|
|
|
European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 00-06-23
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 Service Presse et Communicationb
23/06/2000
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Romano Prodi met Zoran Djindjic
[02] La Commission autorise la reprise de Raab Karcher par Saint-Gobain
[03] La Commission autorise l'opération de concentration de Canal+,
Lagardère et Liberty Media
[04] EU Commission welcomes agreement to curb air pollution
[05] Informer les passagers des transports aériens sur leurs droits
[06] Commission welcomes adoption of Dual Use Regulation
[07] Commission publishes first quarter 2000 price and cost competitiveness
report
[08] EU and Korea sign Agreed Minutes on World Shipbuilding
[01] Romano Prodi met Zoran Djindjic
A meeting took place yesterday between Romano Prodi, President of the
European Commission, and Zoran Djindjic, Chairman of the Democratic Party
(Serbia), to discuss present and future policy and EU assistance towards
Serbia. President Prodi reiterated the Commission's continuing support for
the Serbian population and democratic opposition, and underlined the
necessity for the democratic opposition parties to unite with a view to the
forthcoming elections. Referring to the recent European Council statement
that all of the Western Balkan countries are "potential candidates for EU
membership", he underlined that it is the regime in Belgrade and its
policies which are continuing to deny the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
its place in Europe, a place to which it will be wholeheartedly welcomed
once a democratic government is in place.
[02] La Commission autorise la reprise de Raab Karcher par Saint-Gobain
La Commission européenne a autorisé l'acquisition, par la société française
Saint-Gobain, de Raab Karcher, le principal distributeur allemand de
matériaux de construction. Les activités des deux sociétés se chevauchent
en Allemagne et, dans une moindre mesure, en France et aux Pays-Bas.
Toutefois, la Commission est parvenue à la conclusion que Saint-Gobain/Raab
Karcher aurait en face d'elle plusieurs concurrents importants, nationaux
et européens, dans les secteurs tant de la production que de la
distribution de matériaux de construction.
[03] La Commission autorise l'opération de concentration de Canal+,
Lagardère et Liberty Media
La Commission européenne donne le feu vert à la prise de contrôle conjoint
de CanalSatellite par les groupes Canal+ et Lagardère et celle de
Multithématiques par ces mêmes groupes et Liberty Media. Ces opérations
n'entraîneront pas la création ou le renforcement d'une position dominante
sur les marchés concernés (édition de chaînes thématiques et de services de
télévision interactive) et ne soulève donc pas de problème de concurrence .
[04] EU Commission welcomes agreement to curb air pollution
The European Commission welcomes yesterday's agreement by EU Environment
Ministers to curb air pollution from power generators and set ceilings for
four major air pollutants, helping tackle problems such as summer smog and
acidification. The agreement reached on the proposals on large combustion
plants (LCPs) and national emission ceilings (NECs) will more than halve
the emissions of sulphur dioxide from existing power plants. By 2010,
overall emissions of sulphur dioxide will be reduced by 77%, nitrogen
oxides by 51%, volatile organic compounds by 54% and ammonia by 14%,
compared to 1990 levels.
[05] Informer les passagers des transports aériens sur leurs droits
(! embargo 14h!) Bien que les passagers bénéficient déjà de droits
importants en vertu du droit communautaire, ils ne les connaissent souvent
pas et par conséquent n'insistent pas sur le respect de ces droits. C'est
la raison pour laquelle la Commission européenne a décidé de lancer une
campagne de sensibilisations des passagers aux droits que l'Union
européenne a créés pour eux. Cette campagne, qui débute par l'affichage
d'une charte dans tous les aéroports de l'UE, sera lancée officiellement le
23 juin à Rome, après la conférence annuelle du Conseil international des
aéroports (A.C.I. - Europe). "Créer des droits est une chose, sensibiliser
les gens à ces droits en est une autre", a déclaré Loyola de Palacio, vice-
président de la Commission chargée des Transports. "C'est pourquoi la
Commission publie une charte sur les droits des passagers à afficher dans
les aéroports de l'UE et plus tard, je l'espère, dans les bureaux des
compagnies aériennes et des agences de voyage. Cette charte permettra aux
passagers de mieux comprendre leurs droits et de les exercer plus
efficacement."
[06] Commission welcomes adoption of Dual Use Regulation
The European Commission welcomes the Council's adoption yesterday of a
Regulation covering licensing procedures for the export of dual use goods
and technologies. These have been subject to export controls to improve
security and reduce arms proliferation. The new Regulation improves the
existing system of export controls and strikes the right balance between
the need to control these goods and technologies on the one hand, and the
trade interests of some of our high-tech industries on the other. It
simplifies export licensing procedures and cuts red tape, creating a
Community General Export Authorisation valid for most of the widely traded
dual use items, for exports to Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Japan,
Hungary, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Switzerland and the US. The
Regulation reduces and simplifies intra-EU trade, notably in nuclear and
ballistic devices, and creates a common list of items for which intra-EU
controls are maintained, replacing national lists. As for Information
Security items (including encryption), intra-EU trade is liberalised
completely, except for a few highly specialised products (cryptanalysis
items). Erkki Liikanen, European Information Society Commissioner, said :
"The Lisbon Summit highlighted consumer confidence as key to the
development of Internet and electronic commerce. Cryptographic technologies
are vital for security and trust in electronic communication. Yesterday's
decision will accelerate the development and use of encryption products and
thus increase the security of electronic communication. The Commission for
its part is determined to give security the urgency it deserves as
demonstrated by the recent eEurope Action Plan."
[07] Commission publishes first quarter 2000 price and cost competitiveness
report
Due to low price and cost increases in the euro area economies, the
relative cost competitiveness of the euro area was at the first quarter
2000 at its most favourable since 1985. The depreciation of the euro
against other major international currencies has also contributed to that
development although exchange rate movements since the end of the first
quarter have mitigated this position somewhat. The report has been prepared
by the Commission's Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs
and includes for the first time data revised in accordance with the new
European System of Accounts (ESA 95). The report is available on the web :
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/document/pccr/pccr_en.htm
[08] EU and Korea sign Agreed Minutes on World Shipbuilding
The European Commission and the Republic of Korea have signed a set of
"Agreed Minutes" aimed at creating a more transparent and competitive world
shipbuilding market. The agreement aims to stabilise the world shipbuilding
market and contains several commitments regarding non-subsidisation,
transparency (over international accounting standards) commercial pricing
and an effective consultative mechanism. The Commission has introduced an
official request for ad hoc consultations with Korea, as provided by the
agreement in order quickly to clarify several issues of concern and receive
answers to key questions. These consultations will take place in Seoul on
18-19 July. The Commission considers that the full implementation of
Korea's commitments will constitute the effective means to avoid a
potential dispute between the EU and Korea in shipbuilding and work
together towards a fair and competitive world shipbuilding market. The
Commission and the Korean Government began, discussions last December to
find an appropriate solution to the problem facing the world shipbuilding
market characterised by significant over-capacity and steadily decreasing
prices. The parties initialled the agreed minutes on 10 April. They were
approved by the Council on June 19 and signed by Peter Carl, Director-
General of Trade and the Ambassador Choi of Korea yesterday.
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
|
