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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 98-02-26
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
26/02/98
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[I] Résultats de la Commission du 25 février 1998 - Outcome of Commission
meeting of 25 February
[01] Restructuring of the Volkswerft shipyard in Stralsund (Germany,
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania)
[02] Commission opens procedure against investment aid to Tubos Europa
(Extremadura, Spain)
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[03] Commission sets out its provisional position on Spring's "new" pub
leases
[04] La Commission adopte une communication sur l'"Evolution du contrôle au
sein de la Politique Commune de la Pêche"
[05] Industry publishes guidelines to shape electronic commerce in the
future
[06] Aide de cinq millions d'Ecus pour la sécurité alimentaire en Albanie
[07] Commission trainees send two lorries of aid equipment to Estonia
[08] Commission urges Japan to deregulate
[09] Franz Fischler : "CAP must continue to support farmers and
agribusiness in entering new markets"
[I] Résultats de la Commission du 25 février 1998 - Outcome of Commission
meeting of 25 February
(voir aussi - see also Midday Express of 25/02)
[01] Restructuring of the Volkswerft shipyard in Stralsund (Germany,
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania)
The European Commission has approved the reprivatisation of the Volkswerft
shipyard in Stralsund (former GDR) on the basis of its sale to Odense
Steelshipyard A.S. (Denmark). The Commission has reached the conclusion
that, even on the basis of a cautious valuation of all inherited
liabilities, no additional aid is involved in the sale. In accordance with
Article 6 of the Seventh Shipbuilding Aid Directive and with Council
Regulation 1013/97, it has also decided not to raise any objection to the
release of a second tranche of restructuring aid totalling DM 129.6
million. The Commission will continue to monitor progress with
restructuring on the basis of the existing rules.
[02] Commission opens procedure against investment aid to Tubos Europa
(Extremadura, Spain)
The European Commission launched a State aid investigation into ESP 1,175
million aid to a new company, A.G. Tubos Europa, S.A. The company will be
active in the steel tubes sector, which has been suffering from structural
overcapacity for a long time. The Spanish authorities have one month to
submit their views on the Commission's preliminary assessment. The
proposed regional grant would contribute to a total investment volume of
ESP 5,596 million. Although the company is small, the Commission's
preliminary assessment gives rise to concerns that the negative effects of
the aid in a depressed market might outweigh the potential benefits of the
investment for the region. The steel tubes sector has been suffering from
structural overcapacity for over a decade.
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[03] Commission sets out its provisional position on Spring's "new" pub
leases
The European Commission proposes to grant an exemption to the "new"
standard pub leases used by Spring Inns Limited (UK). Through the
publication of its initial views in the Official Journal (see OJ C 61 of
26/2/98), the Commission invites all interested third parties to submit
their observations before finally deciding on the issue. Spring Inns
Limited (Spring) is a company which acquired in May 1996 the beneficial
interests in 1,406 Inntrepreneur pubs on standard Inntrepreneur pub leases.
In February/March 1997 Spring introduced a new lease and offered
substantial discounts to its lessees for their beer purchases. In view of
the substantially reduced price differential for the beer price paid
between the tied Spring lessees and individual free-trade pub operators,
the Commission considers that an exemption is merited. The proposed
exemption would, just as for the "new" Inntrepreneur lease, cover the
period from the introduction of the new Lease until March 28, 1998, the end
date of the contract whereby all the beer sold by Spring to its tied
lessees had to be exclusively purchased from Scottish & Newcastle.
[04] La Commission adopte une communication sur l'"Evolution du contrôle au
sein de la Politique Commune de la Pêche"
La Commission européenne a adopté une Communication concernant l'évolution
du contrôle au sein de la Politique Commune de la Pêche. Cette
Communication dresse le bilan global des progrès acquis depuis 1993, date
d'entrée en vigueur d'un nouveau règlement, analyse les lacunes majeures
qui subsistent dans le contrôle en mer et sur terre (flottes, captures,
débarquements, marchés) et préconise des solutions. Il est en effet
nécessaire d'élargir la prise de conscience par l'ensemble des acteurs de
l'importance des contrôles, de définir des stratégies intégrées
garantissant une utilisation efficace des moyens de contrôle, de conforter
ces moyens, notamment humains, de mettre en place les conditions d'une
pleine transparence, d'ajuster les dispositifs réglementaires en fonction
des faiblesses observées et de promouvoir vigoureusement toutes les formes
de coopération. La Commission souhaite que ses conclusions suscitent dès
que possible un débat au sein du Conseil des Ministres tant sur le
diagnostic que sur les remèdes proposés. Elle espère tout particulièrement
que le principe d'un plan d'action rapide puisse être adopté et mis en
place au plus vite, rejoignant ainsi les souhaits de plusieurs Etats
membres.
[05] Industry publishes guidelines to shape electronic commerce in the
future
Following an initiative by the European Commission, a group of over 100
companies, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), trade associations
and local authorities signed on 25 February 1998 in Brussels a Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) on open access to electronic commerce for SMEs.
Signatories include industry representatives from the banking, telecom,
retail and technology sectors, as well as consumer representatives and SME
organisations. The MoU has the support of the Commission, who, in their
electronic commerce initiative, stressed the principle that guidelines
derived from the MoU propose best practice in five key areas : from the
creation of an architecture to achieve interoperability through to
standards for product information, the exchange of legally binding
documents, payment systems and legal rights and responsibilities. If
economic commerce is to flourish, industry agreements, codes of practice
and self-regulation are all preferable to external regulation, while the
role of public authorities in electronic commerce is in the promotion and
implementation of European and international agreements in areas such as
telecommunications standards and interoperability.
[06] Aide de cinq millions d'Ecus pour la sécurité alimentaire en Albanie
La Commission européenne a décidé de procéder au versement d'une première
tranche de cinq millions d'Ecus au titre de soutien au budget albanais. Ce
versement est engagé dans le cadre des programmes de sécurité alimentaire
de l'Union européenne, annoncés lors de la Conférence des donateurs le 22
octobre 1997. Cette décision vise à récompenser les progrès réalisés par
les autorités albanaises vers la stabilité macroéconomique, l'assainissement
du secteur financier ainsi que les réformes administratives en cours. La
poursuite de ces efforts est indispensable à la création de conditions
favorables à une reprise de l'activité économique et au renforcement de
l'état de droit en Albanie. A la suite des discussions intensives des
représentants de la Commission avec les autorités albanaises, dont
certaines ont été menées conjointement avec les Institutions Financières
Internationales et les donateurs bilatéraux, la Commission estime qu'il est
temps de procéder au versement de la première tranche. Ce soutien d'un
montant total de 10 millions d'Ecus permettra de faire face à la situation
budgétaire difficile et à préserver les dépenses publiques soutenant le
développement du secteur agricole. Elle contribuera aussi à financer
certaines dépenses de l'administration publique en fonction des progrès
réalisés dans les réformes macro-économiques, administratives et
judiciaires.
[07] Commission trainees send two lorries of aid equipment to Estonia
Tomorrow afternoon, two lorries will leave Brussels carrying the
contribution of European Commission trainees ("stagiaires") for a hospital
in Estonia. The two lorries contain orthopaedic equipment worth 600,000
Belgian Francs, including twenty wheelchairs. The beneficiary is the
Vôsiku Erihooldekodu care home in Poltsemaa, which houses approximately 400
physically and mentally handicapped psychiatric patients, elderly,
epileptics and orphans. The Commission contributed to the transport cost
for the equipment. "It is gratifying to see young people of all
nationalities working together to make a visible difference to improve
people's lives" commented Foreign Affairs Commissioner Hans van den Broek,
who will officially see the vehicles off. The trucks will be leaving at 3
pm from the Rond Point Schuman in Brussels in the presence of
representatives of the European Institutions, the Red Cross, Diplomatic
Missions, the Member States, and numerous Commission trainees.
[08] Commission urges Japan to deregulate
The European Commission today urged Japan to implement an ambitious new
deregulation package from April 1998 to help stimulate the Japanese
economy. At a High Level meeting of senior officials in Tokyo on Monday to
discuss deregulation, the Commission will press Japan to take up, in its
forthcoming package, a substantial number of the key deregulation proposals
submitted by the Commission last November. Sir Leon Brittan, Vice
President of the Commission, said : "Japan can and should do two things.
First it should give a substantial fiscal stimulus to the economy. Second,
it should bring forward and implement a wide-ranging package of
deregulation measures capable of producing real economic effects."
[09] Franz Fischler : "CAP must continue to support farmers and
agribusiness in entering new markets"
Speaking at the Handelsblatt conference on the future of agriculture and
agribusiness in Königswinter today, Agriculture and Rural Development
Commissioner Franz Fischler emphasised the necessity to increase European
Union's (EU) agricultural products' competitiveness in order to benefit
from rising demand for food on the international markets. In the future
"the common agricultural policy has to continue to support farmers and the
agribusiness in maintaining present markets and in tapping new ones", Mr
Fischler stressed. Competitiveness not only being a question of price but
of quality too, Mr Fischler noted that besides taking a more market
oriented approach, the future task of the EU's agricultural policy is to
amplify the promotion for EU agricultural products on domestic and
international markets. "It is not sufficient anymore to produce high
quality products at reasonable prices, consumers have to be aware of the
advantages they benefit from when purchasing these products", he added.
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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