Today at the VII World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences in Rome, the European Commission and the European cosmetic industry presented their joint financial effort for research into alternative safety testing methods. On 30 July 2009, the European Commission launched a €25 million call for proposals in this field and the European cosmetic industry, represented by the European Cosmetics Association (Colipa), committed to give the same amount of support. As a result, up to €50 million will be allocated to research projects laying the scientific foundation for future safety testing methods with a higher predictive value, and that will be faster and cheaper than animal tests./EN/News-Press/News/page.aspx/1284?xid=2593Monday, August 31, 2009EU conference urges need for competitive and sustainable chemical industry in EuropeWednesday, July 14, 2010The plastics and rubber industry anticipates further price increases. Ethylene, propylene and butadiene, the base chemicals from which plastics and rubber are made, have become 10 to 25 % more expensive as a result of high oil prices. Federplast.be, the Belgian Association of Manufacturers of Plastic and Rubber Articles, fears that a further price increase of plastic and rubber articles will become inevitable. The sector expects nevertheless an increasing use of its products in applications with higher added value.Monday, August 11, 2008Brussels, 1 July 2008: Cefic, the European Chemical Industry Council, expects output in the chemical industry (excluding pharmaceuticals) to grow by 1.4% in 2008, compared to 2.1 % in 2007. The year 2009 would show a slight improvement of growth (+1.5%) (Chart 1).Thursday, July 03, 2008Elected today as President of IFIEC Europe, Hans Grünfeld brings experience as Chief Executive of VEMW, IFIEC’s member association in The Netherlands, to the work of IFIEC Europe. When important policy decisions are being made over EU energy arrangements and positioning in the global climate change negotiations, his experience of the industry/Government interface will be important in taking IFIEC forward.Thursday, July 05, 2007Brussels- Following the preliminary results of the European inquiry of the Directorate-General Competition on the functioning of the electricity and gas markets and the different individual cases that have been studied in this framework, it appears that long term contracts for electricity and gas supply are more and more questioned.Wednesday, May 23, 2007Brussels - The focus of today’s Energy Forum was the Commission’s Communication on an Energy Policy for Europe. Peter Claes, IFIEC’s President, outlined the problems that lack of competition in energy markets created for industry. He pointed to security of supply concerns, lack of energy price formation data and vertical integration on the supply side, saying “We could see little that resembled a market operating on the supply side; only increasing difficulties for our members competing globally. We looked to the DG Competition Sector Inquiry to challenge established supply side practices”.Monday, January 22, 2007Brussels - Febeliec has taken note of the decision of the European Commission to allow the merger of Gaz de France and Suez provided that certain conditions are fulfilled.Friday, November 17, 2006Elia and RTE have recently announced a new allocation principle for cross-border capacity on the French/Belgian border to be implemented as from January 1, 2006.Tuesday, November 15, 2005The inauguration meeting of the formalised Social Partner Dialogue in the European Chemical Industry was held on December 14th 2004, in Brussels, Belgium.Tuesday, December 14, 2004The evening before Baron Georges Jacobs stepped down as chairman of the UCB steering committee, Marc Verwilghen, Minister of Economic Affairs, Energy, Foreign Trade and Research, spoke with Leo Neels, director-general of pharma.be, the umbrella organisation of the pharmaceutical industry in Belgium.Thursday, December 02, 2004Cefic, the European Chemical Industry Council, is launching a new campaign to boost knowledge and awareness about chemistry. This new initiative stresses chemistry's importance as a constant and often unnoticed companion in our daily life. Right at the centre of all this are the chemical elements of the periodic table, on the basis of which chemists are constantly developing new solutions and products.Thursday, September 30, 2004Réactions sur les commentaires des Ministres Dua et Foret et du BBL sur l'étude " Environmental Sustainability Index " du World Economic Forum<br/>Bruxelles - Le Ministre Foret relativise le mauvais résultat de la Belgique. Comme M. Foret, Ministre wallon de l'Environnement, Febeliec est d'avis que les résultats de l'étude internationale doivent être interprétés avec circonspection, relativisés et placés dans le contexte adéquat.Tuesday, February 12, 2002