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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 96-09-16
From: HR-Net News Distribution Manager <dist@hri.org>
MIDDAY EXPRESS
News from the Spokesman's midday briefing
Nouvelles du rendez-vous de midi du Porte-Paroleb
16 / 09 / 1996
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] 10,7% de chômeurs dans l'UE en juin et en juillet
[02] Padraig Flynn calls for the removal of obstacles to the free movement of
workers with supplementary pensions.
[03] The liberalisation of the European Aviation Industry benefits aviation
companies and consumers
[04] Ritt Bjerregaard on environmental priorities, bottlenecks and practical
assistance in the enlargement process in Central and Eastern Europe.
[05] C. Papoutsis: Renewable energy sources will be a key to our development
in the 21st century
[01] 10,7% de chômeurs dans l'UE en juin et en juillet
Le chômage dans l'UE, corrigé des variations saisonnières, a baissé à 10,7% en
juin et juillet, après avoir atteint 10,8% au cours des deux mois précédents, selon
les chiffres publiés aujourd'hui par Eurostat, l'Office statistique des Communautés
européennes à Luxembourg. Le taux s'était élevé à 10,9% en mars; actuellement
il se retrouve au niveau de juillet de l'année dernière. Selon Eurostat, le chômage
est en recul régulier depuis deux ou trois ans dans plusieurs Etats membres:
Danemark (de 10,6% en juin 1993 à 6,3% en juillet 1996), en Espagne (de 24,5%
en mai 1994 à 21,3%), au Royaume-Uni (de 10,7% en janvier 1993 à 8,3%) et
en Finlande (de 19,6% en mars 1994 à 16,3%). Au cours des derniers mois, il
a régressé en outre en Belgique, aux Pays-Bas et au Portugal. Par contre, les
taux sont sensiblement supérieurs à ceux enregistrés il y a un an en Allemagne
(8,9% en juillet 1996, contre 8,1% en mai 1995) et en France (11,7% en juillet
1996, contre 11,2% en juillet 1995).
[02] Padraig Flynn calls for the removal of obstacles to the free movement of
workers with supplementary pensions.
Speaking in Brussels today, Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner
Padraig Flynn said that as part of its current social action programme, the
European Commission is committed to a proposal aimed at protecting the
supplementary pension entitlement of workers who exercise their right to free
movement. "We see our role as one of establishing a framework of broad
objectives, leaving Member States and the social partners to find solutions
compatible with their own existing systems of supplementary pensions," he said.
The Commission has asked the high level panel of experts, chaired by Simone
Veil, to look into this question and report back after six months.
[03] The liberalisation of the European Aviation Industry benefits aviation
companies and consumers
In a speech in London today, Transport Commissioner Niel Kinnock evaluates the
results of a decade of European airlines liberalization and notes that, while the
process is far from complete and certain censtraints on its fulfilment still need to
be addressed, it is: "bringing considerable benefits to the aviation sector and to
consumers and shows potential for the realization of further benefits in coming
years if air carriers use the opportunities which have been created."
[04] Ritt Bjerregaard on environmental priorities, bottlenecks and practical
assistance in the enlargement process in Central and Eastern Europe.
At the second informal meeting with the Ministers of the Environment from the ten
associated countries from Central and Eastern Europe in Brussels today,
Environment Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard presented the European
Commission's view on the bottlenecks for environmental approximation of these
countries. Commissioner Bjerregaard empasized the need to agree on clear
environmental priorities in the assistance programmes and suggested that priority
should be given to issues concerning water- and waste management. Future EU
proposals for environmental legislation should include an assessment of the
impact of the legislation, not only in the EU, but also in the asssociated countries.
In order to provide quick, easy, flexible and direct access to the Commission, an
environmental help desk with a "hot line" is about to be set up in DG XI. R.
Bjerregaard's services will also start producing a newsletter for the network of
correspondents in Central and Eastern Europe in order to facilitate the
approximation process.
[05] C. Papoutsis: Renewable energy sources will be a key to our development
in the 21st century
"We need to mobilize our human and financial resources towards making the
renewable energy sources a reality in each and every one of our countries" as
these sources will be" a key to our development in the 21st century". This was
the main message Energy Commissioner Christos Papoutsis gave with his
speech at the opening ceremony of the World Solar Summit taking place in
Harare, Zimbabwe today and tomorrow (16-17/09/96). The summit was initiated
by UNESCO, organised with the authorities of Zimbabwe and co-sponsored by
the European Commission. Commissioner Ch. Papoutsis stressed that the
implementation of numerous projects on a global level must be "our first priority",
which requires a "great deal of financial resources". Given the significant
advantages offered by renewable energy sources, "we must put pressure on the
international, national and regional financing mechanisms to allocate a significant
part of their resources to the promotion of renewable energy applications."
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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