Search Results for: Spain

BY GERARD O’DWYER, IN HELSINKI

A TOUGH legislative response to the rising problem of money laundering-related crimes in Sweden appears to be having a meaningful impact on curbing illegal activities within the country – with the latest statistics from Finanspolisen, the Swedish financial crime police, revealing that while the number of reports pertaining to money laundering grew by 30% to 11,892 in 2010 (year-on-year) that figure dropped to 11,135 in 2011.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A POLITICAL agreement has been struck between the three main European Union (EU) institutions over a new directive on the sulphur content of marine fuels burnt in EU waters. Complying with the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) MARPOL Convention, sulphur content for ships in the North Sea, the English Channel and the Baltic Sea will be capped at 1% until December 2014 and 0.1% from January 1, 2015.…

BY KACI RACELMA

WHILE the majority of north African paint and coatings markets have been disrupted by the wave of political and economic unrest brought on by the ongoing Arab Spring revolution, relatively stable Morocco has generated modest growth.

The country’s paint companies predict an increase in domestic paints and coatings production and sales in 2012, following sluggish sales since the international financial crisis hit in 2008.…

BY MARK ROWE

RESEARCH laboratories, scientists and engineers have, for years, been promising the emergence of innovative, ‘smart’ capabilities for fabrics and textiles, based on advances in the field of nanotechnology. However, as these designs slowly become a reality in the commercial sense, the potential hazards and risk assessments surrounding them are also gaining a sharper focus.…

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 LEAH GERMAIN

AIRPORTS must focus on creating new sources for commercial revenue at their facilities outside their core air industry service, such as food and beverage, retail and rental services, to diversify revenues in today’s competitive market, the director of economics and programme development at Airports Council International’s (ACI) explained.…

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 MJ DESCHAMPS

CONSTRUCTION in Europe is traditionally associated with metal, steel and other heavy materials, but plastics and plastic composites are increasingly used as energy and cost-efficient options for buildings, bridges, houses and other structures.

Construction contributes more than 20% of demand for plastics in Europe – the second largest market segment after packaging, according to Brussels, Belgium-based trade association PlasticsEurope.…

BY KARRYN MILLER, MJ DESCHAMPS, LEAH GERMAIN AND KEITH NUTHALL

THE BYELECTION victories in Myanmar/Burma by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her political allies have loosened the tough trade sanctions that have thus far hampered efforts to develop the country as a new sourcing hub for knitwear and other clothing products.…

BY CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS

THE EUROPEAN Commission has demanded that Mexico and Brazil provide a scientific explanation for a new ban on reproductive livestock material imports from the EU. The two countries have banned imports of genetic material from the EU over concerns related to the Schmallenberg Virus, which has been detected in livestock in Britain, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Spain.…