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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 03-09-22
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] La Commission propose des mesures en vue de protéger les eaux
souterraines contre la pollution
[02] Indoor air pollution : new EU research reveals higher risks than
previously thought
[03] Passage à la radiodiffusion numérique
[04] Enregistrement de trois dénominations de produits agricoles
[05] Commission clears Trelleborg acquisition of Smiths's polymer sealing
solutions business
[06] Commission clears Amex acquisition of asset manager Threadneedle
[07] Commission clears Vestar acquisition of Italy's Selenia
[08] Electronic Communications : The New Radio Spectrum Policy Group elects
a chair and a vice-chair and agrees on a work programme to meet challenges
ahead
[09] "Welcome home, Latvia!" (21/09)
[10] EU Cohesion Policy in Malta : negotiations of the Single Programming
Document start today in Valetta
[11] EU seeks retaliatory and protective measures in US 1916 Anti-Dumping
Act dispute
[12] Further €50 million for Afghanistan : EU pledge at Afghanistan Donors
Conference in Dubai
[13] Chris Patten at the General Assembly of the UN
[14] Les réseaux de l'UE contribuent à la sûreté des centrales nucléaires
européennes
[15] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express 22/09/2003
TXT: FR ENPDF:DOC:Midday Express 22/09/2003
[01] La Commission propose des mesures en vue de protéger les eaux
souterraines contre la pollution
La Commission européenne a adopté aujourd'hui une proposition de directive
visant à protéger les eaux souterraines contre la pollution. La directive
proposée améliorera radicalement la qualité des eaux souterraines d'Europe.
Elle prévoit l'instauration d'exigences de surveillance et d'objectifs de
qualité imposant aux Etats membres de surveiller et d'évaluer la qualité
des eaux souterraines et d'inverser les tendances à la pollution de ces
eaux.
[02] Indoor air pollution : new EU research reveals higher risks than
previously thought
Do you really know what you are breathing when sitting at home ? Europeans
spend 90% of their time indoors. But closed environments are not always the
healthiest. The latest studies on human exposure to indoor pollution,
released today by the European Commission at its Joint Research Centre
(JRC) facilities in Ispra (Italy), reveal that indoor environments pose
their own threats to health and, in some cases, can be at least twice as
polluting as outdoor environments. Hundreds of volatile components have
been detected and some of them are toxic, mutagenic or carcinogenic. The
number of potential sources is enormous. For instance, up to 20% of
Europeans suffer from asthma due to substances inhaled indoor. Tobacco
smoke, asbestos, radon and benzene released inside buildings are prime
suspects in the increase in cancer cases amongst the European population.
The Commission is therefore developing sophisticated analytical methods to
provide for a fingerprint of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).
Measurements are carried out, inter alia, at the EU INDOORTRON
"environmental chamber", and through a network of labs across Europe.
[03] Passage à la radiodiffusion numérique
Sur l'initiative d'Erkki Liikanen, commissaire européen chargé des
entreprises et de la société de l'information, la Commission a adopté une
Communication sur la transition vers la radiodiffusion numérique. Cette
Communication aborde une question essentielle pour les Etats membres dans
leur évolution vers la société de l'information : quelle approche adopter
pour la migration vers la radiodiffusion numérique ? La Communication
soulève également une question d'ordre stratégique pour l'UE : la
réutilisation future du spectre radioélectrique actuellement utilisé pour
la télévision analogique.
[04] Enregistrement de trois dénominations de produits agricoles
La Commission européenne a ajouté trois dénominations de produits agricoles
et alimentaires à la liste des indications géographiques protégées (IGP),
appellations d'origine protégées (AOP) et spécialités traditionnelles
garanties (STG). Les dénominations sont : Clementine del Golfo di Taranto
(fruit - Italie - IGP), Mela Val di Non (fruit - Italie - AOP) et
Clementinas de las Tierras del Ebro (fruit - Espagne - IGP). Les trois
dénominations s'ajoutent à la liste des produits déjà protégés en vertu de
la législation sur la protection des indications géographiques, des
appellations d'origine et des spécialités traditionnelles. Des
renseignements sur les produits de qualité ainsi que la liste des
dénominations protégées sont disponibles sur internet, voir:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/foodqual/quali1_fr.htm
[05] Commission clears Trelleborg acquisition of Smiths's polymer sealing
solutions business
The European Commission has approved the acquisition by the Swedish
industrial group Trelleborg of the polymer sealing solutions business of
the UK-based company Smiths. The overlap identified in the market of pipe
seals does not raise competition concerns.
[06] Commission clears Amex acquisition of asset manager Threadneedle
The European Commission has granted clearance under the Merger Regulation
to the acquistion of full control of the UK-based holding company
Threadneedle Asset Management Holdings Limited by American Express
Financial Corporation (AEFC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American
Express Company. (The operation, notified on 18 August 2003, was examined
under the simplified merger review procedure).
[07] Commission clears Vestar acquisition of Italy's Selenia
The European Commission has granted clearance under the Merger Regulation
to the acquistion of FL Selenia S.p.A., an Italian maker of automotive and
industrial lubricants, among other things, by US private equity firm Vestar
Capital Partners, Inc. (The operation, notified on 19 August 2003, was
examined under the simplified merger review procedure).
[08] Electronic Communications : The New Radio Spectrum Policy Group elects
a chair and a vice-chair and agrees on a work programme to meet challenges
ahead
Following the inaugural meeting of the Radio Spectrum Policy Group on 17
January 2003, a second meeting of the RSPG took place on 19 September 2003.
Mr J.A. Andersen, Director-General of the Danish National IT and Telecom
Agency as elected as its chairperson and Mr M. Goddard, Director of
Spectrum and International Policy in the UK's Radiocommunications Agency,
as vice-chairperson. The Group also agreed to issue in 2004 Opinions on the
secondary trading of rights to use radio spectrum, on the spectrum
implications of the switchover to digital broadcasting and on the EU issues
at stake at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2007.
[09] "Welcome home, Latvia!" (21/09)
With a clear majority in favour of joining the European Union in 2004, the
citizens of Latvia successfully sealed the cycle of referenda on accession
which took place in the future new Member States. "The citizens of nine
countries have spoken and voiced a strong YES for the European integration,
which should encourage all of us to work even harder in uniting the
continent", underlined the President of the European Commission, Romano
Prodi. With a reference to the positive outcome of the referendum in Latvia
on 20 September, he added : "We are happy and proud that Latvian citizens
decided to join the European Union as well. They will bring their own
experiences, talents and good will into our European family." The outcome
of the referendum in Latvia, after intense and hard years of transformation,
to become a modern and inclusive democracy and a functioning market economy
shows the strong determination on the part of Latvian citizens to safeguard
the independence and prosperity of their country within the family of
democratic European nations. "Today is a great day for all Europeans",
Enlargement Commissioner Günter Verheugen emphasized. "We welcome a country
that naturally belongs to us and we trust, that Latvia as the others future
Member States, will enrich and strenghten the European Union. Welcome home,
Latvia!"
[10] EU Cohesion Policy in Malta : negotiations of the Single Programming
Document start today in Valetta
The European Commission today announced the launching of the first round of
negotiations with Malta on future Structural Funds assistance. Negotiations
start today in Valetta. They will aim at reaching an agreement on the
Single Programming Document (SPD), the document containing the strategy and
priorities for action under Objective 1 of the Structural Funds for the
years 2004 to 2006. In a letter addressed to Mr Joseph R. Grima, Permanent
Secretary to the Office of the Prime Minister, responsible for the Regional
Policy Directorate, Michel Barnier, Commissioner responsible for regional
policy, set out the main lines of the Commission position on the draft
Single Programming Document submitted by Malta.
[11] EU seeks retaliatory and protective measures in US 1916 Anti-Dumping
Act dispute
Three years after the US Anti-Dumping Act of 1916 was found incompatible
with WTO rules, the European Union is still waiting for concrete signs that
the US will repeal its condemned legislation. Confronted with persisting
inaction, the EU has decided to reactivate the arbitration process that
will decide on retaliatory measures. The European Commission has also
proposed to the Council the adoption of appropriate measures to protect the
EU companies affected by the application of the 1916 Anti-Dumping Act.
Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy commented : "The EU considers retaliatory
measures as last resort and has given the US more than enough time to
comply with the WTO decision in this dispute. Time has come for the US to
show diligence and commitment to its WTO obligations. The sign that
international trade law will simply be ignored is very disturbing and
cannot go unchallenged. I hope that our move will give the impetus for
immediate action by Congress to repeal the 1916 Anti-Dumping Act and
terminate all pending cases."
[12] Further €50 million for Afghanistan : EU pledge at Afghanistan Donors
Conference in Dubai
At the Afghanistan donors meeting in Dubai 21st September, the European
Commission announced its intention to make a further €50 million available
to the country, in particular, to promote security in Afghanistan. The
donors meeting was held in the margins of the IMF/ WB annual meetings, and
was chaired by the Afghan Transitional Authority. Security is the single
biggest challenge facing Afghanistan today, and the current difficulties
impact on both physical and political reconstruction. The Commission will
propose a package of €50 million to support the Afghan police. This would
enhance the sizeable contribution already made by EU Member States to
security through providing troops to ISAF ; through Provincial
Reconstruction Teams ; and through their contribution to training the
Afghan National Army. The €50 million package is proposed in addition to
the €400 million already committed to reconstruction in 2003-04.
[13] Chris Patten at the General Assembly of the UN
European Commissioner for External Relations Chris Patten will be in New
York this week for a series of political dialogue meetings in the margins
of the UN General Assembly (UNGA). As part of the EU Troika, Mr Patten will
meet UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and a number of partner countries and
regional organisations, including Japan, China and, Sri Lanka, the Gulf
Cooperation Council, and political groupings representing South and Central
American countries. In addition, he will meet respectively with Secretary
of State Colin Powell and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov together
with the Foreign Ministers of all present and acceding EU Member States. Mr
Patten will also participate at a dinner for Foreign Ministers of the G8,
at a meeting of the "Quartet" on the Middle East, and at a meeting of the
"Friends of Afghanistan" and a Troika meeting with the President of the
Governing Council of Iraq, Mr. Ahmed Chalabi. On a bilateral basis,
Commissioner Patten will meet with the Foreign Ministers of a number of
countries, including Abdullah Gul of Turkey and Carolina Barco of Colombia.
In parallel, Mr Patten will be discussing with senior UN officials
bilateral EU-UN cooperation along the lines suggested in the recently
approved Commission Communication on EU-EN relations. The Communication
reaffirms the EU commitment to multilateralism as a central principle of
the EU's foreign policy. It also contains proposals to strengthen the UN
system and puts forward a series of concrete ways of improving the way the
EU engages with the different bodies and agencies of the UN system.
[14] Les réseaux de l'UE contribuent à la sûreté des centrales nucléaires
européennes
A mesure que les 150 réacteurs électronucléaires d'Europe vieillissent, le
maintien d'un haut niveau de sûreté est une question essentielle pour
l'industrie et les décideurs politiques. Le Centre commun de recherche
(CCR) de la Commission européenne a dirigé pendant dix ans un réseau de
collaboration entre les principaux acteurs européens dans la recherche et
développement (R&D) concernant la sûreté des centrales électronucléaires
vieillissantes. Le séminaire sur la "mise en réseau pour une recherche et
développement efficace", qui se tiendra à l'Institut de l'énergie du CCR à
Petten (Pays-Bas) les 22 et 23 septembre 2003 sera consacré aux activités
futures de mise en réseau aux fins de la gestion du cycle de vie des
centrales nucléaires. La Commission assure la coordination de grands
réseaux de travaux sur le vieillissement des matériaux mis en œuvre dans
les centrales électronucléaires (AMES), dans le domaine des inspections et
de la qualification (ENIQ), de l'évaluation de l'intégrité structurelle des
composants (NESC), de l'application des techniques de diffraction
neutronique (NET) et de la sûreté des centrales nucléaires de type est-
européen (SENUF). Tous ces réseaux font partie du projet SAFELIFE du CCR
sur la sûreté des centrales électronucléaires vieillissantes. Ces
initiatives abordent des questions telles que l'amélioration de la sûreté
des réacteurs nucléaires en Europe orientale, la vérification de la
capacité des installations nucléaires vieillissantes à supporter les
accidents, et la prévention des fissures et des fuites.
[15] Autre matériel diffusé
Speech by Franz Fischler : "Landwirtschaft und die Entwicklungsländer" at
the informal Agriculture Council (Taormina)
Speech by David Byrne : "Food safety and third countries" at the informal
Agriculture Council (Taormina)
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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