Latest news with #EUregulations
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
German gas pipeline lobby proposes reforms to cut cost of storage
FRANKFURT, May 28 (Reuters) - Germany's pipeline lobby group has proposed a new approach to gas storage, including a permanent national reserve, it said on Wednesday, in an effort to reduce the cost of building up an energy buffer ahead of the European winter. Since the energy crisis linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, European Union countries have turned to increased storage to protect against supply disruption. How the practice is managed in Germany is resonant for the wider bloc as it is the continent's biggest energy market and storage location and is reliant on imports. The new Berlin federal government a month ago changed required filling levels for the coming winter in line with anticipated changes to European Union regulations that allow 80% filling by November 1 instead of 90% previously. Fernleitungsnetzbetreiber Gas' Managing Director Barbara Fischer said the regulatory change helped for the short term, but more was need for the longer term. "We propose a model combining gas supply security with a greater inclusion and responsibility for market players," she said, with reference to gas merchants and shippers on FNB's transport pipeline networks. The lobby group's proposal involves setting up a permanent gas security reserve held underground, where Germany for example can store a quarter of its annual requirements. That would relieve the pressure for seasonal filling targets that have in many cases obliged utilities to pay elevated prices as market participants knew they needed to buy. In addition, the group is also proposing that shippers would be obliged to always hold or store sufficient volumes to serve at least their retail customers. It said this would spread the need to back up orderbooks more evenly over the year and help to discourage any speculative spikes on the market.
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Malaysia says EU's deforestation risk rating based on old data
KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 (Reuters) - Malaysia's Commodities Minister on Wednesday expressed concern over the European Union classifying the country as 'standard risk' under the new anti-deforestation law, saying the designation was based on old data. Addressing an event in Singapore, minister Johari Abdul Ghani said the classification was based on 2020 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization data and Malaysia, the world's second-largest exporter of palm oil, had introduced sufficient measures to justify being designated "low risk". The European Commission last week categorised goods imported from Belarus, Myanmar, North Korea and Russia as "high risk" of fuelling deforestation. Under the EU regulations, "standard risk" countries will face lighter compliance checks on goods exported to Europe, while "low-risk" countries will face less stringent due-diligence rules. Those classified as "standard risk" include Malaysia, Indonesia and Brazil. The EU law, which is expected to come into effect in December, applies to soy, beef, palm oil, wood, cocoa and coffee, and some derived products including leather, chocolate and furniture. Johari reaffirmed Malaysia's commitment to present updated, science-based evidence to support its request for a 'low risk' status. 'Malaysia has implemented strict no-deforestation policies and developed our own certification system ... which ensures traceability, compliance, and inclusivity, particularly for smallholders," Johari said, according to an official transcript of the remarks. 'We are fully committed to working with the EU Commission to ensure fair recognition of our progress,' he said, adding Malaysia had also participated widely in international sustainability efforts. The EC says its methodology is "firmly rooted in a commitment to fairness, objectivity and transparency" and it has a benchmarking process that is dynamic and set to be reviewed in 2026 after publication of new data later this year. The Malaysian Palm Oil Board said the EU's classification was based on a method that was 'too narrow and incomplete' and based on the average annual forest loss between 2015 and 2020. "This short timeframe does not show the full picture' it said in a statement. It also raised concerns on the EU's methodology, which it said looked at general forest loss and discriminated against the palm oil sector. The EU's delegation in Malaysia did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of regular working hours.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
EU regulators to investigate pornography sites
Online regulators at the European Commission have opened an investigation into Pornhub and three other pornography sites, over suspected lax efforts to prevent children accessing their explicit content. The EU's executive arm announced it had opened formal inquiries into Pornhub, XNXX, Stripchat, and XVideos, for possible breaches of the union's strict regulations of large online platforms. The investigation will centre on suspected lax age verification checks used by the sites, where users simply have to click a pop-up stating they are at least 18 years of age, to access the websites. The EU's Digital Services Act, which came into force early last year, gives commission regulators powers to investigate the spread of harmful and illegal online content. READ MORE Big online platforms found to be in breach of the tech regulations can be hit with large fines. 'Children should not have access to pornographic content. We suspect that these pornographic platforms are not properly assessing and mitigating risks stemming from their services and not effectively preventing kids from accessing adult content,' a commission spokesman said. Existing age verification checks used by the sites were not seen as effective, he said. The investigations into Pornhub and the other sites are expected to take several months at least. The inquiries may end in the commission fining the companies, or directing them to change their practices. 'We will now conduct an in-depth investigation and invite the four companies to co-operate throughout the process,' the commission spokesman said on Tuesday. The commission is trying to tackle the age verification problem itself, by introducing an EU-wide 'digital wallet'. The scheme would allow people to verify their identity when accessing services online. A trial of the digital ID idea will begin this summer, while the commission works towards a wider implementation of the concept. Separately, Pornhub received more than 7,000 reports about potential child sex abuse material being hosted on its website last year, according to an annual report required to be published to comply with the EU's new digital regulations. A further 1,200 complaints were flagged to the platform about possible non-consensual videos or other content on the website. Some 100 videos or other pieces of content were removed by Pornhub over fears they depicted child sex abuse material, the report said. Police in Germany made eight requests for information about users of the website, in connection with investigations into online child sexual abuse material.
CNA
3 days ago
- Politics
- CNA
Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos targeted in EU investigation
BRUSSELS :Adult content platforms Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos will be investigated for suspected breaches of EU online content law, EU regulators said on Tuesday, in a move that could lead to fines of as much as 6 per cent of their global annual turnover. The European Commission said the companies had not complied with rules requiring them to put in place appropriate measures to protect minors from adult content. They also breached rules obliging companies to take risk assessment and mitigation measures of negative effects on the rights of children and to prevent them from accessing adult content via age verification tools. "The online space should be a safe environment for children to learn and connect. Our priority is to protect minors and allow them to navigate safely online," EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said in a statement. Pornhub is part of Cypriot group Aylo Freesites Ltd, XNXX is owned by Czech company NKL Associates, Stripchat is a subsidiary of Cypriot company Technius Ltd and XVideos is part of WebGroup Czech Republic. The companies were designated as very large online platforms under the Digital Services Act in 2023, which requires them to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content on their platforms. The Commission said it would drop its designation of Stripchat as a very large online platform in four months' time after its average monthly number of users fell below the DSA user threshold.
CNA
3 days ago
- General
- CNA
Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX, XVideos targeted in EU investigation
BRUSSELS :Adult content platforms Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos will be investigated for suspected breaches of EU online content law, EU regulators said on Tuesday. The companies were designated as very large online platforms under the Digital Services Act (DSA) in 2023, which requires them to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content on their platforms. The European Commission said the companies have not complied with rules requiring them to put in place appropriate measures to protect minors from adult content. Separately, the EU executive said EU countries will coordinate actions against smaller pornographic platforms to protect children.
