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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 98-10-16

Midday Express: News from the EU Commission Spokesman's Briefings Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

16/10/98


CONTENTS / CONTENU

  • [01] Commission decides that Compass joint venture in gas sector does not fall within merger regulation
  • [02] Premières rencontres européennes des principaux acteurs de la lutte contre le tourisme sexuel impliquant des enfants
  • [03] Employment : central to re-integrating those in poverty back into society
  • [04] Spectacles : la Commission a décidé d'envoyer un avis motivé à la France
  • [05] Libre circulation des capitaux : la Commission décide d'adresser un avis motivé à l'Espagne
  • [06] Commission discusses climate prediction at European Climate Science Conference
  • [07] L'art à l'école - MUS-E : une vision européenne pour l'an 2000
  • [08] Christos Papoutsis and Emma Bonino : "Euro: a source of opportunities for tourism"
  • [09] Franz Fischler on dairy sector facing enlargement and global challenges
  • [10] Yves-Thibault de Silguy : "The worst possible response to the present crisis would be to abandon sound economic policies"

  • [01] Commission decides that Compass joint venture in gas sector does not fall within merger regulation

    The European Commission has decided that the notified joint venture "Compass" between ENW, a Dutch energy distribution company, and Eastern, an integrated energy group in the United Kingdom, does not fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. Compass, which will supply gas to large industrial users in the Netherlands, will not be a fully functioning joint venture since it will have no financial and operation autonomy from the parents companies. In particular, the Commission has found that, given its insufficient resources, the joint venture will not be able to operate on the market and borrow on a stand alone basis. The transaction will now be assessed according to the procedure applicable to agreements under article 85 of the Treaty.

    [02] Premières rencontres européennes des principaux acteurs de la lutte contre le tourisme sexuel impliquant des enfants

    Les premières rencontres européennes des principaux acteurs de la lutte contre le tourisme sexuel impliquant des enfants, organisées à l'initiative de la Commission européenne, se tiendront du 24 au 26 novembre 1998 à Bruxelles, dans le cadre de la "Brussels Travel Fair 1998". A l'occasion de cette manifestation professionnelle, la Commission présentera les différentes initiatives prises dans le domaine de la lutte contre le tourisme sexuel impliquant des enfants. Une conférence réunissant de nombreux experts et d'éminentes personnalités aura également lieu sur cette question les 24 et 25 novembre 1998.

    [03] Employment : central to re-integrating those in poverty back into society

    To mark International Day Against Poverty on Saturday 17 October, Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner, Padraig Flynn, stressed the need for social policies which not only alleviate poverty but also actively help people to integrate into work and society. In this line, the recently adopted guidelines for Member States' employment policies for 1999 place a new emphasis on the need to ensure that national tax, benefit and training systems actively support employability, and that national employment policies pay special attention to the needs of those people and groups who have particular difficulty in accessing the labour market. Mr Flynn commented : "Poverty remains a scourge of society in Europe, as elsewhere in the world. I intend to use the European employment strategy and the new powers under Article 137 of the Amsterdam Treaty to encourage a policy shift beyond the simple alleviation of poverty, in the direction of tackling its causes. Our objective is to create a more inclusive Europe." According to the latest available figures, around 17% of European Union's households have incomes below the poverty line.

    [04] Spectacles : la Commission a décidé d'envoyer un avis motivé à la France

    Suite à des plaintes, la Commission européenne a décidé d'envoyer à la France un avis motivé concernant des entraves à la liberté d'établissement et à la libre prestation de services que rencontrent des organisateurs de spectacles (par exemple, cirques) des autres Etats membres à obtenir une licence. En effet, celle-ci ne leur est délivrée que pour une durée de deux ans, alors que les dirigeants français d'entreprises de spectacles ont le droit d'obtenir une licence définitive. En l'absence de réponse satisfaisante dans un délai de deux mois suivant réception de l'avis motivé (qui constitue la deuxième étape de la procédure d'infraction prévue par l'article 169 du Traité de l'Union européenne), la Commission pourrait saisir la Cour de justice européenne.

    [05] Libre circulation des capitaux : la Commission décide d'adresser un avis motivé à l'Espagne

    La Commission européenne a décidé d'adresser un avis motivé à l'Espagne concernant des restrictions aux investissements étrangers. Elle considère que les dispositions de la législation espagnole qui imposent un régime de vérification et d'autorisation préalables pour certains investissements étrangers en Espagne et pour des investissements espagnols à l'étranger constituent des restrictions injustifiées à la libre circulation des capitaux et à la liberté d'établissement en violation des règles du traité de l'Union européenne (articles 73B et 52). En l'absence de réponse satisfaisante dans un délai de deux mois à compter de la réception de l'avis motivé (deuxième stade de la procédure d'infraction prévue à l'article 169 du traité), la Commission peut saisir la Cour de justice européenne.

    [06] Commission discusses climate prediction at European Climate Science Conference

    Hurricanes in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, floods in China and Europe, drought and forest fires in Indonesia, unusually heavy rain in parts of the Americas : natural phenomena beyond human control ? Not entirely, as the message from Edith Cresson, European Commissioner responsible i.a. for research, points out. In fact, based on the best current scientific expertise, the global warming expected to result from man's influence on the earth's climate will have serious regional consequences for ecosystems, agriculture and socio-economic sectors - through changes to the patterns of precipitation, temperature and extreme events. European scientists - and the Commission's research programmes - are playing a leading role in providing scientific input to policymakers and have achieved several breakthroughs in the areas of climate prediction and variability, and in monitoring greenhouse gases. They also serve to raise awareness among world leaders of the necessity of acting now. The conference of 19 October in Vienna, where over 300 participants are expected, continues that process.

    [07] L'art à l'école - MUS-E : une vision européenne pour l'an 2000

    Lord Menuhin et Edith Cresson, Membre de la Commission européenne chargée e.a. de l'innovation, de l'éducation, de la formation et de la jeunesse, ont présenté aujourd'hui à Bruxelles, en présence de Enrique Baron Crespo, ancien Président du Parlement européen, l'initiative MUS-E, un projet multiculturel visant à promouvoir l'éducation artistique et la prévention du racisme et de la violence à l'école par l'enseignement des arts, en particulier la musique. L'action conjointe, dans le cadre de ce projet, de Mme Cresson et de M. Oreja, Commissaire chargé e.a. de la culture, démontre la volonté de la Commission d'encourager la dimension artistique dans les programmes d'éducation, comme le recommande le Parlement européen. Un séminaire sera organisé, à Bruxelles, du 14 au 17 novembre 1998, par la "International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation", en collaboration avec les Directions Générales X (Culture) et XXII (Education, Formation, Jeunesse) de la Commission. La phase-pilote pour l'implantation du projet MUS-E en Europe s'achèvera avec ce séminaire, qui sera clôturé le 17 novembre par un spectacle présenté au Cirque Royal de Bruxelles.

    [08] Christos Papoutsis and Emma Bonino : "Euro: a source of opportunities for tourism"

    European Commissioners Christos Papoutsis (Tourism and Small business) and Emma Bonino (Consumer Policy) inaugurated this morning in Brussels the Conference "The euro and tourism: opportunities and strategies for business". Mr Papoutsis, at his opening address said that "the changeover to the euro must be viewed in terms of business strategy rather than merely as a technical adjustment which should not be used in a limited way for internal operations alone but involving all of business partners". He stressed tourism small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which represent 95% of all tourism businesses, "are lagging behind" in the preparation for the euro, and announced that the Commission, in cooperation with the Association for European and Monetary Union, "will produce a new reference guide to help tourism business and in particular SMEs to prepare for the euro". On her part, Mrs Bonino remarked that the sector of tourism, sooner than others, will practice the euro. 96 million of European consumers travel inside the European Union each year, i.e. 25.8% of the European population. More that 50% of their expenses are carried out with scriptural means of payment - rather than in cash. Which means that this sector is a ideal candidate to use the new currency.

    [09] Franz Fischler on dairy sector facing enlargement and global challenges

    (! embargo 2 pm !) In his speech at the annual meeting of the German Association of Dairy industry, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Franz Fischler, set out the importance of Eastern Europe as a trading partner of the European Union (EU) in the dairy sector. Milk is one of the important EU agricultural products as it forms 17% of the overall agricultural production. The accession of the Applicant Countries will increase the number of suckler cows by 8 million, the milk production by 20 million ton per year and still these countries have enormous production capacities. As Candidate countries are struggling with structural problems and technical backlog demand, the way to accession and the negotiations will be challenges for both sides. Within the EU the present quota regime will be improved by measures favouring young producers and mountain areas and will be maintained until 2006. Mr Fischler emphasised the need for greater competitiveness of the European milk industry on domestic and international markets and pointed at the relevant Agenda 2000 proposals.

    [10] Yves-Thibault de Silguy : "The worst possible response to the present crisis would be to abandon sound economic policies"

    Speaking in Dublin at the annual assembly of the Irish Association of Corporate Treasury, Yves-Thibault de Silguy, European Commissioner responsible for economic, monetary and financial affairs, said : "Globalisation has made us all more interdependent. In the present uncertain climate, Europe needs to make additional efforts to maintain confidence. This means pushing ahead with the stability-oriented policies which have worked in recent years." "Relaxing budget discipline or giving in to inflation would undermine confidence and damage growth in Europe. The Irish economy, in particular has been showing signs of overheating. Inflation was 3.2% in August, the highest of any euro zone country." "I know that the Irish authorities understand the importance of sound public finances. Earlier this year, the government made a firm commitment to keep expenditure within the ceilings in the 1998 budget and to use unexpected receipts to cut debt levels. Equally, they resolved that the 1999 budget should have the primary objective of low inflation." "Of course there is no automatic requirement for inflation rates throughout the euro-zone to be identical. Indeed, catching up economies are likely to have above-average price rises, as productivity improves and wages increase." "And there is no reason to fear dangers for the smooth launch of the euro as a result of existing inflation differentials. On the contrary, the economic fundamentals in Europe are better today than in any other major economic zone in the world. This is a factor of confidence for investors seeking to do business in Europe's financial markets."

    MIDDAY EXPRESS


    From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
    © ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996


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