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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 98-11-13
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
13/11/98
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Encourager la création et la transmission d'entreprises : la
Commission lance une nouvelle action "capital d'amorçage"
[02] Ralentissement de la croissance du commerce en juillet
[03] Information Society-Forum : Moving public administrations closer to
the citizens in the digital age
[04] Yves-Thibault de Silguy : "EMU affects British business"
[05] Franz Fischler : "Farmer Associations should support Agenda 2000
proposals"
[01] Encourager la création et la transmission d'entreprises : la
Commission lance une nouvelle action "capital d'amorçage"
A l'initiative de Christos Papoutsis, Commissaire européen en charge de la
politique des entreprises, la Commission a lancé une nouvelle action
"capital d'amorçage" baptisée CREA (Capital Risque pour les Entreprises en
phase d'Amorçage). Dotée d'un budget global de 8 millions d'Ecus pour la
période 1998-2000, CREA vise à stimuler l'offre de financement en fonds
propres ou quasi fonds propres pour la création et la transmission de
petites entreprises innovantes ayant un potentiel de croissance et de
création d'emplois. Elle assiste ainsi les fonds de capital d'amorçage et
organisations similaires dès leurs premières années d'activité. Elle vise
également à établir, à l'échelle de l'Union européenne, un réseau pour les
fonds de capital d'amorçage et leurs gestionnaires et à stimuler un échange
des meilleures pratiques et de la formation. Cette nouvelle action inclura
également la prise de participation pour le transfert de propriété des
petites entreprises et entreprises artisanales.
[02] Ralentissement de la croissance du commerce en juillet
(! embargo 12h !) La zone euro (Etats membres participant à l'Union
économique et monétaire) a enregistré un excédent commercial de 13,1
milliards d'Ecus avec le reste du monde au mois de juillet de cette année.
Ceci correspond à un excédent total de 45,9 milliards pour les sept
premiers mois de 1998 - en baisse de 3,3 milliards par rapport à la même
période de l'année dernière. Les échanges extra-Union européenne ont
dégagé un excédent de 7,8 milliards d'Ecus en juillet. Cependant cet
excédent était de seulement 8,6 milliards pour les sept premiers mois,
alors qu'il avait atteint 26,0 milliards de janvier à juillet 1997. Ces
chiffres sont publiés aujourd'hui par Eurostat, l'Office statistique des
Communautés européennes à Luxembourg.
[03] Information Society-Forum : Moving public administrations closer to
the citizens in the digital age
In a declaration adopted today in the Vienna Information Society-Forum, a
group established in 1995 (see IP 95/729) and including representatives of
users, social groups, industry and European institutions, made a number of
recommendations on the communication between public administrations and the
citizens in the digital age. In an "Informed Democracy", new applications
of telematics should facilitate better decision-making and create more
effective and coherent links between national administrations, and between
them and European institutions. Easy physical communication should be
accompanied by a guaranteed right of access for all people to public
information. The Forum recommends that governments establish rules for
accessing public information as far as possible without charge and for
exploiting new services derived from that access. These rules should
assure secure communications between the citizen and public administrations
through adequate data protection, authentication and electronic signature
systems. The forum proposes that governments and the European Union should
promote best practices and public/private partnership for supplying public
information. Commissioner Martin Bangemann said at the Forum's Meeting :
"If used in an intelligent manner information Technology will indeed bring
administrations closer to the citizens. Next month the Commission will
publish a green paper containing our contibution to the discussion on how
this goal can be achived for the best of our citizens and Europe's
economy".
[04] Yves-Thibault de Silguy : "EMU affects British business"
Speaking in Wirral at the 5th EuroWirral Conference, Yves-Thibault de
Silguy, Member of the European Commission responsible for economic,
monetary and financial affairs, underlined the impact of EMU for British
business. In particular, he said : "Whatever the UK decides, there is no
doubt about the arrival of the euro on the first of January 1999. And
there is no uncertainty about the timing of the introduction of euro bank
notes and coins in 2002. The British government is right to stress that UK
firms will need to be as ready to meet these challenges as their
competitors in the euro zone." "I can understand however that the absence
of a firm date makes business planning more difficult. And I am not
surprised when British businessmen tell me that uncertainty over the timing
is holding up their investment decisions. Against this background, I
warmly welcome the recent announcement of the government's intention to
publish an indicative national changeover plan in early 1999. I hope that
this will provide the necessary concrete details for business to make
preparations on a basis of certainty." "The network of Regional Euro Fora
is providing valuable support to the local business communities throughout
the country. I particularly welcome the dynamic approach of the Forum in
the North West and its effective cooperation with the Euro Information
Centre in Liverpool under the auspices of the Commission's representation
in the UK".
[05] Franz Fischler : "Farmer Associations should support Agenda 2000
proposals"
Speaking to the presidium of the COPA/COGECA in Brussels today, European
Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Franz Fischler,
stressed the responsibility of farmers associations towards farmers
regarding the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) as proposed in
the Agenda 2000. "The Council needs the support and the backing of these
associations to adopt courageous and farsighted decisions", emphasised Mr
Fischler. Addressing the issue of the future financing of the CAP, Mr
Fischler pointed at the three options put forward by the Commission. "The
option that Member States should cofinance the direct payments for farmers
might lead to a change in Member States' evaluation of the reform proposals
and thus complicate the decision making process of the Agenda 2000.
Secondly, cofinancing would reduce the agricultural budget, which will
question the ceiling of the agriculture-guideline. Regarding enlargment of
the European Union this would be a burden for the CAP". Mere cosmetic
reforms of the CAP will not solve problems nor improve competitiveness of
European agricultural goods, but will lead to new stocks and surpluses,
complicate agricultural policy and ruin opportunities for the future of
European farmers.
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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