Search Results for: Macedonia

COUNTRIES in eastern Europe and the western Balkans are struggling to meet renewable energy targets set through their membership of the European Union (EU)-linked Energy Community, according to two new reports. They say just one of the community’s eight member countries – Montenegro – is likely to meet EU targets for renewables by 2020.…

TEXTILE exports from Serbia to Russia have been increasing, as European Union (EU) exports fall amidst the continuing diplomatic standoff between Brussels and Moscow over the Ukraine crisis. The Serbian government has also been working to prevent EU exporters using Serbia as a backdoor conduit for textile re-exports to Russian markets, taking advantage of the 2000 Serbo-Russian free trade agreement.…

THE ORGANISATION for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) has concluded that five jurisdictions need to improve their tax information exchange standards – Andorra, Anguilla (a UK dependent territory), Antigua & Barbuda, Indonesia and Saint Lucia. The OECD’s Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes said these jurisdictions were “partially compliant” with its standards.…

COUNTERFEIT medicines smuggled into Europe through the post and by couriers were among the more than 70,000 fake products intercepted during a joint customs operation code-named ERMIS. Coordinated by the Greek customs service and the European Union (EU) anti-fraud office OLAF, the operation involved customs officers from other EU member states, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey, said the European Commission.…

Pressure is growing on Hungary’s government to change the country’s tobacco excise laws, which can block sales of distributed products, with the European Commission and the Hungarian tobacco industry calling for the policy to be changed.

Zoltán Pankucsi, deputy state secretary for accounting and taxation at Hungary’s ministry for national economy, confirmed to Tobacco Journal International that Hungary levies excise duties on tobacco by means of tax markings on packaging.…

BUDGET airlines have a major impact on airport expansion or contraction across Europe, but their importance can be particularly pronounced in countries towards the east, whose economies are still catching up with the west of the continent.

Even in Poland, which avoided recession since the financial collapse of 2008, some airports have asked city and regional governments for help when they cannot attract enough trade – in one recent instance following a decision by Ryanair to cut routes.…

THE MACEDONIAN government has embarked on a new expansion strategy for its textile and clothing sector as it looks to grow its exports to the European Union (EU) and other global markets. Saso Despotoski, head of textiles and clothing at the Macedonian Chamber of Commerce, told just-style that Skopje is aiming to shift the emphasis of country’s industry towards manufacturing its own original products.…

More academic papers are now available for free than in paid-for peer reviewed journals, according to a study released yesterday (Wednesday) by the European Commission’s directorate general for research and innovation.

“This new research suggests that open access is reaching the tipping point, with around 50% of scientific papers published in 2011 now available for free,” Brussels said in a statement.…

THE ACRONYM ‘PIGS’ to mean Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain, was never very kind. It was abusive European Union (EU) jargon claiming that these countries were poor and their governments, profligate. Sadly, the international financial crisis showed that there was some truth in this and the four countries have since 2008 had to slash public spending to stave off national bankruptcy, and their collective road and public transport sectors have suffered.…

Croatia’s paint and coatings industry is aiming to capitalise on the benefits of the country’s recent July 1 accession to the European Union (EU), and is hoping that an economic recovery can also help the industry return to growth over the next year.…