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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 06-01-05
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Suspected human cases of avian influenza in Turkey: the Commission is
working in close contact with the Turkish authorities, and the WHO, the
OIE/FAO and the ECDC to clarify the situation
[02] December 2005: Economic sentiment is back on track in both the EU and
the euro area
[03] December 2005: Business Climate Indicator for the euro area improves
significantly
[04] Novembre 2005 par rapport Ă octobre 2005 - Baisse des prix Ă la
production industrielle de 0,2% dans la zone euro - Hausse de 0,5% dans
l’UE25
[05] November 2005 compared to November 2004 - Volume of retail trade up by
0.3% in euro-zone - Up by 1.4% in EU25
[06] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express of 2006-01-05
Reference: MEX/06/0105
Date: 05/01/2006
EXME06 / 05.1
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
[01] Suspected human cases of avian influenza in Turkey: the Commission is
working in close contact with the Turkish authorities, and the WHO, the
OIE/FAO and the ECDC to clarify the situation
The European Commission has been informed through the WHO that available
results from National and University Laboratories in Ankara suggest that
four people, including a boy and a girl who died respectively on Sunday and
last night, have been infected with avian influenza virus. There may be
additional suspected cases. An outbreak of this disease was confirmed in
chickens in eastern Turkey, in the vicinity of the border with Armenia and
Iran, a few days ago. A Community veterinary expert, who is also a member
of the OIE/FAO network of expertise for Avian Influenza (OFFLU) an
epidemiologist from the ECDC together with WHO experts, will be in Turkey
today to review the situation in cooperation with the Turkish authorities.
In the meantime, samples from the sick chickens which might have
transmitted the disease to the humans are expected to arrive today at the
Community Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza in Weybridge. This will
clarify whether the animal outbreak was due to the deadly H5N1 strain of
avian influenza. The Turkish authorities are also sending samples from the
human cases to a WHO reference laboratory in Colindale (UK), to confirm or
exclude that the virus in question is the same as that in the chickens. The
European Commission together with the ECDC and the WHO is closely
monitoring the situation especially from an epidemiological point of view.
Obviously, the complete ban on any import from Turkey of live birds and
poultry products adopted in early October 2005 remains in place. (ECDC:
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. It is the public health
agency of the EU - FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations - OIE: World Organization for Animal Health - WHO: World Health
Organization)
[02] December 2005: Economic sentiment is back on track in both the EU and
the euro area
The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) continued the upward trend that
began in the summer of 2005. After a slight fall in the previous month, the
indicator improved by a marginal 0.1 of a point for the EU and by 0.6 of a
point for the euro area. The euro-area indicator rose above its long-term
average, and the gap vis-Ă -vis the EU indicator diminished.
[03] December 2005: Business Climate Indicator for the euro area improves
significantly
The Business Climate Indicator (BCI) for the euro area rose significantly
in December after a small decline in November. The BCI has been above its
long term average since September 2005 and it is now close to the
relatively high levels that prevailed one year ago. The positive
development of the BCI in December was reflected in all underlying
components. The improvement in the opinions of industry managers was
particularly marked for production in recent months. The increase in
confidence was also supported by improvements in total order books, export
order books and production expectations, while the assessment of stocks of
finished products improved more moderately.
[04] Novembre 2005 par rapport Ă octobre 2005 - Baisse des prix Ă la
production industrielle de 0,2% dans la zone euro - Hausse de 0,5% dans
l’UE25
L’indice des prix à la production industrielle dans la zone euro a
baissé de 0,2% en novembre 2005 par rapport au mois précédent. Dans
l’UE25, les prix ont augmenté de 0,5% en novembre 2005. En octobre, les
prix avaient connu des hausses de 0,6% dans la zone euro et de 0,9% dans
l’UE25. En novembre 2005, par rapport à novembre 2004, les prix à la
production industrielle ont progressé de 4,2% dans la zone euro et de 5,5%
dans l’UE25. Ces données sont publiées par Eurostat.
[05] November 2005 compared to November 2004 - Volume of retail trade up by
0.3% in euro-zone - Up by 1.4% in EU25
In November 2005, compared to November 2004, the volume of retail trade
grew by 0.3% in the euro-zone and by 1.4% in the EU25. Compared to October
2005, the retail sales index fell by 0.1% in the euro-zone and rose by 0.4%
in the EU25. In November 2005, compared to November 2004, retail trade of
“food, drinks and tobacco” fell by 0.2% in the euro-zone and increased
by 1.0% in the EU25. The non food sector gained 0.7% and 1.7% respectively.
Among the Member States for which data are available, total retail trade
rose in Latvia (+20.6%), Lithuania (+17.7%), Slovakia (+10.2%), Poland
(+9.9%), Sweden (+8.9%), Slovenia (+8.5%), Denmark (+5.8%), Finland (+5.1%),
the United Kingdom (+1.9%), Portugal (+1.4%), France (+0.5%) and Spain
(+0.1%), while falls were recorded in Belgium (-4.1%), Luxembourg (-2.9%)
and Germany (-0.6%). These first estimates come from Eurostat.
[06] Autre matériel diffusé
Speech by Andris Piebalgs welcoming the agreement between Gazprom and
Naftogaz at the Joint Press Conference with Mr. Bartensetin, Austrian
Federal Minister for the Economy and Labour (04/01)
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
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