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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 98-06-02
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
02/06/98
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Kinnock endorses "user pays" principle for Europe-wide approach to
transport pricing
[02] La Commission autorise l'acquisition par Telecom Italia, Endesa et
Unión Eléctrica Fenosa de Telecomunicaciones Madrid
[03] Commission approves the acquisition of Inter Forward of Sweden by Dan
Transport of Denmark
[04] Commission clears the acquisition of Alumax by world aluminium leader
Alcoa
[05] Commission refers the Decision on the Merger between Vendex and KBB to
the Dutch Competition Authority
[06] Wheat gluten : Commission criticises discriminatory and unjustified
trade restrictions applied by the United States
[07] Tremblement de terre en Agfhanistan : la Commission européenne accorde
une aide humanitaire d'un montant de 1,5 million d'Ecus
[08] Financial control of Structural Funds : Commission seminar with
candidate countries
[09] Hans van den Broek's visit to Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan
[10] Réunion des Ministres euro-méditerranéens des Affaires étrangères
[11] Mario Monti : "Effective and efficient risk capital markets are
crucial for SME development in Europe"
[01] Kinnock endorses "user pays" principle for Europe-wide approach to
transport pricing
Neil Kinnock, the European Commissioner responsible for transport policy,
today announced that "paying-for-what-you-use" would be the key principle
in the White Paper on transport charging due for publication this summer.
Unless and until users know how much it costs (in infrastructure or
environmental damage as well as fuel costs or driver's wages) to travel a
particular route at a particular time and are fairly charged for that use,
transport behaviour is unlikely to change. Congestion will then continue to
increase, putting additional strains on the environment and on the quality
of life and imposing extra burdens on the efficiency of business. The
"user-pays" principle was recommended by a panel of transport experts asked
by Mr Kinnock to investigate how charging could be used to help curb
congestion, reduce environmental pressures and accidents, facilitate the
financing of transport infrastructure and curb the market distortions
resulting from the current inconsistent mixture of national pricing
schemes.
[02] La Commission autorise l'acquisition par Telecom Italia, Endesa et
Unión Eléctrica Fenosa de Telecomunicaciones Madrid
La Commission européenne a autorisé une opération par laquelle les sociétés
STET International Netherlands N.V., appartenant au groupe Telecom Italia,
GET, au groupe Endesa, et Unión Fenosa Inversiones, au groupe Unión
Eléctrica Fenosa, acquièrent le contrôle conjoint de CYC Telecomunicaciones
Madrid (CYC). CYC est une entreprise espagnole qui a obtenu la concession
pour la construction d'un réseau de câbles ainsi que pour la fourniture de
services de télécommunications par câble à Madrid. Les sociétés mères de
CYC sont les mêmes qui contrôlent Retevisión, détentrice de la deuxième
licence de télécommunications en Espagne.
[03] Commission approves the acquisition of Inter Forward of Sweden by Dan
Transport of Denmark
The European Commission has approved the acquisition of Inter Forward of
Sweden by Dan Transport of Denmark. Dan Transport A/S is a subsidiary of
FLS Industries A/S of Denmark. Dan Transport is engaged in freight
forwarding by road, air, rail and sea as well as logistics. The FLS Group
is engaged in activities such as engineering, building materials, packaging
aerospace and freight forwarding services. Inter Forward AB is a
subsidiary of Förvaltnings AB Ratos of Sweden. Inter Forward is active in
freight forwarding by road. The main markets affected by the operation are
the domestic Swedish market for freigth forwarding by road and the
international markets for freight forwarding by road between Scandinavia
and the rest of Europe.
[04] Commission clears the acquisition of Alumax by world aluminium leader
Alcoa
The European Commission has approved the acquisition by the US company
Aluminium Company of America ('Alcoa') of the US-based aluminium producer
Alumax, Inc ('Alumax'). Both companies are active in the markets for
primary aluminium, flat rolled aluminium and extruded aluminium. Alcoa's
activities also encompass up-stream sectors such as the mining of bauxite
and the refining of alumina, a raw material for the production of primary
aluminium. After investigation of the potential effects of the acquisition,
the Commission concluded that no dominant position was likely to arise from
the operation, particularly in view of the small competitive overlap and
the existence of strong competitors in these markets. For these reasons,
the Commission decided not to oppose the concentration and to declare it
compatible with the common market and with the functioning of the EEA
agreement.
[05] Commission refers the Decision on the Merger between Vendex and KBB to
the Dutch Competition Authority
The European Commission has decided to refer the merger between Vendex and
KBB for further examination to the Dutch Competition Authority (NMa). The
NMa has requested that the case be referred to it as it wants to
investigate the case in order to determine whether the operation may lead
to the creation of a dominant position in the Dutch non food retail sector.
[06] Wheat gluten : Commission criticises discriminatory and unjustified
trade restrictions applied by the United States
The United States (US) announced on 1 June that safeguard action was being
taken against imports of wheat gluten. A quota, with country allocations
for the European Union (EU) and for Australia, will be applied for a
period of three years from 1 June 1998. It has been evident for some time
that the economic situation of wheat gluten in the US, following the Common
Agriculture Policy's Reform in the EU and the US FAIR Act, along with
significant imports of wheat into the EU from the US, would lead to
increased competitivity of European wheat gluten and reduced competitivity
of US wheat gluten, inevitably leading to increased imports into the US.
This action, which is an absolute quantitative restriction is the most
trade restrictive measure that could have been applied and represents a
major restriction on European exports. This action is all the more
surprising coming from a Government that only 2 weeks ago was calling on
World Trade Organisation Members to further liberalise trade in
agricultural products. In view of this action by the US, the Commission
has instructed its services to assess this action, and to examine all
appropriate responses.
[07] Tremblement de terre en Agfhanistan : la Commission européenne accorde
une aide humanitaire d'un montant de 1,5 million d'Ecus
La Commission européenne a accordé une aide humanitaire d'un montant de 1,5
million d'Ecus pour les victimes du tremblement de terre en Afghanistan de
la semaine dernière. L'aide gérée par l'Office Humanitaire de l'Union
européenne (ECHO) va permettre aux organisations humanitaires coordonnées
par le bureau de ECHO en Afghanistan d'entreprendre une opération immédiate
d'aide. Les fonds couvrent essentiellement le matériel nécessaire pour
l'assistance médicale et la survie. ECHO surveille l'opération de très
près.
[08] Financial control of Structural Funds : Commission seminar with
candidate countries
The European Commission is organising a two-day seminar in London,
beginning today, on methods of internal control and audit of European
Structural Funds. For the first time high-ranking officials responsible
for control and internal audit in the accession countries have been invited
to take part in the discussions along with their counterparts from the
European Union's (EU) Member States. In all, 26 countries will be
represented at the seminar. The event should be seen as an element in the
preparation for enlargement and will provide the representatives from the
accession countries with an opportunity to have an in-depth presentation of
the mechanisms for the financial control of Structural Funds. During the
pre-accession phase the candidate countries are expected to prepare their
management and control systems with a view to meet EU requirements on the
day they become full members of the EU.
[09] Hans van den Broek's visit to Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan
European Commissioner for External relations Hans van den Broek will be
reaffirming the European Union's (EU) commitment to securing stability,
democratisation and sustainable growth in the South Caucasus during a visit
to Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan from 2-6 June. In meetings with the
Presidents of each country, Commissioner van den Broek will emphasise the
EU's political and financial support for the region. The EU has negotiated
wide-ranging Partnership and Cooperation Agreements with the countries and
is the most important provider of assistance to the South Caucasus. He
will also call on the leaders of the three countries to step up their
regional cooperation, particularly in the fields of transport and energy,
where the EU has put in place two major programmes (TRACECA and INOGATE),
each of which has so far received EU funding of around ECU 50 million. The
aim of this assistance is to enable the countries of the South Caucasus
develop transport routes and multiple pipelines linking Central Asia, the
South Caucasus and Europe.
[10] Réunion des Ministres euro-méditerranéens des Affaires étrangères
Les 3 et 4 juin a lieu à Palerme une réunion ad hoc des Ministres euro-
méditerranéens des Affaires Etrangères. Cette réunion informelle fait
suite aux Conférences euro-méditerranéennes de Barcelone (novembre 1995) et
de Malte (avril 1997), et sera suivie par la Conférence euro-
méditerranéenne de Stuttgart en avril 1999. Les Ministres des 27
partenaires euro-méditerranéens (15 Etats Membres de l'Union européenne +
12 Partenaires du Sud de la Méditerranée) et la Commission européenne,
représentée par le Vice-Président Manuel Marin, devront dresser un bilan du
Processus de Barcelone, un peu plus de deux ans et demi après son
lancement. L'objectif de cette réunion ministérielle informelle est triple
: confirmer les objectifs du Partenariat à la lumière de l'expérience,
consolider ses réalisations concrètes et accroître sa visibilité.
[11] Mario Monti : "Effective and efficient risk capital markets are
crucial for SME development in Europe"
(! embargo 2.45 pm !) An outline of the European Commission's plans for
tackling barriers to raising venture capital finance within the European
Union (EU) has been presented by Financial Services and Single Market
Commissioner Mario Monti to a Venture Capital Conference organised in
London by the UK Presidency of the Council. Initiatives planned include
two proposals to widen the scope of EU rules to open up investment fund
(UCITS) markets, measures to ease the raising of capital in several
different Member States (notably through listings on different exchanges),
removal of restrictions on pension fund investments and improved tax
treatment of venture capital funds. Mr Monti stressed the importance of
partnership between policy makers at all levels, SMEs and venture
capitalists. "(There is) a new mood in the risk capital field", Mr Monti
concluded. "It is our duty to keep it alive. People and companies must be
able to put new ideas and projects into practice in a rapid and cost-
effective way. It is our responsibility not to disappoint either small and
medium-sized enterprises or those who would like to work in them. Let's
prepare the European ground for them."
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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