Eurobrief February 2009

The European Committee for Standardization, is organising its sixth StandarDays on 19 and 20 May 2009.

The European Commission plans to release a proposal that would enable Member States to reduce the amount of Value Added Tax (VAT) applied to greener products as a cost-effective means of promoting the production and use of energy-saving materials and energy-efficient appliances and equipment.

Too little progress is being made if the EU is to meet its objective of a 20% energy efficiency improvement by 2020, says the European Commission.

Projects to help curb greenhouse gas emissions in the developing world may be abandoned because of the global financial crisis.