping down regulations imposed by the Spanish government to restrict the location and operations of hypermarkets in Catalonia. The court, whose decisions are legal precedents throughout every country and region in the European Union (EU), said Spain had failed to fulfill obligations imposed by the "freedom of establishment" provision of the EU treaties.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission may this year release proposals to reduce the vulnerability of the European Union’s (EU) emissions trading system (ETS) to fraud. Cyber-criminals launched a lucrative attack on its systems in January. How open is this ground-breaking system to fraud?…

BY DAVID HAWORTH

EUROPE: Diversifying university income is touch task – EUA

David Haworth

The rise in Europe’s student population combined with public funding cuts across the continent are producing an unprecedented crisis which can only be met by much greater diversifying of income sources, a conference of more than 100 experts heard in Brussels this week.…

BY LEE ADENDOORF, ALYSSA MCMURTRY, MAKKI MARSEILLES, and KEITH NUTHALL

GLOBAL olive oil manufacturing is on a roll, with the International Olive Council (IOC) saying 2009-10 world production was 3.02 million tonnes, a season-on-season increase of 354,500 tonnes (+13%). This would be the second best olive oil production year ever, next only to the record of 3.17 million tonnes produced in 2003/04.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union’s meat sector will continue to lose exportsto non-EU countries over the next 10 years, creating trade deficits for all major market segments, except pigmeat, a European Commission commodity forecast to 2020 has predicted. Even for poultry – which alone of major European meat sub-sectors increased production in 2008 and 2009 – exports from the European Union will be outstripped by imports over the next 10 years.…

BY JOSEPHINE MCKENNA, in Rome

ON the face of it the record is impressive. In the past 12 months Italian customs officials and other agents have carried out raids on counterfeiters from Milan in the north to Taranto in the south, seizing millions of euros’ worth fake fashion merchandise.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, ALAN OSBORN, MJ DESCHAMPS, MARK ROWE, RENDAN DE BEER, MAKKI MARSEILLES

IT has been a real slog – persuading the European Union’s (EU) 27 member states to implement detailed plans to manage their water resources on a river basin basis, rather than artificial political boundaries bearing little relation to hydrology.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN ‘R20’ initiative launched by outgoing California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to encourage regional governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has been backed by six European sub-national administrations. These are the Paris-area Île-de-France Regional Council, Flevoland (the Netherlands), Azores (Portugal), Istria (Croatia), Alba (Romania) and Donetsk (Ukraine).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, ALAN OSBORN, MJ DESCHAMPS, MARK ROWE, BRENDAN DE BEER and MAKKI MARSEILLES

IT has been a real slog – persuading the European Union’s (EU) 27 member states to implement detailed plans to manage their water resources on a river basin basis, rather than artificial political boundaries bearing little relation to hydrology.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has approved the takeover by Unilever of Sara Lee’s body and laundry care businesses, on condition it sells off the US company’s Sanex brand and related business in Europe. Following an inquiry as the European Union’s (EU) lead competition authority, Brussels concluded there were particular concerns regarding Unilever’s future dominance of some EU deodorant markets.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

MEDIUM-sized and large paint and coating coatings companies and their suppliers have wrongly claimed low administrative charges for small businesses under the European Union’s (EU) REACH chemical control system, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has warned. After the first November 30 deadline for registering chemicals under REACH has passed, ECHA officials will screen claims for the small business administration rate of Euro EUR8,300 and EUR2,070 for micro businesses, assessing whether these claimants were actually small.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

18

THE EUROPEAN Commission has approved the takeover by Unilever of Sara Lee’s body and laundry care businesses, on condition it sells off the US company’s Sanex brand and related business in Europe. Following an inquiry as the European Union’s (EU) lead competition authority, Brussels concluded there were particular concerns regarding Unilever’s future dominance of some EU deodorant markets.…

BY ROBERT STOKES

A SURGE in e-book reading in Spain coincides with exhibition space being devoted to digital publishing for the first time ever at LIBER, the International Book Fair for the Spanish speaking world, from Wednesday to Friday this week in Madrid.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, MJ DESCHAMPS, PAUL COCHRANE

MOROCCO is perfectly placed to be a major bio-based oils and fats exporter to Europe. It is of course very close – being separated from Spain by only nine miles of sea. And with its agriculture fed by plentiful sunshine and its rich fishing grounds, Morocco has huge potential to become a major oil and fat feedstock producer as well as an oils and fats manufacturer in its own right though its developed industrial sector.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has been alarmed by coordinated ‘bot-net’ attacks on computer networks in Britain, Estonia, Georgia, France, and elsewhere, and is beefing up its cyber-defences. Keith Nuthall reports.

IT takes a lot to spark the lumbering bureaucratic behemoth known as the European Union (EU) into hasty action.…

BY GERARD O’DWYER

Sweden’s cheap’n’chic fashion group Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) plans to use its strengthened financial position to roll-out new stores. However, construction hold-ups in southern Europe, with retail space shortages, will reduce the number of planned new openings worldwide in 2010 by around 20 to 220 stores

"We have had to curtail our new opening targets.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

GREEN energy projects will be a priority for infrastructure spending from a Euro EUR68.7 billion European Union (EU) fund managed from 2014 to 2020, say detailed proposals released by the European Commission. These focus on the next phase of the European Union’s (EU) ‘Cohesion Fund’, which helps countries with 90% or less of the EU average income – the 12 eastern and southern European countries becoming member states since 2004, plus Spain, Portugal and Greece.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) is planning to lend Euro EUR90 million to airport operator Aeroportos de Portugal (ANA) to fund improvements to seven airports in the country. The bulk of the money will be spent at the mainland airports of Oporto, Faro and Lisbon, with smaller investments at ANA’s four airports in the Azores archipelago – namely Ponta Delgada, Horta, Santa Maria, and Flores.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE CONSUMER protection authorities of Portugal have been busy with unsafe cosmetics products in September, with five withdrawals reported by European Union consumer safety network RAPEX. Some covered Spanish made products – such as Isdruc ‘Crema despigmentante’ skin lightening cream; plus Tempting ‘Vitamine vital shampoo’ and ‘Live Mask repair’.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RETAIL – WINNERS AND LOSERS

WINNERS

H&M

The Sweden-based brand expanded across the world this year, planning to open 220 new stores, mostly in western Europe and the US. Hennes & Mauritz’ (H&M) third quarter sales of SEK26.89bn (US$4bn) showed a sharp 14% increase on the previous quarter.…

BY EMMA JACKSON

CONSUMERS barely notice the tiny band of code printed on their soft drink can or prescription bottle, but behind the scenes the coding and marking industry thrives on making those seemingly insignificant lines of print more readable, efficient and better integrated with high technology.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has fined 12 producers of animal feed phosphates Euro EUR175million for operating a cartel across Europe, inflating feed prices for livestock producers. Phosphates are widely used in feed, including for cattle, pigs and poultry. The Commission said the cartel covered "most of the EU" in sharing markets and fixing prices.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ENCOURAGEMENT from peers is always a good way to inspire the adoption of good practice. The British recycling sector is no different, especially local authorities, who are often members of networks, associations and federations. Also, given the UK remains an actively engaged member of the European Union (EU), its local and regional authorities receive advice and guidance on boosting their waste management strategies from European bodies as well as national ones.…

BY EMMA JACKSON,RAGHAVENDRA VERMA,WANG FANGQING and PACIFICA GODDARD,

AS people migrate across the globe, the drinks industry has witnessed a slow influx of regionalised flavours into untraditional markets. White and green tea from Asia is now sold across the globe in soft drinks, and ‘exotic’ fruits such as pomegranate, mango and lychee are becoming popular juice flavours in Europe and the US.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) may be legally a single market, food prices range widely across its 27 member states. The most recent survey of 500 comparable products by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency, shows last year (2009) the price of a comparable basket of food and non-alcoholic beverages was more than twice as high in the most expensive EU country than the cheapest.…

BY EMMA JACKSON

A LITTLE healthy competition can drive innovation – and often pays off for those who think outside the box. The beverage industry is no exception, and drinks industry awards continue to recognise some of the industry’s most creative ideas.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has fined 17 producers of prestressing steel Euro 518 million for operating a cartel that lasted 18 years until 2002 and covered all but three of the then 15 European Union (EU) member states – Britain, Ireland and Greece.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

BRITISH and German customs and police officers have arrested 47 suspects in an alleged carousel fraud network exploiting the European Union’s (EU) emissions trading regime. UK authorities arrested 22; there were 25 arrests in Germany. Police in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Portugal, plus non-EU Norway have assisted inquiries.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE ROLL-OUT of the European eCall in-car emergency system is approaching critical mass with 20 countries now committed to operating its supporting infrastructure. The European Commission today announced another five countries were implementing eCall services – Belgium, Denmark, Luxemburg, Malta and Romania.…

BY WANG FANGQING

Given the fast-growing domestic consumption of branded drinks, Chinese beverage manufacturers are racing to expand their production.

The Beijing-based Huiyuan Group (NOTE – SPELLING IS CORRECT), China’s leading fruit juice manufacturer (and which Coca-Cola failed to purchase last year), announced a massive investment of Chinese Yuan CNY5 billion (US dollar USD731 million) in April 2010 to develop a sparkling fruit juice line.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

The success of Tesco and Sainsbury’s private label drinks products in Britain cannot be denied. In a time when many companies are tightening their belts and streamlining their product mix, these supermarket retailers are expanding their own-label (to use the standard UK term) drinks range – and consumers are benefiting.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

IN a month highlighting that many European Union (EU) countries are living beyond their financial means, it was timely perhaps for the European Commission to note that member states also have unsustainable water policies.

In short, many EU governments are failing to prevent the abstraction of fresh water at rates exceeding nature’s ability to replenish supplies.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD

While most of the alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages produced in Brazil are consumed domestically, the exception is the juice sector. Brazil is one of the world’s top three producers of tropical fruit, according to Brazilian Fruits Institute (IBRAF), and an important global provider of fruit juice.…

BY LEAH GERMAIN

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) alert system for potentially dangerous consumer products, RAPEX has – unusually – warned of recalls for cosmetic products produced in the EU, rather than outside member states. German authorities have issued a sales ban on fingernail-modelling gel from Nail Scout, a German-based company.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

ON the face of it, the UK, with other leading western European Union (EU) countries, leads the pack in terms of drawing up and submitting its River Basin Management (RBM) plans to the European Commission – the key first stage requirement of the EU’s Water Framework Directive (WFD).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL and EMMA JACKSON

THE EUROPEAN Commission has reported the number of notifications of potentially unsafe automobiles though the European Union (EU) consumer warning system remains high – being the third most common product category receiving withdrawals and sales bans in 2009.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is threatening legal action against Portugal and Cyprus for failing to insist food packaging is sold in their countries under rules laid down by the European Union’s (EU) ‘nutrition labelling for foodstuffs directive’. Brussels’ concern is that these governments are not ensuring that labels carry recommended daily nutritional intake, energy conversion data and definitions.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

CALLS have been made for major additional spending on European Union (EU) energy infrastructure, now a new European Commission team is in office.

The European Parliament’s industry committee has strengthened EU proposals to ensure member states have sufficient interconnected energy links to deal with any unexpected winter shortages.…

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 DEIRDRE MASON, PACIFICA GODDARD, GAVIN BLAIR and KEITH NUTHALL

NEW technologies devour new resources and the move towards hybrid and electric vehicles could make some currently impoverished countries rich. As the world moves away from fossil fuels, the soft metal lithium will become increasingly in demand as a critical component of auto batteries for green cars.…

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 DEIRDRE MASON, PACIFICA GODDARD, GAVIN BLAIR and KEITH NUTHALL

NEW technologies devour new resources and the move towards hybrid and electric vehicles could make some currently impoverished countries rich. As the world moves away from fossil fuels, the soft metal lithium will become increasingly in demand as a critical component of auto batteries for green cars.…

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 KEITH NUTHALL

MINIMUM excise duty rates on tobacco products across the European Union (EU) are rising and at such rates that demand will almost certainly be depressed in many EU member states. The impact will be especially marked in eastern Europe, where governments have been given additional time to implement hikes in excise duty.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

WITH the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Doha Development Round in the doldrums this year, the European Union (EU) has been focusing on bilateral trade deals and European confectionery producers will benefit.

The most important of recently struck agreements has been an EU-South Korea trade deal, which will create a virtual free trade zone between the signatories.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

The European Commission will spend around Euro 3 million on promoting sales outside the European Union (EU) of French spirits, Italian and Portuguese wines over the next three years. It is spending Euro 1.2 million on marketing and information campaigns in Japan and north America coordinated by Italian wine federation Federdoc; Euro 1 million promoting Portuguese ‘vinho verde’ wines within China, Norway, Latin and north America, campaigns organised by the Comissão de Viticultura da Região dos Vinhos Verdes; and Euro 912 million on promoting Cognac, with campaigns in China, Russia and north America coordinated by France’s Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC).…

BY DEIRDRE MASON

THE AUTOMOTIVE industry has a new potential market opportunity now that the European Union (EU) has finally agreed the technical specifications for its long-awaited European Electronic Toll Service (EETS). Future vehicles could offer a single pre-installed on-board unit that would work for all road-tolling points across the EU.…

BY BRENDAN DE BEER and CARRIE-MARIE BRATLEY

"THIS is one of the most serious situations we have ever been faced with," admitted António Mousinho, chairman of Portugal’s National Haulage Association (ANTRAM) at the beginning of October.

As with other industries in these economically turbulent times, the haulage industry in Portugal and its trade unions and professional associations are becoming increasingly obsessed with simple economic survival.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD

The Venezuelan cigarette market experienced an overall decline in 2008 and the first half of 2009. In 2008, 11.95 billion sticks were sold, an 8.6% drop from the 13.07 billion sticks sold in 2007, according to the United Nations Statistics Division.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A EUROPEAN Union (EU) research project has been launched to prevent allergic reactions to wine, by finding alternatives to sulphur dioxide – widely used by the industry to prevent micro-biological damage to taste and colour.

Organised under the umbrella of EU research network Eureka, wine industry specialists are testing a variety of alternative substances and treatments to reduce the amount of sulphites in wines, which are regarded as an allergen.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

A NEW crisis over the presence of genetically modified (GM) ingredients in food and livestock feed has once more focused attention on the European Union’s (EU’s) controversial GM policies. It has especially raised the spectre of job losses, farm bankruptcies and higher consumer prices if a relaxation of the current de facto zero tolerance restriction applying to unauthorised GM products is not agreed soon.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

HACHETTE Ireland was one of 12 publishers honoured this week at the first awards of the new European Union Prize for Literature (Monday Sept 28). The Dublin-based branch of the Hachette publishing empire was praised for producing one of 12 award winning books: ‘Longshore Drift’ (2006), by Karen Gillece.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE ATTACK by France and Germany on the European Commission’s ‘health check’ reforms to phase out European Union (EU) dairy quotas by 2015 is gathering support, with 16 member states backing increased subsidies. Having failed to persuade the Commission to abandon quota liberalisation, a growing Franco-German-led alliance at the EU Council of Ministers is backing increased subsides while restrictive production quotas expand from 2010 and disappear in 2015.…

 By David Haworth, in Brussels

Among many things the ambitious Swedish presidency of the European Union hopes to achieve in the next five months is a revival of the so-called ‘Lisbon Process’. The what? A few may recall this initiative was launched in 2000 to chart the way the EU would become “the world’s most dynamic, knowledge-based economy.” Rhetorically it became a bouncy castle for politicians, left and right, who could jump up and down with ‘Lisbon’, confident of its crowd-pleasing potential, in Brussels and Strasbourg at least.

But the applause soon died – so much so the whole effort had to be revived a mere five years after it began.

It hasn’t been going great guns since then, either. Not unreasonably, however, EU officials think it’s worth taking out of the drawer in the context of the worst recession since the war.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

GIVEN contract packing is often undertaken by larger businesses and of course, packers usually welcome economies of scale, cross-border trades within the European Union (EU) is commonplace within Europe.

And as a result, naturally, keeping on top of EU legislation is essential for contract packing clients and suppliers.…

By David Haworth

Among many things the ambitious Swedish presidency of the European Union hopes to achieve in the next five months is a revival of the so-called ‘Lisbon Process’.

The what?

A few may recall this initiative was launched in 2000 to chart the way the EU would become "the world’s most dynamic, knowledge-based economy."…

BY ANDREW CAVE

Food commodity prices are seldom out of the news nowadays, due to a mushrooming global population, the food-for-fuel controversy, an increasing focus on sustainability and the continued growth of the organic sector. However, beyond the generality of crop prices spiralling to new highs in 2007 and 2008 and then plummeting – in some cases – back to where they were before the boom, the picture is far from uniform.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

INTERNATIONAL talks are underway to secure Ukraine funding to pay Russia for natural gas to ensure deliveries to Europe can be guaranteed this winter.

The European Commission, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have been meeting with Russian and Ukraine officials to head off a repeat of last winter’s supply crisis.…

By Alan Osborn

The world economic crisis has already begun to affect innovation and research in the better-off countries but this may not be all bad news says the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the association of the world’s 30 leading economies.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has opened nine case files as it attempts to force European Union (EU) member states to comply with EU accounting and auditing directives. Brussels is taking four briefs to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) regarding Austria, Ireland, Italy and Spain, which it accuses of failing to comply with the 2006 statutory audit directive (2006/43/EC).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AS the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) begins its first coordinated enforcement checks of the REACH chemical control system, Europe’s top adhesives industry federation has stressed concerns about its potential uneven application country-to-country.

ECHA announced on April 30 it has launched ‘REACH-EN-FORCE-1’, a joint enforcement project with national inspectors checking pre-registrations, registrations and work on REACH safety data sheets.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A KEY advisory body within the European Union (EU) has warned that UK and other European dealers may have to import more cars in future from Asia, north America and elsewhere, because it fears the recession may cause structural under-capacity amongst EU manufacturers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A KEY advisory body within the European Union (EU) has called for special efforts to prevent recession-prompted rationalisation within the European auto sector going leading to long-term under-capacity in the sector.

The European Economic and Social Committee (a long established expert group that must be consulted on a range of issues by other EU institutions) has warned in a formal opinion that "care must be taken not to equate structural problems with overcapacity alone."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A EUROPEAN Union (EU) research project will establish a consortium of microbial resource centres – called EMbaRC – (NOTE: MIX OF CASES IS CORRECT) harmonising across Europe ways of conserving and identifying samples of organisms such as bacteria, viruses and micro-fungi.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE PORTUGUESE and Spanish knitwear sectors are to benefit from special government programmes designed to support clothing producers in these countries withstand the recession, given these countries regard the sector as having strategic importance. The Portuguese government has announced a major Euro 850 million plan to boost its struggling clothing sector, with Euro 600 million being lavished on export credit insurance.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE PLANNED acquisition of Spanish company sugar and bakery ingredient company Azucarera Ebro S.L. by Britain’s Associated British Food Plc, owner of British Sugar, has been approved by the European Commission. It concluded there are no serious competition issues associated with this international deal, despite there being some overlap by the companies in sugar sales to Spain and Portugal.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, LEAH GERMAIN and MONICA DOBIE

MAYBE the best sign that renewable energies have hit the mainstream is that they now have their very own international organisation: the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Launched in Bonn, Germany, this January, with the support of 76 countries, including its host nation, Spain, Italy, France and Sweden, the roster of signatory nations has since been swollen by India and Belarus.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH

THE NEW secretary general of the European Union (EU) financial watchdog, European Court of Auditors, does not have much on the job training to do.

When Eduardo Ruiz García took up his new posting on March 16 he had already served as a Court official for 20 years and now at 48 he has, in effect, dedicated his professional life to the well-being and improvement of the institution.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE STRENGTH of Britain’s recycling sector is becoming a force to reckon with across Europe, according to the latest available comparative figures from European Union (EU) statistical agency Eurostat. The proportion of municipal waste recycled in the UK equalled the EU average in 2007, it says – 22%.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE DEPENDENCE of the European Union (EU) on imports to meet oil supply needs will rise to 95% by 2030, a European Parliament report has claimed. This will expose the EU to strategic dangers through buying oil from unstable or potentially hostile countries in the Middle East and from Russia, it warned.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

SENIOR Brussels diplomats have been told to revise the proposed Euro 5 billion energy infrastructure building plan drafted by the European Commission to help kickstart Europe’s economy from its current slump.

The EU Council of Ministers (general affairs) released a communiqué saying "adjustments of certain aspects will still be necessary."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A SPECIAL Ecodesign Regulatory Committee has backed European Commission proposals to toughen mandatory energy performance requirements for televisions and ‘white goods’ – such as washing machines and dishwashers. This means some existing models will from mid-2010 be banned from European Union (EU) shops.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EVERY recession has a silver lining: inefficient competitors are unmasked and forced out of business; and governments usually spend freely to pump prime an ailing economy. And for major essential industries such as the power sector, economic slumps can be good times.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE PORTUGUESE government has announced a major Euro 850 million plan to boost its struggling textile and clothing sector, with Euro 600 million being lavished on export credit insurance. Another Euro 180 million will help Portuguese textile and clothing companies secure access to bank loans, with smaller sums being spent, for example, on backing risk capital investment (Euro 20 million); and rationalisation through mergers and acquisitions (Euro 30 million).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has concluded in a detailed report that a fully functioning European Union (EU)-wide single market in natural gas and electricity is far from complete. It spoke of a "mixed picture of the progress of completing the internal energy market".…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) heads of government have approved Euro 3.9 billion in EU spending on energy investment projects, after they finally finished wrangling over the detail of this keystone of their economic stimulus package.

As expected, the final programme has more projects in southern and eastern Europe than in previous drafts.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed allowing a doubling of the duration of its planned cotton production restructuring programme to eight years, and suggested including all cotton ginners in this production-linked subsidy package. It is the latest of a series of initiatives planned by the European Union (EU) executive to use public money to protect industries being battered by the financial crisis and the resulting global recession.…

BY ALAN OSBORN, LUCY JONES and KEITH NUTHALL

INTRODUCTION

CLOTHING and textile production and trade subsidies are under pressure today, as they have not been for many years. There has been a steady trend towards liberalisation in the sector worldwide, stemming from the abolition of the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) in January 2005 and with it, then end of restrictive quotas for imports for the WTO’s 152 member countries.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Parliament has narrowly opposed allowing all European Union (EU) member states to levy reduced VAT rates on alcohol served in restaurants, rather than the generally mandated full rate. Under proposals from the European Commission to boost labour intensive industries, restaurant food will become a low-rate option for all countries.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is taking Portugal to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) claiming that special rights held by its government in utility GALP Energia break European Union (EU) freedom of investment treaty rules. Brussels is particularly concerned about state veto rights on takeovers or joint ventures and any moves Lisbon considers could threaten the secure supply of oil, gas and electricity or other derivatives to Portugal.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced it wants Euro 3.5 billion of the general European Union (EU) economic recovery plan it announced in November spent on energy investment. It has proposed spending Euro 1.75 billion on gas and electricity interconnection projects; Euro 500 million on offshore wind power; and Euro 1.25 billion on carbon capture and storage.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE MAXIMUM amount of duty-free or duty-paid tobacco that can be brought into the European Union (EU) from a non-EU country without paying EU excise duty can now be reduced to just 40 cigarettes. That is an option now offered to member states, which can maintain the previous 200 cigarette limit if they choose.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

NEGOTIATORS are close to forging an international agreement that would ban vessels involved in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing from ports worldwide. The United Nations Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has been hosting the talks, and has reported the "general outlines… on ‘port state’ measures that would deny vessels engaged in IUU fishing access to fishing ports are largely in place."…

BY PHILIPPA JONES, DOMINIQUE PATTON and LUCY JONES

The growth in outsourcing within the clothing and textile sector worldwide has highlighted a key issue, and that is the relative merits of running an integrated company that handles basic production and design, or relying on a string of specialist suppliers to deliver the goods, from fibre supplies, to textile manufacture, design, clothing assembly and retail.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs will use his last year in office to push for the creation of an EU-wide energy regulator with real power. Speaking while the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers debate a hybrid regulatory system for EU energy producers, Piebalgs has said he wants a strong EU regulator to control Europe’s energy giants.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is taking legal action against three European Union (EU) countries over alleged breaches of EU water legislation. It will ask the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to impose potentially massive daily recurring fines of Euro 1,000s against Greece for breaking the EU urban waste water directive.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has cleared the proposed acquisition of baker’s yeast production facilities from GBI, of the Netherlands, by Britain’s Associated British Foods (ABF). Brussels approved the deal after ABF promised to offload GBI yeast businesses in Spain and Portugal to allay competition concerns.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD must generate half its electricity supplies from renewable energy sources by 2050 to avoid the most serious climate change, claims a new International Energy Agency report. It praises renewable programmes in Spain, Germany, Denmark and Portugal (wind-power) and China (solar heating).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE OLD 15 member European Union (EU) will hit its Kyoto Protocol collective target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 8% for the period 2008-2012 from 1990 levels, but only by financing pollution cuts in poor countries abroad.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

CONTINENTAL European countries have started making major pushes to increase the amount of electric cars in operation. The initiatives mirror efforts by the UK government, with prime minister Gordon Brown recently promising GBPounds 90 million to support the development of electric, hybrid and other alternative fuel vehicles.…

BY PATRICIA KELLY

A LENGTHY investigation over several years into the impact of indoor air quality on public health will result in a series of policy recommendations, pushing the European Commission into proposing formal regulations fixing the problem across the European Union (EU).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has cleared the proposed acquisition of baker’s yeast production facilities from GBI, of the Netherlands, by Britain’s Associated British Foods (ABF). Brussels approved the deal after ABF promised to offload GBI yeast businesses in Spain and Portugal to allay competition concerns.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A MAN-MADE ecological disaster that almost destroyed a fishing industry is now being reversed. The northern Aral Sea – once a shallow saline remnant – is now growing again, boosting fish production. Excess irrigation shrank central Asia’s Aral Sea by 70% from 1960 to 2004, and its level dropped about 20 metres, splitting it in two in 1990: a small Northern Aral Sea entirely within Kazakhstan and a large Southern Aral Sea, shared by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) product safety network RAPEX has reported a series of EU market withdrawals of personal care products because they contain substances banned under the EU cosmetics directive:

*Estonia banned two lines of Turkish nail polish Mirra lux for including dibutyl phthalate (6.17% by weight);

*Ivory Coast-made whitening cream Lightening Beauty Crème has been withdrawn from the Irish market for containing hydroquinone (3.8%); and

*Portugal has blocked the sale of Italian hair colouring cream Color Contrast for containing the banned substance m-phenylenediamine.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE INTERNATIONAL Energy Agency (IEA) has concluded that 50% of global electricity supplies must come from renewable sources by 2050 to avert the most serious effects of climate change. In a new report, the Paris-based agency said the most effective renewable energy policies involve Germany, Spain, Denmark and Portugal developing onshore windpower and China cost effective solar heating.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A EUROPEAN Union (EU) research project has been launched to prevent allergic reactions to wine, by finding alternatives to sulphur dioxide – widely used by the industry to prevent micro-biological damage to taste and colour.

Organised under the umbrella of EU research network Eureka, wine industry specialists are testing a variety of alternative substances and treatments to reduce the amount of sulphites in wines, which are regarded as an allergen.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) product safety network RAPEX has reported a series of EU market withdrawals of personal care products because they contain substances banned under the EU cosmetics directive:

*Estonia banned two lines of Turkish nail polish Mirra lux for including dibutyl phthalate (6.17% by weight);

*Ivory Coast-made whitening cream Lightening Beauty Crème has been withdrawn from the Irish market for containing hydroquinone (3.8%); and

*Portugal has blocked the sale of Italian hair colouring cream Color Contrast for containing the banned substance m-phenylenediamine.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE MUCH praised Mediterranean diet – relying on fresh fruits and vegetables – is being discarded by consumers in countries where it was created. The UN’s Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is warning growing prosperity in southern Europe, and to some extent the Levant and north Africa, has led locals to eat fattier more calorific foods.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has released Euro 5.4 million in grants to European Union (EU) wine producers helping them market products across the EU. The money will be funnelled through national producer and marketing organisations, funding "public relations, promotional or publicity… highlighting EU products’…quality, hygiene, food safety, nutrition, labelling, animal welfare or environment-friendliness…" The payments include Euro 750,000 to the Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne (Burgundy), France; Euro 750,000 to port promoter Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto, of Portugal; Euro 1.63 million to the Italian Wine Union (UIV); Euro 1.15 million to Italy’s ATI – Wine experiences organisation; and Euro 1.15 million to CVR Alentejana, southern Portugal.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ANOTHER eight traditionally made European food products have been added to the European Union’s (EU) protected geographical indication lists, preventing these foodstuffs being copied by food manufacturers based outside the regions where they are traditionally manufactured.

Three of these newly protected products are from Portugal: a special rice – ‘Arroz Carolino das Lezírias Ribatejanas’; a smoked sausage ‘Alheira de Vinhais’; and a ham ‘Presunto de Vinhais’, also known as ‘Presunto Bísaro de Vinhais’.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has today announced the release of Euro 5.4 million in grants to European Union (EU) wine producers to help them market their products across the EU. The money will be funnelled through national producer and marketing organisations and will pay for "public relations, promotional or publicity… highlighting EU products’…quality, hygiene, food safety, nutrition, labelling, animal welfare or environment-friendliness…" said a Commission note.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced that it will be spending Euro 2.85 million promoting the sales of Italian and Portuguese wines within the European Union (EU). The money will finance marketing and information campaigns across Europe already planned by relevant wine sector organisations.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

THE EUROPEAN Commission has "put on hold" its investigation into the proposed acquisition of parts of the Netherlands food ingredients company GBI by Associated British Foods of the UK because certain information sought by Brussels had not arrived by the time of an inquiry deadline.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE MUCH praised Mediterranean diet – relying on fresh fruits and vegetables – is being discarded by consumers in countries where it was created. The UN’s Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is warning growing prosperity in southern Europe, and to some extent the Levant and north Africa, has led locals to eat fattier more calorific foods.…

By Keith Nuthall

The launch of a new Euro-Mediterranean University in Slovenia dedicated to higher education courses focused on issues of importance to European, African and Levantine countries bordering the sea has been given a formal seal of approval. The creation of the institution was welcomed within a joint declaration issued by heads of state and government from 43 countries at a Paris summit launching a Mediterranean Union organisation.…

By Alan Osborn

The 27 EU member states will have to speed up their educational progress if they are to meet a range of self-imposed targets deemed necessary if the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs is to be successful by 2010.…

By Alan Osborn

European collaborative research network EUREKA has strengthened its links with the European Union (EU) amidst concerns that the independent initiative is "running out of steam". The closer connection with EU institutions has manifested itself in the Eurostars programme – a six-year ?800 million project to support high risk research by small and medium-sized European companies, which is a joint EUREKA-European Commission initiative.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has authorised Portugal to halve the excise duty on beer produced in its Atlantic archipelago Madeira, even where breweries’ production exceed the maximum capacity allowed under EU rules for such a reduction.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

HUNGARY, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia are to demand a revised European Union (EU) emissions trading scheme grant them (and fellow eastern Europeans) lower targets for reducing greenhouse gas pollution. In a joint proposal expected to be presented to EU ministers this week, they argue that eastern Europe has already significantly reduced the EU’s collective CO2 emissions, and should not be expected to continue making steep reductions from 2012 onwards.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF, in Lucca, Italy

OF the 3,000 students who will graduate from fashion school this year in the UK, only 500 will find jobs in the clothing and textile sector. They may be highly creative and excellent designers, but this is not always what the industry wants: many fashion producers say British graduates are ill-prepared to compete and adapt to a workplace characterised by overseas manufacturing bases, highly computerised environments and complex logistical production scenarios.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

REFORMS to the European Union’s (EU) cotton subsidy system have been approved two years after previous changes were outlawed by the European Court of Justice. It ruled these 2004 reforms had been flawed through a lack of impact assessments and consultation.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AGREEMENT has been secured on a new European Union (EU) directive reducing or banning 33 pollutants – mainly pesticides and heavy metals – found in EU rivers, lakes and coastal waters. By 2018, member states will have to reduce pollution from "priority substances", while blocking or phasing out emissions, discharges and losses of "priority hazardous substances".…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A REPORT from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) has revealed that almost a half of OECD member countries (including many in Europe) have potentially dangerous nutrient and pesticide concentrations in drinking water sources.

Tests carried out in recent years (NOTE: CALLED MID-2000’S IN THE REPORT) on surface water and groundwater monitoring sites in agricultural areas show these pollutants often "exceed national drinking water recommended limits" said a new OECD report on the environmental impact of farming.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ENVIRONMENTAL health officers think they are helping keep people fit and well by reducing pollution and food disease. But maybe the best move the cold, rheumatism and asthma sufferers of Britain can make to be healthy is emigrate to a Greek island, sunbathe (moderately) and eat fish, vegetables and olive oil.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers are debating an urgent rescue package for a European fishing sector that is being buffeted by high fuel prices. European Commission officials are drafting formal proposals, which would suspend certain European Fisheries Fund subsidy controls for two years.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE BRITISH government is facing legal proceedings from the European Commission, which claims that the UK has failed to arrange for a sufficient number of checks on lorry drivers’ working time. Brussels is taking action at the European Court of Justice (ECJ), alleging Britain is breaching a directive – 2006/22/EC – on implementing road transport employment legislation.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has authorised Portugal to halve the excise duty on beer produced in Madeira, even where breweries’ production exceed the maximum capacity allowed under EU rules for such reductions. Under the EU’s excise directive 92/83/EEC, small breweries can have excise duties halved, when producing under 200,000 hectolitres-per-annum.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

BRITAIN has one of the European Union’s (EU) worst rates of salmonella contamination of slaughtered pigs, a new study from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has found. Analysing data collected from 2006 to 2007, the EU agency has concluded that 21.2% of slaughtered pigs within the UK had contracted the disease, compared to an EU-wide average of 10.3%.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has hailed as a model a Portuguese scheme that retrained 1,700 unemployed workers in computer, Internet and telecommunications skills after losing jobs from the country’s textile and clothing sector.

Vladimir Spidla, the European Union’s (EU) social affars Commissioner praised the system at a conference staged near Porto by CITEVE, a private hi-technology textiles and clothing group.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN ALLIANCE of Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden have effectively blocked moves to create a European Public Prosecutor position. The European Commission has dropped draft proposals establishing the post within Eurojust, the European Union’s (EU) network of prosecution agencies.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has hailed as a model a Portuguese scheme that retrained 1,700 unemployed workers in computer, Internet and telecommunications skills after losing jobs from the country’s textile and clothing sector.

Vladimir Spidla, the European Union’s (EU) social affars Commissioner praised the system at a conference staged near Porto by CITEVE, a private high-technology textiles and clothing group.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has told Portugal to stop banning fixing tinted film on motor vehicle windows, as an illegal restriction of European Union (EU) free trade. The court noted that EU vehicle manufacturing standards allow tinted glazing blocking up to 30% of light (more in rear windows with two exterior rear-view mirrors fitted).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

PORTUGUESE auto workers who recently lost their jobs in layoffs are to receive Euro 2.42 million from the European Union (EU) in social assistance and retraining packages. The money will come from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, designed to help Europe cope with economic change brought by worldwide economic change.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is pushing for umbrella organisations controlled by an alliance of local municipalities to be subject to public procurement procedures when awarding contracts for joint water services. It is threatening European Court of Justice legal action against a consortium of Italian local governments called Autorità d’Ambito Territoriale Ottimale n.2 – Marche Centro Ancona (ATO 2), which has awarded a water services contract to a company Multiservizi, itself owned by the municipalities.…

By Keith Nuthall

EFFECTIVE tertiary education is a sure fire way to achieve economic growth, a new report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has stressed. But universities should avoid striving for quick fixes such as swift commercialisation of studies and funnelling research resources into the latest scientific hotspot, such as nanotechnology or IT.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Pesticides Action Network (PAN) pressure group has claimed independent tests have revealed wines sold in the European Union (EU) may contain residues of 10 potentially harmful pesticides. It examined 40 EU-purchased bottles from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal, South Africa, Australia and Chile – 34 conventional and six organic: the conventional wines contained 148 pesticide residues in total, having one to 10 pesticides each – an average-per-bottle exceeding four.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has opened a detailed merger probe into the proposed acquisition of certain parts of the Netherlands’ GBI by Britain-based Associated British Foods (ABF). Both companies produce dry, compressed and liquid baker’s yeast and Brussels fears competition problems in Portugal, Spain and France.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE SLOVENIAN government has tabled compromise proposals to break the current political logjam at the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers over gas supply unbundling. As current EU president, Slovenia has suggested for instance that some joint ownership of energy producing and transmission utilities could occur if there were "additional safeguards" preventing conflicts of interest, and guaranteeing the "structural independence of decision making" by distribution operators.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A NEW fishing agreement has been negotiated between the European Commission and Mauritania, slashing maximum catch allowances, after an earlier deal was poorly exploited by European Union (EU) fishermen. Under the replacement agreement – which should run from this August to July 2012 – catch quotas for EU vessels in Mauritania waters will fall by 25% for cephalopods; by between 10% and 50% for demersal species (mainly shrimp and hake); and by 43% for small pelagic fish.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Parliament has backed European Commission proposals to increase the current European Union (EU) minimum excise tax rate on diesel to match that for unleaded petrol. However, MEPs have proposed phasing the increase from diesel’s current Euro 302/1,000 litres rate to unleaded petrol’s Euro 359/1,000 by 2015, with Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania having until 2016, but Spain, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and Greece acting immediately.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Parliament has backed proposals to increase the current EU minimum excise tax rate on diesel to match that for unleaded petrol. However, MEPs want to phase the increase from Euro 302/1,000 litres to Euro 359 by 2015, with Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania having until 2016 – Spain, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and Greece acting immediately.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is taking Portugal to the European Court of Justice alleging illegally excess red tape regarding exporting excisable goods – notably alcohol. Lisbon insists an administrative document is sent to customs officials six working hours before their release by exporting Portuguese warehouses.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is taking Portugal to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) alleging illegally excess red tape regarding the export of excisable products – including tobacco goods. Lisbon insists an administrative document is sent to customs officials six working hours before their release by exporting Portuguese warehouses.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

LEGAL restrictions that are limiting the availability of motor vehicle inspection centres in Portugal are to be challenged at the European Court of Justice, which may order that they be removed. The European Commission thinks the Portuguese government is breaking European Union freedom of trade restrictions by maintaining the rules, maybe preventing the operation of a sufficient number of inspection centres.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has taken another step to prevent the levying of VAT on car registration taxes charged within a package price by automobile dealers, telling Austria, Finland and Malta to stop this double taxation. It has threatened legal action if it is not obeyed.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is taking Portugal to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) alleging illegally excess red tape regarding the export of excisable goods – notably alcoholic drinks. Lisbon insists an administrative document is sent to foreign European Union (EU) customs officials six working hours before their released by exporting Portuguese warehouses.…

BY MARK ROWE

THE ANNOUNCEMENT by the UK government that it intends to build a new generation of nuclear power plants stands out, not just because of the scale of the proposals, but because it is the first such comprehensive initiative in Europe for some years.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is taking Portugal to the European Court of Justice alleging illegally excess red tape regarding the export of excisable goods – including perfumes. Lisbon insists that an administrative document is sent to foreign European Union customs officials administering imports of these goods six working hours before their released by exporting Portuguese warehouses.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) and Mauritania have agreed to renegotiate and downsize their fishing agreement granting EU fishing boats the right to exploit the north African country’s fishing stocks. These talks follow the embarrassing news that EU fishing fleets have failed to avail themselves of the rights made available to them in the existing agreement, which had been hailed as a groundbreaking deal.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has been approving a series of operational programmes for many European Union (EU) member states’ fishing (and aquaculture) sectors, outlining how it will target money from the European Fisheries Fund (EFF).

One of the largest recipients of this Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) subsidy scheme is France, which is to receive Euro 216 million from 2007-13, less than it received under the 2000-2006 Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG), which supplied Euro 278 million.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

HEAVIER vehicles such as SUVs and luxury models will be able to breach a proposed European Union (EU) carbon dioxide cap, under formally proposed legislation now tabled by the European Commission. Pressure from German manufacturers forced Brussels into abandoning an absolute cap for all new models of 130 grams of CO2 per kilometre.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has highlighted eight member states as having failed to submit national energy efficiency action plans as required by the European Union’s (EU) energy services directive. Legal action has already been launched against 10 member states – but two of these (Belgium and Slovakia) submitted action plans in December.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers have been asked to approve an increase in the exploitation by EU ships of the rich tuna stocks surrounding Indian Ocean island archipelago the Seychelles. EU fishing businesses will have to pay for the privilege however: whilst the general limit on EU tonnage accessing Seychelles waters should rise from 55,000 to 63,000 tonnes, the money paid by vessel operators will rise from Euro 25 to 35 per tonne per annum, which would – said a note from the European Commission – bring fees in line with other EU tuna access agreements.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

SPANISH wine makers will receive the most money – Euro 162 million – for improving their vineyards, in the latest tranche of European Union (EU) grants earmarked for this purpose.

The European Commission will spend Euro 510 million across the EU on viticulture reform in 2007/8, with money allotted for variety conversion, relocation of vineyards and improvements to vineyard management techniques.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A PROPOSED liberalisation of European Union (EU) design rights legislation, allowing car parts makers to copy and sell spares already made by vehicle manufacturers across the EU has been accepted by the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee. It said: "The directive will allow suppliers to produce motor vehicle components which are identical to the original parts without infringing design protection."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is refusing to give up on Russia and its neighbours as stable energy partners for the future, despite the largely inconclusive summit between member states and Moscow last month (October) in Mafra, Portugal. It failed to make progress on the demands from the European Commission for reciprocal liberalisation in Russian energy markets, should the EU allow Russian companies – notably Gazprom – a free hand in member states gas sectors.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A PROPOSED liberalisation of European Union (EU) design rights legislation, allowing lorry parts makers to copy and sell spares already made by vehicle manufacturers across the EU has been accepted by the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee. A committee communiqué said: "The directive will allow suppliers to produce motor vehicle components which are identical to the original parts without infringing design protection."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE LEVEL of incineration and recycling of municipal waste within Britain is as low as former communist countries in eastern Europe, a new European Environment Agency (EEA) report has concluded. In an assessment the 27 European Union (EU) member states, the EEA bracketed Britain with Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE LEVEL of incineration and recycling of municipal waste within Britain is as low as former communist countries in eastern Europe, a new European Environment Agency (EEA) report has concluded. In an assessment of the contrasting waste management practices in the 27 European Union (EU) member states, the EEA bracketed Britain with Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.…

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.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Parliament’s environment committee wants European Union (EU) rules to insist that biofuel production is environmentally sustainable, even an increase in this growing fuel sector reduces CO2 emissions. The call was made in amendments tabled to European Commission proposed reforms to the EU fuel quality directive to reduce CO2 production.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL and ALAN OSBORN

GEOGRAPHICALLY Russia is part of Europe. Moscow is 1,557 miles from London, but 3,456 miles from New York. The Russian capital is also just 760 miles from Stockholm, as the crow flies. These figures are worth considering when trying understanding the often fraught energy diplomacy between Russia and the European Union (EU).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

UNANIMOUS agreement has been secured at the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers over a recovery plan for bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Amidst widespread concern about overfishing and low stock levels, ministers have written into EU law, stock management policies for eastern bluefin tuna recommended by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in 2006.…

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

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 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

European Commission officials are deciding whether to launch legal action against 22 member states of the European Union (EU) who have failed to implement key legislation allowing researchers to move between EU universities. Because non-EU researchers have faced burdensome immigration procedures when undertaking research projects involving working at different European universities, the EU approved a ‘researchers’ visa’ directive in 2005, ordering member states to introduce a fast-track immigration system.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

BRITAIN is comparatively free of particulate matter PM10 which can cause serious respiratory problems, the latest Europe-wide pollution survey from the European Environment Agency (EEA) has concluded. It said the "highest urban concentrations were observed in Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain" plus western Balkan cities, with northern Italy’s Po Valley, parts of Belgium and the Netherlands, and southern Spain being the worst affected.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

HUMAN nature’s tendency to let sleeping dogs lie means that international initiatives to deal with chronic problems often only come to fruition after a major disaster. And such was the case with the formation of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).…

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 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 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.…

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 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

A CHINK of light has emerged in the perennially taut energy relations between the European Union (EU) and Russia: both sides have agreed to establish a committee to examine how a system of gas unbundling ‘reciprocity’ might work.…

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 MONICA DOBIE

THE EUROPEAN Commission will close the bluefin tuna fishery in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean for rest of 2007 because the annual quota of 16,779.5 tonnes has been exhausted. Fisheries controlled by (Greek) Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Spain will affected.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission will close the bluefin tuna fishery in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean for rest of 2007 because the annual quota of 16,779.5 tonnes has been exhausted. Fisheries controlled by (Greek) Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Spain will affected.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has the proposed acquisition of Novartis’s Gerber baby-food business by Switzerland’s Nestlé. Although the merging businesses offer some similar manufactured baby food in Poland, Cyprus, Iceland and Portugal, Brussels concluded there was no serious competition risk.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

WITH packaged goods moving with ever greater freedom and speed between the member states of the European Union (EU), it is of no surprise that the EU has legislated extensively to regulate the industry. It is a raison d’être of the EU to create harmonised rules of key economic importance to oil trade between its member states, and also to minimise cross-border problems such as pollution.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) research network Eureka is developing edible film packaging to prevent mixed pre-cut vegetables from sweating and losing their freshness. Eureka’s Researchers from the EUROAGRI-GREENTEC project says a key aim is to reduce packaging waste, through consumers eating the wrappings.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has sent final legal warnings to 10 European Union (EU) member governments, telling them to abide by minimum standards for the training of professional drivers working in their countries. EU directive 2003/59 imposes requirements for initial qualification and continuing training: compulsory basic training of 280 hours, and periodic training of 35 hours every five years to update knowledge and skills.…

BY MONICA DOBIE

CONCERNS that non-British bus and coach drivers from 10 European Union (EU) member states could have weak professional driving training and be a public transport safety risk are being addressed by the European Commission. It is threatening action at the European Court of Justice against these countries for not complying with an EU directive on professional drivers training that insists upon 280 hours compulsory basic training and 35 hours further training every five years.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

SPANISH and Italian fishing businesses and regulators have been blasted by the European Commission for condoning or participated in unauthorised or illegal fishing practices. In the latest statistical report on such problems, which compared national fleets during 2005, the Commission notes that the number of cases was at all time high – 10,443 across the EU, compared with 9,660 in 2004.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) air passengers are generally supportive of today’s increased airport security measures, a European Commission-funded Gallup opinion poll has revealed. Across all 27 member states, a majority of informed respondents (61%) consider airport security controls appropriate, one quarter (24%) insufficient and only 16% excessive.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE PORTUGUESE government is being taken to the European Court of Justice by the European Commission over allegations it is breaking EURATOM rules regarding its operation of the Instituto Tecnológico e Nuclear research reactor in Lisbon. Brussels claims a failure to follow EURATOM- mandated administrative controls, notably over the discharge of radioactive effluents.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) research network Eureka is developing edible film packaging to prevent mixed pre-cut vegetables from sweating and losing their freshness. Eureka’s Researchers from the EUROAGRI-GREENTEC project says a key aim is to reduce packaging waste, through consumers eating wrappings.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has demanded that Portugal stops requiring administrative export documents covering incoming tobacco imports be lodged with its competent customs officers at least six hours before their departure from another European Union (EU) member state. Brussels says the anti-fraud measure is excessive and breaks EU freedom of movement of goods rules.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has struck an important deal with Algeria, ensuring it supplies gas to European markets competitively, scrapping restrictive profit sharing contracts. Algeria is a key gas exporter in the EU’s fight to secure energy security without relying on Russia, and Algiers has now agreed with the European Commission that pipeline gas can be sold-on within Europe, without a cut going to Algerian gas producer Sonatrach.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has lost patience with Portugal over its restrictions on the import of European Union (EU)-made polyethylene water pipes, asking the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to impose heavy recurring fines. If Lisbon does not scrap the restrictions quickly, judges could soon impose daily penalties of many thousands of Euro, payable until Portugal complies with an earlier ECJ ruling against its pipe import policy.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has lost patience with Portugal over its restrictions on the import of European Union (EU)-made polyethylene water pipes, asking the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to impose heavy recurring fines. If Lisbon does not scrap the restrictions quickly, judges could soon impose daily penalties of many thousands of Euro, payable until Portugal complies with an earlier ECJ ruling against its pipe import policy.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has launched a research project – called EuroMedCitrusNet – aimed at reducing the transfer of pathogens from citrus fruits, through processing into final food and drink products, such as juice. Researchers will look at processing chains amongst key Mediterranean suppliers, boosting training and technology, while increasing small and medium-sized citrus fruit business participation in food safety research.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) environment Commissioner will push ahead with legal action after EU member states continued to de-list bathing areas from officially-approved beaches subject to cleanliness tests, especially in Mediterranean holiday spots about to be flooded with British holidaymakers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has relaunched its bid to split the amount of European Union (EU) subsidies paid to EU cotton producers from the volume of cotton sent to market, following an embarrassing court reversal last September. Then, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) overturned a 2003 reform along these lines, because of weaknesses in an earlier impact study that had ignored labour expenses and the potential effects on the European ginning industry.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A MAJOR fight against salmonella contamination of food production has been launched by the European Commission, which has secured approval for a regulation forcing member states to reduce the prevalence of the disease amongst their broiler (poultry meat) flocks to 1% or less by 2011.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A MAJOR fight against salmonella contamination of food production has been launched by the European Commission, which has secured approval for a regulation forcing member states to reduce the prevalence of the disease amongst their broiler (poultry meat) flocks to 1% or less by 2011.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A NEW fishing access deal has been negotiated between the European Commission and the Ivory Coast. Running six years from this June, the agreement is designed to replace an existing deal in place since 1990. The new deal will focus entirely on tuna, wIth European Union (EU) fishing rights being cut from an existing 9,000 to 7,000 tonnes per year, to be exploited by 25 seiners and 15 surface long liners, (down from 34 and up from 11 respectively under the existing system).The…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE ORGANISATION for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) working group on bribery has strengthened its criticism of Britain’s dropping a bribery investigation concerning BAE Systems and the Al Yamamah defence contract with Saudi Arabia. At a March meeting, the committee “reaffirmed its serious concerns” about the matter and alleged “continued shortcomings in UK anti-bribery legislation”, for instance over the liability of legal persons to foreign bribery charges.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BRITAIN and 10 other European Union (EU) member states have been attacked by an unusual alliance of electrical goods manufacturers and environmentalists who allege they have failed to properly implement the EU WEEE directive on waste from electrical and electronic equipment.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has rejected arguments by the European Commission that when a member state receives funding to reduce the size of its fishing fleet, it should not re-issue licences left unused when boats are transferred to a non-European Union (EU) register.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BRITAIN and 10 other European Union (EU) member states have been attacked by an unusual alliance of electrical goods manufacturers and environmentalists for failing to properly implement the EU WEEE directive on waste from electrical and electronic equipment.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has unveiled further data underlining the risk to human health posed by widespread contamination of broiler chicken flocks across Europe with the pathogen salmonella. In its latest figures, which back earlier alarming data about salmonella contamination within egg production systems, EFSA said that in 2005-6, almost a quarter – 23.7% – of EU broiler (meat) flocks were contaminated with salmonella.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is threatening to ask the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to impose daily recurring fines of Euro 1,000s on Portugal for failing to comply with a 2005 ECJ ruling that it bring its drinking water quality in line with European Union (EU) standards.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE STEEPNESS in the decline of British commercial fishing catches from 1995 until 2005 has been highlighted in a new report from European Union (EU) statistical agency Eurostat. It shows that for the north-east Atlantic, North Sea and the Baltic, total British commercial catches fell from 905,678 tonnes in 1995 to 658,802 in 2005, a fall of 28%.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is catching up with the United States in innovation, a European Commission-financed statistical report has claimed, although the US still has many significant advantages. This year’s European Innovation Scoreboard (2006) concludes: “The innovation gap between the EU [minus new members Bulgaria and Romania] and Japan, and in particular with the US is decreasing.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FURTHER details of an important European Union (EU) fishing access deal with Madagascar lasting until 2012 have been released as the European Commission asks EU ministers to formally approve the agreement. Papers released by Brussels show that as well as 44 freezer tuna seiners, and 44 surface longliners, five French vessels may carry out exploratory line or bottom longline fishing for demersal species over two six-month periods.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has thrown out the blocking of the European Union-wide registration by Spain’s Bodegas Franco-Españolas of the ROYAL trademark for Rioja wines, overturning a decision by EU’s Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) – OHIM.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) fishermen will be able to harvest 10,000 tonnes of tuna and related species from Mozambique Indian Ocean waters from this year to 2012, under a new agreement negotiated by the European Commission. This new fisheries partnership agreement, replaces an agreement spanning 2004-6, assuming it is rubber stamped by EU ministers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) is pushing signatories to its new Protocol on Water and Health to its Convention on Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes to agree detailed targets on improving European water quality.…

BY MARK ROWE

DESPITE devastating hailstorms along Italy’s Adriatic Coast and concerns over damage from the olive fly, the forecast for the olive oil market for the 2006 season is positive, according to the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC).

"All the information available predicts a good harvest for this season" said a spokesman for the IOOC.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers have ordered a freeze on catches of round-nose grenadier in the North Sea, including in Norwegian waters, saying catches in 2005-6 should match average annual catches in 1996-2003. It is one of a number of conservation-minded measures recently ordered by the EU Council of Ministers, one being a ban on catching and landing white sharks and basking sharks in any EU waters, the ban applying to non-EU and EU-flagged fleets.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced it will spend around Euro 4 million helping Cypriot, Greek and Portuguese wine producers export to the USA, Canada, Japan, China, India and other big non-European Union (EU) markets. As usual in these cases, Brussels is funding 50% of planned marketing programmes, matching financing from national governments or private sources.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE UNITED Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has been successfully pushing the adoption of a 1968 convention harmonising road signs and signals into the former Soviet Union. Widely supported in western Europe, Kyrgyzstan has become the 54th contracting party to its Convention on Road Signs and Signals, leaving only Armenia and Azerbaijan to sign up in the ex-USSR.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Parliament has approved in principle a proposed European Union (EU) regulation which would allow police and other law enforcement officials within the EU’s Schengen open border area to inspect registration documentation held in all countries of this zone.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced it will spend Euro 450 million on upgrading European Union (EU) vineyard production during 2006-7, helping EU wine producers fend off New World competitors. The money will go on varietal conversion, relocating vineyards and improving vineyard management, although not routine replanting.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is moving towards supporting environment-friendly road transport, rather than dedicating resources to promoting public transport, a European Parliament debate organised by the Automobile and Society Forum, has heard. The European Commission is currently reviewing its 2001 transport white paper and its working papers have noted "disappointment" over the results of the EU’s pro-public transport policies.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A FISHING access deal allowing European Union (EU) fishermen to exploit Guinea-Bissau’s Atlantic fish stocks until June next year has been approved by the EU Council of Ministers. The agreement was negotiated to run from this June, and includes fishing rights for:

*Shrimps: Italy boats of up to 1,776 gross registered tonnes (GRT), Spain to 1,421 GRT, Portugal 1,066 GRT, and Greece 137 GRT;

*Finfish and cephalopods: Spain 3,143 GRT, Italy 786 GRT, and Greece 471 GRT;

*Tuna seiners: Spain 20, France 19, and Italy 1; and

*Surface longliners and pole-and-line vessels: Spain 21, France 5, and Portugal 4.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE COST to Britain’s exchequer of refusing to participate in the European Union’s legal agreement with Philip Morris over illicit cigarette trades has become clearer with the European Commission dividing up the spoils. PMI has promised to pay US$1 billion over 12 years to the European Commission and 10 European Union (EU) member states who have participated in the deal, with the cigarette giant already handing over US$325 million.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has formally threatened legal action against Denmark, France, Portugal and Sweden for failing to install continuous safety controls required by a European Union (EU) directive on ‘the control of high-activity sealed radioactive sources and orphan sources’.…

BY LIZ HALL

SIX years ago, government representatives from nine South American countries gathered in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, to sign a document of great importance to those concerned with fighting money-laundering (ML) and terrorism financing (TF).

On December 8, 2000, representatives of the governments of the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, signed the Founding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) formally establishing GAFISUD, a regional body modelled on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has declared illegal changes to the European Union’s (EU) cotton subsidy system, which effectively decoupled aid from actual production. The ECJ has ruled that by ignoring the effect of reducing aid on ginning businesses and also failing to take labour costs into account when framing the new system, the European Commission breached the key EU principle of acting "proportionately" when faced with a problem.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

The Dutch are Europe’s top recyclers of household rubbish, recycling 65% of their total waste according to a new study by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). Next come the Austrians at 59% and the Germans at 58% says the report though it notes that in parts of Germany some local areas charge per kilo of waste not recycled and the regional collection of recyclable materials goes up to more than 65 per cent.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

MEDITERRANEAN countries face raising duties on fortified wines such as port and sherry under proposals to increase minimum European Union excise duties by 31%. Fortified wine tax would increase by 9 Euro cents in Greece and Cyprus on 70cl bottles; 8 cents in Malta; 3 cents in Portugal.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

MEDITERRANEAN countries face raising duties on fortified wines such as port and sherry under a proposal to increase minimum European Union (EU) excise duties by 31%. The European Commission wants to maintain the value they commanded when introduced in 1993.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) has drawn up plans to lend Portuguese electricity utility EDP (Energias de Portugal) up to Euro 180 million to retrofit three coal-fired power stations in Spain and Portugal. The plan is to research, design, build and install clean coal technology, namely flue gas abatement systems, removing SO2, NOx and particulates.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has asked European Union (EU) ministers to authorise until January 2011 the right of the Isle of Man and 13 foreign EU member states to levy low rates of VAT on certain building repair services.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE INTERNATIONAL Energy Agency (IEA) has said in its latest annual report that wind energy still only satisfies 1.2% of power demand in its 20 rich country members, although that proportion is increasing fast in some cases. It said that from 1995 to 2005, the contribution of wind power to national electricity demand rose from 0.2%, with 12 IEA members being in the European Union (EU).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

PORTUGAL has been ordered by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to reform its copyright law, so that the country’s public libraries have a duty to pay authors when they lend books. By not writing such a commitment into its national law, the Portuguese government has been censured by the court for breaching European Union directive 92/100/EEC on rental right, lending right and copyright.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is taking legal action against five member states for failing to comply with a range of accounting-related European Union (EU) laws. Acting in its official role as guardian of EU treaties and legislation, these include:

*Taking Austria to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for failing to implement a 2000 directive on financial transparency regarding transactions between member states and other public bodies.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Wine Management Committee has approved the latest round of compulsory distillation handouts in the European Union (EU) – this time to Portugal, who will receive aid of Euro 1.914 per % abv per hectolitre to distill 200,000 hl of table wine.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

PORTUGAL is facing possible European Court of Justice (ECJ) action after it exploited a concession over wastewater treatment to conduct blatant pollution of the Atlantic Ocean, alleges the European Commission. Lisbon was given permission in 2001 to follow lower standards in pumping wastewater from the 720,000-people Estoril region than are usually required under the European Union (EU) urban wastewater treatment directive.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) wine makers have attacked European Commission proposals to reform the EU wine common market regime – targeting with hostility plans to increase grubbing up. All participants at a European Parliament hearing agreed the EU wine system needs change, given current over-production and poor sales.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN ALARMING 20.3% of European Union (EU) laying hen poultry flocks are infected with salmonella, a European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) report has warned. The Czech Republic (62.5%), Poland (55.9%), Spain (51.6%), Lithuania (50%) and Portugal (47.7%) have the most serious problems.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) has drawn up plans to lend Portuguese utility EDP (Energias de Portugal) up to Euro 180 million to retrofit three coal-fired power stations, one in southern Portugal (4 units 314 MWe each); and two in Spain’s Asturias region (350 MWe and 556 MWe).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has renewed its European Union (EU) fishing access deal with Mauritania, initialling a new six year deal that involves a two-year protocol, but which should be renewed twice automatically, unless serious political problems emerge.

Brussels is being bullish about the deal, claiming: "It is the most important fisheries agreement concluded by the EU with a third country both in financial terms and as regards fishing opportunities for EU vessels"

And the agreement does will provide fishing rights for about 200 EU vessels on crustaceans (mainly shrimps), hake and other demersal species), cepaholopods, small pelagics and tuna.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has approved the proposed acquisition of the inks and adhesive resins business of Dutch company Akzo Nobel by the USA’s Hexion, part of the Apollo Group. This follows a Commission inquiry focusing on potential damage to competition in supplies of printing ink industry resins, especially rosin resins.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

YOUNG adults in Germany – long seen as Europe’s technological powerhouse – are turning away from science and engineering, with just 16% of tertiary educated professionals in these fields being aged 25-34. The figures are the worst in the European Economic Area (EEA), and show that without change, Germany could face a shortage of engineers and scientists in the medium term.…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

A POLITICAL struggle has broken out at the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers between EU olive oil importing and exporting countries over the current level import tariffs for the product. On one side is a group led by Sweden, supported by Britain, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Lithuania, complaining about what they call "high market prices of olive oil in the EU and low levels of stocks".…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A POLITICAL struggle has broken out at the EU Council of Ministers between olive oil importing and exporting countries over the current level import tariffs for the product. Sweden, Britain and others want lower tariffs, alleging high prices and low stocks.…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN ALARMING 20.3% of European Union (EU) laying hen poultry flocks are infected with salmonella, a European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) report has warned. Britain cannot be complacent under the report, based on 2004-5 data, with 8% of flocks stricken with salmonella.…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN ALARMING 20.3% of European Union (EU) laying hen poultry flocks are infected with salmonella, a European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) report has warned. The Czech Republic (62.5%), Poland (55.9%), Spain (51.6%), Lithuania (50%) and Portugal (47.7%) have the most serious problems.…

BY LIZ HALL, in Alicante

IMPROVEMENTS in Portugal’s ability to detect crime detection, combined with increased vulnerability within the tourist property development arena, mean we could see another Operation White Whale in the next few years, its tip emerging in Portugal rather than Spain, experts warn.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD’S largest solar photovoltaic power plant is now under construction in Portugal’s sunny Algarve region. When it starts generating electricity early next year, it should power 8,000 homes, saving 30,000 tonnes annually in greenhouse gas emissions. There will be 52,000 photovoltaic modules on the plant on the 60-hectare site located on a south-facing hillside at Serpa, which is one of the sunniest spots in Europe.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

FOOD, biotechnology and agriculture research projects will command budgets of Euro 1.9 billion from 2007-13 under a draft rewritten European Union (EU) seventh framework programme (FP7). Other targeted research budgets under the Euro 54.5 billion scheme proposed by the European Commission of potential relevance to the food sector include Euro 5.9 billion on health, Euro 1.8 million on environmental research, plus Euro 3.4 billion on nanotechnology, materials, and manufacturing.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

VOLKSWAGEN has persuaded the Portugal government to subsidise a training programme for workers at its Portuguese subsidiary Auto Europa: unfortunately, the European Commission thinks the payments may be illegal and could block them. An inquiry launched by the executive of the European Union (EU) will check whether this planned Euro 3.5 million grant follows the EU’s rules on ‘state aid’.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

European investment in renewable energy will exceed $60 billion by 2011, excluding large-scale hydroelectricity, predicts Emerging Energy Research (EER) a research and advisory company based in Spain and the United States. The firm says that the top 20 utilities have already set aside $13.3 billion for renewable energy ventures – "primarily onshore wind farms but also offshore wind, wave and tidal energy, solar, biomass and small-scale hydroelectric projects."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers and the European Parliament have approved a new fishing agreement with Morocco, despite controversy over its covering waters off the disputed territory of the Western Sahara. The Polisario Liberation Front has since 1975 been fighting Morocco for self-determination over the largely desert territory.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

THE BROAD shape of the wine reform plan to be presented by the European Commission in June has become clearer following remarks by the European Union (EU) agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel in Spain this week (May 4).…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

WIND power is Europe’s big growth area for electricity generation, according to the latest comparative figures from European Union (EU) statistical agency Eurostat, with capacity growing by 154% between 2000 and 2004. Its report noted wind power "is responsible for more than half of the new generating capacity" in these years.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

BRITAIN is one of only seven European countries that are fully complying with key guidelines on institutional oversight of financial information issued by the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR). Its standard No.1 advises on how the harmonisation of institutional oversight systems in Europe maybe achieved, especially regarding enforcement of good practice.…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

ATTEMPTS to duck increased pollution clean-up costs imposed by the revised European Union (EU) bathing water directive have sparked 11 separate legal actions by the European Commission. It has reacted promptly to a massive delisting of 7,000 official bathing water sites by 11 EU governments, to avoid having to comply with new cleanliness standards.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

BRAZEN political manoeuvres to duck increased pollution clean-up costs imposed by the revised European Union (EU) bathing water directive have sparked 11 separate legal actions by the European Commission. It has reacted promptly to a massive delisting of 7,000 official bathing water sites by 11 EU governments, to avoid having to comply with new cleanliness standards.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

INTRODUCTION

WE’RE barely a third of the way through 2006 but it’s already clear that the year is going to be a hugely important one for European Union (EU) legislation affecting both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks industries.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A ROW has broken out between European Union olive oil exporting countries and the European Commission over its withholding contributions to the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC). Italy and Spain, supported by France, Greece, Portugal, Malta and Cyprus, told the EU Council of Ministers they wanted the Commission "to ensure the swift payment of its voluntary contribution to the IOOC…to allow the resumption of its promotional activities."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

DEBATES are continuing within EU institutions over whether vaccination is a safe response to bird flu. The EU’s standing committee on the food chain and animal health has approved limited vaccination in France and the Netherlands. But this was resisted by Austria, Denmark, Germany and Portugal, who fear vaccination’s potential cost, damage to consumer confidence and resulting overseas import bans.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ITALY and Spain, supported by France, Greece, Portugal, Malta and Cyprus have called on the European Commission "to ensure the swift payment of its voluntary contribution to the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC) "to allow the resumption of its promotional activities."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE LATEST agricultural statistics from the European Commission paint a gloomy picture for the European Union (EU), with production falling 10.4% in 2005 from its heady levels in 2003 and 2004, and with prices also falling, by 11.5%.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

DEBATES are continuing in European Union (EU) institutions over whether general vaccination is a safe response to Europe’s growing bird flu problem. With Germany, France, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Greece, Switzerland, Slovenia, Italy all reporting new cases, the EU’s Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health has approved the first vaccination campaigns.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

The Brussels plan to impose anti dumping duties on shoes imported into the EU from China and Vietnam has sharply divided EU governments with as many as ten of the 25 member states voting against it in the EU’s anti-dumping committee this week.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A EUROPEAN Commission conference designed to ease the damage caused by bankruptcy has heard how most European Union (EU) countries are already reforming their insolvency laws. Speaking at a Commission conference on ‘Insolvency and Fresh Start’ in Brussels, 120 legal experts from 24 countries were told last year 140,000 corporate insolvencies in the old 15-member EU, risked 1.5 million jobs.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

There were about 41,600 road deaths in the 25 EU countries in 2005, down from around 50,000 in 2001 reports the European Commission. This is progress "but not enough" says Brussels which wants member states to halve the rate to 25,000 by 2010 under the EU’s Road Safety Action Programme.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A PRACTICAL and regional initiative to remove barriers in trading electricity between neighbouring European Union (EU) countries has been launched by the European Regulators’ Group for Electricity and Gas (ERGEG). It is grouping states’ regulators and utilities together to focus on regulatory and technical difficulties impeding cross-border sales of electricity for countries sharing frontiers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE LATEST agricultural statistics from the European Commission paint a gloomy picture for the European Union (EU), with production falling 10.4% in 2005 from its heady levels in 2003 and 2004, and with prices also falling, by 11.5%.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

CEREAL production and prices in the European Union (EU) both slumped in 2005, compared with 2004, according to the latest food market figures from EU statistical agency Eurostat. Faced with a bumper harvest in 2004, producers struggled to secure good prices, even by cutting back on production, a process aided by poor weather.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced plans to spend Euro 702,993 over three years on promoting Portuguese Madeira wine in the USA, Canada, Brazil and Japan. The money will be funelled to the

Instituto do Vinho da Madeira (IVM), and will be matched by funding from the Portugal government and private sources.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

DEBATES are continuing in European Union (EU) institutions over whether vaccination is a safe response to Europe’s growing bird flu problem. With Germany, France, Slovakia, Slovenia, Italy and other countries all reporting cases, the EU’s Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health approved the first vaccination campaigns.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

A PROPOSAL by the European Union (EU) trade commissioner Peter Mandelson to impose provisional anti-dumping duties of 19.4 % on imported leather shoes from China and 16.8% on those from Vietnam has sparked protests from the Chinese Leather Association (CLA), caused concern among EU retailers and importers, while bringing uncertainty into the global leather market.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

WHEN European Union (EU) consumers think of food, more associate it with "taste" – 31%, than with "pleasure" – 29%, "hunger" – 27%, "health" – 19% and "necessity" – 15%. As usual with culturally diverse Europe, however, there were wide national variations.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

Fact box – Andorra

Population of country: 76,875 (2004)

Number of students enrolled at university: 718

Percentage of students native to the country where the university is located: 60%

Percentage of eligible population attending university: 10% (see text)

INTERNVIEW

IT’S something of a surprise to find that a country as small as Andorra has its own university, and perhaps easy to be a little patronising about it.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

NEW EFSA BOSS BUDGET ROW – LATEST ADVICE

THE FRENCHWOMAN appointed to take the vacant top executive director job at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) will need all her political skills to solve a potential budget crisis facing the agency.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

NEW tough fuel and road transport pollution standards have been proposed for the European Union (EU) by the European Commission, removing a loophole enabling sports utility vehicles (SUVs) to be covered by looser emission limits currently allowed for commercial vans.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ITALY, Belgium, Greece, Malta, France, Spain, Hungary, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland and Portugal have called on the European Commission to support poultry producers hit by low prices because of bird flu outbreaks in Turkey and Romania.

ENDS…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ITALY, Belgium, Greece, Malta, France, Spain, Hungary, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland and Portugal have called on the European Commission to support poultry producers hit by low prices because of bird flu outbreaks in Turkey and Romania.

ENDS…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has demonstrated that there are limits to the authority coastal states may have over its fishing fleets in international access deals by refusing to renew a protocol with Angola. Indeed, the European Commission has asked EU ministers to denounce a 1989 agreement underpinning a series of access deals, after refusing to accept a new Angolan law on ‘biological aquatic resources’.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has cleared the launch of two related publishing logistics joint ventures, which will work in Spain and Portugal. One will focus on book distribution, and will be owned by Compañía de Distribución Integral Logista SA (Logista) and Editorial Planeta SA, both of Spain.…

BY LIZ HALL, in Alicante

SINCE March 2005, Operation White Whale, an extensive international anti-money-laundering operation spearheaded by the Spain’s National Police (the Policia Nacional), has produced the arrest of 57 people and the laundering of at least Euro 250 million euros obtained through illegal drug trafficking, according to Spain’s Interior Ministry (Ministerio del Interior).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
CONCERNS about delays in the implementation of a major piece of European Union (EU) environmental legislation have sparked a review by the European Commission, and will encourage it to pursue legal action in the courts. The law in question is the 1996 integrated pollution prevention and control directive, which insists large EU industrial and agricultural installations obtain operating permits – issued only if the best available techniques on controlling emissions are in use.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has launched a research project developing a virtual-reality unit, training construction workers in using potentially dangerous heavy plant, without the risk of injuring their co-workers. Researchers from Spain, Germany, France, Slovakia, Poland, Portugal and Italy are designing a computer-aided training programme, involving a virtual-reality platform or cabin with controls mirroring those on real-life equipment plant.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DETAILS of a rich nine-year fishing access deal struck between the European Union (EU) and the Federated States of Micronesia, in the western Pacific, have been released by the European Commission.

Noting that the western Pacific is “the richest tuna fishery ground in the world (it accounts for 50% of total tuna catches world-wide)”, the Commission stressed: “The current state of the stocks is good and that, for certain species, the maximum safe level of exploitation has not been reached yet.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE USA’s O2Diesel Corporation will work with Spain’s Abengoa Bioenergy to sell O2Diesel’s ethanol diesel fuel blend in Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. Abengoa will buy more than 10% of O2 stock with Euro 3 million.…

BY MARK ROWE
IN times of conflict, cultural property, such as archaeological sites, works of art, museums and monuments, can also suffer grievously at the hands of opposing military and guerrilla forces. In recognition of this, such objects are accorded protection by the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Union (EU)-wide customs initiative has netted thousands of counterfeit articles of knitted clothing manufactured from China. Operation Fake was two-week exercise involving customs authorities, the EU anti-fraud office, OLAF, and the European Commission’s taxation and customs directorate, and took place this May, although its results have just been released.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
CONCERNS about delays in the implementation of a major piece of European Union (EU) environmental legislation have sparked a review by the European Commission, and will encourage it to pursue legal action in the courts. The law in question is the 1996 integrated pollution prevention and control directive, which insists large EU industrial and agricultural installations obtain operating permits – issued only if the best available techniques on controlling emissions are in use.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED Nations General Assembly has voted to create a new remembrance day in November for road traffic victims, who are regularly more numerous than deaths caused by wars or civil strife. Indeed, 1.2 million people are killed annually in road accidents, says the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than the population of Estonia.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has launched a research project aimed at developing a virtual-reality unit, training construction workers in using potentially dangerous heavy plant, without the risk of injuring their co-workers. Researchers are currently designing a computer-aided training programme, an electronic simulator, and even a virtual-reality platform or cabin allowing workers to use controls mirroring those on a piece of plant.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has launched another competition inquiry over gas-electricity mergers, this time in Denmark, maybe leading to it blocking state-owned gas incumbent DONG’s plans to control two Danish power producers and two suppliers. DONG wants to absorb Elsam and Energi E2, generators for west and east Denmark respectively, and suppliers Københavns Energi Holding A/S and Frederiksberg Elnet A/S, serving Copenhagen and nearby Frederiksberg.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE FIRST formal votes have been held on the European Union’s (EU) proposed chemical control system REACH, with amendments being passed by the European Parliament’s environment committee that will generally make life more difficult for petrochemical producers.

MEPs rejected the idea of a light touch for materials produced only in small quantities of between one to 10 tonnes.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
ON July 31 this year the European Union’s (EU) Tobacco Advertising Directive came into effect, making it illegal to advertise tobacco products in the print media, radio and over the Internet within the EU. Also banned was tobacco sponsorship of cross-border cultural and sporting events.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A GREEN Paper on improving services promoting mental health across the European Union (EU) has been published by the European Commission, which claims 27% of all EU adults suffer from such problems, annually. It says Brussels will consult with EU national governments on creating an action plan boosting mental health services and also collect more data at a European level, monitoring trends and identifying best practice.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN INNOVATIVE coating is at the heart of a European Union (EU)-funded research project aiming to revolutionise car manufacture by developing integrated sub-modules for assembly whose components are welded together with a minimum of bolts and screws. This would prolong vehicle toughness and durability, and by reducing the number of phases in automotive production reduce the overall cost and time for vehicle production.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
A DECISION by the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) Court of First Instance to uphold a move by the European Commission to block the proposed acquisition of Gas de Portugal by Energias and ENI has dismayed the European electricity industry, which believes the prohibition stands in the way of creating a genuine pan-European electricity market.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has called on European Union (EU) countries to further liberalise their professions, including accountancy, although a detailed report praises Britain for its reforms. The UK “is making good progress” across the board in fighting restrictive practices regarding profession entry, fees and advertising, along with Denmark and the Netherlands, said Brussels.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has pushed ahead with securing more overseas fishing access deals for EU fishing crews in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Crucially EU ministers have been formally asked to approve a deal regarding the key Pacific grounds off the Solomon Islands.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
MORE than 20 years after an agreement was first proposed, a deal has been struck between the European Union (EU) and the United States over wine and both sides have acclaimed it. But has the EU given too much away?…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has called on European Union (EU) countries to further liberalise their professions, including legal specialists, although a Communication’ policy paper praises Britain for its reforms. The UK “is making good progress” across the board in fighting restrictive practices regarding profession entry, fees and advertising, along with Denmark and the Netherlands, said Brussels.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has authorised the Portuguese government to grant Euro 45.2 million in state aid to pharmaceutical company Portela and C° SA (BIAL), for researching and developing two new medicines for the central nervous system. Brussels approved the subsidy on regional development grounds because the company is based in a poor area of northern Portugal.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
LUNG cancer, blamed on smoking by most health professionals, is declining throughout the European Union (EU) amongst men, but not women, according to a new British Medical Journal report. The UK performs well, with lung cancer mortality rates for both men and women falling.…

BY MARK ROWE
IT’S summer, so in southern Europe there are, once again, forest fires. Villagers and firefighters in Spain and Portugal have been battling wildfires in recent days that have destroyed thousands of hectares of forest and scrubland, while French firefighters have also fought blazes in Provence, the Var department in the Côte d’Azur, and Greoux-les-Bains, near the French Alps.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has started moving against established rich member states of the European Union (EU) who prevent citizens of the 10 new EU countries exercising their rights to work across Europe. It has formally requested that the Netherlands reviews rules often insisting employers secure working permits for staff temporarily posted from these eastern and southern EU countries.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A PROACTIVE competition inquiry has been launched into the European Union’s (EU) natural gas sector, with the aim of rooting out anti-competitive practices. If the European Commission discovers instances of gas companies breaking existing EU competition law, legal action could follow.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE NETHERLANDS, Greece and Poland have come under legal pressure from the European Commission to reform their car taxation rules so that it is easier to move vehicles around the European Union (EU). It has sent their governments formal requests to reform their systems, which – if ignored – could lead to a referral to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed the abolition of registration taxes that it says impede the transfer of vehicles to the 16 European Union (EU) member states that impose them. Britain is not among the countries concerned, but they include Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Austria and Poland.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission will spend Euro 26.1 million on 26 programmes promoting the sale within the EU of organic food products, olive oil, milk and cheese, ham, fruit and vegetables, plus some drinks products. There will be matching funding from participating countries Britain, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Finland, Hungary, Poland and Cyprus.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE LONGEST collectively agreed working hours in the European Union’s (EU) retail sectors are found in richer western European countries, as well as poorer new member states from eastern and southern Europe, a new study has shown. And Britain, usually attacked for having the longest working hours in western Europe, actually has below-average collectively bargained time at work in the retail sector, noted the European Industrial Relations Observatory, looking at 2004 figures.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has called on the European Commission to frame an action plan on simplifying red tape for the fishing industry, “reducing their bureaucratic workload and the restrictions that bear down on fishermen”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Parliament and the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers have compromised on the final shape of a directive reducing sulphur content in marine fuels. The result is legislation that permits higher sulphur usage than the parliament wanted, cutting its marine fuels content to 1.5% by 2007, for all vessels in the Baltic, the North Sea, and the English Channel, and passenger ships in all EU seas and oceans.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE PORTUGUESE government has failed at the European Court of Justice to defend a contested claim it had abided by European Union law regarding the number of spot-checks regarding special beef premiums for 1999. The European Commission has long maintained that there were too few checks; producers may now have to return some subsidies.…

BY RICHARD HURST
THE SOUTH African paint and coatings industry is in a state of change as a shift in focus towards overseas markets coupled with a need to protect local markets is pushing manufacturers to reassess their quality and production volume capabilities.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN INTERNATIONAL initiative to raise Asian food safety standards to those required by the European Union (EU) for imports has been launched with the support of the European Commission. It is donating Euro 597,000 to the SELAMAT project to create a network of European and Asian food institutes, swapping information and best practice on meeting EU health-based food regulations.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DIVISIONS over the EU sugar regime reforms have been clarified at a European Union (EU) Council of Ministers (agriculture) meeting. British, Danish, German, Swedish, Latvian and Maltese delegations wanted “rapid reform, to make the sector more competitive”, though concerns of ex-European colonies in the African Pacific Caribbean (ACP) bloc “should be taken into account”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has accused nine European Union (EU) governments of dragging their feet over promoting biofuels in their countries. It has sent critical formal notices to Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland and Slovenia accusing them of failing to submit national reports framing 2005 targets for biofuel consumption, as required under the Biofuels Directive.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has released a report detailing sales trends and environment improvements in European Union-consumed motor fuels. It shows, for instance, that the average sulphur content in petrol and diesel roughly halved between 2001 and 2003. In that year, 30.3% of diesel sold had less than 50 parts per million (ppm) of sulphur, with 24.9% less than 10ppm, (Germany and Sweden dominated consumption of this cleanest diesel, while regular diesel was most common in Austria, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has blocked a bid by Mexico’s Cervecería Modelo’s to secure European Union (EU) trademark protection for its beer Negra Modelo. This has been opposed by Portugal supermarket group Modelo Continente Hipermercados, which secured its own EU rights to the trademark ‘Modelo’ in 1995, for goods including “syrups, beers, refreshing drinks and non-alcoholic beverages”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
PRESSURE on oil companies to continue cleansing their fuels of potential pollutants continues to be applied within the European Union (EU), with the European Commission preparing for the introduction of a new standard ‘Euro 5’ in 2010. It has advised EU member states to harmonise any tax concessions encouraging the use of diesel cars cleaner than the ‘Euro 4’ emissions standard, (which became compulsory on January 1).…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has blocked a bid by Mexico’s Cervecería Modelo’s to secure European Union (EU) trademark protection for its beer Negra Modelo. This has been opposed by Portugal supermarket group Modelo Continente Hipermercados, which secured its own EU rights to the trademark ‘Modelo’ in 1995, for goods including “syrups, beers, refreshing drinks and non-alcoholic beverages”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has approved a new fishing access deal with Madagascar, allowing Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese to catch tuna in its Indian Ocean waters until December 2006. The EU will pay Madagascar Euro 825,000 this year and next to compensate it for the loss of fish.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FINANCIAL professionals such as accountants are becoming increasingly important to European organised crime groups, European Union (EU) police agency Europol has warned.

Calling for a “risk analysis of this phenomenon at an EU level…to identify appropriate countermeasures”, Europol’s latest annual report on organised crime suggests that corrupt professionals are freelancing for criminals as a career choice.…

BY LIZ HALL, in Alicante

SINCE March 2005, Operation White Whale, an extensive international anti-money-laundering operation spearheaded by the Spain’s National Police (the Policia Nacional), has produced the arrest of 57 people and the laundering of at least Euro 250 million euros obtained through illegal drug trafficking, according to Spain’s Interior Ministry (Ministerio del Interior).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INSTITUTIONS of the European Union (EU) always say they are getting a handle on the fraud that riddles their operations, but are they? Keith Nuthall looks at the latest annual report from EU fraud-fighters OLAF.

MEASURING fraud is notoriously difficult, given that the aim of this crime is to be as undetectable as possible.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Commission consumer alert service has reported a ban in Portugal of a novelty cigarette lighter set, designed like other household objects (such as a telephone) or animals, some producing sound and light effects. Portuguese retail authorities ruled the lighters a fire risk to children, who would regard them as toys.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Commission has launched a formal inquiry into a levy on wines sold in Portugal financing its Instituto da Vinha e do Vinho (IVV), which provides expert help to the country’s wine industry. The charge was introduced in 1995 and because it is also levied on wine imported from other European Union (EU) member countries, Brussels is concerned that this “wine promotion parafiscal charge” may effectively involve imports subsidising the Portuguese wine industry.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
CIGARETTES continue to be a key source of revenue for fraudsters and smugglers in the European Union (EU), with the EU institutions’ anti-fraud unit OLAF saying they have generated more criminal money than anything else in investigations open this June.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE LAST people most farmers would like controlling European agricultural policy are glib public relations experts, armed with palm-top digital personal organisers and a sheaf of focus group studies. Such complaints have often been levelled at the Blair government, accused of bending with the wind of public opinion.…

Keith Nuthall
THE CREATION of a new ground-handling joint venture for Portuguese airports has been approved by the European Commission; it has authorised the merging of the groundhandling division of private airline Portugália into the service offered by national carrier TAP (Transportes Aereos Portugueses).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
ECSTASY has become Britain’s number two illicit drug, overtaking amphetamines, warns a new European Union (EU) narcotics report alerting public health professional across Europe to increasing abuse of most recreational drugs. The best news highlighted by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) is that heroin use and new HIV infections are falling in western Europe, although they are increasing in many eastern European countries, such as the Baltic States.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is largely on track for a timely start to its emissions trading system on January 1, with the unconditional approval in late October of six more CO2 emission allocation plans, from Belgium, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg, Slovakia and Portugal.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has confirmed that countries in its eastern Europe and central Asia area of focus are booming because of high oil prices. Its annual 2004 Transition Report says Russia and the Ukraine are experiencing “skyrocketing annual growth”, making the former Warsaw Pact the world’s second-fastest-growing region (up 6.1%), next to China and its southern neighbours.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A SIX year fishing agreement struck between the European Commission and the Seychelles has reduced access for European Union (EU) tuna boats to answer criticism that similar past deals have been emptying developing world waters of fish. The new agreement with the Seychelles – lasting from January 2005 to 2011 – cuts fishing opportunities for tuna long-liners by 15% by 2006.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD’S largest think tank has advised developed country governments to adopt programmes helping families achieve an acceptable work-life balance, boosting child development and general well being amongst adult workers. The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has abandoned its usual laissez faire approach to economics and society by encouraging its rich country members to promote part-time work.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is threatening legal action against France, Germany, Luxembourg and Denmark, for failing to implement key European Union (EU) road safety rules. The Commission claims that France and Denmark have failed to introduce directive 2003/26/EC on technical roadside spot checks of commercial vehicles.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission will spend Euro 855,000 promoting Portuguese wine in USA, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, China and Japan. The Portuguese government and private sources will also contribute to a total promotional budget of Euro 1.7 million over three years.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission under incoming energy Commissioner Lázló Kovács could look to Russia and the Ukraine as the key guarantors of Europe’s future gas and oil supplies. Kovács, a Hungarian, has told the European Parliament that he intends to establish “real cooperation” with these countries as a first priority.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EMBARGO on Portugal exporting beef and cattle to the rest of the EU has been lifted, after Brussels officials agreed the country had sufficiently improved its anti-BSE controls.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DIESEL vehicle owners are undermining the efforts of manufacturers to reduce road transport pollution in Europe, a European Environment Agency (EEA) report has claimed, by tuning engines to boost their power. The EEA thinks up to 50% of new diesel vehicles are being modified and that such changes can increase emissions, especially of harmful particles, by as much as three times.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BRITAIN’S performance in reducing heart disease deaths could be much improved compared with many of its European Union (EU) partners, a new World Health Organisation heart disease atlas, has shown.

Dividing a country’s annual deaths from heart disease with its population, saturated fats and beer loving Britain had a comparative factor of 2, based on 120,530 deaths in 2002 amongst a population of 59 million.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EMBARGO on Portugal exporting beef and cattle to the rest of the European Union (EU) will be lifted, after the EU Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health agreed the country had sufficiently improved its anti-BSE controls.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Space Agency (ESA) is developing a service that could save the insurance industry expensive shipwreck policy payouts, updating coastal maritime maps from space. The Euro 1 million Coastchart project aims at improving charts of shifting sand, mud and gravel-banks that can move 100’s of metres annually.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced that it will spend Euro 855,000 on promoting the sale of Portuguese wine in USA, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, China and Japan. The money will be combined with money from the Portuguese government and private sources, to create a total promotional budget of Euro 1.7 million, to be spent over the next three years.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE AWARD to Cyprus of the key European Commission health and consumer affairs portfolio could signal a waning of Brussels’ enthusiasm for tougher rules against smoking and cigarette sales. Cypriot Markos Kyprianou, 44, has been given the job in the new Commission that takes office in November.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) fishing boats will receive additional quotas this year for catches in Greenland waters, after a renegotiation of financial compensation from the EU to the Danish self-governing territory. If a proposal from the European Commission is accepted by EU ministers, a new quota of 1,000 tonnes for snow crab will be introduced, shared by Ireland and Spain.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE AWARD to Cyprus of the key European Commission health and consumer affairs portfolio could signal a waning of Brussels’ enthusiasm for tougher food safety, environmental health and consumer protection rules. Cypriot Markos Kyprianou, 44, has been given the job in the new Commission that takes office in November.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) LIFE environment programme has been extended for another two years to 2005 and 2006, when it will command a budget of Euro 317.2 million. The scheme finances the development of innovative environmental techniques and methods and was prolonged by the EU Council of Ministers, with Portugal opposing the move.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
PORTUGAL has been given permission to spend extra state aid on sheep, goat and suckler cow production to help farms cope with the country’s intense drought.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
NATIONAL work accident statistics are keenly examined by occupational health practitioners, but they do not enable the safety of British workplaces to be compared against other European countries; that is where Eurostat, the European Union’s (EU) statistical agency comes in.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
FEVERISH efforts are being made to rescue the European Union’s (EU) software patent directive after suggestions that a number of member states voted for it “by mistake” in May and now seeking ways of reversing their positions. One of those seeking to change its vote – the Netherlands – said it mistakenly thought the measure incorporated amendments approved by the European Parliament which excluded patents for pure software.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BRITAIN’S tax burden as a proportion of GDP fell sharply in 2002 to 35.8% from 37.3% in 2001, confirming the UK as among the lightest taxed jurisdictions in the European Union (EU). The contrast is especially marked with its key competitors Germany (40.2% in 2002), France (44.2%), and Italy (41.7%), according to the latest available comparative figures from EU statistical agency Eurostat.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WITH the summer holiday season in full swing, hold those calls to Stockholm: the Swedes have more time off than other Europeans, Germany’s IW economic institute has claimed. In an international survey of holidays taken by workers in 2003 in 14 western European countries, the Cologne-based think tank said Sweden was closely followed by the Netherlands (31 days) and Denmark (30 days).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
CHARGES have been laid against alleged fraudsters in an Italy-based cigarette smuggling scam costing European treasuries Euro 31.6 million in duty. The public prosecutor of Asti, Italy, released details of the alleged con, involving 287,884 kg of cigarettes being smuggled with forged customs stamps being presented to Italian customs officials.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has added six traditional Portuguese meat products to the European Union’s (EU) register of protected geographical indications. They are sausages Chouriço de Carne de Estremoz e Borba, Chouriço grosso de Estremoz e Borba, Paia de Toucinho de Estremoz e Borba, Paia de Lombo de Estremoz e Borba and Paia de Estremoz e Borba; and Morcela de Estremoz e Borba.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has formally threatened legal action against Spain, Italy, Ireland and Portugal for exempting all book lending institutions from their obligations to pay fees to copyright holders. If the countries do not within two months say how they intend to limit this universal right, the Commission could ask the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to order them to comply.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
THE WORLD is a small place when it comes to business these days. Increasingly, multi-nationals, as well as medium-sized companies are setting up shop in all four corners of the world. Outsourcing work and creating offices in developing countries is de rigueur to cut costs.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
IT is early days, but the European Union’s (EU) Solidarity Fund, subsidising the costs of large-scale disasters, shows every likelihood of being a permanent feature of the EU risk management scene. We’re not talking small beer here; the fund paid out Euro 104.7 million last year and Euro 728 million the year before that, easing the consequences of disasters such as floods, earthquakes and forest fires.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has granted European Union (EU) competition authority clearance to US-based private equity investment group Carlyle Group acquiring full control of Spain’s Saprogal S.A. by from another American company, food giant ConAgra Foods Inc. Saprogal produces and supplies poultry products, pet food and animal feed mostly in Spain and Portugal, commanding annual sales exceeding Euro 250 million.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced that it is granting Portugal’s Comissão de Viticultura da Região dos Vinhos Verdes (CVRVV) Euro 882,320 over three years to help promote its products within the European Union (EU). Matching funding will come from the Portuguese government and the Comissão itself, making the programme’s total budget Euro 1.76 million.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has blocked a European Union (EU) Council of Ministers decision that would have allowed Portugal to pay aid to pig farmers, who had earlier been ordered by the European Commission to repay subsidies made in 1994 and 1998.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BRITAIN is one of the safest countries in the world as regards fatal road accidents involving children along with Sweden, Japan and Italy, a report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has claimed. It says that more children are killed on the road than in any other type of accident, with South Korea, New Zealand, Portugal and the United States having the highest child road-fatality rates.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced that it is granting Portugal’s Comissão de Viticultura da Região dos Vinhos Verdes (CVRVV) Euro 882,320 over three years to help promote its products within the European Union (EU). Matching funding will come from the Portuguese government and the Comissão itself, taking the programme’s total budget to Euro 1.76 million.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is bankrolling the development of Kazakhstan’s oil and gas reserves, a key alternative supply for the European Union (EU). It wants to lend Tasbulat Ltd Euro 60 million to help develop three medium-sized oil and gas fields in Mangistau region, western Kazakhstan, producing up to 8,000 barrels/day in 2006; Tasbulat is owned by SNP Petrom, Romania’s national oil company.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE RATE of pay increases across the European Union (EU), and Norway, fell between 2002 and 2003, although Britain bucked the EU trend, said a report from the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A PROTOTYPE of a three-dimensional monitoring system allowing airport managers to check all groundhandling movements on aircraft runways, taxiways, aprons and parking zones, is being developed by a European Union (EU) research consortium. Coordinated by French IT firm SILOGIC, it involves cameras creating digital images that identify individuals, objects and vehicles, whose movement can be interpreted by computers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers have approved an agreement with west Africa’s Guinea Bissau, which will guarantee access to its fishing grounds for Italian, French, Greek, Portuguese and Spanish fishermen until June 2006. The deal involves the Guinea Bissau government being granted Euro 7.26 million a year in financial compensation.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE MAJORITY of cotton growing subsidies in the European Union (EU) will from 2006 be de-linked from production – mostly paid as single direct payments to growers – the EU Council of Ministers has decided at a special meeting on Common Agricultural Policy reform.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
RELIABLE statistics are of course vital to any insurance company’s assessment of risk, and nationally produced figures in countries such as Britain and the USA can usually be counted upon in actuarial calculations. But what about comparing countries when managing international policy portfolios?…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DESPITE the woeful record of the British food industry regarding health, Britain’s food consumers are the most trusting in Europe, a new survey has suggested. Comparing UK attitudes to those in Denmark, Norway, Germany, Italy and Portugal, when asked if they felt 12 food products were “very safe” to eat, British consumers were the most optimistic in every case.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DESPITE the flawed health record of the British meat industry, Britain’s food consumers are the most trusting in Europe, a new survey has suggested. Comparing the UK with Denmark, Norway, Germany, Italy and Portugal, British consumers were most likely to consider 12 foodstuffs “very safe”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DESPITE the woeful record of the British food industry regarding health, Britain’s food consumers are the most trusting in Europe, a new survey has suggested. Comparing UK attitudes to those in Denmark, Norway, Germany, Italy and Portugal, when asked if they felt 12 food products were “very safe” to eat, British consumers were the most optimistic in every case.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
PUBLIC procurement rules telling Portuguese utilities to conduct open tenders for their purchases are illegal under European Union (EU) law, the European Commission is claiming. As a result, it is threatening legal action at the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which has the power to order Portugal to comply.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
PORTUGAL is being threatened with legal action at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for failing to ensure European Union (EU) nuclear safety standards are applied at the country’s nuclear technology institute, the Instituto Tecnológico e Nuclear, which houses a research reactor.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DESPITE the woeful health record of the British food industry, Britain’s food consumers are the most trusting in Europe, says a new survey, compared with those in Denmark, Norway, Germany, Italy and Portugal. *http://www.trustinfood.org/…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE PORTUGUESE government is being threatened with legal action at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for failing to ensure European Union (EU) nuclear safety standards are applied at the country’s nuclear technology institute. The European Commission claims that Portugal is not complying with various demands from Euratom and the EU basic safety standards directive, such as continuously monitoring local radioactivity and alerting Brussels about any records.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN coastguard service should be established to tighten protection of European Union (EU) shores, the European Parliament’s temporary committee on improving safety at sea has recommended following its Prestige disaster inquiry. The organisation would have the authority to assign emergency moorings and ports in the even t of a maritime accident, strictly monitor the following of ships to correct routes and prosecute the illegal entry of vessels.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission will spend over Euro 2.2 million in three years promoting EU wine. Euro 1.22 million is shared by the Union interprofessionelle des Vins du Beaujolais and Deutsches Weininstitut pushing wine in Japan and Euro 440,000 goes to Portugal’s Commissao de Viticultura a Regiao dos Vinhos Verdes for USA, Canada and Switzerland campaigns, for instance.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BRITAIN has been given a relatively clean bill of health in the latest Transparency International corruption rankings, being viewed as joint-11th least-corrupt country in the world, sharing its billing with Canada and Luxembourg. Finland was the most honest place in which to do business said the pressure group’s survey, followed by Iceland and the Denmark plus New Zealand at joint third.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AMONGST all European Union (EU) countries, Finland has the highest number of nurses and midwives per head of population, – 2,181 per 100,000 inhabitants – according to the recently released and latest available comparative figures. EU statistical agency Eurostat said that these 1998-2000 figures showed Portugal as having the least nurses and midwives (379 per 100,000) and Greece the second worst performer (391).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission will spend more than Euro 2.2 million over three years promoting European Union wine. Euro 1.22 million will be shared by the Union interprofessionelle des Vins du Beaujolais and the Deutsches Weininstitut pushing their wines in Japan, Euro 440,000 goes to Portugal’s Commissao de Viticultura a Regiao dos Vinhos Verdes for campaigns in the USA, Canada and Switzerland, and Euro 150,000 to Italy’s Produttori Moscato d’Asti Associati for US sales, for instance.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BELGIUM is the European Union’s (EU) salmonellosis hotspot according the latest comparative figures collated by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency. In 2001, 104 cases were recorded in Belgium per 100,000 people, with other high figures being recorded in Germany (94 cases), Luxembourg (83) and Austria (81).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
MONACO is all about money. A glamorous speck of high-rises looming above the French Riviera, it is famous for wealthy glamour, tax exiles, racing-cars and gambling. Given this cocktail, it is hardly surprising that this, Europe’s second smallest country by geography, has attracted allegations that it has been the site of money laundering.…

Keith Nuthall
INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) policies towards borrower countries will henceforth be influenced by their capacity to implement Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations on fighting money laundering. IMF directors have agreed these assessments “do not contravene the prohibition of the Fund to exercise law enforcement powers”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE GOVERNMENTS and international institutions of the European Union (EU) need to better prepare for cooperative responses to large-scale natural and mad-made disasters that inevitably cause damage on a cross-border scale, the European Environment Agency (EEA) has claimed.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
A SIGNIFICANT easing of the regulations covering the use in the European Union (EU) of “traditional expressions” by wine producers from outside the EU has been announced by the European Commission, over the strong objections of Italy. In future the non-EU producers will be allowed to use traditional expressions that had been banned to them in the past, such as ‘vin jaun’, ‘amarone’, ‘amontillado’, ‘claret’ and ‘ruby’, provided they satisfy the Commission and Member States that a number of conditions have been met.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
REVISIONS to a European nuclear energy liability convention will increase the total accident compensation available from operators in 15 countries to Euro 1.5 billion, up from Euro 350 million. Britain, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey have now signed the Protocols to amend the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy and the Brussels Convention Supplementary to the Paris Convention.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FIFTY years after the turn of the tide in the Second World War, the European Parliament is calling for the creation of a comprehensive international legal system to identify the whereabouts of artworks looted by the Nazis, fairly settling ownership and compensation claims.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Parliament agriculture committee has called for European Union (EU) member governments to have the freedom to link up to 70 per cent of tobacco growing subsidies to production, which would demolish the European Commission’s plans to phase out these supports.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
REVISIONS to a European nuclear energy liability convention will increase the total accident compensation available from operators in 15 countries to Euro 1.5 billion, up from Euro 350 million. Britain, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey have now signed the Protocols to amend the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy and the Brussels Convention Supplementary to the Paris Convention.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE CONTINUING threat posed by asbestos to the health of workers in the European construction industry is to be a major focus of the Bilbao-based European Agency for Health and Safety at Work (EASHW) this year. Andrew Smith, spokesman for the agency, told the NetRisk that while the use of asbestos in new construction was now illegal throughout the European Union (EU), the material was still present in older buildings, posing a particular danger to builders and others involved in renovation work.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE STENCH from liquid waste is rarely pleasant, especially for nearby residential areas, so technology from a European Union (EU) funded project will be welcome, if its developers deliver a claim it can reduce such disgusting odours by 95 per cent.…

Keith Nuthall
BINGE drinking is on the increase amongst young people in the existing European Union (EU), the European Economic Area and countries that becoming members in May, according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). The EU agency noted from the latest available comparative figures that the proportion of 15-16-year-olds indulging in binge drinking (consuming five or more drinks in a row) rose from 47 to 57 per cent in Ireland during the late 1990s and from 37 to 50 per cent in Norway.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE COMPULSORY recycling of metal packaging waste is to be raised from 15 to 50 per cent under an agreement reached on Monday between the European Parliament and the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers. The new target for metal packaging waste is the same as that set originally by the European Commission though levels for other materials have been raised.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
AT least 22.5 per cent by weight of plastic packaging and packaging waste will have to be recycled from the end of 2008 in most European Union (EU) Member States, under an agreement reached between the European Parliament and the EU council of Ministers.…

BY PHILIP FINE

A US airport is working on an agreement with a German company to jointly run a baggage-handling operation that they can market to local airlines. Jacksonville International Airport and Fraport AG – the Frankfurt-based company that owns and operates that city’s airport – would save airlines the expense of hiring workers and buying equipment needed to move bags to and from aircraft.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
SCANDINAVIA dominates the top rankings of a new International Telecommunication Union (ITU) global index on information and communication technology (ICT) access, with Sweden, Denmark and Iceland scoring the highest marks. The ITU says that the league table distinguishes itself from other indices by including new variables, such as education and affordability.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank has decided to lend Portugal’s Parques Eólicos Grupo Generg group around Euro 230 million to help it construct and operate 11 grid-connected wind farms, with a total generation capacity of 443 MW. The plants would be sited across Portugal and would cost the company around Euro 460 million in total to set up.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
POLITICAL pressure applied by the European Union (EU) on its Member States to improve the environmental performance of their water sectors is failing to achieve the desired results, according to a report from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).…

BY ALAN OSBORN
AGRICULTURE ministers of five European Union (EU) countries have pledged to reject the European Commission’s proposals for ending tobacco-growing subsidies and say they will draw up an alternative scheme aimed at continuing production. A letter signed by the agriculture ministers of Greece, Spain, Italy, France and Portugal warned the Commission of the “very serious” social and employment impact of its plan, which they say will lead to widespread job losses with “grave” social consequences.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers have been asked to approve a detailed fishing access deal allowing EU fishing boats access to the Atlantic fishing waters off west Africa’a Guinea Bissau until June 2006. Under the agreement, licences to fish shrimp will be granted to Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Greek vessels, with boats from Spain (enjoying the overwhelming majority of rights), Italy and Greece being allowed to take fin-fish/cephalopods.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
SCANDINAVIA dominates the top rankings of a new International Telecommunication Union (ITU) global index on information and communication technology (ICT) access, with Sweden, Denmark and Iceland scoring the highest marks. The ITU says that the league table distinguishes itself from other indices by including new variables, such as education and affordability.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AFTER a long period of consultation, a comprehensive directive protecting the European Union’s (EU) groundwater reserves has been proposed by the European Commission, which would force Member States to establish and police locally sensitive pollution limits. The legislation would insist that national governments carefully monitor groundwater quality and take steps to reverse its pollution, where it has exceeded these self-imposed thresholds.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank has decided to lend Portugal’s Parques Eólicos Grupo Generg group around Euro 230 million to help it construct and operate 11 grid-connected wind farms, with a total generation capacity of 443 MW. The plants would be sited across Portugal and would cost the company around Euro 460 million in total to set up.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union Council of Ministers has released Euro 8.6 million from its EU Solidarity Fund – designed to help national governments cope with national disasters – to assist continuing clean up operations following the Prestige oil spill, off Galicia, Spain.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has launched infringement proceedings against Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal for failing to implement the package of measures approved last year to liberalise the European Union (EU) telecommunications sector.

Brussels noted that only Britain, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Austria, Finland, and Sweden had implemented the EU’s framework, authorisations, access and universal service directives into their national legislation by this month (NOTE: OCTOBER).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A PLANNED reform of the European Union’s (EU) Euro 12.5 million-per-year hop subsidy regime could push hop producers towards promoting speciality varieties, of interest to brewers seeking an edge in flavour and bitterness, a National Hop Association of England spokesman has said.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Commission has formally threatened Italy, Portugal, Austria, Luxembourg, Greece and Finland with legal action at the European Court of Justice for failing to implement European Union (EU) legislation on marine equipment. The 2002 directive ‘laying down quality requirements and testing standards for equipment to be placed on board an EU ship’ aims to enhance sea safety and prevent marine pollution through a harmonised enforcement of international rules regarding onboard equipment.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Commission has formally threatened Italy, Portugal, Austria, Luxembourg, Greece and Finland with legal action at the European Court of Justice for failing to implement European Union (EU) legislation on marine equipment. The 2002 directive ‘laying down quality requirements and testing standards for equipment to be placed on board an EU ship’ aims to enhance sea safety and prevent marine pollution through a harmonised enforcement of international rules regarding onboard equipment.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
LEGAL final warning letters have been sent by the European Commission to Britain, Belgium, Germany, Greece, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Finland, Spain and Sweden, calling on them to swiftly implement a directive guaranteeing consumer protection when insurance companies are wound up.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has released details of a deal struck with the Ivory Coast that will allow European Union (EU) fishing boats access to its rich tropical fish reserves this year and next. It has asked EU ministers to approve a deal allowing 600 GRT of Spanish demersal vessels to fish of the west African country, along with 18 tuna seiners from France and 21 from Spain; five Portuguese and 15 Spanish surface longliners and seven pole-and-line tuna vessels from France and five from Spain.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE PORTUGUESE government is being threatened with legal action by the European Commission over its failure to properly police European Union (EU) legislation imposing maximum driving hours on hauliers. Brussels says it may take Lisbon to the European Court of Justice unless it shows within two months how it will increase the number of checks it makes on lorry drivers’ work records.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
The European Commission is formally threatening Portugal with legal action at the European Court of Justice over irrigation works linked to the Abrilongo dam project, which Brussels claims threatens the Campo Maior special protection area, set up to protect wild bird species such as the Crane, Little Bustard and Great Bustard.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
ENHANCED powers, responsibilities and resources are being proposed for the new European Maritime Safety Agency to enable it to fight tanker pollution. The European Commission has proposed that it should buy or lease specialist anti-pollution vessels. It also wants its work expanded to cover maritime security and seafarer training.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE IRISH are the European Union’s keenest purchasers of alcohol and tobacco, considering annual household spending, according to European Union statistical agency Eurostat. Ireland’s consumers devoted six per cent of their spending on alcohol and tobacco in 2001 and 2000 – the latest available comparative statistics.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed Euro 15 million a year in subsidies are made to the fishing industries of the Azores and Madeira, (part of Portugal), Spain’s Canary Islands and the French departments of Guyana and Reunion. Brussels says they need compensation because they are part of the EU but far from European markets.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN ACTION plan designed to further spur growth in the key broadband and third-generation (3G) mobile sectors has been unveiled by the European Commission and will be presented to the European Union’s (EU) spring summit in Brussels next month.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FISHING boat operators, and fish processing and marketing groups in of the Azores and Madeira, (part of Portugal), Spain’s Canary Islands and the French departments of Guyana and Reunion (in the Indian Ocean) should be guaranteed Euro 60 million in subsidies over the next four years.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE GREEKS are the European Union’s highest spenders on footwear and clothing, taking into account the proportion of annual household income spent on these items, according to figures released by Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical agency. Greek consumers devoted 11 per cent of their spending on shoes and clothes in 2001 and 2000 – the latest available comparative statistics covering the EU.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has formally proposed the plan announced at the inconclusive World Trade Organisation summit in Cancun, Mexico, to decouple cotton grower aid payments from production rates, converting them into direct payments. Although Brussels has shied from complete decoupling, its stated aim is to remove incentives for growers to over-produce cotton.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FISH farming businesses in of Portugal’s Madeira and Spain’s Canary Islands should be guaranteed subsidies over the next four years. The European Commission wants European Union ministers to subsidise businesses in these outlying areas. In the Canary Islands, fish farms would claim Euro 1,300 per tonne of aquaculture products for up to a regional total of 1,157 tonnes-a-year, and in Maderia, they would claim Euro 1,080 per tonne up to 50 tonnes-a-year.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EXTERNAL social, environmental and economic costs imposed by nuclear energy are comparatively low, according to European Commission research. Estimated at Euro (cents) per kilowatt hour, nuclear electricity’s costs are below wind energy, but roughly level with hydro, ranging from 0.03 in Portugal and 1 cent in France and Greece.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DATA released by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has shown the wide extent of the fires that have this year ravaged the world’s forests. In Europe, Portugal has been particularly hard hit, with 417,000 hectares being burnt so far this year, compared with 123,910 in all of last year.…

Keith Nuthall
THE GREEKS are the European Union’s highest spenders on clothing and footwear, taking into account the proportion of annual household income spent on these items, according to figures released by Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical agency. Greek consumers devoted 11 per cent of their spending on clothing and footwear in 2001 and 2000 – the latest available comparative statistics covering the EU.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

Duke Energy Corp, a diversified US energy company based in Charlotte, is in discussions with “several potential buyers” for its European natural gas business, the company has announced. It gave no details of the possible buyers or price.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
COUNTERFEITING is considered by many to be a victimless crime, the only losses being suffered by large trademark holders who have plenty of money anyway. The reality, of course, is quite different. Keith Nuthall reviews the latest international developments.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
ENVIRONMENTAL health is necessarily a broad science, after all, the pollution, pathogens and accident risks that surround us are many and varied. So it makes sense, when trying to improve the environmental health of a particular urban area, to take a holistic approach, making improvements to services and cleanliness, as well as the built environment.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed Euro 15 million a year in subsidies are made to the fishing industries of the Azores and Madeira, (part of Portugal), Spain’s Canary Islands and the French departments of Guyana and Reunion. Brussels says they need compensation because they are part of the EU but far from European markets.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
FOR the non ferrous metals industries, the formal enlargement of the EU next May will not be an overnight sensation but rather the end of a ten-year process during which producers in eastern and central Europe have progressively adapted themselves to the western European model.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is formally threatening the British government with legal action at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over its alleged failure to properly implement the European Union (EU) directive on the incineration of waste. Brussels says that Britain has only “partially” implemented the legislation, which imposes operational and technical requirements for waste incinerators and co-incineration plants, setting specific emission limits regarding their pollution.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A COMPREHENSIVE deal over third party access to gas pipelines has been agreed between German joint venture BEB and the European Commission, leading to Brussels closing its competition investigation into the company’s refusal to allow Norway’s Marathon to pump gas into its infrastructure.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EVERY year it seems, the international community has a pet topic in which it is fashionable to promote good behaviour, and this year the favoured cause seems to be water conservation. The World Bank, the UN Environment Programme and others have all produced weighty tomes on the need to conserve drinking water stocks.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
ITALY and Spain are living outside their means when it comes to fresh water abstraction, according to a new water report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). It brands these large European Union countries as being “water stressed,” exploiting more than 20 per cent of their annual fresh water supplies.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
TEXTILE manufacture incurs the lowest labour costs of any industry in the European Union (EU) according to figures (for 2000) released by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency. Labour costs per employee in textiles were Euro 21,000 (Pounds 14,500) compared to an average of Euros 35,000 for the whole manufacturing sector.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) may like to pose as the globe’s environmental crusader, setting a good example to the bad old dirty United States, but the latest figures from the European Environment Agency (EEA) – for 2001 – have shown that for a second year running, EU greenhouse gas emissions have risen.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
SWEDEN has the highest European Union unit labour costs in the combined tobacco, food and drinks industries, according to a report from Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency; its average for the latest available comparable figures (year 2000) was Euro 38,000.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EVEN the most ill-informed layman knows that modern farming is often a technically advanced and scientific business, but the extent to which new technologies are being used to maximise production is not so-widely known, even within the industry itself.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
SWEDEN has the highest European Union unit labour costs in the combined tobacco, food and drinks industries, according to a report from Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency; its average for the latest available comparable figures (year 2000) was Euro 38,000.…

KEITH NUTHALL
BRITISH travel agencies are amongst the most productive in the European Union (EU), according to a report on labour productivity written by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency. Its study assessed the added value created by each worker in a given year for a range of industries, Britain’s travel agencies were the second most productive in the holiday industry.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has offered to enshrine in international law, the right of non-European Union retailers to enjoy the same rights to set up supermarkets, hypermarkets and departments stores across Europe, as local retail companies.

Its offer comes in the World Trade Organisation’s Doha Development Round, where negotiations on services are the most advanced of all its talks on liberalising global commerce.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BRITISH architects are among the most lightly regulated in the European Union (EU), with their Danish, Irish, Dutch and Swedish colleagues enjoying a similarly light regulatory burden, according to a European Commission-funded survey, promoting liberalisation in Europe’s professions.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BRITISH accountants are the second most lightly regulated in the European Union (EU), with their Danish colleagues having the most freedom according to a European Commission-funded survey, promoting liberalisation in Europe’s professions. Belgium, Austria and Germany – where heavy regulation is often favoured – have the union’s most tightly restricted accountancy professions.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) may pose as the globe’s environmental crusader, but the latest figures from the European Environment Agency (EEA) – for 2001 – have shown that for a second year running, EU greenhouse gas emissions have risen.…

Keith Nuthall
BRITONS work the longest hours in the European Union (EU), even though working time agreed in collectively agreements is below the EU average, according to a survey by the European Union’s European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BRITAIN and Greece have escaped from being taken to the European Court of Justice by the European Commission over allegations that they had failed to implement the European Union’s (EU) Fourth Motor Insurance Directive.

The European Commission reported that the two governments had responded to a legal final warning letter by writing the directive into their national laws, having missed a deadline of July 20 last year.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A SUCCESSFUL trial of electronic tags for livestock has been announced by the European Commission, which has inspired a proposed regulation that would create a unified system for accurately monitoring farm animals across the European Union.

Brussels officials have unveiled in Italy the results of the IDEA project (Electronic IDentification of Animals), a one million animal trial spanning France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is formally threatening France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria and Finland with legal action at the European Court of Justice over claims that they have failed to implement new EU regulations on the release of genetically modified organisms.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AGREEMENT in principle over the proposed reforms to the European Union’s gas liberalisation directives has been secured at the European Parliament’s key industry committee, although it is proposing important changes. MEP’s called for amendments insisting upon close cooperation between the European Commission and national regulators regarding security of supply.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
FRANCE, Italy, Spain and Portugal are blocking a move by the European Commission to allow the import into the EU of Australian wine flavoured by the addition of oak chips. This is a faster and cheaper process than the traditional method of ageing wine in oak barrels.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A SURVEY has been released by the European Commission which shows how a decline in confidence regarding genetically modified food could be deterring investment in medical biotechnology, potentially leaving the European Union at a competitive disadvantage. This Eurobarometer poll says that overall support for GM food is only found in Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Finland; with most Europeans considering them “of little value and dangerous for society.”…

BY ALAN OSBORN
Mr Willem de Ruiter (51), a Dutchman with a degree in civil engineering, has been appointed the first executive director of the European Maritime Safety Agency, which was created by EU governments last year and is in the process of being set up.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A SUCCESSFUL trial of electronic tags for livestock has been announced by the European Commission, which has inspired a proposed regulation that would create a unified system for accurately monitoring farm animals across the European Union (EU).

Brussels officials have unveiled in Italy the results of the IDEA project (Electronic IDentification of Animals), a one million animal trial spanning France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
STREAMLINING, multi-tasking and flexible posting of employees may be important weapons in the arsenal of a personnel team looking at getting the most efficiency out of their company, but managers had better make sure that their policies are legal, not only under national laws, but European law too.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE PORTUGUESE government is planning a mass slaughter of chickens, turkeys and quails after an inquiry determines the extent to which poultry in Portugal has been treated with banned nitrofurans, a carcinogenic anti-biotic. A number of poultry farms have already been closed down following the discovery last October that the drug had been used on Portuguese birds.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
LIFE isn’t going to get any easier for hill and mountain farmers if Dr Franz Fischler, EU farm commissioner, has his way. He wants to “de-couple” payments from production for farmers generally and introduce direct fixed supports based on farm size, past output and acceptance of environmental and other standards.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has approved in principle tightening the EU packaging and packaging waste directive so that by 2008, Member States should recycle at least 50 per cent of metals found in packaging waste.…

Keith Nuthall
PSYCHOLOGICAL harassment in the workplace, especially by colleagues, is the new growing health-and-safety threat in Europe, both as a source of stress and a cause of productivity losses, a European Union (EU) agency’s report has concluded.

‘Preventing violence and harassment in the workplace’ by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions has found that defence industry workers and government officials are most likely to suffer this kind of victimisation, with 16 per cent reporting these problems.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is taking Portugal to the European Court of Justice, accusing it of insisting on excessive bureaucracy regarding the authorisation of polyethylene water pipe systems used in urban construction projects. Brussels claims that the rules are so rigorous, they break European Union free movement of goods principles.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
IF accountants want to give really useful advice to their clients that applies almost anywhere in the developed world, they should tell them to get married and have kids.

That would be the most logical conclusion that could be drawn from the latest Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) publication on tax, “Taxing Wages.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
PSYCHOLOGICAL harassment in the workplace is the new growing health-and-safety threat in Europe, both as a source of stress and a cause of productivity losses, a European Union (EU) agency’s report has concluded.

‘Preventing violence and harassment in the workplace’ by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions has found that defence industry workers and government officials are most likely to suffer this kind of victimisation, with 16 per cent reporting these problems.…

Keith Nuthall
PSYCHOLOGICAL harassment in the workplace, especially by colleagues, is the new growing health-and-safety threat in Europe, both as a source of stress and a cause of productivity losses, a European Union (EU) agency’s report has concluded.

‘Preventing violence and harassment in the workplace’ by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions has found that defence industry workers and government officials are most likely to suffer this kind of victimisation, with 16 per cent reporting these problems.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE MOST important driver of reform in the institutions of the European Union today is the impending enlargement of the EU eastwards, to take in (Greek) Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FORMAL threats of legal action at the European Court of Justice have been made against Austria, Belgium, Greece, Italy and Portugal over their alleged failure to implement the 1999 Directive on minimum welfare standards for laying hens. European Union governments were supposed to have introduced the standards, (including minimum cage sizes), by January 1, 2002.…

BY DENMARK FINCH AND FRITZ BRETT
INTRO

REDUCING stress amongst employees at work can make a major improvement to the bottom line of companies; indeed, so expensive is the problem, says the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, it is thought to cost the EU at least Euro 20 billion a year in lost time and health costs and affect more than 40 million of its employees.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WATER privatisation has certainly had its critics, but it has a new supporter in the shape of the European Commission. It has publicly backed the growing privatisation of Europe’s water utilities, with its internal market commissioner praising British government moves to inject competition into its national sector.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A DYNAMIC online forum on European energy policy has been launched by an international consortium; the European Union-funded INTUSER website contains information about current energy issues and questionnaires allowing specialists and the public to contribute to policy debates.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WHILE the number of companies in the European Union’s (EU) insurance sector has been dwindling, the amount of business that it has been writing collectively has been booming, according to the latest comparative figures from EU statistical agency Eurostat.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
PORTUGAL has called for the resumption of EU funding of the International Olive Oil Council’s promotion of olive oil in non-EU countries with low demand, (including the USA, Australia and Japan). Payments were suspended over council tendering concerns.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has sued RJ Reynolds in New York, seeking damages against allegations that it illegally laundered the proceeds of cigarette smuggling. The case – which also involves Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland and Luxembourg – also seeks an injunction stopping future alleged laundering.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) Council of Ministers for competitiveness has failed to agree legal proposals for setting up a so-called ‘Community Patent’ that would give inventors the option of obtaining a single patent legally valid throughout the EU.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union is considering a range of requests to liberalise its insurance sector under commitments it will make in a future World Trade Organisation (WTO) deal, following the ongoing so-called Doha Development Round.

These include calls for it to eliminate existing restrictions in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy and Portugal on the cross-border supply of maritime and air transport insurance.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AWARDS have been made to 20 companies across Europe by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for groundbreaking schemes that have effectively reduced workplace stress, reducing the risk of psychological problems developing in employees. Hans-Horst Konkolewsky, the agency’s director, said the schemes were examples of good practice that should be followed across the European Union.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has publicly backed the growing privatisation of Europe’s water utilities, with its internal market commissioner backing British government moves to inject competition into its national sector.

Indeed, Frits Bolkestein defended the much-maligned record of privatised water services in the UK, blaming the price rises in the 1990’s on a failure to ensure private water companies could compete and previous government neglect.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has been asked to negotiate away restrictions maintained by European Union (EU) Member States that prevent non-EU companies from providing “services incidental to energy distribution” within the EU. The call has come from countries involved in the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) three years old services talks, which were rolled into the WTO’s general Doha Development Round at its Qatar summit last year.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) Council of Ministers is under pressure to agree proposals to set up a so-called ‘Community Patent’ that would give inventors the option of obtaining a single patent legally valid throughout the EU. Germany and Portugal are objecting to wording in the proposed texts and have succeeded in blocking the initiative, angering EU internal market commissioner Frits Bolkestein who said the Commission “cannot accept that the proposed central and specialised EU jurisdiction should be watered down.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union fisheries Commissioner Franz Fischler is fighting opposition within Portugal to his proposals to introduce multi-annual catch quotas. In a speech, he said: “If bacalhau is to remain on Portuguese menus we have to protect cod stocks from collapse now.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union fisheries Commissioner Franz Fischler is fighting opposition within Portugal to his proposals to introduce multi-annual catch quotas. In a speech, he said: “If bacalhau is to remain on Portuguese menus we have to protect cod stocks from collapse now.…

BY MARK ROWE
A TEAM of scientists has visited Bosnia and Herzegovina amidst concerns that 12 areas of the country were contaminated with harmful radiation after being targeted by ordnance containing depleted uranium (DU) during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
TEN of the 15 European Union (EU) Member States have so far failed to bring in national legislation putting into effect the end-of-life vehicles directive agreed in 2000 and could face legal action in the European Court of Justice, the Europe Commission announced today (Monday).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
PROVIDERS of domestic care services to the young, elderly, sick or disabled, may be offered the chance to cut the VAT they charge their customers in the future, with the European Commission planning to extend a pilot scheme currently operating in Ireland, Portugal, France and Greece.…

Keith Nuthall
COMPANIES and sole traders that alter and mend household linen, clothing and shoes have been granted the option of having another year of reducing VAT on their services by the European Commission. Brussels has decided to extend an experimental scheme, which allows Belgium, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Britain to reduce VAT on specified labour-intensive services to boost jobs.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Union’s drinks industry is one of the continent’s key earners according to a report from EU statistical agency Eurostat, which says its productivity is much higher than that of the food processing sector.

The top performing country in the latest pan-EU figures available (1999) in the drinks industry was France, at Euro 103,700 generated in terms of value added by the sector per person in employment.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has taken an important step towards giving EU water legislation more teeth, by moving against Belgium’s system of “tacit approvals” of pollution. Belgian law allows companies to assume that they have a right to pollute if they make an application to regulators and then receive no reply.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
GOVERNMENTS and international organisations have highlighted tobacco smuggling as one of the largest illegal drains on their tax revenues. An international conference has brought law enforcement professionals together with health officials to fight this problem. Keith Nuthall reports.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE SPANISH company Logista, a wholesale distributor of tobacco in Spain and Portugal, is to take joint control of Logesta Gestion de Transporte in a move that will extend Logista’s activities into freight forwarding. The European Commission has approved a deal under which Logista will share control with another Spanish company, Gestcamp, which operates in the warehousing sector among others.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has struck a fishing access deal with the west African island republic of Sao Tome and Principe, lasting from this summer until May 31, 2005. Assuming it is confirmed by EU ministers, access will be granted to Sao Tome waters for 36 freezer tuna seiners, (from France and Spain), two pole-and-line tuna vessels (from Portugal) and 25 surface longliners (from Spain and Portugal).…

KEITH NUTHALL
A DYNAMIC online forum on European energy policy has been launched by an international consortium; the European Union-funded INTUSER website contains information about current energy issues and questionnaires allowing specialists and the public to contribute to policy debates. The three year project’s website includes special sections on alternative, renewable, fossil and nuclear energy.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, ALAN OSBORN, MONICA DOBIE AND PHILIP FINE

IF there is one striking characteristic about Washington’s Bush Administration, it must be its almost unprecedented ability to infuriate the entire world with its unilateralism, especially its self-serving trade policies.

For years, the US government has actually played Mary Poppins on food production subsidies, claiming that its handouts do not encourage farmers to overproduce when prices are low.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
THE EUROPEAN Commission has given the green light to a proposed joint venture between the Spanish companies, Canal de Isabel II and Hidroeléctrica del Cantábrico which will develop power supplies in Madrid, including generation, distribution and supply. Water services company Canal already provides electricity services in Madrid through its subsidiary Hidráulica de Santillana, while power company Hidroeléctrica’s base is in Asturias, in northern Spain.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Parliament’s industry committee has approved a European Commission proposal that the European Union and Euratom should sign up to the International Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
MINISTERS of the 15 European Union countries have reached agreement on the Trans-European Energy Networks directive. The ministers have essentially supported the Commission proposal of last year and Brussels officials predicted that the European Parliament will do likewise later this year.…

From Alan Osborn
The European Commission has proposed changes in fishing rules to

reflect recent international agreements, new scientific advice and a ruling

by the European Court of Justice. Brussels said the adjustments were to

strengthen the sustainability of the fisheries concerned and provide EU

fishermen with the opportunities available after the latest scientific

advice.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has filed an appeal against the dismissal of its cigarette smuggling action in the US against three tobacco companies: Philip Morris, R. J. Reynolds and Japan Tobacco. Notably, it has received formal support in the proceedings from the US Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association for its action, along with the World Health Organisation, the US Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.…