LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – EU farm ministers agreed yesterday to overhaul the bloc’s fruit and vegetable sector, streamlining the way many subsidies are paid to an industry that accounts for nearly a fifth of the EU’s agricultural output. The reform will decouple subsidies for producing and processing fruit and vegetables, in effect breaking the link between how much a farmer produces and the amount of subsidy that he receives from Brussels. “There is a deal, it’s done. It was unanimous,” an official at the European Commission told Reuters.

Car sales showed a marginal decline in Greece last year, dropping by 0.8 percent from 2005 to 267,706 vehicles sold, while the turnover of the 39 companies involved in the domestic market rebounded by 3.3 percent to 5.69 billion euros after a 5.4 percent drop in 2005, according to data by the Association of Motor Vehicle Importers - Representatives, processed by Hellastat. Sales dipped in the last quarter of the year last year, falling to 50,743 vehicles, against over 76,000 in each of the first two quarters. However, in the first five months of 2007, there was a fresh rise in sales, reaching 4 percent year-on-year, with the amount of vehicles sold coming to 131,193. Last year Toyota overtook Hyundai at the top of sales with a 16 percent annual rise in absolute figures that has given it a 9.5 percent share of the market.

Cyprus’s competition regulator has sought clarifications from the island’s three largest banks on the currency exchange services offered at airport terminals, saying they appeared to infringe competition laws. It said it had seen evidence of collusion, or harmonized practices, among Bank of Cyprus, Marfin Popular Bank and Hellenic Bank in the scope of services offered at Larnaca airport, the island’s main air terminal. The prima facie finding does not imply a conclusion but further scope for investigation. The banks have been summoned to respond to the regulator’s preliminary findings on June 18, the regulator said in a statement issued late Monday. (Reuters)

Lower world gold prices boosted Turkey’s gold jewelry exports in the first five months of the year, exporters’ data showed. Gold jewelry exports from Turkey, one of the world’s top gold exporters, rose 17 percent to 37.6 tons in January-May, from last year’s 32.1 tons. In 2006, gold shipments from Turkey shrank by more than 20 percent and fell to 85.8 tons due to high prices and volatility that put a dent in consumer and producer interest. The value of exported gold rose by 20 percent in the first five months of the year to $456.7 million. Turkey’s gold jewelry exports grew to 7.8 tons in May, up from 6 tons a year earlier and were equivalent of $103 million. (Reuters)

Romania gave preliminary approval for Saudi Arabia’s Al Arrab Contracting Company Limited to buy loss-making, state-owned electrical equipment maker Electroputere Craiova, officials said yesterday. New European Union member Romania is making its sixth attempt to sell a 62.8 percent stake in Electroputere, an industrial enterprise dating back to communist years, with debts estimated at 40 million euros. (Reuters)