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EU News Flashes and Events for 97-05-30
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS
[01] German gold row shakes EMU
[02] Waigel defends gold plan
[03] NATO/enlargement
[04] NATO/Ukraine agreement
[05] Nato/Mediterranean states
[06] EU warns Slovakia
[07] Nickel free euro coins
[08] BA/American deal
[09] Van Miert on Guinness/GdMet
[10] Commission acts on telecoms
[11] Debate on mobile communications
[12] EU cable/telecoms report
[13] EU to compensate Omnitel
[14] Legal bars to rail freight
[15] Commission on salmon row
[16] Ariane finally takes off
[17] MEPs on single currency
[18] MEPs approve ferry rules
[19] Main EU events for May 30
[01] German gold row shakes EMU
BRUSSELS - Europe's single currency plans looked increasingly shaky on
Thursday as a row between the German government and its powerful central bank
threw the whole project into question.
[02] Waigel defends gold plan
URSBERG, Germany - German Finance Minister Theo Waigel on Thursday rejected
calls to resign over his controversial plan to revalue Germany's gold and
currency reserves and insisted the revaluation was a necessary step.
[03] NATO/enlargement
SINTRA, Portugal - Several NATO states expressed support on Thursday for
inviting as many as five new members into the alliance when it opens its doors
to former communist foes next month, alliance diplomats said.
[04] NATO/Ukraine agreement
SINTRA, Portugal - NATO and Ukraine initialled a pact on Thursday marking a
further stage in the redrawing of the security map of Europe.
[05] Nato/Mediterranean states
SINTRA, Portugal - NATO ministers agreed on Thursday to push for closer
ties with Mediterranean basin countries to ensure that Europe's southern
flank was not overlooked in the rush to expand the alliance eastwards.
[06] EU warns Slovakia
BRATISLAVA - The European Union on Thursday warned Slovakia that it must
strengthen its democratic process, including adherence to the rule of law,
if Bratislava wants to be considered for EU expansion.
[07] Nickel free euro coins
BRUSSELS - The European Commission, responding to health concerns, proposed
on Thursday that six out of the planned eight euro coins should not include
nickel.
[08] BA/American deal
BRUSSELS - European Union Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert was
optimistic on Thursday about talks on competition problems raised by the
proposed alliance between British Airways BA and American Airlines.
[09] Van Miert on Guinness/GdMet
BRUSSELS - European Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert, scalded by the
controversy caused by his comments on the merger betweeen Boeing and McDonnell
Douglas, tried hard on Thursday to stay non-committal about new big corporate
deals submitted for EU approval.
[10] Commission acts on telecoms
BRUSSELS - The European Commission said on Thursday it had geared up to react
swiftly to complaints from companies about national governments that are not
opening their telecoms markets to competition.
[11] Debate on mobile communications
BRUSSELS - The European Commission launched a debate on Thursday on ways
Europe can profit from the new generation of mobile communications technology.
[12] EU cable/telecoms report
BRUSSELS - A study for the European Commission on the link between cable
television and telecommunications networks is expected to be completed in
June, EU Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert said on Thursday.
[13] EU to compensate Omnitel
BRUSSELS - European Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert said on Thursday
he was optimistic Italian state telecommunications holding company Stet would
soon pay 60 billion lire to Omnitel to compensate for the fee it paid to
become the country's second mobile phone operator. - - - EU postal notice
tied to directive BRUSSELS - Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert said on
Thursday a long-awaited notice on how competition rules will be applied to
postal services will be published at the same time a directive on the sector
is adopted.
[14] Legal bars to rail freight
BRUSSELS - The European Commission said on Thursday it had cleared the legal
bars to the creation of trans-European rail freight freeways intended to cut
goods traffic congestion on European roads.
[15] Commission on salmon row
BRUSSELS - The European Commission failed despite three hours of talks on
Thursday to agree how to solve a row over European Union imports of
Norwegian salmon which has strained relations between Oslo and Brussels.
[16] Ariane finally takes off
BRUSSELS - At the EU's Council of Ministers building on Wednesday the Greek
singer Nana Mouskouri seemed in no mood for singing, and neither did anyone
else at the end of a conciliation procedure on the Ariane cultural
programme.
[17] MEPs on single currency
BRUSSELS - The European Parliament on Thursday approved a draft regulation
which brings in increased monitoring of EU member states' budgets and
coordination of their economic policies in the run-up to the single currency.
[18] MEPs approve ferry rules
BRUSSELS - The European Parliament on Thursday approved two draft EU laws
designed to reduce accidents at sea and a third aimed at increasing insurance
protection for passengers on European Union air carriers.
[19] Main EU events for May 30
SINTRA, Portugal - European Commissioner van den Broek attends Former
Yugoslavia Ministerial Steering Board (Fri).
FRANCE - Second round of French parliamentary elections (Sun).
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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