Search Results for: european union

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FRANCE is being threatened with massive fines because of its alleged failure to abide by an European Court of Justice ruling that it should set up redress procedures provided for in European Union public procurement legislation. This allows suppliers, who feel they have been unfairly excluded from a public procurement tender in the water, energy and telecommunications sectors, to make formal complaints and launch appeals.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
NEW and potentially significant opportunities for British and other Western architects to practise in China have been opened up by an agreement on the terms for China to join the World Trade Organisation. China’s commitments will allow access for foreign service providers guaranteed by “transparent and automatic licensing procedures” which are set out in detail in its Protocol of Accession.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE REGULATIONS governing the proposed new Coal and Steel Research Fund, that is to replace the outgoing European Coal and Steel Community next year, should allow for its budget to be reviewed when the EU admits new members from eastern Europe, the European Parliament’s budget committee has claimed.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
MEP’s have called on the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA) to tighten its rules regarding the authorisation of drugs, because of concerns aired to the European Parliament’s environment committee about the deaths of patients taking Viagra and Baycol/Lipobay.…

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKE
RESEARCH studies released by the Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers Unions have predicted that there will be 143,000 fewer workers in the domestic automobile industry in 2005 compared with 2000, if Japanese auto sales continue to slump and if automobile and autoparts makers shift more production overseas.…

BY RICHARD HURST
THE SOUTH African government is reported to be considering a proposal by Zimbabwe and Mauritius for the removal of clothing and textile tariffs to be brought forward from the year 2006 to 2004.

The two countries have also asked the Department of Trade and Industry in Pretoria to amend its rules of origin, to speed up the implementation of the existing Southern African Development Community, (SADC), agreement.…

BY ALAN OSBORN AND KEITH NUTHALL
HOW will Britain’s museums be affected now that the UK is about to fall into line with other European countries and introduce a so-called droit de suite (NOTE: in italics), giving artists the right to a percentage of the price when their works are re-sold?…

BY ALAN OSBORN
MOST governments are keenly concerned about the quality of food their people eat, and quite rightly so. They pass laws to ensure food purity and safety and that’s all very commendable – but it can be overdone.

Regulations can, sometimes deliberately, be drawn up so tightly that they effectively bar the sale of food produced in other countries, thus constituting an impediment to free trade.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
THE PROMITION of renewable energy use in the European Union will be discussed at a conference, in Brussels, on the 25 and 26 of September, hosted by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Research.

More than 400 people from relevant areas in the European power industry will be present to address factors associated with boosting green electricity generation and associated areas such as minimising greenhouse gases and air pollution, increasing the security of energy supply by reducing dependency on oil, gas and coal imports, and improving employment in the energy sector.…

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKE
EUROPEAN Union hauliers have been encouraged to install a ground breaking wind power system for lorries, where two and three units of compact propellers and generators are fitted on the cab roof. The resulting electricity powers the air conditioning, saving fuel.…