Sir, Regarding ‘Commission mulls cap on football transfer fees‘: The European Commission is gong to conduct a study on transfers in professional team sports in 2012. This will, among other things, address questions relating to the transparency and sustainability of existing transfer systems. The Commission is not mulling a cap on transfer fees or player [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Brussels outlines vision for ‘fairer’ EU farm policy‘: The European Commission’s Communication on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy sets separate objectives of social cohesion, economic health and environmental sustainability. Our association fully shares these objectives. Together with the 19 participants from 14 member states and highly diverse backgrounds who attended our [...]

Sir, Now the EU is awake at last, it should deal with debt workouts for EU and developing countries. With the Greek financial crisis rocking the foundations of European Monetary Union, the EU has finally realised it needs to agree on debt mechanisms. With regard to the Council’s conclusions on a ‘permanent crisis mechanism’, EU [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Delors asks Germany: ‘Are you still true to European values?’‘ As we all know, we in the EU are not all of the same nation like the USA. We have many differences in basic cultures, unlike in the USA, where cultural differences are only slight across a country that is 2.27-times larger than [...]

Sir, As ministers from across the EU-27 meet for the Informal Energy Council on 6-7 September, the oil refining industry urges them to recognise refining as an essential element of energy infrastructure and ensure that the Communication on Energy infrastructure includes oil pipelines and refining as a vital part of the supply chain for refined [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Brussels pushes for electric cars‘: Eurobat, the association of European storage battery manufacturers, supports the main themes of the Commission’s communication of 28 April 2010 on clean and efficient vehicles. Our members represent all major manufacturers and are up to the challenge to serve this fast growing market. They will continue to contribute [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Hedge funds face uncertain future after EU votes‘: Since the start of the financial crisis in 2007 and the subsequent meltdown, it has become clear that banks (under the Fed’s regulations), investment banks and hedge funds have been investing in the demise during the ensuing financial meltdown (e.g. Bear Stearns). During the GATT/WTO/Clinton/Rubinomics [...]

Dear Ms. Kroes, As you might know, often my country tends to walk on the wrong path when it comes down to freedom of the press and information. This is really a pity since we do have the potential to do more and better. As you might also know, Italian governments, both from the centre-left [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Greens embrace enzymes in climate change fight‘: This is a serious issue and is much like that of genetically-modified organisms. Using enzymes to disrupt biomass is tantamount to opening up the proverbial ‘Pandora’s box”. You do not know the consequences and you do not know where it will end. It is all very [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Hedegaard eyes tougher emission cuts from transport‘: We need urgent and clear goals for the electrification of public transport, because combustion cars and buses destroy the climate, pollute the air and damage human health. The conversion of combustion buses (diesel buses) to electric would be finished in a year. Meanwhile, protests against combustion [...]