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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 04-02-12
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Mrs Diamantopoulou abstains from her duties to become a candidate in
Greek elections
[02] European Union signs landmark tourism accord with China today in
Beijing
[03] CO2 emissions from new cars in the EU down by more than 10% since 1995
[04] Professional qualifications: European Parliament's approval of
proposed Directive brings simpler system nearer
[05] Developing countries: Commission adopts action plan to help developing
countries fight agricultural commodity dependency and support the
development of the cotton sector in Africa
[06] Rédiffusion de notes
[07] La Commission autorise, sous conditions, une concentration entre Air
France et KLM
[08] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express 12/02/2004
TXT: FR ENPDF:DOC:Midday Express 12/02/2004
[01] Mrs Diamantopoulou abstains from her duties to become a candidate in
Greek elections
Mrs Anna Diamantopoulou, the Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs,
has been asked by her political party to head PASOK's State Ballot List for
the forthcoming Greek parliamentary elections. After having consulted the
President of the Commission she has accepted to become a candidate and
asked that she could abstain from her duties as a Commissioner for the
duration of the electoral campaign. The President has given his consent.
During the electoral campaign Mrs Diamantopoulou will not receive any pay
or other form of remuneration from the Commission. The President has also
decided that for this period of time she will be replaced by Mrs Margot
Wallstrom, the Commissioner for the Environment.
[02] European Union signs landmark tourism accord with China today in
Beijing
On 12 February 2004, the European Community and the China National Tourism
Administration signed a landmark accord that will facilitate Chinese group
tourism to Europe. Chinese tourists going through selected travel agencies
will benefit from simplified and facilitated procedures to apply for
tourist visas from the Member States of the European Union which have been
granted "Approved Destination Status"(ADS) by China. The agreement also
includes provisions allowing return of possible Chinese over-stayers. The
new accord is expected to enter into force before the summer and will
generate significant flows of Chinese visitors to Europe, thus boosting EU-
China tourism exchanges and people-to-people contacts.
[03] CO2 emissions from new cars in the EU down by more than 10% since 1995
CO2 emissions from new passenger cars sold in the EU decreased by 10.8%
between 1995 and 2002. The 4th Annual Report on CO2 Emissions from New Cars,
adopted by the European Commission today, shows that the car industry has
made progress in meeting its commitments from the voluntary agreements with
the Commission to produce cars that emit less CO2. The EU's goal is to
reach a 35% reduction by 2010 at the latest. While European and Japanese
carmakers are on track in meeting their commitments, the Korean car
industry is still somewhat lagging behind. Road transport generates more
than one fifth of all CO2 emissions in the EU, with passenger cars being
responsible for more than half of these emissions. As CO2 emissions are the
main contributor to climate change, it is of major importance that the car
industries stick to the target and keep reducing emissions.
[04] Professional qualifications: European Parliament's approval of
proposed Directive brings simpler system nearer
The European Commission has welcomed the European Parliament's approval at
first reading of the proposed Directive to clarify and simplify the rules
on the free movement of qualified people between the Member States. The
proposed Directive would cut red tape by replacing fifteen existing
Directives in the field of the recognition of professional qualifications.
The proposal constitutes the first comprehensive modernisation of the EU
system since it was conceived over forty years ago. A number of changes are
proposed compared with the existing rules, including greater liberalisation
of the provision of services, more automatic recognition of qualifications,
increased flexibility in the procedures for updating the Directive and more
cooperation between the Commission and Member States in order to keep
citizens better informed about their rights and to give them more help in
getting their qualifications recognised. The Commission presented the
proposal in March 2002 (see IP/02/393). The text as amended by the
Parliament will now, under the EU's "co-decision procedure", be debated by
the Council of Ministers, which is expected to adopt a Common Position in
May 2004.
[05] Developing countries: Commission adopts action plan to help developing
countries fight agricultural commodity dependency and support the
development of the cotton sector in Africa
The European Commission has today taken a number of initiatives to help
developing countries enhance their export performance and reduce their
vulnerability from price fluctuations of major international agricultural
commodities such as cotton and coffee. The key objectives of these
initiatives are to improve the income of commodity producers in developing
countries and reduce producers' and states' income vulnerability to price
fluctuations. The initiatives involve a comprehensive EU action plan on
agricultural commodity dependency and a wide-ranging strategy for the
support to the cotton sector in Africa. The Commission also proposes to
simplify the criteria to benefit from FLEX, the EU instrument to compensate
African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries for short term fluctuations
in export earnings.
[06] Rédiffusion de notes
[07] La Commission autorise, sous conditions, une concentration entre Air
France et KLM
La Commission européenne a autorisé l'opération de concentration entre Air
France et KLM, après que les deux sociétés ont résolu les problèmes de
concurrence, essentiellement entre Paris et Amsterdam et entre l'Europe et
les États-Unis. Après avoir examiné la première grande concentration dans
le transport aérien en Europe, la Commission a demandé la cession de 94
créneaux de décollage et d'atterrissage par jour. Cela permettra à des
compagnies rivales de desservir des liaisons sur lesquelles la concurrence
aurait été éliminée ou sensiblement réduite, et aux voyageurs européens
d'avoir le choix entre plusieurs compagnies et de continuer à bénéficier de
prix compétitifs. La Commission a également obtenu des gouvernements
néerlandais et français l'assurance qu'ils accorderaient des droits de
trafic à d'autres compagnies souhaitant faire escale à Amsterdam ou Paris
sur des liaisons vers les États-Unis ou autres destinations non
communautaires. Ils se sont également engagés à ne pas réglementer les prix
sur les liaisons long-courrier sur lesquelles d'autres compagnies proposent
des services indirects en concurrence avec Air France et KLM.
[08] Autre matériel diffusé
Discours de M. Liikanen - Reinforcing eDemocracy Discours de M. Patten
Afghanistan, the road to Bonn Discours de M. Bolkestein (rédiff) Corporate
governance and the supervision of financial services after the Parmalat
case
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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