Business Brief

Banana reform

Farmers in the most remote parts of Europe would be paid to stop growing bananas under a proposal from the European Commission to be published next Wednesday (13 September). It recommends abolishing a system that pays farmers to produce more bananas than Europeans can eat and proposes that €241 million a year would be given to member states growing bananas. Governments would have to spend the money on the same overseas farmers, but could opt to fund a move away from banana cultivation.

Trade chiefs meet

Peter Mandelson, the European commissioner for trade, will this weekend attempt to patch up his relationship with his US counterpart Susan Schwab during a meeting in Brazil with the G20 group of developing nations. The meeting on 9-10 September will be the first between the two trade negotiators since the acrimonious collapse of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks in July.

Juncker’s euro bid

Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg, announced his conditional preparedness to serve another two-year term as chairman of the Eurogroup, the informal meeting of eurozone finance ministers, when his present mandate runs out at the end of this year. The issue will be discussed at tomorrow’s Eurogroup meeting (8 September) in Helsinki which precedes the informal Ecofin meeting (8-9 September).

Music merger

Vivendi Universal confirmed on Tuesday (5 September) its decision to purchase Bertelsmann’s BMG Music Publishing for €1.63 billion. The deal would make Universal the world’s largest music publisher. Impala, the organisation representing independent record companies, signalled its concern over the effects the acquisition would have on the market.

Belgian aid probe

The Commission confirmed that it has opened an investigation into Ducroire/Delcredere, a subsidiary of Belgium’s leading export credit insurer. The aim of the investigation is to establish whether the subsidiary, which only covers clients exporting to new EU member states, received illegal assistance from its mother company, which was set up with public funds. The probe was sparked by questions from Green MEP Bart Staes.

Eurozone recovery

The eurozone economy is undergoing a sound recovery, said Joaquín Almunia, the economic and monetary affairs commissioner, yesterday (6 September). Indicators released by the European Commission showed economic growth this year set to reach levels not seen since 2000 at a rate of 2.7%.

The European Commission is to announce next week proposals for an overhaul of regulations determining national jurisdiction over mergers and acquisitions in the banking sector.