Brussels, 28 July 2008 - Caritas Europa has answered to the European Commission's consultation on the draft Impact Assessment Guidelines (IAG). Its  response was officially submitted on 25 July.

Vehicle demand set to slow in spite of the economic uncertainty prevailing over the first half year, passenger car production in Europe has been stable in the first quarter, with a slight increase of 0.5%. Demand, however, is likely to contract over the course of the year as a consequence of deteriorating economic circumstances. Automotive forecasts point to a decrease of -2.7%. Demand for diesel powered cars remained firm, representing 53.1% of total new car registrations from January to June 2008.

Representatives of farmers worldwide today presented the Director General of the WTO, Pascal Lamy, with a joint declaration, in which they state their opposition to the current proposal on agriculture, which serves but a few industrial agricultural exporters and which will drive a large number of farming families to ruin. And yet these farming families are the core providers of food to local communities. 

New common capacity allocation office in Central-Eastern Europe founded by eight Transmission System Operators to foster development of regional electricity market

On 16 July, all airlines and EU countries must apply new legislation on “Flight Time Limitations” (FTL). This aims to prevent pilot fatigue becoming a risk to the passengers’ safety. While most passengers will not be aware of this important event, it is a potential milestone for aviation safety in Europe.

However, many airlines and countries are unlikely to be ready, despite having had 18 months to prepare. Will aircraft be grounded if they don’t comply with EU safety rules? Are the new rules as safe as they should be?