The Week in Europe 07-13/07/01

EU news in brief

Commission supports development of competitive European satellite communications sector

The 5th Plenary meeting of the Satellite Action Plan in Brussels on July 9-10 gathers representatives of the satellite communications sector to discuss the present state and the perspective of satellite communications. Commissioner Erkki Liikanen underlined in his address to the meeting the role played by satellite communications in the development of the Information Society. Chief Executive Officers (CEO's) of some of the most important satellite operators in Europe exposed their views about the future of this sector. This high ranking panel discussed with Commissioner Liikanen the efforts made by the European Community and the European Space Agency (ESA) to establish a coherent European Strategy for Space. The event was also the occasion for the launch of the "European Satellite Operators Association" by key European satellite operators with the objective to articulate the needs and positions of satellite communications, representing strategic service industry. [Background paper IP/01/975]

Commission and Belgian Presidency organise high-level conference on eGovernment

"From Policy to Practice" will be the main theme of the eGovernment conference, jointly organised by the Commission and the Belgian Presidency, to take place in Brussels on 29-30 November. Erkki Liikanen, European Commissioner responsible for Enterprise and Information Society, Luc van den Bossche and Rik Daems, Belgian Ministers respectively responsible for Public Administration and Telecommunications will participate. This conference is part of the joint efforts of the European Commission and the Belgian Presidency to drive forward the deployment of eGovernment services in Europe. The conference will exclusively feature interactive eGovernment on-line services currently running and being offered to European businesses and citizens. The objective is to highlight how citizens and businesses can reap concrete benefits from on-line Government services. On 10 July the organisers hosted an Information Day to outline the contents of the conference. [Background paper IP/01/976]

The European Commission's Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS): Belgian Presidency launches new European research and innovation site

The Belgian Presidency of the European Union seeks to provide a decisive contribution to the creation of a European Research Area. This is an essential axe for our Presidency of the Research Council in response to the growing awareness of the needs with respect to scientific research in Europe. Innovation site ca be found at http://www.cordis.lu/belgium/

Freedom for third-country nationals to travel within the European Union: Commission wants to simplify the rules

On condition that they have a valid travel document and, where appropriate, a visa or residence permit, third-country nationals will be able to travel within the Schengen area for three months under a proposal for a Directive presented by the European Commission. The Commission is also proposing a specific authorisation enabling third-country nationals to travel for up to six months provided they do not spend more than three months in any single Member State. In both cases, third-country nationals must have sufficient resources to cover the costs of their stay. Equally, they must not be the subject of an alert for the purposes of non-admission or be regarded as a threat to public order in a Member State. [Background paper IP/01/978]

Croatia : Interim Agreement with the European Community initialled

Negotiations of the European Commission and the Republic of Croatia initialled on 14 July the Interim Agreement, which puts into force the trade and trade-related provisions of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and the Republic of Croatia, which was initialled on 14 May and adopted by the Commission on 9 July 2001. EU/Croatia relations continue to progress. After its initialling, the Interim Agreement is expected to be formally concluded early in Autumn, after the signature of the SAA and to enter into force at the latest by the beginning of 2002. The agreement will cover the provisions of the SAA related to the establishment of a free-trade area for goods between the EC and Croatia, as well as provisions on competition, intellectual property, economic cooperation and road transit traffic. The Interim Agreement will mark the beginning of the implementation of those important obligations which Croatia undertook in the SAA and which will help preparing the country for its gradual integration into the European structures.

e-Commerce Security: Commission welcomes adoption of European smart cards-reader standards

Commissioner Erkki Liikanen opened on 11 July an event that marks the launch of new specifications for secure smart cards-readers that will be published soon by the European Committee for Standardisation. These specifications are the result of the work of the FINREAD Consortium, consisting of innovative European payment schemes. This development is part of the Commission's objective to achieve security of transactions to reinforce consumers' confidence, as highlighted in the eEurope Action Plan.

The FINREAD project, initiated by the European financial sector, brings together innovative European payment schemes and a smart card reader manufacturers. The specifications for a secure smart card reader will be used primarily in a wide range of e-commerce payment and home banking applications. This solution has also the potential to be extended to other sectors such as health services or eGovernment services.

For more information see

http://europa.eu.int/information_society/eeurope/index_en.htm [Background paper IP/01/977]

Commission draws up rules for access to work by third-country nationals and, at the same time, proposes a method to the Member States for eventually devising a common immigration policy

The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a Council Directive on conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of paid employment and self-employed economic activity. This is a fundamental legal and administrative tool for improving the management of migration flows, since it determines, for the first time, common criteria in all the Member States, a single procedure, which has been simplified and made transparent through the introduction of a single document (stay and work), while establishing the rights of third-country nationals.

At the same time, the Commission is proposing a mechanism for open cooperation which will introduce a method for monitoring the development of national immigration policies. "The Commission is convinced that the legal instruments already proposed, or about to be proposed, and for whose application the Member States remain responsible, will not be able to deliver their full Community value added, if the Member States do not use them to align national immigration policies more closely on the basis of common principles. If that should happen, the long-term objective of establishing a genuine EU asylum and immigration policy, as provided for in the Treaty of Amsterdam, would become impossible," declared Mr Antonio Vitorino, the Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs. See also

http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/unit/immigration_en.htm. [Background paper IP/01/980]

Commission concludes talks with car industry and consults Council and Parliament on industry's self-commitment to enhance pedestrian protection

The European Commission concluded that the commitment offered by the European car industry to improve the protection of pedestrians in case of accidents corresponds to the mandate given by the Commission in December last year. This follows six months of talks between European Commission and the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA). The self-commitment would mean the introduction of a range of safety improvements both active and passive to all cars. These changes would be phased in according to an ambitious but realistic timetable. However, before taking a decision on whether to accept the industry commitment or to propose traditional legislation in the form of a directive on this issue, this question will now be put forward for consultation of Member States and the European Parliament. A final decision on the approach to take will be taken by the Commission before the end of this year. [Background paper IP/01/986]

Funding of the World Anti-Doping Agency

Mrs Viviane Reding, Member of the Commission with responsibility for sport, reported back to the Commission on the feasibility of the Community contributing to the operational budget of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The Commission has listed doping in sport as one of its priorities for action and is prepared to support WADA projects which fall within the Community's sphere of competence. However, Mrs Reding feels that the legal and political conditions for the time being rule out Community participation in the WADA's operational budget. She hopes to start negotiations with the WADA so that the right conditions can be put in place as soon as possible. In the meantime, the countries of Europe will need to reach agreement on the breakdown of Europe's contribution to the WADA's operational budget as from 2002. [Background paper IP/01/983]

Survey confirms bank charges for cross-border payments still too high

Banks in the euro zone still charge consumers too much for cross-border transactions involving small amounts of money, and the introduction of the euro has not yet changed this situation. These are the main conclusions of a new study published by the European Commission. In view of this unacceptable situation, the Commission intends shortly to propose a Regulation forbidding banks in all Member States from levying different charges for cross-border payments in euro and for corresponding payments at national level. The results of the survey show that bank charges for cross-border payments have, on average, slightly increased since 1999 - despite repeated appeals from the Commission to the banking sector for them to be reduced. Researchers made a series of transfers of EUR 100 in March 2001, only to find that they were still being charged an average of EUR 17.36 in eleven countries of the euro zone (Greece was not included in the survey). The study also showed that 38% of transfers made by the researchers saw charges being attributed to the beneficiary without the originator's knowledge or permission. Detailed information on transfer charges is often not given to customers before they make transfers. As the existing cross-border transfers Directive (97/5/EC), which entered into force in August 1999, outlaws such double charging and requires banks systematically to provide this information, the Commission intends to write to Member States to ask what measures they are taking to enforce the Directive's requirements. The results of the survey are available on the Europa website:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/health_consumer/index_en.htm

[Background paper IP/01/992]

Results of the Standing Veterinary Committee

The Standing Veterinary Committee (SVC) voted on 12 July in favour of European Commission proposals with regard to classical swine fever (CSF) and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). On CSF the area in Spain from where the exports of live pigs and porcine semen, ova and embryos are banned has been reviewed and on FMD the restrictions applicable in the United Kingdom and Uruguay have been prolonged. These proposals will now be adopted by the Commission in the next days. On FMD, the Committee also adopted a statement calling to maintain a high level of disease awareness and preparedness throughout the European Union. [Background paper IP/01/988]

The Commission creates a European Energy and Transport Forum

The European Commission has decided to create a European Energy and Transport Forum. "The Commission must listen to the views and advice of the industries and civil society when drafting its policies. The Forum will play a key role in this context. It will also provide a more coordinated basis for debates on and approaches to energy and transport policy", said Mrs Loyola de Palacio, Vice-President responsible for Energy and Transport. [Background paper IP/01/989]

"Prospects for agricultural markets report 2001 2008" published by DG Agriculture

DG Agriculture published its "Prospects for agricultural markets 2001-2008". The report provides a medium-term perspective of the likely developments of agricultural markets up to 2008 in the EU, the candidate countries from Central and Eastern Europe and world markets based on a number of assumptions. The first section centres on the market prospects to the year 2008 within the EU and covers cereals, oilseeds, meat, milk and the main dairy products. The likely prospects for agricultural markets in the ten Central en Eastern European Countries is described in the second section. Finally, a presentation of the medium and long-term prospects of agricultural world markets is given in the third section. These projections are not intended to constitute a forecast of what the future will be, but instead a description of what may happen given a certain set of assumptions and plausible circumstances. The outlook does not address the latest short-term developments on agricultural markets and is based on statistical information available in May 2001. The report can be found at the following address:

http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/publi/caprep/prospects2001/index_en.htm

European contract law: Commission sets the stage for a broad debate

The European Commission has adopted a Communication launching a broad debate on problems for the functioning of the Internal Market resulting from the divergence of national contract laws and on the need for further-reaching Community action in this area. It would in particular like to examine whether the existing approach of sectorial harmonisation is able to solve all problems which can arise. In addition the Commission is seeking information on potential practical problems for the uniform application of Community and national contract law across the European Union. Such problems can hinder business and consumers in fully exploiting the potential of the Internal Market and may mean that they do not have access to the same legal rights and economic chances across borders that Community legislation is intended to offer them. The Communication sets out four different options for improvement and is intended to form the basis for a broad consultation of business interests, legal practitioners, consumer groups and academics over the coming months. It is a joint initiative of Commissioners David Byrne, António Vitorino, Frits Bolkestein and Erkki Liikanen and follows requests for action from both the European Parliament and the European Council. The full text of the Communication is available at:

http://europe.eu.int/comm/off/green/index_en.htm. [Background paper IP/01/996]

First quarter 2001 - Euro-zone GDP revised upwards to 0.6% ; EU15 grew by 0.5%

Eurozone Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.6% compared to the previous quarter according to second release estimates published on 13 July by Eurostat. EU15 GDP grew by 0.5% during the same period. Economic growth had reached 0.6% for both zones during the previous quarter. In comparison with the first quarter of 2000, the euro-zone and the EU15 GDP both grew by 2.6%, following an increase of 2.9% for both areas in the previous quarter. [Background paper Eurostat News Release No 75/2001]

Enlargement news

Good progress in enlargement negotiations on social policy and free movement

Commissioner Günther Verheugen appeared before the Employment and Social Affairs Committee on Tuesday morning to give an update on the accession negotiations on social policy and the free movement of workers. As regards general negotiations, he pointed out that no single candidate country could be given a guarantee that negotiations would be completed by 2002 even though the Gothenburg summit had set this timeframe for their conclusion. However, up to ten candidate countries (the exceptions being Bulgaria and Romania) had a good chance of joining the EU by 2004. The enlargement process, he said, had reached the point of no return. [Background paper EP Press Release]

European Commission - Economic and Financial Affairs: Conference "Euro 2002" (Budapest,

13-14 September 2001)

Fifteen weeks after the date of this conference, on 1 January 2002, euro notes and coins will be introduced in the twelve countries of the European Union in the euro area, and within two weeks most cash transactions will be carried out using euro notes and coins.

· But what precisely will happen in the neighbouring countries of the euro area?

· When and how will the new notes and coins be distributed?

· And how will the old ones be exchanged for new?

Also from 1 January non-cash, scriptural, transactions may only be carried out using the euro : the optional use of the old, familiar national currency units will no longer be authorised by EU law.

Also from 1 January non-cash, scriptural, transactions may only be carried out using the euro : the optional use of the old, familiar national currency units will no longer be authorised by EU law.

· What does this mean for business and banks in the neighbouring countries of the euro area?

· What are the wider economic implications?

· The euro has been the official currency of the euro area since 1 January 1999; how has the economy reacted?

· What have been the effects on financial markets and the real economy?

· What are the perspectives and challenges to come?

· How does this impact on countries applying for membership of the European Union?

This conference will address these questions. It will be particularly useful for business and their advisors in the candidate counties. It will also be helpful for those from other countries neighbouring on the euro area. For further information see

http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/economy_finance/conf_events/budapest01/bp0901_en.htm

The European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted draft reports on 9 July on the progress of the twelve candidate countries currently negotiating their membership of the EU

The reports highlight some of the main issues concerning each candidate country:

Poland:

· fighting high unemployment,

· increasing the independence and efficiency of the judiciary,

· speeding up implementation of EU law,

· accepting a deal on phasing in direct payments for agriculture,

· reviewing the request of an 18-year transition period for purchase of land by non-nationals,

· resolving the question of restitution of property confiscated after World War II,

· enforcing EU competition policy, especially in the area of state aid,

· reconsidering its demand for transition period until 2017 for special economic zones.

Hungary:

· insists on the need to fix firm accession dates to avoid discontent in the Hungarian public,

· urges the EU to continue with the policy of differentiating between the candidate countries on the basis of merit,

· suggests that the number of Hungarian MEPs be increased to 22,

· demands immediate practical support measures for the Roma minority in Hungary,

· calls for intensified fight against corruption,

· calls for measures to decrease considerable regional disparities,

· calls for efforts on combating inflation.

The Czech Republic:

· calls for measures to strengthen competition and supervisory authorities for the banking sector,

· expresses concerns about the rising budget deficit,

· calls for stepping up the fight against corruption,

· urges improvements of border control capacity.

The final reports will be adopted at the European Parliament plenary session on 4 September. They will be followed by the Commission progress reports for 2001 in November.