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KEITH NUTHALL
NATIONAL governments within the EU will come under political pressure from the European Commission later this year, in a bid to persuade them to harmonise their vehicle excise duty rates.

Brussels is to publish a Communication, (a formal discussion paper), on the subject, which it says will “examine the very different levels of vehicle tax in Member States and the problems which these differences can create for the free movement of goods in the (EU) Internal Market.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPE’S notorious IT skills shortage was a focus of a Brussels eLearning ‘summit’ between computing and communications companies, EU politicians and officials last week, (May 10-11). Delegates in particular examined how a growth in remote Internet education packages could help satisfy the EU’s demand for trained IT professionals.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD Health Organisation has launched a bid to encourage its member countries to adopt the kind of tobacco control legislation that was recently adopted by the European Union, In a monograph called “Advancing Knowledge on Regulating Tobacco Products,” the WHO has called for an overhaul of the existing testing methods for tar, nicotine and other ingredients.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has said that the average annual budget for the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, that will replace the spending of the soon-to-lapse European Coal and Steel Community, should average at Euro 45 million. Around 72 per cent will be devoted to the steel industry, with the remaining 28 per cent being set aside for studies into the coal sector.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
DEFINITIVE anti-dumping duties have been imposed by the European Union on aluminium foil exported by China and Russia. The EU Council of Ministers said that the duties would apply on imports of aluminium foil of a thickness of not less than 0.009 mm and not more than 0.018 mm, not backed, not further worked than rolled and in reels of a width not exceeding 650 mm.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Union Council of Ministers has formally approved reforms to the European aid system for Greek cotton production. Ministers sanctioned an increase by two per cent to a planned 50 per cent reduction to the guide price affecting subsidies.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE COOPERATION agreement signed between Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines is facing an uncertain future, with the European Commission threatening to withhold regulatory approval because of concerns that it would damage competition in the German and Austrian travel market.

In a statement, the Commission claimed that it has reached a preliminary conclusion that the deal “would eliminate competition on a large number of routes between Austria and Germany.”…

Keith Nuthall
BY start of the next decade, all petrol engine automobiles driving in the European Union will have to run on sulphur-free fuel, if EU ministers back fresh proposals from the European Commission.

It wants sulphur to be banned from petrol in the EU by 2011, and has proposed that sulphur-free petrol and diesel should be made available in every Member States from January 1, 2005.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced that Greece’s Thessaloniki and Heraklion, (Crete), airports are to receive investment of Euro 131 million from the European Regional Development Fund, as part of a Euro 1.4 billion injection of EU cash to update Greek transport services.…

Keith Nuthall
DISCRIMINATORY landing fees in European Union airports, which have favoured local carriers over those from other EU Member States, have been abolished across the continent, according to the European Commission. This follows six years of competition inquiries staged by its officials into the problem.…