EU to hit some digital cameras with import duty
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Some top-end digital cameras entering  the European Union could become more expensive after trade  experts decided their advanced video functions meant they  should be classed as video recorders, which attract import  duties.
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Digital cameras with 7-megapixel imaging are priced in the midrange.
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New models of digital cameras come with multiple ways of eliminating dust particles.
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Britain, the Netherlands and Spain plan restrictions on immigrant workers from Bulgaria and Romania once the two states join the European Union Jan.Comment
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The EU announces proposals for biometric fingerprinting of visitors from outside the European Union arriving at its borders.
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The European Commission is due to fine  Microsoft on Wednesday as part of a hard-line approach toward  getting the software giant to comply with antitrust sanctions  that appears to be bearing fruit.
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European Union officials this week will aim to reduce corporate influence and make polluting more expensive.
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_ Eastman Kodak Co. announced Tuesday it will cut nearly 900 jobs at three of its manufacturing facilities in Europe as part of the company&#39;s shift from traditional film production to digital photography.
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(InfoWorld) - In a surprise move, the European Commission said Wednesday it is shelving plans to overhaul Europeâs rules on copyright fees, after intense lobbying from France and from groups representing artists and authors. The Commission, the executive body of the European Union, was planning to replace the patchwork of national rules with a Europe-wide code designed to better suit the digital age. Presently most countries impose copyright levies on a wide range of products, from photocopiers to mobile phones, and including recordable formats such as CD-Rs, blank cassettes and even paper. The size of levies varies widely from country to country. Only the U.K., Ireland, and Luxembourg do not impose any such levies. Copyright levies are supposed to compensate artists and authors who donât receive any payment when their copyrighted music, documents, or pictures are duplicated by consumers. The Commission wanted to harmonize the rules and scrap levies on most hardware. Its aim was to reduce the fees, which in some cases increase the price of goods dramatically. For example, in Spain consumers have to pay almost â¬300 ($398) in levies when they buy an 80GB MP3 player; in Austria the equivalent charge is just â¬8, according to the Copyright Levies Reform Alliance (CLRA), a coalition of businesses dedicated to harmonizing and lowering copyright fees in Europe. The Commission said it was abandoning the rule change for now. It had planned to publish a proposal before the end of this year. âMore reflection is needed on this complex issue,â spokeswoman Pia AhrenKilde Hansen told journalists. She wouldnât give a new timetable for the legal proposal. She acknowledged that the French prime minister Dominique de Villepin had written to the Commission earlier this month, urging it to drop the plan but she insisted that the Commission will decide for itself when the proposal will be launched. The Commission has been planning to harmonize copyright levies across the E.U. since 2000. Since then the case for scrapping most levies has grown stronger. Digital rights management software, which allows copyright owners to track the copying of their works, has become commonplace. The Commissionâs climb down sparked an angry reaction from the companies and industry groups pushing for a change to the system. âEuropean industry is deeply disturbed by the European Commissionâs apparent about-face on the planned reform of copyright levies,â said Mark McGann, spokesman for the CLRA in a statement issued Wednesday. âWith this decision, it is clear to industry that the Commission has abandoned any serious efforts to establish transparency, efficiency and fairness in the way these levies are set, collected and distributed,â he added, warning that without the revamp of copyright levies, several large European companies now intend to file official complaints with the Commission that will likely result in a wave of infringement procedures against certain member states. âThe reform of copyright levies would then move from the European executive to the European Court of Justice,â CLRA said in its statement.
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Four times cameras mobiles will have been sold in Europe by the end of 2004 than last year, say analysts.
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Digital camera sales worldwide  will reach $24 billion in 2004 and rise 29 percent to reach $31  billion in 2009, a research group said on Thursday.
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The European Union (EU) is likely to place tariffs of more than 20% on flat-panel TVs exported to Europe, according to Liu Hai Zhong (transliterated from Chinese), spokesperson for Sichuan Changhong Electronics, as quoted by the China-based web portal Sohu
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By JAN SLIVA  STRASBOURG, France - Some dangerous chemicals could be banned from the European market and about 30,000 substances used in everyday products ranging from detergents to toys will have to be registered in a central European Union database under a law approved Wednesday.
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European Union regulators unveiled 42 anti-smoking pictures that EU nations can use on cigarette packages to limit the market for tobacco companies including Altria Group Inc.
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The European Union, Japan and others will be able to impose heavy sanctions against US firms dumping goods from early next year.
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The European Commission plans to set up an EU force to deal with fires, floods and other emergencies.
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A glut of mainstream digital cameras has manufacturers zooming in on specialties from astronomy to birding and stereo photography.