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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 97-10-07
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
MIDDAY EXPRESS
News from the Spokesman's midday briefing
Nouvelles du rendez-vous de midi du Porte-Paroleb
07/10/97
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Jacques Santer : "L'Europe doit imprimer sa marque à la
mondialisation"
[02] Business and consumer surveys: the economic climate in Europe remains
favourable
[03] L'inflation annuelle de l'UE s'élève à 1.8% en août 1997
[04] Emploi et tourisme: orientations pour l'action (Luxembourg, 4 et 5
novembre 1997)
[05] Commission hosts seminar to mark fifth anniversary of ECHO
[06] Christos Papoutsis: "I am determined to tackle the problem of late
payments in Europe, for the benefit of all businesses and of the European
economy"
[07] Mario Monti: "Patents are essential for the promotion of innovation,
and we launched many initiatives to best co-ordinate this policy at
European level"
[01] Jacques Santer : "L'Europe doit imprimer sa marque à la
mondialisation"
Dans un discours prononcé aujourd'hui devant le "Forum de Administradores
de Empresas" à Lisbonne, le Président de la Commission européenne, Jacques
Santer, a déclaré que "l'Europe doit se moderniser pour tirer parti de la
mondialisation". Pour cela, a-t-il dit, l'Europe a des atouts qu'il faut
jouer à fond: finalisation du marché intérieur, introduction de la monnaie
unique, renforcement de l'action communautaire dans l'innovation
technologique et la formation, création d'entreprises de pointe. Mais
l'Europe ne doit pas seulement s'adapter à la mondialisation. "Elle doit
lui imprimer sa marque". "Nous devons faire entendre notre voix sur au
moins trois thèmes", a dit Jacques Santer: le multilatéralisme - "Nous
n'utilisons pas encore assez les potentialités de l'OMC" -, la solidarité -
"Solidarité à l'intérieur de nos sociétés, entre pays membres de l'Union
européenne et avec l'extérieur" - et l'équilibre - "L'UE n'a pas choisi la
stratégie du big bang. De plus, la culture ou l'agriculture appellent une
libéralisation différenciée".
[02] Business and consumer surveys: the economic climate in Europe remains
favourable
At the end of the summer the economic sentiment indicator stabilised on a
high level. The industrial confidence indicator also remained unchanged on
last month at a level above the average over the last 10 years. Economic
sentiment was mainly maintained by strong exports, and marginally better
results for consumer confidence, reflected in stable confidence in the
retail sector. Confidence in the construction sector declined slightly
(mainly as a result of erratic movement in the Spanish figure).
[03] L'inflation annuelle de l'UE s'élève à 1.8% en août 1997
L'inflation annuelle de l'Union européenne est passée à 1.8% en août, après
avoir atteint 1.7% en juillet, selon les données publiées aujourd'hui par
Eurostat, l'Office statistique des Communautés européennes à Luxembourg.
En août 1996, elle avait atteint 2.2%. Le taux de l'inflation de l'EEE
s'était établi également à 1.8% en août. Une hausse d'inflation a été
constatée dans les Etats membres, à l'exception du Royaume-Uni, de
l'Irlande, de l'Italie et de la Belgique. En France et en Finlande, le
taux a augmenté de 1.1% à 1.6%, en Autriche de 0.9% à 1.3%, en Suède de
1.8% à 2.2%, aux Pays-Bas de 2.1% à 2.5% et en Grèce de 5.2% à 5.6%.
L'Irlande (0.6%) a enregistré le taux le plus bas, ayant encore atteint
1.5% au mois précédent. L'Autriche arrive en seconde position avec un taux
de 1.3%, cependant nettement en hausse par rapport au mois de juillet. La
Grèce a gardé le taux le plus élevé avec 5.6% devant les Pays-Bas (2.5%) et
le Danemark (2.4%). L'inflation est restée stable aux Etats-Unis (2.2%)
mais est tombée à 2.1% au Japon.
[04] Emploi et tourisme: orientations pour l'action (Luxembourg, 4 et 5
novembre 1997)
La Commission européenne et la Présidence luxembourgeoise du Conseil
organisent les 4 et 5 novembre 1997 à Luxembourg la Conférence "Emploi et
Tourisme : Orientations pour l'Action" dont le but est d'établir, en termes
concrets, les conditions pour la création et la consolidation d'emplois
dans le tourisme, de dégager des conclusions pour l'action dans le secteur
du tourisme et d'apporter une contribution substantielle au Sommet sur
l'Emploi qui se tiendra à Luxembourg les 20 et 21 novembre 1997.
[05] Commission hosts seminar to mark fifth anniversary of ECHO
'Humanitarian aid -- what next?', this is the title of a seminar Emma
Bonino, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, is hosting on Wednesday,
October 8 in Brussels to mark the fifth anniversary of the European
Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO). She will introduce a team of
panelists, starting with keynote addresses from former Commission President
Jacques Delors and Bernard Kouchner, founder of Médecins sans Frontières,
now Secretary of State for Health in France. Other speakers will include
Sergio Vieira de Mello, Deputy of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees, Jose Maria Mendiluce, European Member of Parliament, who formerly
worked for the UNHCR, Catherine Bertini, World Food Programme executive
director, as well as ECHO's current and previous directors, Alberto Navarro
and Santiago Gomez-Reino. The event is the first in a series entitled
'Humanitarian Echoes', designed to stimulate debate among major players in
the field of humanitarian affairs. Follow-up events will take place in
other European capitals over the coming months. This event is open to
accredited media representatives. Venue: Centre Borschette, 38 Rue
Froissart, 1040 Brussels. Time: 4 pm.
[06] Christos Papoutsis: "I am determined to tackle the problem of late
payments in Europe, for the benefit of all businesses and of the European
economy"
Commissioner Christos Papoutsis, responsible for Enterprise policy,
speaking during the public hearing on late payments in Europe, organised by
the European Commission today in Brussels, announced that a relevant
Directive tackling this problem will be proposed by the end of this year.
As he said, "it is important to have a package of measures to tackle the
problem" and that "legislative measures, if they are to work, must be
accompanied by practical measures" such as education and training on the
drawing up of clear contracts, transparency in contracts, clear payment
terms, factoring and credit insurance. Mr Papoutsis insisted on the need
"to have a strong statutory right to interest on late payments" and said
that the level of the rate of interest should be such so that it will be
"more expensive to borrow money by paying late that to borrow from banks at
commercial rates". The Commissioner said also that in the future proposals
"it is clear that we cannot ignore the very serious problem of late
payments by the public sector".
[07] Mario Monti: "Patents are essential for the promotion of innovation,
and we launched many initiatives to best co-ordinate this policy at
European level"
Addressing the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich for its 20th
Anniversary ceremony, Single Market Commissioner Mario Monti today outlined
European Commission initiatives to improve and modernise the patent system
in Europe. Reactions to the Green Paper published by the Commission last
June already show a broad consensus supporting the use of patents to
protect computer software, but there is not yet a clear position from
industry on whether a Community instrument would be necessary to establish
a Community Patent. "The European Patent Office will have a major role to
play since it will be the operator of any such system" stressed Mr Monti.
"We need a solution to the translation requirements, because it is
unacceptable that the costs of patents in Europe are overburdened by
translation costs. I have written to the Member States' Industry Ministers
to draw their attention to this problem". "There is interaction and even
synergy between the EPO and the Commission: we need to coordinate our
action to encourage the innovation so vital to Europe's competitiveness",
concluded Mr Monti.
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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