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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 02-04-02
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] EU approves continuation of Budgetary Assistance to Palestinian
Authority
[02] Commission clears acquisition of Galbani by BC Partners
[03] EU Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) moves to new premises
[04] March 2002 - Euro-zone inlfation estimated at 2.5%
[05] Further liberalisation of agricultural trade with Estonia
[06] Autre matériel diffusé:
[07] Disponible dans le sécretariat de Amelia Torres et Michael Tscherny
6/80:
Midday Express 02/04/2002
TXT: FR ENPDF:DOC:Midday Express 02/04/2002
[01] EU approves continuation of Budgetary Assistance to Palestinian
Authority
The European Commission has approved, the continuation of a direct
Budgetary Assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) for an amount of €
50.000.000. The main objective of this assistance is to help the PA to deal
with problems encountered by the interruption of monthly transfers of tax
receipts (VAT and customs duties) by the Government of Israel (GoI)
following the outbreak of the Intifada in the Palestinian Territories in
October 2000. In particular, these operations are designed to help the PA
to secure its basic expenditures with respect to public service salaries,
social, educational, health and core functions. The support is paid monthly
in equal instalments of € 10 million over the period March to July 2002.
Disbursements are made upon compliance of conditionalities mainly relating
to the reinforcement of transparency in PA's public finances (consolidation
of accounts), the strengthening of the viable management of the budget
(containment of expenditure and particularly of payroll) and progress
regards overall financial and administrative reform and legal reform. The
above mentioned conditions are monitored by the IMF.
[02] Commission clears acquisition of Galbani by BC Partners
The European Commission has granted clearance under the Merger Regulation
to the acquisition of full control of the Italian undertaking Galbani, a
wholly owned subsidiary of the French Danone group S.A. which supplies
diary and processed meat products, by the British investment firm BC
Partners Holdings Ltd via its fully owned subsidiary CIE Management II Ltd.
(The operation was examined under the simplified merger review procedure)
[03] EU Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) moves to new premises
The European Commission's Food and Veterinary Office has today moved to its
new premises in Grange, Co Meath, Ireland. The building, located on a 9
hectare landscaped site 40 Km north-west of Dublin, will accommodate the
existing 150 FVO staff and has a range of facilities including, a
conference centre, crèche, restaurant and cafeteria. The 12,500 square
metre building was designed by the Irish Office of Public Works on behalf
of the Commission. The FVO is responsible for checking that EU rules on
food, live animals and plant products are complied with, both within the EU
and also in third countries which export to the EU. Last year its
inspectors carried out over 200 inspections in 52 different countries. The
FVO is an integral part of the European Commission's Health and Consumer
Protection Directorate General under the leadership of David Byrne,
Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection.
[04] March 2002 - Euro-zone inlfation estimated at 2.5%
Euro-zone annual inflation is expected to be 2.5 % in March 2002, up from
2.4% in February 2002, according to a flash estimate issued today by
Eurostat the Statistical Office of the European Communities in Luxembourg.
[05] Further liberalisation of agricultural trade with Estonia
In the framework of the so-called "double profit" agreements between the EU
and candidate countries, the Commission today adopted a proposal for a
Council regulation in view of additional liberalisation of the agricultural
trade with Estonia. The proposal foresees a total liberalisation of all ad
valorem duties (for example for fruit and vegetables and juices, sheep meat
and molasses) as well as an elimination within tariff quotas of the import
duties for cereals, beef and veal, dairy products and eggs. Most other
sectors - for example pig meat, poultry meat, fats and oils and a wide
range of fruit and vegetables - were liberalised already in 2000. In
practice, this means that the trade in agricultural products between the EU
and Estonia will be completely liberalised. Furthermore, the EU has
committed itself to remove the export refunds for destination Estonia for
all agricultural products except for rice and sugar. Following the "double
zero" agreements in the year 2000, Estonia is the first country with who
the Commission reached agreement to take a further step in mutually
liberalising farm trade. Commenting on the proposal, Commissioner Franz
Fischler said "Facilitating mutual farm trade before EU accession is part
of the EU's strategy to prepare both sides for the EU accession and the
single market." The proposal has now to be adopted by the Council and will
enter into force on 1 July 2002. The negotiations with the 9 remaining
Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) are currently under way.
[06] Autre matériel diffusé:
[07] Disponible dans le sécretariat de Amelia Torres et Michael Tscherny
6/80:
Saubermacher/Lafarge Perlmoser/JV GEES/Unison
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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