EU Legislation, Initiatives, etc.

EU News: The European Commission has welcomed the WTO Appellate Body report on the Airbus case published last week.  The Appellate Body has overturned several key findings made by the Panel.  Most importantly, the Appellate Body found that support provided by Germany, Spain and the UK for the launch of Airbus' A380 aircraft is not a prohibited export subsidy under WTO Law.  It also rejected the US appeal that other instances of Repayable Launch Investment (RLI) were export subsidies.
Press release & links ~ BIS comment
 
EU News: The European Commission has formally requested the UK to amend its legislation to better take into account the rulings of the EU's Court of Justice on the tax treatment of controlled foreign corporations (CFCs).  
 
Despite the 2006 Court's ruling in the Cadbury Schweppes case, the UK is still not complying with EU law on freedom of establishment & free movement of capital.  In particular, the UK continues to tax in the UK profits of subsidiaries established in the EU or in Member States of the European Economic Area (EEA).  
Press release & links
 
BIS‘Funding for EU research and innovation from 2014: a UK perspective’ looks at the future role & shape of EU funding for research & innovation and sets out the recommendations from the Government.
Press release & links ~ Funding for EU research and innovation from 2014: a UK perspective
 
EU News: The European Commission has sent a reasoned opinion to 10 Member States formally requesting to fully implement the last amendment to the Railway Safety Directive.  Austria, Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom, have so far failed to bring their national legislation into line with this Directive although obliged to do so by 24 December 2010.  
 
The Commission has set a 2-month deadline for these Member States to remedy the situation. Should the Member States fail to do so, the Commission may refer the cases to the Court of Justice.
Press release & links
 
EU News: The European Commission has asked Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom to adopt national legislation to implement the new port state control regime to comply with European Union law.
 
Following the "Erika" and "Prestige" accidents off the European coasts, EU legislation on port state control was adopted in 2009 under the third maritime safety package. This directive reinforces as of 1 January 2011, Member States' obligations to inspect vessels calling at their ports.  The new law requires more frequent inspections on ships posing a higher risk and extends the ban on substandard ships.
Press release & links
 
EU News: The European Commission is asking the public how best to reduce the use of plastic carrier bags.  Opinions will also be sought (by the 9 August 2011) on increasing the visibility of biodegradable packaging products, and boosting the biodegradability requirements for packaging – See ‘Consultations’ section for more information.
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