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Apple download deal
- Apple promised yesterday (9 January) to lower prices for music downloads in the UK. The European Commission made formal charges against Apple and other companies in April 2007 for charging different prices in different EU markets. Prices are to be cut in the next six months. UK customers have been paying 10% more for downloads than their peers in the eurozone. The Commission agreed to drop its case against Apple.
Farm talks
- World trade talks resumed with a round of negotiations on agriculture called by New Zealand’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Crawford Falconer. Developing countries want rich nations to cut farm tariffs and subsidies in exchange for opening up their own markets to industrial goods and services but rising food prices have been affecting subsidies and tariff levels worldwide.
Electronics trade row
- The US is considering legal action against the EU over tariffs imposed on electronic goods, said US Trade Representative Susan Schwab on Tuesday (8 January). The US considers that EU tariffs are in violation of the Multilateral Information Technology Agreement, which was established by WTO members in 1997. Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Schwab said that the US is talking to other countries which feel the same way.
Eurozone islands
- Cyprus and Malta have quickly adapted to the euro, the Commission reported on Monday (7 January). Both countries joined the eurozone on 1 January. The changeover had "proceeded very smoothly and without any noteworthy incidents," said the Commission, stating that around 40% of citizens had only or mostly euros in their wallets and purses by 2 January and almost three out of four cash payments in shops were made in euro on 5 January. The period of dual circulation of old and new currencies ends on 31 January.
Financial supervision
- The EU should move faster in reviewing rules for financial market supervision to avoid market crises but should stop short of a single EU regulator, Slovenia’s Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk said on Monday (7 January). He said that plans to review existing rules "should be speeded up". But he warned that the EU should not rush into "systemic solutions" and said that more could be achieved by improving co-ordination among national financial market regulators than by working towards an EU-level regulator. Finance ministers will discuss market supervision at an informal meeting in April.
OpenSkies on runway
- British Airways yesterday unveiled plans to launch a subsidiary airline called OpenSkies, which will operate daily flights from New York to Europe.
Intel’s response to European Commission allegations of anti-competitive conduct this week (7 January) provoked claims that the company was employing delaying tactics to render any judgement irrelevant.
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