It will be under Herbert Ungerer, a brilliant German who has served in the industry directorate for 10 years. In some of the more backward operators, in Spain and Belgium, for instance, there is still greater trepidation.The weight of all this work will put extraordinary pressure on the Commission, and could lead to knotty political problems. Britain leads the pack, since most of the groundwork in deregulating the British network has already been done. France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom and Sprint have also announced their intention to link, and more deals will follow.With their combination of technology-sharing, market agreements and corporate control, these deals pose huge problems to the competition authorities.The corporate sector is in favour of swift action to free up telecommunications, and has urged faster action.Governments, however, are less certain about the pace and style of change. More broadly, it will include protection of intellectual property, privacy, electronic and legal protection, and media ownership.Third, the Commission is going to have to police the emergence of new corporate link-ups as European telecommunications operators seek alliances The first, between BT and MCI, was agreed last month. The EU's key objective is the dismantling of existing national fiefdoms and the building of pan- European networks. So its first, and most important, task is to clarify how it will deal with over-regulated national markets. It has started with a date - last year, national ministers established 1998 as the target for liberalising nearly all telecommunications services.But the most controversial aspect will be freeing-up the provision of telecommunications infrastructure, for which - as yet - no date has been set.

IN making 'the information society' its top priority for the next decade, the European Union has pitted some highly entrenched interests against each other. We're not obsessed with growth.'Brian Shea, insurance analyst at Salomon Brothers, said: 'The dividend statement shows the management's confidence in Royal's recovery. Mr Gamble said: 'If we cannot make a profit on it, we'll let somebody else write the business. The earthquake, which cost the insurance industry as a whole dollars 8bn ( pounds 5.3bn), had led Royal to raise premiums and limit cover for earthquake protection.Royal's premium income declined to pounds 1.8bn from pounds 1.9bn in the first half of 1993. The group also reduced its losses on mortgage indemnities, from pounds 50m to pounds 27m, and reinsurance, from pounds 45m to pounds 12m.Mr Gamble said UK conditions remained favourable, with commercial rate increases continuing. In personal lines such as motor and household insurance the market was becoming more competitive. Royal is trying to refine its risk assessment for individuals and exploit its two direct sales subsidiaries.The group made an increased loss in the US, up from pounds 101m to pounds 124m, due to severe storms and the Los Angeles earthquake in the first quarter.

Higher premium rates - up 3 per cent on average - a lower frequency of claims, and cost controls made for an underwriting profit of pounds 78m, compared with a halfway loss of pounds 68m in 1993. Profits before tax were a record pounds 191m in the six months to 30 June, compared with pounds 52m last time The dividend is lifted from 2.5p to 4p. In an article that asks, is it possible to have a Coutts bank account and a social conscience?, it boldly states: 'Labour is about to take the middle ground, middle England and the middle class.' Cripes.DESPERATE publicity stunt of the week comes from Columbus Travel Insurance. Things were never like this at Baker Street.FIRST Rupert Murdoch makes noises about supporting Tony Blair Now Harpers & Queen has joined in. Step forward Clinton Silver, the former Marks and Spencer deputy chairman, who was appointed to the board yesterday.The man who spent 42 years developing strategies for navy socks and winceyette nighties might blush when he sees his new employer's advert in the latest issue of US Esquire: a group of young men lowering their Levi's to reveal designer underwear.

'This explains a lot,' his wife says.IF TOMMY HILFIGER Corporation, the trendy American clothing company, starts selling polyester trousers and outsize Y-fronts, you will know who to blame. Last month he broke through a wall, fell 20 feet and landed on his head. Mr Andrews regularly spooks his wife by visiting the prison late at night to undertake excavation work with a Kango hammer and spade. 'I want to make sure I have finished the House of Detention first.'This is not as easy at it sounds. Last October he opened the House of Detention, a 17th-century prison in London. Now he hopes to open up the catacombs underneath the Bastille in Paris.'It's at a very early stage, but if everything goes to plan I would like to open it in a couple of years,' he says.

She cobbled together the start-up money with funds from the Bethnal Green City Challenge and the DTI Enterprise Scheme and is selling annual subscriptions for pounds 149. Regular slots such a 'Litigation Corner' and features with headlines like 'The silver spoon: how brokers have it easy at Lloyd's' have not endeared it to some of Lime Street's old hands, but that is probably the point.LEON ANDREWS, the compact live-wire who founded Kunick, the London Dungeon group, is planning to go one step further in his love of history and gore. SAMANTHA Phillips, the former Willis Corroon broker who won her case for sexual discrimination and unfair dismissal earlier this week, will now be getting back to business in her day job. She runs Inside Eye, the monthly magazine that styles itself 'the inside track on the Lloyd's market'. Ms Phillips founded the title in April last year after she was unceremoniously dumped from her pounds 17,000-a-year job at Willis Corroon. At this stage of the cycle a p/e of 14.5, assuming pre-tax profits of pounds 180m and a yield of 4.2 per cent at 154.5p, looks fair value but no more than that.. Commodity products like surgical gloves are in retreat but consumer healthcare grew 10 per cent, helped by the relaunch of the Simple toiletries brand.Strong cash generation has reduced gearing to 4 per cent and leaves the company able to contemplate a variety of horizontal acquisitions. Growth in orthopaedic implants, where buyers are more able to defer purchases, slowed to 8 per cent, depressed by poor conditions in Spain and France.