Business Brief

Shoe flexibility

The European Commission indicated a readiness to budge over anti-dumping duties on leather shoes from China and Vietnam at a meeting of member state representatives yesterday (13 September). A new proposal might be forthcoming by next week.

Toll-road probe

The Italian minister for infrastructure Antonio Di Pietro announced this week that a preliminary investigation into alleged misuse of public funds by toll-road operator Autostrade had been launched. The Italian government last month attempted to block a bid for the company launched by Spanish counterpart Albertis. The Commission is expected to announce further action next week.

Bank payments

The European Parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee on Tuesday (12 September) approved plans for new rules that will speed up cross-border financial transactions. Consumer organisation BEUC complained that proposals for a single European payments area did not go far enough and that "banks and other payment providers would still have too much discretion to decide when to penalise consumers following the loss or theft of a payment card".

Jobs target missed

Figures released by EU statistics office Eurostat on Monday (11 September) show that the European Commission has missed employment targets set five years ago as part of the Lisbon Strategy. In 2001, member states agreed that at least 67% of citizens aged 15-64 should be in work. Latest figures show that only 63.8% of people in that age group had a job in 2005.

Car-dealers upbeat

Car-dealers claimed victory after a ruling from the European Court of Justice last Thursday (7 September) in a test case for disputes between car dealerships and their suppliers. "We interpret it as being in our favour," said lawyer Michael Goeskjaer who represented Danish dealership Vulcan Silkeborg in its case against supplier Scandinavisk Motor Company (SMC). The supplier had cited the so-called block exemption as justification for defaulting on contractual obligations. A number of cases are expected to follow.

Intel investigation

EU antitrust regulators extended on Monday their investigation into claims that Intel unlawfully persuaded electronics retailer Media Markt not to sell computers containing microprocessors made by rival Advanced Micro Devices. The Commission has been looking for the past five years into allegedly anti-competitive tactics employed by the world’s leading chip-maker. Last year, a series of dawn raids targeting Intel offices were launched.

The European Commission is next week (20 September) expected to try to appease small- and medium-sized companies with fresh proposals for changes to the de minimis regulation covering small amounts of state aid.