Search Results for: Latvia

BY MARK ROWE

THE ANNOUNCEMENT by the UK government that it intends to build a new generation of nuclear power plants stands out, not just because of the scale of the proposals, but because it is the first such comprehensive initiative in Europe for some years.…

BY MARK ROWE

SKY high prices for precious metals have prompted a rise in thefts of catalytic converters from a wide range of motor vehicles; the problem is so serious that the British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA) has linked up with the Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland (ACPO) to tackle the issue.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has highlighted eight member states as having failed to submit national energy efficiency action plans as required by the European Union’s (EU) energy services directive. Legal action has already been launched against 10 member states – but two of these (Belgium and Slovakia) submitted action plans in December.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

SOMETHING must be in the water these days in Brussels. The European Commission seems determined to press ahead with its plans to reshape the European Union’s (EU) energy market, no matter how vociferous or powerful the opposition. In December, the Commission was bullish about unbundling, now it is being equally aggressive over renewable energy.…

BY SUZANNE KOELEGA, in Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, JAMES FULLER, in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, and KEITH NUTHALL

A MAJOR shake up is looming in the political organisation of the Caribbean, with the impending dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles federation, and the creation of separate political units for its composite islands Curaçao, Bonaire, Sint Maarten, Saba and Sint Eustatius (Statia).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE LEVEL of incineration and recycling of municipal waste within Britain is as low as former communist countries in eastern Europe, a new European Environment Agency (EEA) report has concluded. In an assessment the 27 European Union (EU) member states, the EEA bracketed Britain with Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Parliament’s environment committee wants European Union (EU) rules to insist that biofuel production is environmentally sustainable, even an increase in this growing fuel sector reduces CO2 emissions. The call was made in amendments tabled to European Commission proposed reforms to the EU fuel quality directive to reduce CO2 production.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE PORTUGUESE presidency of the European Union (EU) has called for compromise proposals on the European Commission’s energy unbundling plans, under discussion at a Council of Ministers meeting on Monday (Dec 3). A paper released by Lisbon clarified the split between member states: supporting the proposal are Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Romania and Sweden; opposing are France, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg and Slovakia.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A PROPOSED liberalisation of European Union (EU) design rights legislation, allowing lorry parts makers to copy and sell spares already made by vehicle manufacturers across the EU has been accepted by the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee. A committee communiqué said: "The directive will allow suppliers to produce motor vehicle components which are identical to the original parts without infringing design protection."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL and ALAN OSBORN

GEOGRAPHICALLY Russia is part of Europe. Moscow is 1,557 miles from London, but 3,456 miles from New York. The Russian capital is also just 760 miles from Stockholm, as the crow flies. These figures are worth considering when trying understanding the often fraught energy diplomacy between Russia and the European Union (EU).…