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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 00-11-09
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
09/11/2000
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[I] Résultats de la Commission du 8 novembre 2000 - Outcome of Commission
meeting of 8 November
[01] Une nouvelle dynamique en vue de l'élargissement
[02] Serbia : Commission approves emergency aid package
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[03] Romano Prodi visits Ukraine
[04] Commission authorises RAG's acquisition of North Goonyella Property
Ltd
[05] Fusion approuvée selon la procédure simplifiée
[06] Commission benchmarking initiative boosts drive to enhance
competitiveness across Europe
[07] Franz Fischler urges fishermen to support plan to rebuild depleting
fish stocks
[08] Fritz Bolkestein thanks Committee of Wise Men chaired by Alexandre
Lamfalussy for initial report on Securities Markets Regulation
[09] EU and Croatia to liberalise trade in textiles and clothing as of
January 2001
[10] Philippe Busquin awards euro 660,000 Descartes science prize
[11] Evaluation report on sheep and goatmeat sector published
[12] Publication du rapport d'évaluation de la composante agricole du
POSEIMA
[13] EU/US cooperation programme in higher education and vocational
training - project selection 2000
[14] Commission publishes study on economic developments in the candidate
countries in the first half of 2000
[I] Résultats de la Commission du 8 novembre 2000 - Outcome of Commission
meeting of 8 November
(see also voir aussi ME du 8/11)
[01] Une nouvelle dynamique en vue de l'élargissement
La Commission européenne a proposé des mesures concrètes pour s'assurer que
l'Union sera en position d'accueillir de nouveaux membres à partir de la
fin de l'année 2002, en fonction de l'aptitude des pays candidats à assumer
les obligations découlant de l'adhésion et à mener à bien les négociations.
Plus de deux ans et demi après l'ouverture des négociations d'adhésion, le
processus d'élargissement est sur le point d'entrer dans une nouvelle phase
au cours de laquelle des questions de fond et des sujets difficiles devront
être abordés. A l'initiative du Commissaire chargé de l'Elargissement,
Günter Verheugen, la Commission a donc adopté un "rapport stratégique sur
l'élargissement", à présenter au Conseil européen, qui propose, d'une part,
une méthode pour traiter les mesures transitoires sollicitées par les pays
candidats et, d'autre part, une "feuille de route" détaillée reprenant les
points qu'il reste à négocier avec les pays les plus avancés, étape par
étape, en 2001 et 2002. Si ces propositions, qui se basent sur la stratégie
adoptée par le Conseil européen d'Helsinki, sont effectivement suivies, la
Commission estime que les négociations pourront se conclure dans le courant
de l'année 2002 avec les pays qui satisfont à tous les critères d'adhésion.
La Commission a proposé pour la première fois un "partenariat pour
l'adhésion" concernant la Turquie, comme la demande en avait été formulée
par les Conseils européens d'Helsinki et de Santa Maria de Feira. Le
partenariat pour l'adhésion indique les principales priorités auxquelles la
Turquie doit s'attaquer pour satisfaire aux critères de Copenhague, et en
particulier aux critères politiques. Tant la stratégie d'élargissement que
le partenariat pour l'adhésion concernant la Turquie s'inspirent des
"rapports réguliers" qui ont été adoptés pour chacun des 13 pays candidats.
Ces rapports évaluent les progrès réalisés par ces pays dans leur
préparation à l'adhésion. Dans l'ensemble, les pays candidats ont accompli
des progrès notables à la fois sur le plan économique et sur celui de
l'adoption de l'acquis. En revanche, les avancées relatives à la mise en
place et au renforcement des institutions nécessaires à l'application de
l'acquis ont été inégales.
[02] Serbia : Commission approves emergency aid package
The European Commission has approved a detailed emergency assistance
package for Serbia. This emergency package of euro 180 million forms part
of the euro 200 million announced at the European Council in Biarritz. The
remaining euro 20 million will primarily cover humanitarian aid for
refugees, displaced people and vulnerable persons in Serbia.
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[03] Romano Prodi visits Ukraine
President of the European Commission Romano Prodi will visit Ukraine from 9-
10 November 2000. He will meet with President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma,
Prime Minister Victor Yushchenko, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Anatoly
Zlenko. He will also meet leading figures of the Ukrainian parliament. This
visit is the third high level meeting with Ukraine this year. President
Prodi met Ukrainian Prime Minister Yushchenko in Brussels on 23 May this
year, immediately after the EU-Ukraine Cooperation Council (which was
chaired on the EU side by Foreign Minister Gama and Commissioner Patten).
Then on 15 September President Prodi and French President Mr Chirac met
Ukrainian President Mr Kuchma at the EU Ukraine summit in Paris.
[04] Commission authorises RAG's acquisition of North Goonyella Property
Ltd
The European Commission has authorised the acquisition by RAG
Aktiengesellschaft of sole control of North Goonyella Properties Pty Ltd
(NGP), an Australian company which distributes the coking coal produced by
the North Goonyella mining operation which is currently owned by Sumitomo
Corp.
[05] Fusion approuvée selon la procédure simplifiée
Asea Brown Boveri / Avireal AG / JV
[06] Commission benchmarking initiative boosts drive to enhance
competitiveness across Europe
The European Commission today released the first crop of findings from a
set of scoreboard and benchmarking exercises across Europe. These findings
give EU Member States an unprecedented opportunity to learn from each other,
develop the policy mix that is right for them, and improve their
competitive performance across the board. Harvesting Member States' best
competitiveness policy ideas, and sharing, refining, and applying them
across the European Union, will improve framework conditions for
entrepreneurs to succeed. This in turn will help realise the Enterprise
Europe ambition, backed by Member States at the Lisbon European Council in
March 2000, to create the world's most competitive and dynamic knowledge-
driven economy by 2005.
[07] Franz Fischler urges fishermen to support plan to rebuild depleting
fish stocks
On a two-day visit to the north-east of Scotland, European Commissioner
Franz Fischler, responsible for Agriculture, Rural Development and
Fisheries, called on fishermen to be ready to adopt a rebuilding plan for
white fish stocks in the North Sea and the West of Scotland. These stocks
concern cod, haddock and whiting which are the mainstay of the Scottish
fleet targeting demersal (bottom) species. Scientific advice indicates that
these stocks, particularly cod, are in a very poor state. Mr Fischler
warned that Total Allowable Catches (TACs) would have to be lower over the
next few years. In addition, the Commission would propose measures to
rebuild these stocks at the beginning of next year, after consultation with
stakeholders. "There are tough times ahead", Mr Fischler warned. "I hope
that I can rely on your support to get us all through these difficulties
for the ultimate benefit of the fishing industry".
[08] Fritz Bolkestein thanks Committee of Wise Men chaired by Alexandre
Lamfalussy for initial report on Securities Markets Regulation
Frits Bolkestein, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, today
thanked the Committee of Wise Men chaired by Alexandre Lamfalussy on the
Regulation of Securities Markets for their initial report. Mr Bolkestein
said : "The Committee has produced a dynamic first response to their
mandate - with some very interesting ideas - in particular how to reshape
and accelerate the process of European legislation on financial services. I
very much share their view that if the European Union can integrate its
financial markets, the major missing part of the internal market, we will
be able to secure considerable long-term benefits for the European economy.
The Commission's Financial Services Action Plan contains the key measures
that have to be adopted and I am pleased to see that all the Committee's
priorities are covered in the Action Plan. The Committee is right that we
have to accelerate the European regulatory process, whilst maintaining the
institutional balances laid out in the Treaty. The Commission shall be
examining their ideas carefully. What is so important for the European
Union and all our citizens is that the Commission, the Council and the
European Parliament succeed in this enterprise. This means working hard to
build the consensus for the changes that are needed, and in particular
making sure that we secure political endorsement for those changes at the
highest level, as soon as possible." The report is available on the Europa
Website: http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/whatsnew.htm
[09] EU and Croatia to liberalise trade in textiles and clothing as of
January 2001
Yesterday the European Commission and the Republic of Croatia initialled an
agreement on trade in textile products in Brussels, providing for the
elimination of the quantitative restrictions applied by the EU on Croatian
textile and clothing exports from 1st January 2001.
[10] Philippe Busquin awards euro 660,000 Descartes science prize
European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin yesterday awarded the euro
660,000 René Descartes Prize to a group of international researchers in
recognition of their scientific excellence and international teamwork. The
winners are a team led by Prof Tim Smith (UK, chemistry), Dr Dago de Leeuw
(NL, electronics) and Prof Alan Lehmann (UK, genetics). Eight groups of
researchers from a range of disciplines had been shortlisted by a high-
level jury from some 100 trans-european teams.
[11] Evaluation report on sheep and goatmeat sector published
An evaluation report on the common organisation of the markets in the sheep
and goatmeat sector has been made available today on the Europa server. The
principal questions addressed by this report are on the impact of the
premia and their fixation on producers' income, the market organisation for
sheep and goatmeat on production and the CMO for sheep and goatmeat on
rural areas and on the environment. The report suggests three options for
the future, namely : maintain the status quo, improve the accuracy of the
current system and simplify the current system, which may be considered by
the European Commission in its review of the sheep and goatmeat CMO over
the coming months. The report can be found at the following address:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg06/eval/reports/sheep/index_en.htm
[12] Publication du rapport d'évaluation de la composante agricole du
POSEIMA
Le rapport qui est publié aujourd'hui est une évaluation de la composante
agricole du POSEIMA (Programme d'Options Spécifiques pour faire face à
l'Eloignement et à l'Insularité de Madère et des Açores). L'objectif de
cette évaluation est d'analyser l'impact des mesures développées dans le
cadre du POSEIMA sur l'économie de ces Iles. L'évaluation porte sur les
deux principales mesures de la composante agricole du POSEIMA (Règlement
1600/92) : le Régime Spécifique d'Approvisionnement (RSA) pour les produits
agricoles considérés essentiels à la consommation courante et à la
transformation dans ces Archipels et les mesures spécifiques en faveur des
productions locales. L'analyse porte sur la compatibilité entre le RSA et
les Mesures Spécifiques en faveur de la production locale, dans les
secteurs sur lesquels toutes deux influent, ainsi que sur le système de
gestion et administration du programme aux niveaux communautaire, national
et régional, par une valorisation de leur coût-efficacité. Cette analyse
pourrait servir de base à l'UE dans son élaboration d'un nouveau règlement
et l'amélioration de la gestion et de l'application du programme. Ce
rapport est publié en portugais, avec un résumé compréhensif en français
est disponible à l'adresse suivante : http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg06/eval/reports/poseima/index_fr.htm
[13] EU/US cooperation programme in higher education and vocational
training - project selection 2000
The European Commission has just approved 13 proposals to be funded
following the fifth call for projects under the EU/US cooperation
programme. The list of approved proposals is the result of a highly
selective process (56 eligible projects) co-administered by the Commission
and the US Department of Education - Fund for the Improvement of
Postsecondary Education. Proposals were of a very high quality overall. The
13 consortia involve 46 higher education and vocational training
institutions from 12 different Member States and an equivalent number of US
partner institutions. France (8), Germany (9) and Italy (8) are the Member
States with the most numerous representation ; institutions from these
countries lead 7 of the approved consortia. In the next three years - the
normal life of EU/US consortia - over 800 EU and US students will take part
in transatlantic mobility schemes established within consortia.
Architecture, Textile engineering, e-Commerce are some of the themes
covered by the projects. This year's selection is the last of the current
programme, which comes to an end on 31 December 2000. In total the
programme has supported 56 consortia involving more than 400 EU and US
higher education and vocational training institutions and over 4000
students will have been involved in transatlantic mobility schemes by the
end of 2003, the last operational year of the consortia approved this year.
For further information on this programme, please visit the following
Internet addresses: http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/ec-usa/usa.html
and/or http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/FIPSE/
[14] Commission publishes study on economic developments in the candidate
countries in the first half of 2000
Substantial economic growth in the candidate countries in the first half of
2000 confirms the return to higher growth observed at the end of 1999. On
an annualised basis it ranges from around 2% in Lithuania, Slovakia and
Romania, to over 6% in Hungary and Estonia. Real GDP growth in Bulgaria,
Latvia, Poland and Turkey is between 5 and 6%. Both unemployment and
inflation are higher than last year in most candidate countries, with the
notable exception of unemployment in Hungary and Slovenia. The current
account deficits are increasingly financed by foreign direct investment
inflows. An analysis of the economic developments in the candidate
countries in the first half of 2000 is in the Quarterly "Economic Reform
Monitor" published today by the Directorate General of Economic and
Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN). Economic forecasts for the candidate
countries will be published in the next issue of the "Economic Reform
Monitor". Copies of the report are available in the DG ECFIN's website:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/document/eesuppc/2000_3/c2000_3_en.pdf
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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