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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 05-05-23
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Commission approves detailed plans for post-Tsunami reconstruction
[02] GALILEO : negotiations with South Korea
[03] Decisions of Eurostat on deficit and debt - three decisions on Italy :
SCIP, ISPA and Concessionari d'imposta
[04] Rapid relief to floods in Romania through coordination mechanism of
European Commission
[05] Mieux protéger le monde contre les épidémies : Markos Kyprianou se
félicite du nouvel accord de l'OMS
[06] Jordan, Israel and the EU agree enhanced trading links
[07] EU Election Observation Mission for Afghanistan Parliamentary
Elections
[08] EU Election Observation Mission for Palestinian Legislative Council
Elections
[09] Peter Mandelson publishes first White Paper on EU preferential trade
access programmes
[10] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express of 2005-05-23
Reference: MEX/05/0523
Date: 23/05/2005
EXME05 / 23.5
MIDDAY EXPRESS
News from the Press and Communication Directorate General's midday briefing
Nouvelles du rendez-vous de midi de la Direction Général Presse etb
Communication
23/05/05
[01] Commission approves detailed plans for post-Tsunami reconstruction
The European Commission has approved detailed plans for €323 million of
its €350 million post-tsunami reconstruction programme, which will be
delivered over the coming two years. €12 million has been immediately
released under the Rapid Reaction Mechanism (RRM) to kick-start this longer-
term reconstruction work. This builds on the Commission's €123 million
humanitarian aid that started flowing days after the disaster struck.
[02] GALILEO : negotiations with South Korea
Today the European Commission sought Council approval for its
recommendation to start negotiations on a cooperation agreement with South
Korea on the development of a Civil Global Navigation Satellite system
(GNSS). "Galileo attracts the interest from countries all over the world.
Negotiations with South Korea, the fourth economic power in Asia,
represents a new step forward in the international cooperation for Galileo",
stated Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the Commission in charge of
Transport. The Commission intends to start the negotiations immediately
after approval of the Council. South Korea is a country mastering space
technology and its applications. It produces and consumes electronic goods
and systems for which satellite navigation brings competitive advantages.
South Korea uses actively satellite navigation services in areas such as
transport, fleet management, science and geodesy. International cooperation
on GALILEO is developing rapidly. Agreements have already been signed with
China and Israel and discussions are under way with India, Russia, Ukraine,
Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Malaysia and Australia. Moreover, the
signature of the EU/US agreement on 26 June 2004 confirmed the full
interoperability and compatibility between GALILEO and GPS.
[03] Decisions of Eurostat on deficit and debt - three decisions on Italy :
SCIP, ISPA and Concessionari d'imposta
Eurostat has taken three decisions related to specific operations
undertaken in Italy. They refer to : the time of recording of government
expenditure in the context of a law establishing the right to compensation
from government for households and for a Special Purpose Vehicle, in the
framework of the securitisation operations SCIP 1 and SCIP 2 ; the
recording of the debt issued by Infrastrutture S.p.A. (ISPA) in the context
of the financing of the high-speed railway operation and the treatment of
advance payments received from government by Concessionari d'imposta. The
decisions are in line with the European System of Accounts (ESA95). The
decisions on SCIP and ISPA have been the object of a consultation of the
Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payment Statistics (CMFB)
and are consistent with its opinion.
[04] Rapid relief to floods in Romania through coordination mechanism of
European Commission
Romania's request for European civil protection assistance has triggered a
rapid response from the Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC) of the
European Commission. The first convoys with European assistance arrived on
Saturday 21Â May and more assistance is on its way. On Thursday evening,
the MIC alerted the national civil protection authorities of the European
countries participating in the Community Civil Protection Mechanism in
order to coordinate the European relief efforts.
[05] Mieux protéger le monde contre les épidémies : Markos Kyprianou se
félicite du nouvel accord de l'OMS
Le commissaire européen en charge de la santé et de la protection des
consommateurs, Markos Kyprianou, a salué l'accord intervenu le 20 mai Ã
l'Assemblée mondiale de la santé autour du renforcement de la
coopération internationale dans la lutte contre les épidémies de
maladies infectieuses. En 2003, le SRAS (syndrome respiratoire aigu
sévère) a montré avec quelle rapidité des maladies infectieuses
pouvaient se répandre sur toute la planète. Les ministres de la Santé et
les hauts fonctionnaires de 192 pays ont convenu de nouvelles règles en
vertu desquelles tous les incidents majeurs touchant à la santé publique
et présentant un intérêt international devront être signalés Ã
l'Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS). Ces incidents incluent les
grandes épidémies et les faits dont on soupçonne qu'ils relèvent du
"bioterrorisme" (c'est-à -dire, la dissémination intentionnelle d'agents
pathogènes biologiques). Le règlement sanitaire international (RSI)
adopté ouvrira également la voie à une coopération accrue sur le plan de
la riposte à de tels incidents. L'Union européenne a été l'un des
moteurs du renforcement du RSI. En 2003, la Commission européenne avait
reçu mandat de négocier en ce sens au sein de l'OMS (cf. IP/03/1282).
L'Union prend également des mesures pour consolider ses propres défenses
contre les maladies infectieuses : le 27 mai, un nouvelle agence
communautaire, le Centre européen de prévention et de contrôle des
maladies (CEPCM), ouvrira officiellement ses portes à Stockholm.
[06] Jordan, Israel and the EU agree enhanced trading links
The European Commission, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the State of
Israel announced on 20 May an important step forward in their trade
relations. The three parties welcome an upgrading of the trade agreement
between Israel and Jordan that will complement existing preferential trade
agreements between the EU and Jordan and the EU and Israel. These combined
agreements will allow the forthcoming system of PanEuroMed 'cumulation of
origin' to be applied between the three partners.
[07] EU Election Observation Mission for Afghanistan Parliamentary
Elections
The European Commission will deploy an EU Election Observation Mission
(EOM) for the parliamentary and provincial elections scheduled to take
place on 18Â September. The EU EOM will be led by Emma Bonino, Member of
the European Parliament and its Committee on Foreign Affairs. The EOM is a
further contribution by the Commission to supporting peace and
democratisation in Afghanistan.
[08] EU Election Observation Mission for Palestinian Legislative Council
Elections
The European Commission will deploy in early June an EU Election
Observation Mission (EOM) for the elections to the Palestinian Legislative
Council, currently scheduled for 17 July. The Commission welcomes the
holding of these elections as a further step in democracy building within
the Palestinian Authority. The EU EOM will be led by Véronique de Keyser,
Member of the European Parliament, its Foreign Affairs Committee and its
Delegation for relations with the Mashreq countries.
[09] Peter Mandelson publishes first White Paper on EU preferential trade
access programmes
Today at 17.15 European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson will present to
the European Parliament's Trade Committee the Commission's first White
Paper on the effectiveness of the EU's preferential trading access
programmes for developing countries. The White paper - entitled "Opening
the door to development" - is the first of the annual assessments
Commissioner Mandelson committed to producing for the European Parliament
on March 17 2005. The White paper will examine the extent to which
developing countries benefit from market access to the EU and assess those
areas in which market access could be improved, or where developing
countries can be assisted to take advantage of existing market access
through capacity building and trade development assistance.
[10] Autre matériel diffusé
Speech by President Barroso : "Response and Responsibility: The European
Partnership for Aid and Development" at London School of Economics (20/05)
Speech by Charlie McCreevy : "European Banking – Challenges and changes
ahead" at l'Institut International d'Etudes Bancaires (20/05, Dublin)
Results of the informal ministerial meeting on Regional Policy and
Territorial Cohesion (20/05, Luxembourg)
Danuta Hübner and Vladimir Spidla discussed in Luxembourg the Community
priorities for cohesion policy after 2006
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
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