BankingThe European Parliament and the Council have adopted a directive on the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions (Directive 2000/12/EC, OJ L 126, 26 May 2000, pp.1-59).

This is a consolidation measure which repeals and replaces earlier legislation abolishing restrictions on the freedom of establishment for such institutions and co-ordinating national provisions relating to authorisations, capital requirements, and supervision etcetera for such businesses.European Court of JusticeThe ECJ's rules of procedure have been amended to provide (among other things) for an accelerated procedure for dealing with references to the court in urgent cases (OJ L 122, 24 May 2000, pp.43 to 45).

The opportunity has also be taken to amend the rules to reflect amendments made by the Treaty of Amsterdam, particularly the changes in the numbering of articles of the EC Treaty.FoodThe European Parliament and the Council has adopted a directive on the labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs (Directive 2000/13/EC, OJ L 109, 6 May 2000, pp.29-42), which is a consolidation measure repealing earlier legislation.

The directive deals with foodstuffs delivered to the ultimate consumer, and also to restaurants, hospitals, canteens and other mass caterers.

It prohibits misleading labelling and specifies information which must be included on labels.

Provision is made for the name under which food may be sold and for the listing of its ingredients (and for stating the quantities and categories of ingredients).The net quantity of prepackaged foods must be expressed in litres, centilitres, millilitres, kilograms or grams (subject to national derogations for specified foods).The date of minimum durability of foods (or, in the case of highly perishable foods, the 'use by' date) must be indicated, as must instructions for use and alcoholic strength.

National rules will apply to foodstuffs offered to the ultimate consumer or to mass caterers without prepackaging, or to items which are packaged on the sales premises or prepackaged for direct sale.SafetyThe European Parliament and the Council have adopted a directive on the safety of cableways (Directive 2000/9/EC, OJ L 106, 3 May 2000, pp.21 to 48).

This relates (among other things) to funicular railways, cable cars, gondolas, chair lifts and drag lifts, but not to lifts, cable-operated tramways of traditional construction, mobile equipment used in fairgrounds, or rack railways.Cableway installations and their infrastructure and sub-systems must conf orm with essential requirements annexed to the directive.

Planned installations may be subjected to a safety analysis which will be the subject of a report recommending measures to deal with risks and specifying safety components (that is, components or devices incorporated into an installation for reasons of safety).Member states are required to ensure that safety components (to which CE conformity markings apply) permit the construction of installations in accordance with the specified essential requirements.

Transitional provisions apply for four years, but member states must adopt the necessary implementing measures by 3 May 2002.