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Rubber cartel
- The European Commission announced yesterday (23 January) that it had fined German chemical group Bayer AG €28.9 million and its Japanese counterpart Zeon Corp €5.4m for collusion in the synthetic rubber industry. From late 2000 to 2002, said the Commission, Bayer and Zeon managed to raise or otherwise stabilise prices through a series of meetings and other illicit contacts. This decision was the fourth in the synthetic rubber industry over the past three years.
Northern Rock
- UK Chancellor Alistair Darling presented a financing plan for mortgage-lender Northern Rock on Monday (21 January). Under the terms of the plan, the Bank of England’s £28 billion (€34bn) loan to the bank would be replaced by government-secured bonds, which could open the way for an eventual sale to a private bidder. The arrangements, which have to be notified to the Commission by 17 March, will have to comply with EU state aid rules.
Pension portability
- The Commission on Tuesday (22 January) unveiled two studies on pension portability as a step towards reaching a deal on an amended proposal for an EU-wide law that it put forward last year. The proposal aims to reduce obstacles to mobility for workers in the EU, without placing burdens on pension providers. The first study backed the need to lift obstacles to pension mobility and provided an overview of common practice. The second analysed present and projected worker mobility.
Mobile bills probe
- The Commission on Thursday (17 January) announced plans to scrutinise the billing practices of mobile phone operators. It will report at the end of the year on the costs of calls charged per minute and fees for text messages and data services. The Commission said that customers were often overcharged by 20% as a result of some firms’ practice of charging by the minute.
Ukraine set for WTO
- Ukraine cleared the last hurdle for membership of the World Trade Organization on Thursday, agreeing the terms of its accession with EU negotiators. A final seal of approval is expected this year. Accession could also lead to negotiations on an EU-Ukraine free trade agreement. The EU is Ukraine’s largest trading partner, taking 25% of its exports and providing 42% of its imports in 2006.
South Stream deal
- Bulgaria signed a deal with Russia on Friday (18 January) to join the €10bn South Stream pipeline, a project proposed by Russia’s Gazprom and Italy’s Eni, which will expand energy supplies into southern Europe. On Monday, Serbia agreed to sell a stake in national oil and gas monopoly NIS to Gazprom in return for a stake in South Stream.
Trade ministers are to meet on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Saturday (26 January) with the aim of clinching a global trade deal.
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