Search Results for: Spain

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.…

ONCE upon a time, an overly curved cucumber could not be labelled ‘cucumber’ in the European Union (EU) because it did not comply with ‘official’ definitions of the fruit, which included limits on curvature. The European Commission eventually modified the rules: ugly and misshapen fruit and vegetables now sell freely under their own time-honoured names.…

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.…

E-books now look more like evolution than a revolution in Spain. Overall sales of books were Euro EUR2.47 billion last year, down 10.9% on 2011 and 28.9% below 2008. E-book sales were EUR74.3 million, just 3% of the sector, representing 54,714 copies sold.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) and Canadian confectioners can look forward to increasing their trans-Atlantic trade once a new free trade agreement between the EU and Canada comes into force, probably in 2015.

The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), announced on October 18, will remove most tariffs for confectionery and sweet bakery products imposed by both sides on each other’s exports.…

Discussions are scheduled over the next week between management and unions as the indefinite strike that has halted production at Spanish baker Panrico’s Santa Perpètua de Mogoda factory in Barcelona since October 13 continues. Discussions centre on a viability plan put forward by management.…

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

MASSIVE open online courses (MOOCs) are not a threat to bricks-and-mortar universities as some in Europe fear, a conference organised yesterday (Thursday) in Brussels by the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA) and the European University Association (EUA) heard.

One reason that should reassure universities is the difference between the students who study on campus and those who choose to study through MOOCs.…

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

The European Commission has announced funding for three major research projects designed to promote innovation in the non-ferrous metals sector. They will be launched on Wednesday (Nov 6) and funded by the EU’s outgoing Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7), which ends next month (December 31).…