|
Road transport
- The European Commission published on Wednesday (23 May) proposals for the road transport sector to improve compliance with social and safety rules, while improving competition. It wants to introduce mechanisms for cross-border fines within the EU and compulsory training for transport managers. The Commission estimates that the industry’s administrative costs would fall by €190 million a year.
Better regulation
- Competitiveness ministers on Tuesday (22 May) agreed to scrap EU rules on the size and quality of wood on the market and to simplify 1970s legislation setting standard packaging sizes. The two decisions were in line with a 2005 Commission ‘Better regulation’ initiative to repeal unnecessary laws. There will be no EU-wide mandatory packaging sizes (except for wine and spirits) and standardisation organisations will decide on standards for the wood industry.
Credit shopping
- Ministers from the EU’s 27-member states agreed on Monday (21 May) to make it easier for customers to shop across borders for loans of up to €100,000. Ministers responsible for competitiveness decided on a common method for presenting charges that they hope will make it easier for customers to compare services in different member states. Consumers will also have 14 days to withdraw from a contract made with their bank.
- François Fillon, the new French prime minister, on Wednesday said he would look into alternatives to a merger between utilities companies Gaz de France and Suez. He said that the merger, which was proposed by the government but has run into wide opposition, was nonetheless valid.
- The Italian government announced on Tuesday it would sell its entire 49.9% stake in troubled airline Alitalia. Interested consortia now have until 2 June to bid for the loss-making airline, which was forced by strikes to cancel 394 flights on Tuesday.
More manufacturing
- Industrial new orders in the eurozone rose by 2.7% in March 2007 compared with February, according to figures published by the European Commission’s statistical office Eurostat on Wednesday. The index had fallen by 0.6% in February and was stable in January. Compared with March 2006, orders increased by 8%. For the EU27 as a whole, orders were up 2.8% in March and up 8.1% on March 2006.
Europe must learn from US experience if it hopes to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from buildings, according to research to be published on 12 June.
|
