September 2006

Eurosif is taking advantage of the recent discussions at the European Commission and European Parliament on Voting Rights of Shareholders to organise a high-level seminar in December on Sustainable Governance. More details on the partners involved and the agenda for this event in the near future.

EU News

Commission enables public access to all national financial services legislation

The European Commission opened a publicly available internet database giving complete access to national laws implementing EU financial services Directives. The database of weblinks should aid the overall process of implementation and curb regulatory additions to legislation, known as "gold-plating". It will also reduce costs and barriers for business and consumers as they will be armed with the information they need to utilise EU legislation more effectively in the various Member States. The database can be found here

Environment: Commission pilot projects result in industry commitments to make 'greener' products

Two European Commission pilot projects to improve the environmental performance of everyday products have resulted in commitments by manufacturers to find new ways to reduce the environmental impacts of mobile telephones and wooden garden furniture. The implementation of these commitments will be monitored by the Commission, which initiated the projects two years ago. The Commission is now calling on other industries to reduce the environmental impacts of their products in a similar fashion. More info

CO2 emissions from new cars down by more than 12% since 1995

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from new cars sold in the EU-15 have decreased further. According to the European Commission's annual report on CO2 emissions from new cars, published in August, in 2004 average emissions were 12.4% below 1995's level (in 2003 they had been 11.8% below 1995). The report welcomes this progress but underlines that the industry will need to make major additional efforts to meet its commitments to cut average CO2emissions to 140g/km by 2008/9, a reduction of around 25% from 1995 levels. More info

Reducing CO2 emissions: The Commission seeks to promote hydrogen powered vehicles

Hydrogen vehicles offer significant environmental benefits through lower pollution and zero exhaust pipe greenhouse gas emissions. The Commission wants to encourage and speed up the introduction of such cars. Stakeholders were invited to comment on the issues covered by the proposal, in particular, whether it would impose any undue burden on manufacturers or suppliers compared to the benefits in terms of safe operation of the vehicles. More info

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