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28 January 2012 |
European Union research grants sometimes look suspiciously like industrial subsidies. One clear example of this is the Clean Sky 'green aviation' initiative, writes Stephen Gardner.
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06 January 2012 |
The European Union's research and development grant scheme, the Seventh Framework Programme, commits €2.83 billion (5.6 percent of the total budget) to space and security research between 2007-2013. Much of this money is being spent on surveillance or even pseudo-military projects, though spending of EU research funds on weapons R&D is forbidden, writes Stephen Gardner.
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04 January 2012 |
The European Commission has had a rethink on corporate social responsibility. It previously insisted that CSR could not be forced on firms. But at the end of October 2011, it published a range of proposals that will entail new obligations for companies, writes Stephen Gardner.
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07 December 2011 |
Should corporate tax dodgers be allowed to benefit from public R&D subsidies? Belgian MEP Philippe Lamberts says not. "This is a red line," he says. Shareholders should not profit from publicly funded research if the company is not paying its fair share, writes Stephen Gardner.
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07 December 2011 |
The European Environment Agency published an interesting study recently. It puts a price on the damage caused by air pollution from power stations and industrial plants in the European Union. Most interestingly, the cost of damage is broken down on a facility-by-facility basis, writes Stephen Gardner.
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15 November 2011 |
For weary Brussels watchers, it feels like déjà vu all over again. Campaigners and interest groups on one side, and business federations on the other, are gearing up for a fight over a possible European Union law, even though the legislative proposals will not be published before the middle of next year, writes Stephen Gardner.
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13 October 2011 |
The public relations industry is surprisingly compact, writes Stephen Gardner. Britain's top 150 PR consultancies had a total fee income of £839 million in 2010, according to the trade press.
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19 September 2011 |
Electric vehicle charging infrastructure is spreading increasingly rapidly across Europe, writes Stephen Gardner. But the development is not necessarily well coordinated.
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21 August 2011 |
 Visitors passing through Heathrow on the way to next year's Olympics can no doubt have confidence in the airport's security systems. But they might be surprised to learn that, courtesy of a European Commission grant, they will be subsidising their own surveillance, and that they will be watched by an Israeli firm that provides monitoring systems for the West Bank separation barrier, writes Stephen Gardner.
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06 August 2011 |
The stereotype of Swiss secrecy is increasingly out of date, but some corporate governance issues remain to be dealt with, writes Stephen Gardner.
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06 August 2011 |
The Swiss approach to corporate social responsibility reflects Switzerland's stable business environment and tradition of neutrality, and the national commitment to discretion, writes Stephen Gardner.
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