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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 02-03-18
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Candidate countries' farmers better off in EU, says Commission study
[02] First Eurobarometer report on candidate countries published
[03] February 2002 - Euro-zone annual inflation down to 2.4% ; EU15 down to
2.3%
[04] Reconnaissance des diplômes : recours devant la Cour contre six Etats
membres
[05] International tobacco control talks continue
[06] "L'Europe et la culture" : lancement d'un portail des actions
culturelles de l'UE
[07] Lutter ensemble contre le dopage : réunion entre ministres et
fédérations sportives à Bruxelles le 20 mars
[08] Encouraging inter-cultural dialogue : Commission brings together
academics and political and religious leaders
[09] David Byrne opens web site for European Citizens in all languages
[10] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express 18/03/2002
TXT: FR ENPDF:DOC:Midday Express 18/03/2002
[01] Candidate countries' farmers better off in EU, says Commission study
A study published by the European Commission today concludes that
membership of the European Union will significantly improve the prospects
for farmers in the candidate countries, without creating major market
imbalances for an enlarged Union. Four different policy scenarios ("no
enlargement", "introduction of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) without
direct payments", "CAP with direct payments", and "Candidate Country
Negotiating Position") have been considered. The simulation shows that even
under the most pessimistic restructuring scenarios, EU accession will have
positive effects on the income of farmers in the candidate countries. The
report also underscores the Commission's view that immediately paying 100%
of direct payments would create significant social distortions and
inequalities and would hamper the necessary restructuring, given that
farmers' income in the candidate countries could more than double. The
study underscores that these positive effects of EU membership can only be
reaped if the necessary restructuring to meet EU production standards will
be made.
[02] First Eurobarometer report on candidate countries published
The full results of the first Eurobarometer opinion survey carried out in
the 13 candidate countries for EU membership are published today by the
European Commission. This survey was conducted in October 2001 among more
than 12,000 citizens from the 13 candidate countries. The wide range of
subjects covered includes satisfaction with life, economic prospects,
national pride and European identity, language skills, media habits and
lifestyle issues as well as the EU enlargement process itself. Around 50
different questions were asked, many of them directly comparable with the
standard Eurobarometer which has existed for the current EU countries for
many years. The full report is available on the internet, including easy-to-
read tables and graphs, and annexes with country-by-country figures. Some
initial results of this survey were published in December 2001. Full
details of this survey and other Eurobarometer reports are available on the
Internet at the following address : http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion
[03] February 2002 - Euro-zone annual inflation down to 2.4% ; EU15 down to
2.3%
Euro-zone annual inflation fell from 2.7% in January to 2.4% in February
2002, Eurostat reports today. A year earlier the rate was 2.3%. EU15 annual
inflation decreased from 2.5% in January to 2.3% in February 2002. A year
earlier the rate was 2.1%. In February, highest annual rates were in
Ireland (4.9%), the Netherlands (4.5%) and Greece (3.8%) ; lowest rates
were in Austria (1.7%), Germany (1.8%) and Luxembourg (2.2%). Compared with
January 2002, annual inflation fell in eleven Member States and rose in
three. Compared with February 2001, the biggest relative falls were in
Portugal (4.9% to 3.3%), Germany (2.5% to 1.8%) and Luxembourg (2.9% to
2.2%) ; the biggest relative rises were in Italy and Sweden (1.5% to 2.7%
both) and France (1.4% to 2.3%).
[04] Reconnaissance des diplômes : recours devant la Cour contre six Etats
membres
La Commission européenne a décidé d'introduire des recours devant la Cour
de Justice contre six Etats membres pour manquement au droit communautaire
en ce qui concerne la reconnaissance des diplômes et le droit
d'établissement professionnel. Elle a ainsi décidé d'introduire un recours
contre l'Allemagne à propos de la non-conformité de sa législation sur le
port de titres universitaires acquis dans un autre Etat membre. Concernant
la non-transposition d'aspects de la législation européenne sur la
reconnaissance mutuelle des diplômes dans certains domaines professionnels,
la Commission a décidé d'introduire des recours devant la Cour contre la
France, l'Espagne et l'Italie. La Commission a enfin décidé d'introduire
des recours devant la Cour suite à la non-communication par le Luxembourg
et les Pays-Bas de mesures nationales de transposition de la Directive
98/5/CE sur l'établissement des avocats.
[05] International tobacco control talks continue
95% of the world's population is represented at the fourth round of
negotiations on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of the
World Health Organisation (WHO) which starts today in Geneva. The FCTC
negotiating body will amongst others discuss duty-free sales of tobacco,
illicit trade with tobacco products, agricultural subsidies to tobacco
growers, advertising and promotion for tobacco products and passive
smoking. In the negotiations, the Commission takes the floor on issues
under Community competence ("acquis") based on a negotiation mandate by the
Council, whilst the Council Presidency speaks on those subjects which are
Member State competence. The FCTC will become a mixed Convention, requiring
ratification by Member States and the EU and is planned to be adopted in
2003. "The ongoing negotiations on the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control present a unique opportunity to create a legal instrument that will
be binding worldwide", said David Byrne, European Commissioner for Health
and Consumer Protection. "The negotiations at the WHO have become an
integral part of the EU's tobacco control strategy and I am pleased to see
that our initiatives have already made a significant and positive
contribution to this important international process." The 4th negotiation
round runs from 18-23 March.
[06] "L'Europe et la culture" : lancement d'un portail des actions
culturelles de l'UE
A l'occasion de la réunion informelle des ministres de la Culture, qui se
tiendra les 18 et 19 mars à Salamanque, Capitale européenne de la Culture
2002, Viviane Reding, Membre de la Commission européenne chargée de
l'Education et de la Culture, présentera le nouveau portail européen
consacré aux politiques culturelles. Ce portail offre un accès simple et
gratuit à des informations jusqu'alors dispersées sur les nombreuses
actions culturelles de l'UE. Il met en évidence la variété et l'importance
des interventions de l'Union qui en font un partenaire de premier plan du
secteur culturel.
[07] Lutter ensemble contre le dopage : réunion entre ministres et
fédérations sportives à Bruxelles le 20 mars
Les ministres des Sports de l'UE et des représentants du mouvement
olympique et des grandes fédérations des sports se concerteront sur les
moyens d'améliorer leur coopération dans la lutte contre le dopage en vue
de résultats concrets avant les Jeux olympiques d'Athènes (2004) et de
Turin (2006). La réunion sera présidée par le secrétaire d'Etat aux Sports
espagnol, Juan Antonio Gomez Angulo, la Commissaire responsable des Sports,
Viviane Reding, et le président du Comité International Olympique, Jacques
Rogge.
[08] Encouraging inter-cultural dialogue : Commission brings together
academics and political and religious leaders
At the invitation of the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi,
and Viviane Reding, the Member of the Commission responsible for Education
and Culture, a conference on inter-cultural dialogue will be taking place
in Brussels on 20 and 21 March. The aim is to bring together academics,
religious leaders and European parliamentarians to take an in-depth look at
the various aspects of inter-cultural dialogue, and to come up with
practical conclusions.
[09] David Byrne opens web site for European Citizens in all languages
David Byrne, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, has
today opened his personal web site in all EU languages presenting an
overview of activities on Health and Consumer policy. With this step the
Commissioner wants to improve the transparency of the policy making on
health and consumer protection and provide information to the public on
actions on food safety and consumer rights. Some eighty pages provide
information on issues ranging from measures on BSE and genetically modified
feed and food to tobacco control and safety of consumer products. The new
web site is available in all EU languages at http://europa.eu.int/comm/commissioners/byrne/index_en.htm
[10] Autre matériel diffusé
Note on EU enlargement : questions and answers on food safety issues
Speech by Pedro Solbes : "Structural reforms in Candidate Countries and the
Lisbon Strategy" at the Ministerial meeting between Ministers of economy
and finance of Member States and candidate countries (15/03, Barcelona)
Speech by Erkki Liikanen : "The vision of a mobile Europe" at the Mobile
Europe 2002 Conference (Bremen)
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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