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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 03-02-19
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] La Commission propose des règles sur le statut et le financement des
partis politiques européens
[02] La Commission adopte un Livre vert concernant les garanties
procédurales accordées aux suspects et aux personnes mises en cause dans
les procédures pénales dans l'UE
[03] La Commission évalue l'actualisation 2002 du programme de stabilité du
Luxembourg pour la période 2001-2005
[04] Commission assesses the updated stability programme of Portugal
[05] Commission issues its opinion on the reform of the ECB's Governing
Council
[06] La Commission sur la bonne voie pour assumer des responsabilités
accrues au lendemain de l'élargissement
[07] Commission adopts favourable opinion on the accession of ten candidate
countries
[08] CAP reform : Commission proposes to simplify agricultural State aid
regime
[09] Commission investigates aid in favour of Herlitz, a German
manufacturer of stationary
[10] La Commission ordonne la récupération de l'aide en faveur de Hilados y
Tejidos Puigneró
[11] Commission approves proposed aid in favour of Leipa Georg Leinfelder
[12] Commission approves Belgian combined transport aid scheme
[13] Commission clears UK grant for long distance bus services to old and
reduced mobility persons
[14] Commission will investigate aid to the coal industry granted by the
region of Castilla-Leon
[15] Commission authorizes aid granted by Spain to the Hunosa coalmining
company
[16] Commission reopens procedure against Spanish coal mining company
González y Díez S.A.
[17] La Commission autorise des aides en faveur de l'industrie houillère
espagnole
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[18] Travelling with pets : simplified EU system approved
[19] Qualifications professionnelles : la Commission poursuit des
procédures d'infraction contre la Grèce, le Portugal et la France
[20] Multilingualism in the Commission : a long-standing tradition and an
asset to the European Union
[21] First estimates for 2002 : euro-zone external trade surplus €102.3
billion in 2002 ; €6.1 billion surplus for EU15
[22] Uganda : Commission grants €2 million in humanitarian aid
[23] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express 19/02/2003
TXT: FR ENPDF:DOC:Midday Express 19/02/2003[I] Résultats de la Commission
de ce jour - Outcome of today's Commission meeting
[01] La Commission propose des règles sur le statut et le financement des
partis politiques européens
La Commission européenne a adopté une proposition de règlement sur le
statut et le financement des partis politiques européens qui fixe des
règles minimales en matière de reconnaissance et de gestion transparente
des partis politiques au niveau européen. Les partis politiques européens
sont des acteurs clés dans le débat démocratique sur l'Union européenne et
dans l'expression de la volonté des citoyens de l'UE. Le texte proposé
améliorera le contrôle démocratique et la transparence dans l'UE. Les
exigences applicables au financement ne sont liées à aucune condition
politique, ce qui signifie que les partis "eurosceptiques" pourront accéder
au financement comme tout autre parti aussi longtemps qu'ils respectent les
principes de liberté, de démocratie, des droits de l'homme et de l'état de
droit. Le traité de Nice, entré en vigueur au début du mois, précise qu'il
y a lieu de fixer des règles applicables aux partis politiques au niveau
européen, notamment pour leur financement. Nice a modifié le processus de
décision sur cette question au Conseil avec le passage du vote à
l'unanimité au vote à la majorité qualifiée et a attribué au Parlement
européen un pouvoir de codécision.
[02] La Commission adopte un Livre vert concernant les garanties
procédurales accordées aux suspects et aux personnes mises en cause dans
les procédures pénales dans l'UE
La Commission européenne a adopté un "Livre vert concernant les garanties
procédurales accordées aux suspects et aux personnes mises en cause dans
les procédures pénales dans l'Union européenne" et a décidé de le
transmettre au Conseil, au Parlement et au Comité économique et social.
Cette initiative fait partie des travaux de l'UE visant à créer un
véritable espace européen de justice. "Il importe que les autorités
judiciaires de chaque Etat membre aient confiance dans les systèmes
juridiques des autres Etats membres : la confiance dans les garanties
procédurales et dans l'équité des procédures renforce cette confiance", a
déclaré M. António Vitorino, membre de la Commission chargé de la justice
et des affaires intérieures, qui a ajouté : "établir des normes minimales
communes constitue le meilleur moyen de garantir une protection homogène
des droits individuels dans l'ensemble de l'Union".
[03] La Commission évalue l'actualisation 2002 du programme de stabilité du
Luxembourg pour la période 2001-2005
La Commission européenne a adopté une recommandation relative à un avis du
Conseil sur l'actualisation 2002 du programme de stabilité du Luxembourg,
présentée le 17 décembre 2002 pour la période 2001-2005. Cette dernière
mise à jour s'appuie, pour la période concernée, sur un scénario
macroéconomique conforme aux prévisions actuelles de la Commission, avec
une croissance du PIB réel de 0,5% en 2002, qui devrait se redresser
progressivement pour s'établir aux alentours de 3% en 2005. Le solde
budgétaire des administrations publiques s'est très fortement dégradé sous
l'effet du net ralentissement de l'activité économique à partir de 2001,
passant d'un excédent de 6,1% du PIB en 2001 à un déficit de 0,3% du PIB en
2002. Selon l'actualisation de 2002, le solde budgétaire des
administrations publiques devrait rester légèrement déficitaire en 2003 et
2004 avant de revenir à une position proche de l'équilibre en 2005. Le
solde budgétaire sous-jacent devrait pour sa part rester positif sur
l'ensemble de la période couverte par le programme. Entre 2002 et 2005, le
ratio de la dette publique devrait diminuer progressivement pour s'établir
à environ 3% du PIB, partant du niveau déjà bas de 5% environ du PIB. Le
Luxembourg continue de satisfaire aux exigences du pacte de stabilité et de
croissance. Toutefois, une limitation des dépenses pourrait s'avérer
nécessaire pour conserver une position budgétaire saine à moyen terme, si
la croissance économique devait se ralentir fortement par rapport aux
périodes précédentes. L'actualisation 2002 du programme de stabilité est
partiellement conforme aux grandes orientations des politiques économiques
pour 2002. Sur la base de la recommandation de la Commission, le Conseil
devrait rendre un avis sur le programme de stabilité actualisé du
Luxembourg le 7 mars 2003.
[04] Commission assesses the updated stability programme of Portugal
The European Commission has adopted a recommendation for a Council opinion
on the 2002 update of the Portugues stability programme, which was
submitted on 17 January 2003 and covers the period 2003-2006. Portugal's
stability programme update estimates the general government deficit for
2002 at 2.8% of GDP and projects a gradual improvement in the budgetary
situation to a position close-to-balance by the end of the period. The
underlying macroeconomic scenario for 2003 assumes a small acceleration in
the pace of growth, followed by a stronger recovery in the 2004-2006 period,
leading to a growth rate slightly above potential at the end of the period.
Overall, the pace of economic growth appears plausible, although there is
the risk that economic growth in 2003 might turnout weaker than foreseen,
while for the 2004-2006 period the growth pattern is relying heavily on the
gradual strengthening of domestic demand. The budgetary consolidation
effort envisaged is markedly front-loaded to 2003, and projects an
improvement in the underlying balance by more than ½% of GDP per year,
taking the underlying deficit to a situation close to balance by 2005,
thereby complying which the objectives of the SGP. The debt-to-GDP ratio is
projected to remain below the 60% of GDP reference value, and to recede by
a cumulative 6 percentage points between 2003 and 2006. The consolidation
strategy adopted in the programme update rests mainly on the restraint of
government expenditure, to be achieved partly by tighter control of the
public sector wage bill, and partly by the exonerating effects of a
comprehensive programme of structural reform. The economic and budgetary
policies presented in the updated programme are broadly consistent with the
Broad Economic Policy Guidelines. On the basis of the Commission
recommendation, the Council is expected to adopt an opinion on the updated
Portuguese stability programme on 19 February.
[05] Commission issues its opinion on the reform of the ECB's Governing
Council
The European Commission has adopted its opinion on the ECB's Recommendation
on an amendment of the voting modalities in its Governing Council in view
of enlargement. The Commission considers that the proposed model
constitutes an important step towards securing the continued efficiency of
decision-making within the ECB in the perspective of enlargement. The
Commission recognises that the legal base of the ECB's Recommendation (Art.
10.6 ECB, the so-called "enabling clause") imposes important constraints
and limitations, which prevented the ECB from considering more
comprehensive reform of its governance structure. Such reforms could
however be considered in the framework of the Convention and of the
upcoming IGC. Regarding the classification of countries into groups, the
Commission remains consistent with its Opinion on the reform of the voting
rights of the EU institutions issued on 26 January 2000 in preparation of
the Treaty of Nice : the "population" criterion is particularly relevant
along with the "GDP criterion". Moreover, in the Commission's view the ECB
proposal could benefit from a further clarification in respect to the
rotation frequency and the sequence of attribution of the voting rights
within each group.
[06] La Commission sur la bonne voie pour assumer des responsabilités
accrues au lendemain de l'élargissement
La Commission européenne a fixé ses objectifs de recrutement de
fonctionnaires des dix nouveaux Etats membres à compter de mai 2004. Il
s'agit de la dernière étape du processus permanent et approfondi de sa
préparation à l'élargissement. Les objectifs en matière de recrutement
s'appuient sur des critères objectifs visant à garantir une stratégie
équitable et transparente. Les préparatifs d'ensemble ont concerné et
continuent de concerner notamment les domaines suivants : une politique du
personnel de la Commission lui permettant de procéder aux recrutements
supplémentaires nécessaires pour faire face à ses responsabilités accrues
tout en respectant strictement les limites du titre V de la perspective
financière (coûts administratifs) ; la réorganisation des services
linguistiques en vue de garantir efficacement la fourniture de prestations
multilingues de grande qualité ; et la modernisation des procédures de la
Commission afin de répondre à la charge de travail supplémentaire, en
particulier dans le domaine de la gestion financière.
[07] Commission adopts favourable opinion on the accession of ten candidate
countries
The European Commission has adopted a favourable opinion on the accession
to the Union of ten applicant countries : the Czech Republic, Estonia,
Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia.
Taken in accordance with Article 49 of the Treaty, the decision follows the
successful conclusion of the accession negotiations at the European Council
meeting in Copenhagen on 13 December 2002 and the finalisation of the
Treaty of Accession in the first half of February 2003.
[08] CAP reform : Commission proposes to simplify agricultural State aid
regime
A simplified administration and efficient supervision of agricultural State
aids without weakening European Commission monitoring - this win-win
situation is the objective of a draft Commission regulation adopted today.
Once in force, the new regulation will allow Member States to grant various
types of agricultural State aid without having to seek the Commission's
prior clearance. This block exemption will speed up the implementation of
new agricultural State aids. This, in turn, will facilitate national
programmes aiming at the improvement of environmental, animal welfare and
hygiene standards in the agriculture sector. For example, for on-farm
investments which do not lead to increases in production capacity, Member
States could take over up to 55% of the related costs. For investments
destined to improve animal welfare or the environment, aid of up to 75%
could be granted. Up to €100,000 over three years could be granted for
measures to encourage the production and marketing of quality products. The
same amount could be granted for technical support measures like farm
consultancy or the participation in trade fairs. The necessary counterpart
to the lifting of the prior authorisation procedure is high quality
subsequent reporting by Member States, allowing the Commission to check
whether the conditions of the regulation have been fulfilled. The
Commission can start an investigation in any case if there are complaints
about alleged abuse of the new procedure. The regulation will not soften
the State aid rule in substance and, in particular, will not allow State
aid in areas considered incompatible with the Internal Market. The proposal
should therefore in no way be misunderstood as a "re-nationalisation" of
aid to farmers. The same agricultural State aid rules will continue to
apply throughout the EU. Following consultation of Member States and
stakeholders, the Commission plans to implement this regulation from
January 2004.
[09] Commission investigates aid in favour of Herlitz, a German
manufacturer of stationary
The European Commission has initiated the formal investigation procedure
accompanied by a an information injunction with respect to various aid
measures, including a loan of some €1 million in favour of Herlitz PBS AG,
which Germany notified as rescue aid. The Commission doubts that the
alleged rescue aid is compatible with the Community Guidelines on State aid
for rescue and restructuring of firms in difficulty. In addition, it is not
clear who the real beneficiary of the aid is. Moreover, the Commission has
doubts concerning other aid measures, such as a settlement agreement
involving waivers of debts by public creditors, an old interest-free loan
and its recent waiver. These could constitute State aid and, together with
the loan, threaten to seriously distort competition in the common market.
[10] La Commission ordonne la récupération de l'aide en faveur de Hilados y
Tejidos Puigneró
La Commission européenne a constaté aujourd'hui dans une décision que
l'Espagne n'avait pas récupéré des dettes fiscales et de sécurité sociale
de l'entreprise Hilados y Tejidos Puigneró S.A. Cette omission constitue
une aide d'Etat en faveur de la société. En 2000, ces dettes s'élevaient à
104 millions d'€. La société avait également bénéficié de différents prêts
et garanties de prêts accordés par l'Institut des finances catalan.
L'Espagne doit maintenant récupérer l'aide auprès du bénéficiaire.
[11] Commission approves proposed aid in favour of Leipa Georg Leinfelder
The European Commission has no objections that Germany grants aid of €92
million in the form of direct grants and a loan guarantee to the
undertaking Leipa Georg Leinfelder. This aid is destined to finance the
construction of new sites for the production of graphic paper. The project
will be located in the East German region of Brandenburg. The aid will help
to create some 360 jobs. For this project the Commission authorises a
maximum allowable aid intensity of 26.25%. The maximum allowable aid
ceiling for Brandenburg is 35%.
[12] Commission approves Belgian combined transport aid scheme
The European Commission has authorised the decision of the Flemish Regional
Government to provide aid for investment in combined transport, which
intends to reduce road congestion.
[13] Commission clears UK grant for long distance bus services to old and
reduced mobility persons
The European Commission has decided not to raise any objections to the
grant (£ 12million - €18.7 million - annually), which the UK Government
will give long distance bus operators as a compensation for offering half-
fare concessions to older and disabled passengers.
[14] Commission will investigate aid to the coal industry granted by the
region of Castilla-Leon
The European Commission has decided to start an investigation of the
subsidies amounting to €18 million which the Autonomous Community of
Castilla-Leon has granted to private coal mining companies in 2001 and
2002. The Commission has doubts whether the aid is compatible with the
proper functioning of the internal market and will investigate the risk of
an unlawful cumulation between aid granted by the Spanish central
government and aid granted by the region of Castilla-Leon.
[15] Commission authorizes aid granted by Spain to the Hunosa coalmining
company
The European Commission has decided to not raise any objections to the
subsidies amounting to €1,6 billion which Spain granted in the years 1999
and 2001 to the coalmining company of Hulleras del Norte S.A. (Hunosa). The
aid, which is compatible with the internal market, was granted to cover
exceptional costs having arisen from the restructuring of the coal
industry.
[16] Commission reopens procedure against Spanish coal mining company
González y Díez S.A.
The European Commission has decided to reopen the procedure against the
Spanish coal mining company González y Díez S.A. in order to replace a
decision taken on 2 July 2002 and adopt a new decision with the new
procedural rules that apply after the expiry of the European Coal and Steel
Community (ECSC) Treaty on 23 July 2002. In the decision that is going to
be replaced, the Commission ordered Spain to take all the necessary
measures in order to recover the aid regarding the years 1998 and 2000 and
did not authorise an aid for the year 2001. The Commission considers that
the new procedural rules offer better opportunities to guarantee the rights
of Member States, the concerned company and third parties.
[17] La Commission autorise des aides en faveur de l'industrie houillère
espagnole
L'industrie houillère espagnole pourra bénéficier d'aides d'Etat, à
concurrence de 425.013.213 € pour la période allant du 24 juillet 2002 au
31 décembre 2002 et une aide complémentaire à concurrence de 11.286.002 €
pour l'année 2001 et la période allant du 1er janvier 2002 au 23 juillet
2002.
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[18] Travelling with pets : simplified EU system approved
Agreement was reached yesterday in the conciliation committee between the
European Parliament and Council on a new system that will pave the way for
pet owners to travel more easily within the European Union with their
domestic pets. Parliament and Council are expected to give their formal
approval shortly, which will allow the Regulation to enter into force.
[19] Qualifications professionnelles : la Commission poursuit des
procédures d'infraction contre la Grèce, le Portugal et la France
La Commission européenne a décidé de traduire la Grèce devant la Cour de
justice pour la mauvaise transposition en droit national et pour la
mauvaise application de la directive 89/48/CEE sur la reconnaissance des
diplômes d'enseignement supérieur qui sanctionnent des formations
professionnelles d'une durée minimale de trois ans. Le Portugal sera
traduit devant la Cour au sujet de la législation qui réglemente la
profession d'« odontologista ». La Commission a également demandé
formellement à la France d'appliquer l'arrêt de la Cour de justice du 10
mai 2001 (affaire C-285/2000) selon lequel la France doit transposer dans
sa législation nationale, en ce qui concerne la profession de psychologue,
la directive 89/48/CEE. La demande de la Commission revêt la forme d'un
avis motivé. En l'absence d'une réponse satisfaisante de la part des
autorités françaises dans les deux mois suivant la réception de l'avis
motivé, la Commission peut saisir la Cour et demander l'imposition d'une
astreinte financière.
[20] Multilingualism in the Commission : a long-standing tradition and an
asset to the European Union
The EU has eleven official languages : Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish,
French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. The
principle that all the EU's official languages are equal is enshrined in
law in the following documents : the Treaty establishing the European
Community states that every citizen of the Union may write to the European
institutions in one of the official languages and have an answer in the
same language ; the first ever Regulation adopted by what was then the
European Economic Community, in 1958, stipulates that all documents of
general application shall be drafted in all the official languages.
[21] First estimates for 2002 : euro-zone external trade surplus €102.3
billion in 2002 ; €6.1 billion surplus for EU15
According to Eurostat, the first estimate for euro-zone trade with the rest
of the world in December 2002 was a €7.4 billion surplus, against +8.5
billion in December 2001. The revised November 2002 balance was +9.6
billion, compared with +6.4 billion in November 2001.The first estimate for
December 2002 extra-EU15 trade was a €2.0 billion surplus, compared with
+2.6 billion in December 2001. In 2002, euro-zone trade recorded a surplus
of 102.3 billion, compared with +49.5 billion in 2001. The EU15 recorded a
surplus estimated at 6.1 billion in 2002, against a deficit of 42.7 billion
in 2001. For the first time, this news release includes a new annex
relative to Acceding Countries to the European Union.
[22] Uganda : Commission grants €2 million in humanitarian aid
The European Commission has allocated €2 million in humanitarian aid to
help tackle the needs of vulnerable people affected by conflict and drought
in Northern Uganda. This decision is primarily targeted at facilitating
access to health services and safe drinking water, and improving the
sanitation situation of vulnerable populations. The funds will be
channelled through the Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), which comes under
the responsibility of Commissioner Poul Nielson. The humanitarian situation
in Northern Uganda has been deteriorating for several years, largely due to
the high level of insecurity, which has brought the economy to a virtual
standstill and forced some 800,000 people to leave their homes. Cattle
raiding in North Eastern Uganda is an additional cause of displacement. The
Northern part of the country has also been facing prolonged dry spells,
which have led to a drop in production of major staples, such as millet and
sorghum. This decision will fund programmes which address the serious
humanitarian problems faced by Northern Uganda health and nutrition, water
and sanitation, as well as shelter and food security. The main group
targeted by this decision will be internally displaced people (IDPs). These
problems are largely going unnoticed by the international community, making
Northern Uganda a forgotten crisis. ECHO has disbursed more than €5 million
to victims of the crisis Northern Uganda since 2000.
[23] Autre matériel diffusé
Note sur la préparation du Conseil Agriculture
Note sur les résultats du Conseil Ecofin aspects fiscalité et services
financiers
Discours de M. Lamy : "Une approche européenne des relations commerciales
transatlantiques" devant l'assemblée parlementaire de l'OTAN (18/02)
Speech by David Byrne : "Health, Nutrition and Labelling" to the
Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection Committee of the
European Parliament (! embargo 5.30 pm !)
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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