Search Results for: Research

THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has dismissed appeals brought by three European Union (EU) plastic bag companies against Euro EUR290 million’s fines imposed because of their participation in a cartel. But in an unusual twist, the ECJ ruled that because the proceedings leading to the 2011 imposition of fines was so long (five years and nine months), they can sue the EU for damages for harm caused by this wait for justice.…

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

AUSTRALIA’S pharmaceutical sector hopes that the country’s new centre-right government will make good on its plans to increase Australian medicine exports. Manufacturers are optimistic about the new government’s plans to increase export capacity and competitiveness in specialist high-value manufacturing, research and clinical trials.…

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

CANADA’S international environmental reputation has taken a beating in the past decade, dropping out of the Kyoto Protocol and developing emissions-rich production oil sands for a world that is hungry for its energy products. But Canada’s Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) is seeking to address that problem by encouraging environmental reporting, helping to set fiscal terms of reference for the country’s emerging clean energy economy.…

STATE support for the development of the Internet of Things (IOT) sector in China has the potential to drive demand for premium protective coatings across the Asia Pacific region, according to IOT and coatings industry experts.

During China’s recent change of government leadership, the State Council this February promised to launch tax breaks for companies using these technologies, vowing to achieve widespread “application of the IOT in key areas by 2015, as well as breakthroughs in core technologies.” …

THE EUROPEAN Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has provisionally recommended that exposure levels to food consumers from the plastic packaging chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) be lowered sharply. This follows a review of more than 450 studies, which identified “likely” damage to consumers’ livers, kidneys and potential harm to mammary glands “linked to exposure to the chemical.”…

Online gambling is big business and is forecast to grow exponentially. Where legal, the sector is generally tightly regulated – but there are risks of money launderers abusing gambling websites. However, some analysts suggest the risks are over-hyped, and say there is too little data to really prove that e-gambling is an emerging money laundering threat.…

Hopes have risen that a significant cut in the EU’s research grants for 2014 can be avoided following a vote in the European Parliament (EP) this week to restore money dropped from the budget by the council of EU government ministers earlier in the year – though  final agreement on the numbers will not be reached until mid-November.…

The 5th European Innovation Summit, organised by Knowledge4Innovation (K4I) and held at the European Parliament (EP) 30 September-2 October, found the big names in EU research agreed that it was high time for a “wake up Europe” call.  A five-point declaration addressed to EU policy-makers and the EU member state governments was agreed at the summit after several speakers had sought to identify and suggest ways of removing the obstacles standing in the way of Europe becoming a successful innovation economy.…