The mining industry, the forestry industry, the automotive industry, the chemical sectors and the farming industry all predict slowdowns and closings if their rail service is not restored.

2. Welcomes the fact that the active phase of the accession negotiations between Turkey and the European Union has begun with the opening and provisional closure of the "Science and research" chapter; regrets, however, the slowing down of the reform process over the last year, as reflected in persistent shortcomings or insufficient progress in particular in the areas of freedom of expression, religious and minority rights, civil-military relations, law enforcement on the ground, women's rights, trade union rights, cultural rights and the swift and correct enforcement of court rulings by State services; urges Turkey to reinvigorate the ...[+++]reform process;

What happened on Cape Breton Island was not just a shutdown or a slowdown; it was, in terms of the collapse of the resource industries, an almost total destruction of the raison d'être of Cape Breton.

The Insolvency Directive has proved to be an invaluable instrument for protecting employees in cases of economic downturns and it will be a key legislative instrument to respond to the present climate of closures and redundancies.

Compared to the 1988-93 period, in which SMEs more than compensated for job-losses in larger enterprises, the SME job-machine is now stagnating, as slow recovery in SMEs was preceded by a slowdown in the growth of the number of enterprises in Europe, due to a slight decline in new enterprise creation and an increase in closures.

The recent slowdown in the growth of the number of enterprises in Europe is due both to a slight decline in new enterprise creation and an increase in closures.