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