European Parliament approves creation of “black list” of airlines
The European Parliament has decided to draw up a “black list” of airlines whose flights will be banned in all EU countries for security reasons. As Lenta.ru reports citing the official website of the European Parliament, the corresponding proposal was supported by an overwhelming majority of deputies.
It is expected that the decision to form the “black list” will come into force in early 2006. Within a month after that, each EU country will have to provide a list of airlines whose flights are subject to a ban on its territory. The European Commission will get another month to work out common criteria and compile the final “black list”. It is also noted that EU countries will retain the right to draw up their own “black lists” at their discretion.
Some European countries have already published “black lists” of airlines shortly after the Boeing-737 crashes in Greece and Venezuela in the summer of 2005. In the main, airlines from African countries were banned. It was also reported that Belgium refused to accept aircraft of the Ukrainian company “Southern Airlines” and the Armenian Air-Van Airlines, and Italy - planes of the Russian company “Kuban Airlines”.
Czech Republic will switch to euro in 2010
Despite the forecasts of the Czech Savings Bank, Czech Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka issued a statement that the republic is ready to switch to the European currency in 2010, RIA Novosti reports. In the minister’s opinion, in terms of preparedness for the transition to the common European currency, the Czech Republic is on the same level as Slovenia and Slovakia, and postponing this event beyond 2010 could complicate the country’s economy.
Recall that according to a study conducted by the Czech Savings Bank, the Czech Republic planned to switch to the euro no earlier than 2013. The euro exchange rate, according to experts, will be 25.50 crowns per unit.
Lithuania, Estonia and Slovenia are to switch to the euro in 2007, and the corresponding agreement has been signed with the European Commission. According to the document, the European Commission will finance national programs to inform these countries about all aspects of the upcoming transition. The final decision on the possibility of introducing the euro in the three countries from January 1, 2007 will be made by the EU Council on Economic and Financial Affairs. This will happen after studying the European Commission report on the countries’ compliance with the “Maastricht criteria”, which set the necessary macroeconomic indicators for countries seeking to join the euro zone.
Estonians to be punished for alcohol
The European Commission also wants to punish Estonia for excessive warehouse stocks of alcohol. As DELFI reports citing the Estonian publication Eesti Ekspress, according to European experts, at the time of the Baltic republic’s accession to the EU, Estonia’s warehouses contained 1,350 tons of surplus alcohol.
The fine for alcoholic beverages can be up to €10–19 per hundred liters. It is not yet known exactly how many and which alcoholic drinks are included in the list, but presumably the fine could amount to three to four million kroons.
Estonian officials and alcohol producers disagree with this approach. The executive director of one of the largest alcohol producers in the republic, the company “Liviko”, Janek Kalvi, is genuinely surprised by the possibility of a fine and considers talk of alcohol warehouse stocks ridiculous, since compared with sugar it is a “pseudo-problem”.
Recall that the EU has already imposed a fine of 700 million kroons on Estonia for surplus sugar. According to unconfirmed data, a new fine of 328 million kroons may be added for several dozen types of food products.
Dubai Shopping Festival to begin January 4
The Dubai Shopping Festival is the emirate’s largest cultural and entertainment event. Next year this celebration will be held somewhat earlier than usual – from January 4 to February 4, Travel.ru reports. This year the festival celebrated its tenth anniversary; it was visited by more than 3.3 million people (6% more than in 2004). In total, guests spent 6.67 billion dirhams ($1.8 billion) in stores offering holiday discounts, which is 13% more than in previous years.
Traditionally, during the festival Dubai’s largest stores offer customers discounts of up to 70%, numerous lotteries and drawings. The biggest lottery draws of the upcoming festival are already known. This is the Nissan Grand Raffle, during which a car of this brand will be raffled daily, and on the last day of the festival a lucky winner will receive an entire Nissan model line – 10 cars. The second largest lottery – City of Gold – will provide a chance to win up to 1 kg of gold daily; up to 5 kg every week; and in the final the winner will receive a Grand Prize – 100 kg of gold.