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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 03-09-17
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Statement of European Commission President Romano Prodi following the
Cancun ministerial meeting (15/09)
[02] Commission allows Spain to make advance payments of beef, sheep and
goat premiums
[03] Juillet 2003 par rapport à juin 2003 : la production industrielle en
hausse de 0,6% dans la zone euro ; l'UE15 en hausse de 0,3%
[04] La Commission lance une consultation sur les problèmes juridiques des
entreprises pratiquant l'e-business
[05] EU research helps root out landmines across the world
[06] Commission grants €8 million to support peace process in Liberia
[07] Kenya : adoption par la Commission du document de stratégie pour 2003-
2007
[08] Commission adopts 2002 annual reports on Hong Kong and Macao
[09] High level conference on higher education in Berlin
[10] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express 16/09/2003
TXT: FR ENPDF:DOC:Midday Express 16/09/2003
[01] Statement of European Commission President Romano Prodi following the
Cancun ministerial meeting (15/09)
"The failure of the WTO Cancun Ministerial meeting is a serious
disappointment for all and a severe blow for the World Trade Organisation.
It would be useless to try and blame anyone for the outcome for we are all
equally responsible - and we all lose if we allow the Doha Development
Round to fail. The European Union has made its best to contribute to a
compromise, notably to meet the demands of developing countries. We
continue to be committed to our proposals, which will benefit developing
countries and to the overall development goal. We must not lose heart. Even
though the WTO should not be criticised for the lack of its Member States
willingness to accept compromise, we should, however, consider ways to make
the WTO function more effectively. What is evident is that the organisation
couldn't support the weight of the task it was given. The EU will continue
working towards the end in the spirit of a strong rules-based multilateral
trading system."
[02] Commission allows Spain to make advance payments of beef, sheep and
goat premiums
The European Commission today adopted a regulation adding Spain to the list
of Member States authorised to make advance payments of the special premium
and the suckler cow premium in the beef sector and of the ewe and goat
premium starting from 1 September 2003. Normally these premiums are only
paid from 16 October onwards. The aim of the measure is to support Spanish
farmers affected by the drought by offering them income relief. The same
measure had already been decided in August for five other Member States
(Germany, France, Italy, Portugal and Luxembourg). The budget available is
€100 million, which comes on top of the €400 million already foreseen for
the five other Member States (see IP/03/1163).
[03] Juillet 2003 par rapport à juin 2003 : la production industrielle en
hausse de 0,6% dans la zone euro ; l'UE15 en hausse de 0,3%
La production industrielle de la zone euro, ajustée des variations
saisonnières, a augmenté de 0,6% au mois de juillet 2003 par rapport au
mois de juin 2003, selon les estimations publiées aujourd'hui par Eurostat.
La production industrielle avait augmenté de 0,1% en juin 2003 après une
baisse de 1,0% en mai 2003. La production de l'UE15 a augmenté de 0,3% en
juillet 2003, après une hausse de 0,4% en juin et une baisse de 1,1% en
mai. En juillet 2003 par rapport à juillet 2002, la production industrielle
a baissé de 0,3% dans la zone euro et de 0,4% dans l'UE15.
[04] La Commission lance une consultation sur les problèmes juridiques des
entreprises pratiquant l'e-business
La Commission européenne a lancé, via l'internet, une consultation d'une
durée de huit semaines sur les obstacles juridiques que rencontrent encore
les entreprises qui ont recours au commerce électronique et à d'autres
applications de l'e-business. De tels problèmes peuvent découler, par
exemple, de divergences entre les règles législatives nationales en matière
de facturation électronique ou du traitement juridique différent réservé
aux transactions en ligne et aux transactions hors ligne. La Commission
souhaite mieux comprendre les raisons pratiques qui, aujourd'hui encore,
freinent le développement de l'e-business. La consultation est ouverte à
toutes les entreprises jusqu'au 7 novembre 2003. Les résultats seront
présentés et débattus lors d'une conférence qui se tiendra en mars/avril
2004 à Bruxelles.
[05] EU research helps root out landmines across the world
There are still between 15,000 and 20,000 new landmine casualties each
year. To present EU research initiatives in this field, yesterday in
Brussels, European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin participated in
the international conference for the Detection, Removal and Neutralization
of Landmines, organised by the Free University of Brussels (VUB). Over the
last ten years the Commission spent more than €200 million on demining,
including at least €33 million to develop new demining technologies. More
funds will be allocated to this priority within the next four years. EU
research projects focus on the development and testing of new detection
tools to improve de-mining techniques. EU mine experts have worked all over
the world and particularly in Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, Iraq and South-
East Europe.
[06] Commission grants €8 million to support peace process in Liberia
The European Commission has today granted €8 million to support peace
keeping efforts in Liberia led by the Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS). The objective of the support is to offer urgent assistance
to the implementation of the fragile peace process and to promote a return
to stability and national reconciliation. The Commission through its
humanitarian aid office ECHO has granted a further €4 million in response
to urgent humanitarian needs in Liberia.
[07] Kenya : adoption par la Commission du document de stratégie pour 2003-
2007
La Commission européenne a adopté un document de stratégie (DSP) et un
programme indicatif pour le Kenya esquissant les grandes lignes de sa
coopération avec ce pays pour la période 2003-2007. Ce document de
stratégie constitue le cadre de la coopération de l'UE avec le Kenya. Cette
stratégie a pour principal objectif de soutenir les efforts du gouvernement
kenyan pour parvenir à une croissance durable et réduire l'ampleur de la
pauvreté dans le pays. L'aide communautaire sera essentiellement axée sur
l'agriculture et le développement rural, ainsi que sur les infrastructures
(avec l'accent mis sur les routes) et un appui budgétaire macro-économique.
Cette stratégie prévoit l'octroi d'une enveloppe de 225 millions d'€ au
titre du 9ème Fonds européen de développement (FED).
[08] Commission adopts 2002 annual reports on Hong Kong and Macao
The European Commission has adopted annual reports on Hong Kong and Macao.
In each case it expresses general satisfaction with the way the "One
Country, Two Systems" principle is operating. The reports, which focus on
events of the year 2002, also assess the development of Hong Kong and
Macao's relations with the EU. The reports can be found on the following
web-sites : http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/hong_kong/intro/index.htm
and /or http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/macau/intro/index.htm
[09] High level conference on higher education in Berlin
Ministers and academics are meeting in Berlin this week (18-19 September)
to discuss the progress made over the last four years to establish a
European area of higher education. Around thirty European countries signed
a declaration in Bologna in 1999, undertaking to create this European
university area. This involved encouraging cooperation between the
universities, promoting comparable course structures based on three cycles
of teaching, facilitating student mobility, the recognition of
qualifications and even setting up quality assurance systems with a view to
building mutual confidence. European Commissioner responsible for Education,
Viviane Reding, says : "In my opinion, while progress has been made in
creating the European area of higher education set up in Bologna, we have
been adapting too slowly. I therefore hope that at the Berlin meeting, the
Ministers and university management will say loud and clear that a new
impetus is essential in Europe's higher education." A comprehensive paper
on the Commission's contribution to the Berlin conference is available in
the Spokesman's office. http://www.bologna-berlin2003.de/
[10] Autre matériel diffusé
Speech by Erkki Liikanen : "Better Public Services through eGovernance" at
China National School of Administration (Beijing)
Discours de Mme Reding : "2004, un nouvel élan pour le sport européen ?" au
Sportel (Monaco, ! embargo 17h00 !)
Speech by Frits Bolkestein : "Security of payments in the EU: facing the
challenge of maintaining user confidence" at the Conference 'Payments and
Confidence'
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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