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EU News Flashes and Events for 96-12-10
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS
[01] Environment Council finishes
[02] No climate change goals agreement
[03] Ciba Geigy gene-maize decision
[04] Ministers threaten fur import ban
[05] New wild species trade rules
[06] France, Germany want strong euro
[07] EU reform initiative launching
[08] Franco-German budget pact
[09] New Commission auditing strategy
[10] Progress on infotech pact at WTO
[11] World trade slowing fast in 1996
[12] Little 1997 fish quotas change
[13] Irish cut-price butter backed
[14] Slot allocation rules in January
[15] Commission to rule on Clabecq aid
[16] 5 Mecus to Hungary and Slovakia
[17] Main EU events for December 10
[01] Environment Council finishes
BRUSSELS - European environment ministers completed a long environment council
agenda in the early hours of Tuesday morning, boasting a common position and a
political agreement for their efforts but failing to secure a deal on climate
change.
[02] No climate change goals agreement
BRUSSELS - European Union environment ministers failed late on Monday to set
targets for post-2000 cuts in the bloc's emissions of greenhouse gases such as
carbon dioxide, with a deal foundering on how far and how fast to go.
[03] Ciba Geigy gene-maize decision
BRUSSELS - European Union environment ministers urged the European Commission
on Monday to stick to a December 18 deadline for a decision on whether to
allow Ciba Geigy's gene-modified maize to be released on EU markets.
[04] Ministers threaten fur import ban
BRUSSELS - European Union environment ministers threatened on Monday to impose
an EU import ban on fur from animals caught in leg-hold traps unless
negotiators from Canada, the United States and Russia accept tighter humane
trapping standards, a statement said.
[05] New wild species trade rules
BRUSSELS - The Environment Council adopted a new regulation on Monday to
tighten controls on the multi-billion-dollar EU trade in endangered animal and
plant species such as rhinoceros, tigers, parrots and orchids.
[06] France, Germany want strong euro
NUREMBERG, Germany - German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, dismissing speculation
that entry criteria for the planned single European currency would be diluted,
said on Monday neither France nor Germany wanted a weak euro currency.
[07] EU reform initiative launching
NUREMBERG, Germany - France and Germany outlined joint proposals for reforming
the European Union on Monday, calling for closer cooperation on internal and
external security and a shakeup of EU institutions.
[08] Franco-German budget pact
NUREMBERG, Germany - Germany and France have made little progress in resolving
their differences over a stability pact to ensure fiscal discipline within
European monetary union, a delegation source said on Monday.
[09] New Commission auditing strategy
BRUSSELS - The European Commission said on Monday the European Union needed a
new approach to statutory auditing, but that it should take place through
cooperation and coordination rather than legislation.
[10] Progress on infotech pact at WTO
SINGAPORE - The world's top trade mandarins trumpeted signs of early progress
on Monday toward a multi-billion dollar pact for free world commerce in
information technology but wrangling over cheap labour threatened a final
consensus.
[11] World trade slowing fast in 1996
SINGAPORE - Growth in international merchandise trade has slowed sharply this
year after running at three times the rate of expansion in the global economy
in 1995, the World Trade Organisation reported on Monday.
[12] Little 1997 fish quotas change
BRUSSELS - The European Commission outlined on Monday a proposal for little
change in most 1997 fish catch quotas, despite a warning earlier this year
that sharp cuts were needed in fleets to save threatened stocks.
[13] Irish cut-price butter backed
BRUSSELS - The European Commission has backed an Irish government request to
be allowed to sell butter to people on social assistance at reduced prices, an
EU official said on Monday.
[14] Slot allocation rules in January
BRUSSELS - The European Commission will recognise formally, perhaps as early
as January, the existence of a market for selling airport slots in Europe's
congested airports.
[15] Commission to rule on Clabecq aid
BRUSSELS - The European Commission is expected to rule next week that a
1.5-billion-Belgian- franc capital injection for steel maker Forges de
Clabecq amounts to public subsidies and cannot be approved.
[16] 5 Mecus to Hungary and Slovakia
BUDAPEST - The European Union has allocated five million ecus to rebuild a
bridge between Hungary and Slovakia destroyed in World War Two, the European
Commission's delegation in Budapest said on Monday.
[17] Main EU events for December 10
BRUSSELS - NATO foreign ministers meeting.
STRASBOURG - European Commission holds regular weekly meeting.
STRASBOURG - European Parliament holds plenary session (second of two days);
debates the European Commission's 1997 work programme, financing of EU
enlargement and the EU 1997 budget.
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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