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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 01-04-23
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
Midday Express 23/04/2001
[01] Franz Fischler meets US senators
Today, Franz Fischler, European Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural
Development and Fisheries, welcomed a delegation from the US Senate, led by
Senator Trent Lott. Both Commissioner Fischler and Senator Lott welcomed
the progress recently made towards resolving the banana dispute. "This
should considerably improve the transatlantic atmosphere. And I do not see
any reason why progress should not be made on other areas of disagreement
between us", commented Franz Fischler. "The WTO-agriculture negotiations
are a top-priority on both sides of the Atlantic. Furthermore, our WTO-
positions on many of the main issues are not that far apart. We tend to
agree on the principles, but differ on the technicalities on these there is
obviously scope for negotiation", Mr Fischler underlined. During an
exchange of views on domestic agriculture policies, both sides agreed they
faced similar challenges in securing the future for farmers and the rural
areas. However, the EU and US have chosen widely different policy paths to
reach those aims. Farm policy in the EU has undergone a radical
transformation in recent years", Franz Fischler told the senators. "Not
only is the agriculture budget stable and fixed, but farm safety net
programmes are now designed ensuring payments are not linked to production.
This is far less trade-distoring than deficiency payments or other
production linked compensation", he added. Commissioner Fischler said he
looked forward to continuing the exchange of views on farm policy when
visiting the US Senate during his official trip to the US from 16 21 May.
[02] Etat de la recherche européenne sur l'ESB et les autres maladies
associées
Aujourd'hui, un groupe d'experts établi par Philippe Busquin, Commissaire
européen responsable de la Recherche, présentera un état complet des
recherches sur les Encéphalopathies Spongiformes Transmissibles comme l'ESB
donnant une image plus claire des travaux de recherche actuellement
réalisés en Europe. L'inventaire publié identifie les forces et les
faiblesses de la recherche européenne dans ce domaine. Il met par exemple
en relief le manque de coordination, de mise en réseau, de communication et
d'échange des résultats entre les différentes initiatives nationales. Il
montre aussi que les recherches européennes sont handicapées par plusieurs
facteurs tels que le manque d'échantillons bien définis, la disponibilité
limitée de modèles animaux et de lignées cellulaires et le manque de
chercheurs formés. Le groupe a été créé par Philippe Busquin suite à une
suggestion des ministres de la recherche des Etats membres lors de leur
réunion du 16 novembre 2000.
[03] Commission acts against Duales System Deutschland AG (Green Dot) for
the abuse of a dominant position
The European Commission has adopted a decision finding that Duales System
Deutschland AG (DSD), a company which created "The Green Dot" (Der Grüne
Punkt) trademark, is restricting competition by abusing its dominant
position in the market for organising the collection and recycling of sales
packaging in Germany. The decision is limited to one provision of DSD's
trademark agreement and does not call into question the existence and
overall functioning of the DSD system. The Commission finds that, in
certain cases, the payment system used by DSD disadvantages its customers
and prevents the entry of competitors in the market concerned. The
Commission believes that once DSD will have taken measures that end its
abusive behaviour it will be able to adopt a favourable decision on the
remaining agreements of the DSD system.
[04] Attribution du prix de l'UE pour l'architecture contemporaine
Viviane Reding, Membre de la Commission européenne chargée de l'Education
et de la Culture, a annoncé aujourd'hui que le prix de l'Union européenne
pour l'architecture contemporaine - Prix Mies van der Rohe - est décerné à
M. Rafael Moneo pour la conception et la réalisation du "Centre Kursaal" à
San Sebastian (Espagne). La Mention spéciale destinée à un jeune architecte
est décernée à M. Florian Nagler pour le "centre Kaufmann Holz AG" à
Bobingen (Allemagne).
[05] e-confidence initiative : time for stakeholders to draw conclusions
It is called the e-confidence barrier: e-commerce only accounts for around
one percent of retail sales in Europe. While internet penetration is
growing rapidly, consumer confidence in e-commerce and cross-border
transactions remain low. Although there has been an ever-expanding number
of codes, trustmarks and other schemes aimed at improving e-confidence,
their sheer number and variety is such that they tend to confuse consumers
more than they enlighten. The European Commission's e-confidence initiative
has been a practical response to this deficit. It has brought together for
a first time a range of business and consumer groups with an interest in e-
commerce codes and guidelines to build the "e-confidence" of consumers.
Initiated in May 2000, stakeholders such as BEUC, UNICE and GBDe members
will meet today for the last time under the umbrella of the e-confidence
initiative to draw conclusions on general principles as an agreed basis for
good practice in e-commerce.
[06] Autre matériel diffusé
Note sur la préparation du Conseil Agriculture
EU Troika on the high-level consultations on Climate Change (21/04, New
York)
Discours de M. Bolkestein : "Tackling the counterfeiting and piracy
scourge" (Stockholm)
Discours de M. Nielson : "European Community development policy more than
financial assistance alone" (Oslo, ! embargo 15h !)
Discours de M. Liikanen : "E-marketplaces : new challenges for enterprise
policy, competition and standardisation"
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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