Accordingly, business statistics in the broad sense are in heavy demand to support the decision-making process but also to help European citizens and businesses understand the impact of those policies, differentiating between large enterprises, mid-caps and small and medium-sized enterprises for which there is an increased need for detailed and harmonised statistics.

(Return tabled) Question No. 611 Ms. Kirsty Duncan: With respect to the government’s plans for resource development, as described in the section entitled “Responsible Resource Development” in Chapter 3.2 of Budget 2012: (a) what are all examples of federal environmental laws that are stronger than provincial laws and how will the proposed legislative changes to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) affect the assessment of environmental impacts of industrial projects that cross provincial borders; (b) what research, action, or investment has the government undertaken to study impacts of the proposed legislative changes to the CEAA on (i) regulatory decision-making, (ii) risk of project-specific and cumulative environmental impac ...[+++]ts, (iii) risk mitigation by developers, (iv) Canada’s reputation; (c) what briefing notes, memos, or any other documentation, including, for each, the details of its findings and recommendations, have been provided to the Prime Minister, Minister of Natural Resources, Minister of the Environment, their respective Parliamentary Secretaries, their respective Deputy Ministers, and their respective staff members, regarding impacts of the proposed legislative changes to the CEAA on (i) regulatory decision-making, (ii) risk of project-specific and cumulative environmental impacts, (iii) mitigation by developers, (iv) Canada’s reputation; (d) will the proposed legislative changes to the CEAA give any consideration to (i) measuring negative impacts of development, (ii) managing negative impacts of development; (e) by what date will the government bring forth new “legislation to streamline the review process for major economic projects” (Budget 2012, p. 89); (f) what are the projected costs of changes to the CEAA for each province and territory; (g) what assessments of the adequacy of the environmental assessment process in each province and territory have been conducted, (i) what were the dates of any such assessments, (ii) what wer ...

(Return tabled) Question No. 213 Mr. Raymond Côté: With regard to the Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP): (a) what is the total amount borrowed from the program for each fiscal year since it was created; (b) how many loans over $250 million dollars were issued; (c) which enterprises or individuals received loans over $250 million dollars; (d) how many loans between $25 million to $250 million dollars were issued; (e) which enterprises or individuals received loans between $25 million to $250 million dollars; (f) which enterprises or individuals received loans less ...[+++] than $25 million dollars; (g) what sum from the whole of BCAP's assets was given out as (i) loans, (ii) grants, (iii) subsidies; (h) what was the form (checks, bank loans, business loans, credit cards, cash) of the BCAP's loans, grants, and subsidies; (i) what were the conditions of acceptance to receive the BCAP program's support; (j) who was deciding on rejecting or accepting businesses into BCAP's loan program; (k) what were the eligibility criteria of BCAP's measures for businesses; (l) was there an evaluation grid of criteria needed for a business or individual to have access to BCAP's helping measures, and, if yes, who was the person or group of persons responsible for taking decisions concerning helping or not helping a business; (m) what is the total number of businesses that were directly helped by the BCAP program; (n) what was the composition of the oversight group managing the BCAP program; (o) were there any private companies involved in the acceptance or rejection process of the BCAP program, and, if yes, what were the names of the individuals that were involved and what were their roles within the BCAP program administration; (p) were there any conditions to receive financing from BCAP program; (q) what was the percentage and sum within the amount of BCAP resources allocated to small businesses (under 100 employees); (r) what was the percentage and sum within the am ...

(Return tabled) Question No. 152 Ms. Kirsty Duncan: With respect to the development of unconventional gas resources, including shale, tight and coal bed methane, and its possible impacts on the environment: (a) what, if any, research has the government undertaken regarding the development of unconventional gas resources, (i) what was the scope of this research in the areas of, but not limited to, air quality, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem impacts, economic impacts, occupational risks, public safety concerns, and seismic risks, (ii) what, if any, resources did the government provide for this research, (iii) what, if any, process was established to ...[+++]ensure the independence of the researchers, their research, and their findings, (iv) what, if any, case studies were considered as a part of this research, (v) what, if any, scenarios regarding the development of unconventional gas resources were developed as frameworks for the research, (vi) what economic, environmental and social impacts were identified by this research, (vii) what, if any, priority research areas were identified for further study as a result of this research, (viii) what, if any, departments were involved in this research, (ix) what, if any, action was undertaken to ensure inter-departmental cooperation throughout the research process, (x) what, if any, gaps or weaknesses in the regulatory framework did the research identify; (b) what, if any, research has the government undertaken regarding balancing shale gas' potential contribution to energy security with environmental risks; (c) what are the sources of greenhouse gas emissions associated with unconventional gas; (d) has the government developed a process to determine the overall carbon footprint of shale gas throughout the life cycle of natural gas use, if not, why not, and, if so, (i) what federal departments are involved in this process, (ii) how does the government ensure inter-departmental collaboration on this process, (iii) what is the p ...

The functioning of the internal market involves a process of concentrations of undertakings, cross-border mergers, take-overs, joint ventures and, consequently, a transnationalisation of undertakings and groups of undertakings.

Energy-intensive firms will moreover be able to reduce their CO2 tax on energy used in energy-intensive processes by entering into a voluntary agreement with the authorities. Under a voluntary agreement the CO2 tax on energy used in production processes covered by the process-list will be reduced to DKr 3 per tonne CO2 emitted, whereas for other energy-intensive firms as defined in the law the reduction will be less favourable.