China tops dangerous goods report - EUbusiness Week no 352

==========================================================
EUbusiness Week - Issue 352
20 April 2007
http://www.eubusiness.com
Your way through the EU information maze
==========================================================

This Week's Top Stories
=======================
1. Turkey unveils EU reform plan despite talks slowdown
2. EU moving towards cross-border roaming caps by summer
3. EU boosts aid to neighbours on renewable energy
4. Regulators call time on Dutch beer cartel
5. SKorea ready to start free trade talks next month
6. Scandinavians top European happiness poll

Publisher's Note
================
China was the main culprit in an annual report on dangerous
consumer goods in the EU published on Thursday. 440 of its
products - ranging from toys to cigarette lighters - were
notified as dangerous in 2006, ten times more than Germany,
which ranked second on the list.

The report was published by RAPEX, Europe's rapid alert
system for dangerous non-food products. RAPEX facilitates
the rapid exchange of information among Member States to
prevent or restrict the marketing of products which pose
a serious risk to consumer health and safety.

Vigilance on behalf of consumers across Europe is getting
better and better, as Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena
Kuneva said, and the system appears to be working well.
http://www.eubusiness.com/Consumer/dangerous-goods.07

Regards,

Nick Prag
Publisher, EUbusiness

SPONSOR OFFER
**********************************************************
Find an Office in Europe! Instant Offices Europe offers
serviced office space in European markets.
http://www.eubusiness.com/Instant-offices
**********************************************************
Sponsor EUbusiness Week
For details of how to reach our membership of over 65,000
business professionals, please call Emma Kettle on +44
(0)20 7692 4848 or email us at sales_eub@eubusiness.com .
http://www.eubusiness.com/Advertise
**********************************************************

1. Turkey unveils EU reform plan despite talks slowdown
-------------------------------------------------------
Turkey unveiled on Tuesday a programme of technical reforms
until 2013 to bring the country in line with EU norms,
despite a slowdown in its turbulent accession process.
http://www.eubusiness.com/Institutions/turkey-eu.36

2. EU moving towards cross-border roaming caps by summer
--------------------------------------------------------
Calling home from European beaches will be cheaper for
mobile phone users this summer if MEPs and the Commission
get their way on planned caps for so-called roaming rates.
http://www.eubusiness.com/Telecoms/eu-roaming.38

3. EU boosts aid to neighbours on renewable energy
--------------------------------------------------
The EU has agreed to step up cooperation with its
neighbours to the south and the east on energy
efficiency and renewable energies.
http://www.eubusiness.com/Energy/energy-aid.03

4. Regulators call time on Dutch beer cartel
--------------------------------------------
EU regulators have brought their "no-tolerance" anti-cartel
campaign to the Dutch beer market, fining brewers Heineken,
Grolsch and Bavaria EUR 274 million.
http://www.eubusiness.com/Competition/beer-cartel.09

5. SKorea ready to start free trade talks next month
----------------------------------------------------
South Korea is ready to open talks next month with the EU
on a free trade agreement, President Roh Moo-Hyun said on
Wednesday.
http://www.eubusiness.com/Trade/skorea-trade.81

6. Scandinavians top happiness poll
-----------------------------------
Denmark is the happiest nation in Europe, according to
research published in Britain on Tuesday, which ranks
Scandinavians -- and the Irish -- top for contentment
and Mediterraneans at the bottom.
http://www.eubusiness.com/Living_in_EU/eu-happiness.82

SPONSOR OFFER
**********************************************************
Viking Direct Office Supplies
Shop online with Viking Direct for the best business to
business office supplies service on the Internet!
http://www.eubusiness.com/viking
**********************************************************

Inside the EU Institutions
==========================

Council Watch
-------------
Racism: the EU on Thursday made inciting racism and
xenophobia crimes throughout its 27 Member States, in a
landmark decision tempered by caveats to appease free
speech concerns.
http://www.eubusiness.com/Living_in_EU/eu-racism.51
EU presses Poland to drop reform treaty objections
http://www.eubusiness.com/news_live/1176915610.78
http://www.eubusiness.com/European_Council

Commission Watch
----------------
Piracy: trade chief Peter Mandelson has toughened up
Europe's line on China's "patchy" protection of
intellectual property rights, raising the prospect of
WTO action against Beijing.
http://www.eubusiness.com/Trade/wto-china-eu.79
Barroso backs new EU treaty by 2009
http://www.eubusiness.com/Institutions/ec-treaty.4
http://www.eubusiness.com/Commission

Euro-Parliament Watch
---------------------
Singapore: Singapore has defended banning some MEPs
from speaking at a democracy forum.
http://www.eubusiness.com/news_live/1176526802.26
Turkish-born MEP blames Europe's attitude for murders
http://www.eubusiness.com/news_live/1176994813.36
Cypriot MEP held on British base taken to hospital
http://www.eubusiness.com/news_live/1176559201.9

Also this week, the EP's Conference of Presidents proposed
that Parliament set up a temporary committee on climate
change; nine MEPs took part in the first formal joint
briefing for members of two US Congress sub-committees to
discuss CIA renditions and other counter-terrorism measures;
and MEPs and national MPs from the three candidate
countries met to discuss European energy policy.
http://www.eubusiness.com/Europarl

EU diary
--------
20-21 Apr, Informal Meeting, Economics and Finance
23-24 Apr, Gen'l Affairs and Ext'l Relations Council
23-26 Apr, European Parliament Plenary
26-28 Apr, Informal Meeting of Competitiveness Ministers
30 Apr, EU - United States of America Summit

The Week Ahead: http://www.eubusiness.com/events/EUcalendar
Long-term diary: http://www.eubusiness.com/events/eu-diary

Community Resources
===================

EUpress
-------
More than 1,000 delegates attended the 4th European
conference on Craft and Small Enterprises, which provided
an excellent opportunity for dialogue between business
organisations, entrepreneurs and decision makers at
European, national and regional level - UEAPME European
SMEs employers' association

Publish your organisation's policy papers and news directly
onto EUbusiness.
Press: http://www.eubusiness.com/press

EUevents
--------
3 May, Brussels: Responsible Entrepreneurship Exchange
http://www.eubusiness.com/SMEs/entrepreneurship-conference

10 May, Paris: Pension reform in the European Union
http://www.eubusiness.com/Social/pension-reform-eu
Events: http://www.eubusiness.com/events

EUbooks
-------
Venture capital investments
http://www.eubusiness.com/Finance/vc-investments

High-tech enterprises
http://www.eubusiness.com/Rd/high-tech-enterprises
Books: http://www.eubusiness.com/EUbooks

EUjobs
-------
Statistical Officer, European Training Foundation
http://www.eubusiness.com/Jobs/statistical-officer

EU public affairs consultant, Freshfields
http://www.eubusiness.com/Jobs/eupc.27-4-07
Jobs: http://www.eubusiness.com/jobs

EUlinks
-------
EU Digital Preservation report
http://www.eubusiness.com/Media/digital-preservation

RAPEX annual consumer report 2006
http://www.eubusiness.com/Consumer/rapex-report-2006
Links: http://www.eubusiness.com/links

EUguides
--------
Market Access Partnerships - questions and answers
http://www.eubusiness.com/Trade/market-access-eu

Unsafe products in the EU - overview
http://www.eubusiness.com/Consumer/unsafe-products
Guides: http://www.eubusiness.com/guides

Companies: http://users.eubusiness.com/europages
Funding: http://www.eubusiness.com/funding
Resources: http://www.eubusiness.com/resources

Other news on EUbusiness this week
----------------------------------
Dutch warned against interference in ABN Amro bids 19-Apr
http://www.eubusiness.com/Finance/bank-mergers.38
EU 'vigilant' about Telecom Italia protectionism 19-Apr
http://www.eubusiness.com/Telecoms/telecom-italia.79
EU launches clinical trials in HIV prevention 19-Apr
http://www.eubusiness.com/Health/empro-hiv-project
Britain has worst drug problem in Europe: study 18-Apr
http://www.eubusiness.com/Social/uk-drugs.36
Hitachi appeals price-fixing fine, Toshiba to follow 18-Apr
http://www.eubusiness.com/Finance/hitachi-toshiba.92
EU spends less on food R&D than competitors: report 17-Apr
http://www.eubusiness.com/Food/food-rd.37
Eurozone trade deficit falls despite euro strength 17-Apr
http://www.eubusiness.com/Factsfig/external-trade.98
Eurozone inflation edges up to 1.9 pct in March 16-Apr
http://www.eubusiness.com/Factsfig/eu-inflation.36
Spanish farmers protest against EU policies 14-Apr
http://www.eubusiness.com/Agri/spanish-farmers.42

Newswire online: http://www.eubusiness.com/Newswire

==========================================================
EUbusiness Week is a free service - please help us keep it
that way. Pass it on to your colleagues and friends and
suggest they register for their own copy.
==========================================================

Subscription Information
========================
To subscribe:
Register at http://www.eubusiness.com/Newswire

To unsubscribe:
To change your subscription options, go to
http://lists.eubusiness.com/mailman/listinfo/newswire

Any problems email service@eubusiness.com

Privacy Statement
http://www.eubusiness.com/privacy

----------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) 2007 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved.
May be reproduced in any medium for non-commercial purposes
as long as attribution is given.
==========================================================
EUbusiness Ltd
Westminster House, Kew Road
Richmond, Surrey TW9 2ND, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7692 4848
http://www.eubusiness.com
==========================================================
Registered in England and Wales number 3803196