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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 08-04-28
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Spring economic forecast 2008-2009: growth moderates, price pressures
a worry but, overall, EU weathers external headwinds rather well
[02] Commissioner Hübner in dialogue with stakeholders to boost potential
of Lubelskie, Poland
[03] Un rapport de l’Union européenne prévoit une hausse de la demande
de soins de longue durée, tant qualitative que quantitative
[04] Marché intérieur : La Commission va organiser une conférence sur la
contrefaçon et le piratage
[05] Services financiers: la sécurité des paiements est essentielle pour
accroître la confiance des consommateurs dans les nouveaux services de
paiement, d’après un rapport de la Commission
[06] Commission launches a public consultation for the coming Energy
Performance of Buildings Directive
[07] Small Business Act for Europe - Results of the open consultation
[08] Commission clears acquisition of Domo PP by Carmel Olefins and Domo
Chemicals
[09] Commission clears acquisition of Morrison Utility by Englefield
andCognetas
[10] EU and China start high-level economic and trade talks
[11] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express of 2008-04-28
Reference: MEX/08/0428
Date: 28/04/2008
EXME08 / 28.04
MIDDAY EXPRESS
News from the Communication Directorate General's midday briefing
Nouvelles du rendez-vous de midi de la Direction Générale Communicationb
28/04/08
[01] Spring economic forecast 2008-2009: growth moderates, price pressures
a worry but, overall, EU weathers external headwinds rather well
Growth in the European Union is expected to ease to 2% in 2008 and 1.8% in
2009 from 2.8% in 2007 (1.7% and 1.5% in the euro area from 2.6% in 2007),
according to the Commission's spring economic forecast. The moderation in
growth results from the persisting turmoil in the financial markets, the
marked slowdown in the United States and soaring commodity prices, all of
which are taking their toll on global activity. The EU economy is holding
up relatively well thanks to sound fundamentals and is expected to create 3
million new jobs in 2008-2009 on top of the 7½ million in 2006-2007. But
consumer price inflation is expected to surge temporarily to 3.6% this year
in the EU against 2.4% in 2007 due to soaring energy and food prices,
before coming down to an expected 2.4% in 2009 (equivalent figures for euro
area are 3.2% and 2.2% versus 2.1% in 2007).
[02] Commissioner Hübner in dialogue with stakeholders to boost potential
of Lubelskie, Poland
Today, Danuta Hübner, Commissioner responsible for Regional Policy, visits
the Polish region of Lubelskie for the first time since taking office.
During her visit to the regional capital of Lublin, she will meet the
Marshal of Lubelskie Region, Krzysztof Grabczuk, and the Voivod Genowefa
Tokarska to discuss how the region can best make use of the €1.16 billion
in Cohesion Policy investment that Lubelskie will receive for 2007-2013.
[03] Un rapport de l’Union européenne prévoit une hausse de la demande
de soins de longue durée, tant qualitative que quantitative
Selon un nouveau rapport présenté aujourd’hui par la Commission
européenne, la demande de soins de longue durée et leur coût sont promis,
dans l’Union, une hausse considérable d’ici 2050. Par ailleurs, la
grande majorité des Européens (près de neuf sur dix) se disent plus
favorables aux soins domicile ou de proximité qu’aux soins en
institution. L’augmentation prévisible de la demande de soins de longue
durée constitue un défi crucial pour les gouvernements de tous les pays.
Le rapport révèle également que ceux-ci s’efforcent de garantir
l’accès de tous des soins de qualité en consacrant des ressources
suffisantes en vue de satisfaire cette demande. Les conclusions de ce
rapport seront débattues les 28 et 29 avril lors d’une conférence sur
la solidarité intergénérationnelle, organisée par la Présidence
slovène de l’Union Brdo (Slovénie).
[04] Marché intérieur : La Commission va organiser une conférence sur la
contrefaçon et le piratage
La Commission européenne va organiser une conférence sur la contrefaçon
et le piratage le 13 mai 2008. Les intervenants aborderont différents
sujets, tels que les effets de ces phénomènes sur la croissance
économique et la création d’emplois en Europe, les risques qu’ils
représentent pour la santé et la sécurité des citoyens et les mesures
susceptibles de rendre plus efficace la lutte contre la contrefaçon. Cette
conférence devrait réunir des députés au Parlement européen ainsi que
des représentants des entreprises, des administrations publiques et de la
société civile concernés par le problème.
[05] Services financiers: la sécurité des paiements est essentielle pour
accroître la confiance des consommateurs dans les nouveaux services de
paiement, d’après un rapport de la Commission
La Commission européenne vient de publier un rapport sur les mesures
prises entre 2004 et 2007 pour prévenir la fraude concernant les moyens de
paiement, la suite d’un plan d’action adopté en la matière. Il
montre que la sécurité des moyens et systèmes de paiement est une
condition indispensable l’amélioration de la confiance des
consommateurs dans les nouveaux services de paiement. En ce qui concerne la
réglementation, la question de la sécurité des moyens de paiement a
été traitée dans un instrument législatif adopté récemment, la
directive sur les services de paiement, ainsi que par la troisième
directive sur le blanchiment de capitaux, qui impose des obligation de
connaissance de la clientèle. Le développement de l’espace unique de
paiements en euros (SEPA) par le secteur offrira la possibilité
d’utiliser le cadre législatif pour renforcer la sécurité aussi bien
que la confiance.
[06] Commission launches a public consultation for the coming Energy
Performance of Buildings Directive
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the
recasting1 of the 2002 Energy Performance of Buildings Directive2. The
consultation will help the Commission gain input on the Energy Performance
of Buildings Directive from interested parties through an online
questionnaire and thus enable it to better develop the new proposal.
[07] Small Business Act for Europe - Results of the open consultation
Over the past few years, upon initiative of the European Commission the EU
started implementing a modern SME friendly policy and has committed itself
to improving the business environment by applying the “Think Small
First” principle. This policy has already produced significant
improvements in creating a more SME-friendly business environment across
the EU. The Commission has made real efforts to cut red tape for SMEs and
has significantly increased the SME focus within major EU spending
programmes for the period 2007-2013. Member States have also substantially
improved the SMEs’ environment and progressed in their implementation of
the 2006 Spring European Council conclusions, e.g. by introducing one-stop
shops for company registration and reducing the time and costs required to
do so. However, given the economic and social importance of SMEs and their
crucial role for the achievement of the objectives of the Partnership for
Growth and Jobs, the EU has decided to further step up the SME policy to
irreversibly put SMEs and entrepreneurship at the heart of policy making.
Therefore, following up on its decision to prepare a European "Small
Business Act" as part of the Community Lisbon programme for Growth and Jobs
2008 – 2010, the European Commission launched a public consultation on
the content of this initiative. Its objective was to better understand
remaining hurdles for SME growth and jobs potential in view of unlocking
it. Stakeholders reaction indicate the need to further action in the
following areas: full application of the subsidiarity principle and further
reduction of regulatory burden on SMEs, facilitation of their access to the
Single Market and to public procurement, access to finance and to a skilled
labour force, support for SMEs who wish to expand and to "go global". The
result of the consultation will be taken up in the preparation of the
"Small Business Act" for Europe. The results of that consultation are now
available For more details see: <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/entrepreneurship/sba_en.htm">http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/entrepreneurship/sba_en.htm
<a href="http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise-europe-network">http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise-
europe-network
[08] Commission clears acquisition of Domo PP by Carmel Olefins and Domo
Chemicals
The European Commission has granted clearance under the EU Merger
Regulation to the acquisition of joint control of Domo Polypropylene BV
(Domo PP) of Belgium by Carmel Olefins Ltd of Israel, controlled by Oil
Refineries Ltd and Israel Petrochemicals Enterprises Ltd, and Domo
Chemicals NV of Belgium. Carmel Olefins produces petrochemical products,
including polypropylene and polyethylene, in Israel. Domo Chemicals
produces chemicals, polyamide, polypropylene and polyamide compounds in the
EEA. Domo PP produces polypropylene in the EEA. The operation was examined
under the simplified merger review procedure.
[09] Commission clears acquisition of Morrison Utility by Englefield
andCognetas
The European Commission has granted clearance under the EU Merger
Regulation to the acquisition of joint control of Morrison Utility Services
Limited (Morrison Utility) of the UK by Englefield Capital LLP (Englefield)
and Cognetas Fund II (GP) Limited (Cognetas), both of the UK. Englefield
and Cognetas are both diversified private equity funds. Morrison Utility
provides utility infrastructure installation and maintenance including
meter operation in the water, gas and electricity sector in the UK. The
operation was examined under the simplified merger review procedure.
Rediffusion
[10] EU and China start high-level economic and trade talks
New mechanism stresses sustainability, interdependence - The European
Commission and the Chinese government today launched their new High Level
Economic and Trade Dialogue Mechanism (HLM) in Beijing. The meeting was
chaired by Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Qishan and EU Trade Commissioner Peter
Mandelson. A further seven EU Commissioners and a total of 10 Chinese
ministers participated. The two sides agreed on an ambitious and far-
reaching remit for the dialogue and began focused discussions.
[11] Autre matériel diffusé
• Speech by Commissioner McCreevy on the occasion of World Intellectual
Property Day – EMBARGO 16h00 -
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
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