The Week in Europe 17/03-13/03/01

29.03.2001 | Euroskop

EU news in brief

EU leaders address strategic goals at Stockholm summit

Modernising Europe's economy, the challenges of an ageing population, and jobs and social change will be discussed at the Stockholm summit on 23-24 March. EU leaders at the European Council will be reviewing progress towards strategic goals agreed at Lisbon a year ago. That meeting set the goal of making the EU the world's most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy. It should use its relatively strong economic position to accelerate difficult reforms, the Commission believes. Internal markets still need opening up in key areas such as financial services, telecoms, energy, postal services, transport and procurement. Barriers to employment, research, innovation and social cohesion must also be addressed. Russian President Vladimir Putin will join the summit for talks and lunch on 23 March, with the focus on economic cooperation. Foreign policy will be the emphasis of discussions at a working dinner, including the western Balkans, Macedonia, and the peace processes in the Middle East and the Korean peninsular.

Details are available from

http://europa.eu.int/comm/stockholm_council/index_en.htm and the Swedish Presidency at http://www.eu2001.se

Foot-and-mouth ban widened

The export of livestock from the Netherlands was banned on 21 March, after the first case of foot-and-mouth disease was confirmed in the province of Gelderland. The ban applies to livestock capable of carrying the disease; products from them may not be moved from this and surrounding provinces unless they have been treated appropriately. Vehicles used to transport livestock and milk must be disinfected. The Commission Decision applies initially until 4 April. The Standing Veterinary Committee will review the situation at a special meeting on 23 March. [Background text: IP/01/427]

Support for Macedonian policy

The EU urged ethnic Albanian extremists on 19 March to stop their violent attacks in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). The General Affairs Council restated its condemnation of attempts to destabilise the region; the EU would not tolerate any support for insurgents, it said. Political demands should be put forward in a peaceful manner and in line with democratic principles. Ministers at the meeting gave its backing to the democratically elected FYROM government and its domestic reforms, particularly to improve inter-ethnic relations. The Council Conclusion welcomed a declaration from the political parties of FYROM, distancing themselves from extremist actions and ethnic intolerance. The statement also covers the situation in southern Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Council also agreed Conclusions on EU action to promote respect for human rights, and on human rights in China.

Focusing EU-US relations

Plans to streamline EU-US cooperation to make it more efficient and action-oriented were set out by the Commission on 20 March. Concentrating on a few strategic themes would help develop the full potential of the transatlantic relationship, suggests the Commission. These would then set the political framework for the near to medium term, avoiding the process becoming too cumbersome or bureaucratic. Among the potential strategic themes flagged up by the Communication are emerging security challenges; globalisation and the multilateral trading system; the fight against organised crime; energy; consumer protection; macroeconomic issues; action against poverty in developing countries; and the digital economy. This list is not exhaustive; environmental protection is a priority that forms part of several other themes, for example. The paper also reviews achievements under the New Transatlantic Agenda (NTA), which was agreed at the EU-US summit in Madrid in 1995. The NTO led to a qualitative leap in transatlantic cooperation on a wide range of political and economic questions. Many objectives have been met, but difficulties have emerged in setting priorities to ensure focused, sustained progress. [Background text: IP/01/421]

'Fish stocks verge on collapse'

Many key fish stocks are on the verge of collapse and urgent changes are needed to the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), according to Commissioner Franz Fischler. He launched the first Green Paper on the future of the CFP on 20 March, which outlines a bleak picture. Overfishing has taken many stocks beyond safe biological limits; the catching of too many fish too young is hindering their renewal. The number of adult demersal (bottom-dwelling) fish in EU waters has fallen by 90% since the early 1970s. Conservation measures have failed to protect stocks, and shrinking returns have encouraged people to fish harder (often by investing more in technology). This in turn has made stocks and marine ecosystems more vulnerable, as well as undermining economic viability. Employment in the catching sector fell by 19% between 1990 and 1997 (10% in processing). The Green Paper earmarks conflicting objectives and short-term measures as the main problems to be tackled. To improve conservation, quotas could be set over several years and across a number of species, rather than annually on single species. Eco-labelling of fishery products, reductions in fishing effort and capacity, and tougher inspection controls could help, too. Increasing the involvement of fishermen in CFP rules is proposed, with close links between them and scientists. The annual 1.1bn euro the sector receives in aid should encourage conservation, and measures must be developed to help coastal areas to reduce their dependence on fisheries. Finally, the EU should promote sustainable fisheries internationally, including work with development countries. After wide debate and a public hearing on the CFP (5-7 June), the Commission will propose a revised policy, due to enter force on 1 January 2003. See http://europa.eu.int/comm/fisheries/policy_en.htm [Background text: IP/01/414

· The Fisheries Council is expected to adopt a strategy to better integrate environmental aims into the CFP, in time for the Gothenburg summit in June. [Background text: IP/01/406]

Mobile telecoms reviewed

Existing EU policies should be used to create a favourable environment for future wireless digital services, the Commission suggested on 20 March. The regulatory framework needs to be adopted and implemented rapidly, its Communication says. The Commission will continue its efforts through policies on research and the eEurope action plan, for example. It also proposes a dialogue with Member States, telecom operators and equipment-makers. See

http://europa.eu.int/ISPO/infosoc/telecompolicy/ [Background text: IP/01/416]

Infrastructure links in the Med

Transport and energy are highlighted for greater EU-Mediterranean cooperation, in a report issued by the Commission on 21 March. These two sectors are of key importance to the success of the Euro-Mediterranean free trade area scheduled for 2010, explained Commissioner Loyola de Palacio. The Communication also assesses the progress made since the launch of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership in Barcelona in November 1995. The strong potential for growth of the southern fringes of the Mediterranean is often hampered by an inappropriate institutional and regulatory framework, and the lack of structural reforms, the Commission says. The shortcomings are particularly glaring in terms of infrastructure. [Background text: IP/01/425]

Feed review backs soya meal

Soya meal is the best way to meet the demand for plant protein in animal feed prompted by bans on meat and bone meal, the Commission says. It is readily available and would increase imports by only 5%, it concludes in a report published on 19 March. Options for promoting more home-grown sources, such as oilseeds and legumes, are expensive or have implications for world trade agreements. A further option, dried fodder, is not suited for pig or poultry feed. The report was prepared to analyse alternatives after the Council in December 2000 extended a ban on animal proteins in feed to cover non-ruminants (to strengthen safeguards on the safety of meat and other animal products). Demand for feed was also affected by a shift in consumption from beef to pig and poultry, prompted by concerns over BSE. [Background text: IP/01/412]

Annual inflation rose to 2.3% in the EU and 2.6% in the euro zone in February, up from 2.2% and 2.4% respectively in January, Eurostat reported.

[Background text: ES 32/2001]

Industrial production fell by 1.8% in the EU and 1.9% in the euro zone in January 2001, compared to December, according to Eurostat estimates. [Background text: ES 34/2001]

Enlargement news

Candidates' ministers meet in Brussels to discuss crime and migration

At the initiative of the Swedish Presidency of the EU, the justice and home affairs ministers of the EU candidate countries came to Brussels for a special meeting at Council level on 16 March. At the end of the meeting, the Presidency was able to announce that agreement had been reached on increased cooperation to combat trafficking in human beings. The meeting had some practical as well as political impact: ministers emphasised the importance of on-the-ground cooperation between crime-fighting authorities - and were able to signal closer contact for the candidate countries with the EU bodies for police and prosecution cooperation, Europol and Eurojust, following agreement reached among EU member states the day before.

The EU is also to investigate involving the candidates in the EU STOP programme, which finances projects intended to counteract trafficking. European Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Antonio Vitorino said it was important to motivate the candidates to meet the current and future EU acquis in the area of justice and home affairs, and to reassure populations in Europe that gaps were being filled in the fight against crime. The candidates must be involved in the development of the EU's asylum policy, because many of them would probably be EU members before it was completely in place, he added.

Klingvall pointed to the improved prospects that the meeting had created for bilateral and EU cooperation with candidates on asylum and migration policy, too. Some candidates have already made good progress, she said, in adapting their legislation to the EU acquis but she stressed the need for effective implementation too. She also noted the focus on changing candidate countries from being merely transit countries to becoming safe countries in their own right.

New Phare project on judicial cooperation

The European Commission has launched a new € 1.2 million project on judicial co-operation in criminal matters in seven of the candidate countries under its Phare programme of assistance to the region. Announcing the project on March 12, the Commission insisted again that cooperation in this area is an important part of the EU's agenda for the creation of an area of freedom, security and justice, based on application of the rule of law.

The aim of the project is to support the central European candidate countries in adopting and implementing the body of the European Union law in the area of judicial co-operation in criminal matters. It was initiated at a Commission-hosted conference in Brussels on 14-16 March, attended by the beneficiary countries (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) and the member states involved (United Kingdom is the project leader, France and Italy are consultant partners, and Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands and Spain are contributing expertise).

Underlying these efforts is the EU concern that it may take longer and more effort to bring candidate countries into line with EU norms in areas like this than on some of the more obvious requirements of the acquis communautaire. Growing EU concern over crime - particularly in the context of enlargement - makes it vital to devote resources to helping bridge any gaps. The EU's starting point in these discussions is the conviction that mutual confidence in each other's legal criminal systems is crucial to successful cooperation.

Against this background, the project is designed to be technical rather than political. Fighting organised crime in the EU has been boosted by judicial co-operation in areas such as extradition, mutual assistance and restraint, and confiscation of assets. This co-operation relies on certain common techniques and procedures. So the project will support candidates in setting up an effective system of international co-operation, through central co-operation units, and local authorities trained to respond to requests directly transmitted by the authorities of a partner country. The needs of the participating candidates will be assessed and national action plans will be drafted to complete alignment with EU law.

The project is financed under the 1999 Phare Horizontal Programme on Justice and Home Affairs. Other projects under this € 10 million Programme cover the fields of rule of law; training of judges in EC law; and migration, visa, and border management. Earlier projects under the 1996 Phare Horizontal Programme for Justice and Home Affairs provided assistance with the application of the body of EU law on asylum, the fight against organised crime and corruption, and police training for a total € 10 million.

EU candidates seriously lag EU in GDP per head

Per capita GDP in most regions of Central European candidate countries was below 50% of the EU average in 1998, according to the latest figures from Eurostat, the EU statistical service. Only the regions around the Czech and Slovak capitals, Prague and Bratislava, had a GDP which was about the same as the EU average.

The data, based on regional per capita GDP expressed in purchasing power standards, shows a range from 22% of the EU average in Yuzhen Tsentralen in Bulgaria to 115% in Praha in the Czech Republic. In 51 of the 53 regions, per capita GDP was below 75% of the EU average, and in 41 of them it was less than half.

Five of the 10 highest were in the Czech Republic (Praha (115 - on an index where the EU average is 100), Jihozapad (57), Ostravsko (57), Jihovychod (53) and Severozapad (53). Most of the 10 lowest were in Bulgaria and in Romania. There was one Polish region in the bottom ten, too - Lubelskie, at 26. As regards the Baltic states, each of which comprises a single region, per capita GDP in 1998 was 28% of the EU average in Latvia, 31% in Lithuania and 37% in Estonia.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development reported this week that it signed a record € 2.7 billion of new business in 2000, a 24 per cent increase over 1999. Net profit after provisions rose to € 152.8 million from € 42.7 million in 1999, enabling the Bank to complete its recovery from the Russia crisis of 1998 with a return to positive reserves, which reached € 65.9 million. The Bank says it increased its annual business volume in the advanced transition countries of central and eastern Europe by 14 per cent to more than € 1 billion, working closely with investors and entrepreneurs in the region. Annual business volume in the early and intermediate countries of transition rose to € 1.1 billion.

Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Pavel Telicka joined UK Minister for Europe Keith Vaz in Cambridge last week as part of the continuing EU roadshow to focus attention on Europe and enlargement, and spoke about the importance his government attaches to the process of EU enlargement. According to Vaz: "People in the UK need to know why we are in Europe. And they need to hear about the benefits their community is deriving from EU membership. For the people of the Eastern region, the benefits could not be clearer. Independent research has shown that up to 300,000 jobs in the region are linked to trade with the single market. And between 2000-2006, the region has secured almost Ł100 million in EU Objective 1 and 2 funding."

Proposals designed to allow Central and Eastern European countries to take part in the Culture 2000 programme were unveiled by the European Commission on 12 March. Catered for in the Decision establishing Culture 2000, the CEECs' involvement requires a formal decision by their respective Association Councils. The Commission is hoping the Decisions will be adopted by the Council soon so the CEECs will be able to take part in EU-sponsored cultural projects this year. Projects the CEECs present will be subject to the same conditions and procedures as those applicable to the EU Member States. CEECs will be required to make a financial contribution to the programme. Covering the 2000-2004 period, the Culture 2000 programme has a € 167 million budget.

The decision by France to grant asylum to a group of Romanies who fled Hungary last year is causing concern in the Hungarian press. Magyar Hirlap says that the Hungarian government should "reflect on its own responsibility", rather than slam the decision as "unfounded, unfair and unjust". The paper warns that "the Gypsy question is indeed an EU integration issue" for Hungary. Nepszabadsag is alarmed by a comment from the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, that the decision will have "no impact whatsoever" on the government's Romany policy. "This statement," says the paper, "is just as unfortunate as his earlier remark that 'there is life outside the EU'". It adds: "It seems Orban does not learn when it comes to international affairs".

The European Trade Union Confederation is not afraid that cut-price workers from the EU's future new member states will flood the European labour market, said its general secretary, Emilio Gabaglio, on a visit to Slovakia last week.