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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 02-07-02
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Commission clears purchase by Australian firm Amcor of the plastic
packaging (PET) and closure businesses of Schmalbach-Lubeca
[02] Commission clears BP acquisition of sole control of Germany's Veba Oel
[03] La Commission autorise la prise de participation d'EPC dans SAARMontan
[04] La Commission autorise la prise de la contrôle de la Coface par le
groupe Natexis Banques Populaires
[05] Commission clears the take-over of Andersen UK's business by Deloitte
& Touche
[06] Mai 2002 : le chômage dans la zone euro stable à 8,3% ; l'UE15 en
hausse à 7,6%
[07] June 2002 : Economic sentiment indicator remains almost unchanged in
the EU
[08] June 2002 : the Business Climate Indicator for the euro area fell in
June
[09] Commission acts against Portugal, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Belgium,
Luxembourg, The Netherlands, France and Greece for not complying with water
quality
[10] Combating the brain drain : Commission devotes €1.580 billion to human
resources in science
[11] 15 indicateurs de qualité des résultats en matière d'éducation et de
formation tout au long de la vie en Europe
[12] BSE : Scientists publish geographical risk assessments (GBR) for seven
countries - Bulgaria, Croatia, Iceland, Latvia, San Marino, Turkey and
Vanuatu
[13] Rencontre entre Viviane Reding et Danis Tanovic, réalisateur de "No
man's land", Prix Media 2002 de l'UE le 10 juillet à l'UGC De Brouckère
[14] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express 02/07/2002
TXT: FR ENPDF:DOC:Midday Express 02/07/2002
[01] Commission clears purchase by Australian firm Amcor of the plastic
packaging (PET) and closure businesses of Schmalbach-Lubeca
The European Commission has approved the acquisition by the Australian
company Amcor Limited of the world-wide plastic packaging (PET) and closure
businesses of the German company Schmalbach-Lubeca AG. Amcor will continue
to face competitive constraint from its rivals.
[02] Commission clears BP acquisition of sole control of Germany's Veba Oel
The European Commission has authorised BP Plc's proposed acquisition of the
whole of German oil and petrochemicals producer Veba Oel, currently a joint
venture between BP and E.ON. The Commission concluded that the change from
joint to sole control does not give rise to competition concerns.
[03] La Commission autorise la prise de participation d'EPC dans SAARMontan
La Commission européenne a autorisé l'acquisition par l'entreprise
française Société Anonyme d'Explosifs et de Produits Chimiques (EPC) d'une
participation de 50% dans l'entreprise allemande de forage et de minage
SAARMontan, qui est actuellement une filiale à cent pour cent de Deutsche
Montan Technologie GmbH (DMT). A l'issue de l'opération, SAARMontan sera
contrôlée conjointement par EPC et DMT. L'opération envisagée ne soulève de
problèmes de concurrence sur aucun des marchés où les parties exercent
leurs activités.
[04] La Commission autorise la prise de la contrôle de la Coface par le
groupe Natexis Banques Populaires
La Commission européenne a autorisé le groupe bancaire Natexis Banques
Populaires à prendre le contrôle de l'assureur-crédit Coface, tous deux
français. Le rachat ne présente pas de problèmes de concurrence puisque
Natexis devra faire face à des rivaux sérieux sur les marchés concernés.
[05] Commission clears the take-over of Andersen UK's business by Deloitte
& Touche
The European Commission has granted regulatory clearance to the proposed
acquisition of most of Arthur Andersen UK's business by UK-based Deloitte &
Touche, which is part of the global audit and accounting firm Deloitte
Touche Tohumatsu. The Commission examined the merger's impact particularly
for large companies quoted in the London Stock Exchange, which tend to
chose one of the Big Five players to audit their accounts. It concluded
that the disappearance of Andersen UK was inevitable in view of the serious
problems facing Andersen US, which has been convicted of obstruction of
justice in a US probe into the collapse of energy trader Enron Corp. A
number of UK customers also defended that the acquisition was preferable to
the disorderly disappearance of the UK Andersen partnership.
[06] Mai 2002 : le chômage dans la zone euro stable à 8,3% ; l'UE15 en
hausse à 7,6%
Le taux de chômage de la zone euro corrigé des variations saisonnières,
était de 8,3% en mai 2002, inchangé par rapport à avril, selon les données
publiées aujourd'hui par Eurostat. Il était de 8,0% en mai 2001. Le taux de
chômage de l'UE15 était de 7,6% en mai comparé à 7,5% en avril. Il
s'élevait à 7,3% en mai 2001. En mai 2002, les taux les plus bas ont été
enregistrés au Luxembourg (2,3%), aux Pays-Bas (2,6% en avril), en Autriche
(4,1%), au Danemark (4,2%), au Portugal (4,3%) et en Irlande (4,4%). Le
taux de chômage de l'Espagne (11,4%) est resté le plus élevé de l'UE.
[07] June 2002 : Economic sentiment indicator remains almost unchanged in
the EU
The economic sentiment indicator for the EU remained largely unchanged in
June with a value of 100.0, which compares with 100.1 in May. In the euro
area, the economic sentiment indicator fell by 0.3 percentage points, from
99.9 in May to 99.6 in June. The economic sentiment indicator rose in Spain,
Finland, Sweden (0.3 percentage points), the United Kingdom (0.2), Greece
and Austria (0.1) while it remained unchanged in Germany. The indicator
decreased in Ireland (1.0), Italy (0.7), and the Netherlands (0.6), and to
a much lesser extent in France, Portugal (0.3), Belgium and Denmark (0.1).
Full document available on : http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/indicators/businessandconsumersurveys_en.htm
[08] June 2002 : the Business Climate Indicator for the euro area fell in
June
The Business Climate Indicator (BCI) for the euro area fell by 0.2
percentage points between May and June, reaching a value of -0.43 (-0.20 in
May). This is the second dip recorded by the BCI within a 7-month period,
where the general trend is positive. This decrease was mainly driven by the
worsening in the assessment of production trends in the recent past, and
the increase in stocks of finished products. Order books, including export
order books, fell slightly and production expectations remained unchanged.
Full document available at 12.00 on : http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/indicators/businessclimate_en.htm
[09] Commission acts against Portugal, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Belgium,
Luxembourg, The Netherlands, France and Greece for not complying with water
quality
The European Commission has decided to take further legal action against
Portugal, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands,
France and Greece for non-compliance with EU laws on water quality
legislation. The laws in question are the Directives governing bathing
water, drinking water, urban wastewater, nitrates, and discharges of
dangerous substances. The Bathing Water and Drinking Water Directives set
quality standards for water used for bathing and drinking, respectively,
with the objective of safeguarding the public. Breaches can endanger human
health. The Urban Waste Water Directive sets requirements for treating
waste water from major cities and towns, so helping to avoid breaches of
standards such as those of the Bathing Water Directive. The Nitrates
Directive aims to complement such treatment by reducing pollution from
agriculture. The Directive on Dangerous Substances requires controls on
polluting discharges from industries and other activities. Non-compliance
with these laws often manifests itself in polluted rivers, lakes and
coastal waters.
[10] Combating the brain drain : Commission devotes €1.580 billion to human
resources in science
The European Commission will allocate €1.580 billion to help combat the
brain drain of scientists from the EU to other parts of the world a rise of
almost 50% from the previous research programme. This amount, representing
almost 10% of the available budget, corresponds to an increase of €1,1
billion. The European brain drain is difficult to measure, but it is a
reality. Many of the best European researchers seem keen to move elsewhere,
particularly to the United States. This loss of human and intellectual
wealth robs European science of valuable resources. Higher salaries and
better facilities outside the EU encourage researchers to extend their stay
abroad beyond their normal training period, and, consequently, to carry out
the most profitable part of their work in other parts of the world. Within
its Sixth Research Framework Programme (FP6), the Commission is boosting
the share of funds available for human resources by €1,1billion. This is
the strongest single increase among all research priorities from the Fifth
to the Sixth FP. "This investment will be implemented inter alia through
the expansion of return and reintegration financial schemes for
researchers", said Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin. "We will also
focus on the creation of a European network of customised assistance
centres for researchers ; on the improvement of Internet-based information
services ; and on the transfer of knowledge towards the less developed
regions of the Union and the Candidate Countries". Other Commission
initiatives to combat the brain drain deal with the removal of legal and
administrative obstacles to the mobility of researchers (as regards for
instance entry conditions, social security, recognition of diplomas, etc.),
and the coordination of national policies in the research area.
[11] 15 indicateurs de qualité des résultats en matière d'éducation et de
formation tout au long de la vie en Europe
Le premier rapport européen consacré aux indicateurs de qualité de
l'éducation et de la formation tout au long de la vie est désormais
disponible. Il examine la qualité de l'éducation et de la formation tout au
long de la vie dans 35 pays d'Europe, dans quatre domaines essentiels :
qualifications, compétences et attitudes, accès et participation,
ressources pour l'éducation et la formation tout au long de la vie, et
stratégies et systèmes. Le rapport montre que l'Europe, dans l'ensemble,
n'obtient pas les résultats adéquats dans le domaine des qualifications et
compétences.
[12] BSE : Scientists publish geographical risk assessments (GBR) for seven
countries - Bulgaria, Croatia, Iceland, Latvia, San Marino, Turkey and
Vanuatu
GBR is a qualitative indicator of the likelihood of the presence of one or
more cattle being infected with BSE. Where its presence is confirmed GBR
gives an indication of the level of infection. The evaluation focuses on
the risk for animals to incubate the disease. There are four categories : I
Highly likely ; II Unlikely but not excluded ; III Likely but not confirmed
or confirmed, at a lower level ; IV Confirmed at a higher level. The
Scientific Steering Committee which advises the European Commission on BSE
related issues has concluded that it is highly unlikely that cattle
infected with the BSE agent are present in the domestic herds in Iceland
and Vanuatu (GBR level I). They concluded that it is likely that BSE is
present in the cattle herds of Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia, San Marino and
Turkey, although this is not yet confirmed (GBR level III). The full texts
of the opinions are available at : http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/ssc/outcome_en.html#reports
[13] Rencontre entre Viviane Reding et Danis Tanovic, réalisateur de "No
man's land", Prix Media 2002 de l'UE le 10 juillet à l'UGC De Brouckère
Viviane Reding, membre de la Commission européenne en charge de la Culture
et de l'Audiovisuel, vous invite à assister à la projection privée du film
auquel elle a décerné le Prix Media 2002 de l'Union européenne à Cannes en
mai dernier : "No man's land" de Danis Tanovic, en présence du réalisateur.
"No man's land", qui est une co-production entre des sociétés française,
italienne, belge, britannique et slovène, a été distribué dans sept pays en
dehors de son pays d'origine avec le soutien du programme Media et il a été
vu par plus de 500.000 spectateurs en Europe. Créé en l'an 2000, le Prix
Media est attribué au premier ou deuxième long métrage d'un jeune
réalisateur qui a été distribué dans le plus grand nombre de territoires en
dehors de son pays d'origine et qui a reçu le soutien du programme Media
pour sa distribution. Le Prix Media est d'une valeur de 25.000 €, auxquels
s'ajoute une oeuvre d'art verrier. Les deux premières éditions du Prix
Media étaient allées à Damien O'Donnell pour "East is East" (2000) et à
Frédéric Fonteyne pour "Une liaison pornographique" (2001). Les invitations
pour la projection privée de "No man's land", qui aura lieu le 10 juillet à
19h30, sont disponibles en nombre limité auprès du porte-parole.
[14] Autre matériel diffusé
Discours de M. Prodi : "Le sommet de Séville : élargissement, immigration
et réforme" au PE (Strasbourg)
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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