ASEAN-EU open new chapter
Bandar Seri Begawan, 30 April 2012: Europe and Southeast Asia on Friday pushed for a new chapter in relations, as Myanmar embraces democratic reforms and the EU seeks growth markets amid its crippling debt crisis.
Foreign ministers and senior diplomats from the two regions met in the oil-rich sultanate Brunei to chart ways to boost cooperation in areas ranging from trade to disaster management and security.
“Developing our relations with Asia across the board is a major strategic objective for the European Union,” EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said at a news conference after the meeting.
ASEAN charts new Myanmar chapter
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, 27 April 2012: Southeast Asian and European foreign ministers meet in Brunei today to chart a “new chapter” in their relations now that democratic reforms are under way in former pariah Myanmar.
Human rights abuses and the harsh suppression of political dissent long made Myanmar a constant thorn in ties between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the international community, including the European Union.
But over the past year, Myanmar’s quasi-civilian government, led by President Thein Sein, an ex-general, has freed hundreds of political prisoners, eased media restrictions and welcomed the opposition back into politics.
EU probes Google business ethics
April 4, 2012 by AFP
Filed under News, Technology
PARIS, 4 April 2012: The travel websites Expedia and TripAdvisor have filed complaints as part of a probe into whether Google is abusing its position on the intenet, a European Commission spokesman said on Tuesday.
With the complaints recently filed by Expedia and TripAdvisor “We have received 13 complaints as part of the antitrust probe we opened in 2010,” Commission spokesman Antoine Colombani.
Sources familiar with the probe said the complaints concerned Google Flight, which like Expedia and TripAdvisor allows users to search for, and purchase, airline tickets online.
China opposes EU tax
BEIJING, 23 December 2011: China Thursday joined Washington in opposing a plan by the European Union to impose carbon emissions charges on all airlines in its airspace from 1 January, warning it risked sparking a trade war.
The comments from China’s foreign ministry and official media came after the European Union’s highest court threw out a bid by US and Canadian airlines to block the scheme, triggering an angry response from Washington.
“We oppose the unilateral legislation imposed by the EU,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin.
Carbon offsets will raise fares
BRUSSELS, 27 September 2011 – Travellers could see a new charge on their tickets to fly between Europe and North America after the European Union begins forcing airlines to buy carbon emission permits next year.
The EU admitted Monday, as it unveiled rules governing the system, that the scheme could prompt airlines to add between four and EU24 (US$32) to the price of a two-way transatlantic flight.
The EU is pressing ahead with the system despite a court challenge by the US airline industry, which says that it could cost them US$3 billion over the next 10 years. Chinese carriers have also complained, saying it would cost them an additional 800 million yuan (EU92.5 million, US$125 million) a year. Read more
Philippines aviation chief quits
MANILA, 23 December 2010 – The Philippines’ chief aviation regulator has abruptly quit, the government said Tuesday, after he blamed President Benigno Aquino for keeping the country on an international flight safety blacklist.
Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines director-general Alfonso Cusi tendered his resignation effective 31 December.
EU grants Taiwan visa-free entry
BRUSSELS, 26 November 2010 – The European Union agreed Thursday to lift visa requirements for visitors from Taiwan even though the 27-nation bloc does not recognise it as a sovereign state.
Taiwanese travellers will no longer need a short-term visa for trips of up to 90 days under the arrangement, which is expected to come into force by the end of the year, the EU said in a statement.
The visa waiver will allow Taiwan passport holders to move freely across the passport-free Schengen travel zone, which includes 22 EU states plus Norway, Iceland and Switzerland.
Call to lift sanctions on Myanmar
DILI, 17 November 2010 – East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta on Monday urged the United States and Europe to lift sanctions against Myanmar after the junta released opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Ramos-Horta also expressed his happiness over Saturday’s release of his fellow Nobel laureate from house arrest in Yangon, where she had been held for 15 of the past 21 years.
EC drops charges against THAI
November 15, 2010 by TTRweekly Staff
Filed under News
BANGKOK, 15 November 2010 – The European Commission dropped charges against Thai Airways International for alleged involvement in air freight collusion, according to a statement issued by the airline over the weekend.
THAI vice president, legal and compliance department, Niruj Maneepun, said THAI was informed by the European Commission that all charges had been dropped against Thai Airways International after the EC completed an investigation into allegations of anti-competitive practices in the air freight businesses involving a number of carriers.
Philippines hopes to get off blacklist
MANILA, 15 November 2010 – The Philippines hopes soon to be removed from blacklists of countries deemed to have unsafe aviation, paving the way for its flag carrier to add US flights and return to Europe, a regulator said last Friday.
Philippine airlines were stopped from expanding services to the United States in 2008 and banned from Europe in March this year over concerns airline safety was not being overseen according to international standards.
