The Week in Europe 2-08/09/02

EU news in brief

224 European cultural projects to be funded in 2002 under the Culture 2000 programme

The 224 selected projects, most of which focus on the visual arts, the priority field in 2002, will share more than 33 million euro in funding. 28 European countries are taking part in Culture 2000 (2000-2004), which, this year, is helping more than 750 cultural operators to work together on projects with a European dimension.

A list and a description of the projects for which a contract has already been signed are available from the Spokesman's Office and on the Culture 2000 programme website at:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/culture/eac/2002/index_en.html

[Background paper IP/02/1255]

European Union launches coalition of like-minded states to deliver World Summit renewable energy goals

The European Union announced that it is forming a coalition of like-minded countries and regions committed to increasing their use of renewable energies through quantified, time-bound targets. The initiative was announced at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg by European Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström and the EU Presidency, Mr Hans Christian Schmidt, Environment Minister of Denmark as a key means of implementing the Summits agreement that the global share of renewable energy sources should urgently be substantially increased.

[Background paper IP/02/1264]

"Water for Life": European Union launches global initiative to achieve World Summit goals

In Johannesburg the European Union formally launched a major global Water Initiative aimed at creating strategic partnerships to achieve the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) goals on clean water and sanitation. Within this new framework the EU has already reached "Water for Life" agreements with Africa and with eastern Europe, the Caucasus and central Asia.

[Background paper IP/02/1265]

Romano Prodi met Colin Powell during the World Summit in Johannesburg (04/09)

The President of the European Commission Romano Prodi and the US Secretary of State Colin Powell welcomed the results achieved at the Summit and agreed on the need to implement Johannesburg Plan of Implementation fully and without delay. President Prodi expressed his concern over the increasing divide between North and South. He agreed with Secretary Powell that this must be a matter of common concern and that the answer must be found through resolute implementation of a multilateral agenda. President Prodi stressed that the old approach (Trade not Aid) must be abandoned and replaced by Trade and Aid. They also discussed the situation in the Middle East and Iraq. On the Middle East they shared their concerns about standstill in the Peace Process and stressed the importance of international cooperation. They agreed that Iraq must comply with relevant UN resolutions and must allow the disarmament inspectors to operate without any restriction. Secretary Powell agreed with President Prodi that this is a multilateral problem. On the International Criminal Court there was common

understanding on the need to continue working together to find a solution to American concerns without undermining the principles and objectives of the Court.

European Union: Now we must turn World Summit agreement into concrete results

The European Union (EU) welcomed the results of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg as a success and underlined Europe's determination to lead the way in turning the Summit's action plan into concrete results on the ground.

Danish Prime Minister and EU President Anders Fogh Rasmussen said: "I believe we can be satisfied with the result. We have agreed an action plan and a set of principles for sustainable development. We have concluded a global deal and partnership recommending free trade and increased market access, increased development assistance, a commitment to good governance and commitments to a better environment. The EU has played a leading role in this."

European Commission President Romano Prodi said: "We came to Johannesburg to launch a North-South pact which also encompasses the results of the Doha and Monterrey conferences. I welcome this relaunch of multilateralism, which puts sustainable development firmly on the global agenda. Naturally we cannot be happy with everything we achieved but the results take us in the right direction. Reaching agreement is important but without implementation it means nothing. The EU will take the lead in implementing the outcome of Johannesburg because we are strongly committed to fighting poverty through trade and aid while protecting the environment. We owe it to the world to deliver."

[Background paper IP/02/1268]

Commission says Lisbon job targets are still within reach if Member States tackle problem regions and focus on jobs for women and older workers

The Commission published the Employment in Europe 2002 report. The report, published annually, discusses the European labour market performance against the backdrop of both the recent economic slowdown, and the structural improvements in European labour markets since the mid-1990s. The report also highlights the role of quality in work for productivity and overall employment performance, and further addresses remaining imbalances in the European labour markets, notably by gender and across regions. Finally, it analyses the main employment trends in the candidate countries and discusses labour market characteristics of an enlarged Union. Although this year's Employment in Europe report appears at a difficult time, with Europe facing serious uncertainties about its future economic and employment performance, there is evidence that Europe today is better placed to face such challenges.

[Background paper IP/02/1272]

Eurostat News Releases

July 2002: Euro-zone unemployment stable at 8.3%; EU15 steady at 7.7%

Euro-zone seasonallyadjusted unemployment stood at 8.3% in July 2002, unchanged compared to June, Eurostat reports. It was 8.0% in July 2001. The EU15 unemployment rate was 7.7% in July, unchanged compared to June. It was 7.3% in July 2001. In July 2002, lowest rates were registered in Luxembourg (2.4%), the Netherlands (2.8% in June), Austria (4.1%), Denmark (4.3%), Ireland and Portugal (4.5% each). Spain's 11.3% remained the EU's highest rate.

[Background paper STAT/02/105]

First estimates for the second quarter of 2002: Euro-zone GDP up by 0.3%, EU15 up by 0.4%; +0.6% and +0.7%, respectively, compared to second quarter 2001

Euro-zone GDP grew by 0.3% and EU15 GDP by 0.4% during the second quarter of 2002, compared to the previous quarter, according to first estimates out from Eurostat. These results follow an increase of 0.4% in the euro-zone and of 0.3% in the EU15 in the first quarter of 2002. Compared to the second quarter of 2001, GDP grew by 0.6% in the euro-zone and by 0.7% in the EU15, after an increase of 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively, in the previous quarter.

[Background paper STAT/02/107]

Enlargement news

Gymnich examines enlargement programme

Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs Per Stig Moeller hosted his EU colleagues to an informal meeting of foreign ministers in Elsinore on 30-31 August - the Danish Presidency's "Gymnich" meeting, so named after the castle north of Bonn, which was the venue of the first such meeting. And EU enlargement was one of the principal topics on the agenda.

Informal ministerial meetings take no formal decisions, but there was a wide-ranging exchange of views among the foreign ministers, together with European Commission President Romano Prodi, European Enlargement Commissioner Günter Verheugen, External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten, and EU foreign policy co-ordinator Javier Solana.

The enlargement discussion focused on the timetable agreed upon at the Seville summit, and the Presidency provided further detailed information on the steps envisaged so as to lead to successful conclusion of accession negotiations with the first candidate countries by the European Council in Copenhagen. Denmark is aiming to complete all non-financial accession negotiations with the ten leading candidates by early October, including the controversial question of state aid regimes. It is also ready to start work immediately on talks on budgetary contributions from the candidates. From the end of September its timetable envisages discussion of agriculture and direct aid to farmers. A view should start to form as from mid-October, on which candidates may be ready to accede in 2004, according to the Presidency. But "an important element in this process will be to reach common positions on the outstanding issues (budget, agriculture and institutions)."

There were exchanges on how the European Council in Copenhagen could provide Bulgaria and Romania with a strengthened perspective for membership, and compliments were made to Turkey for its recent adoption of constitutional reforms - although the emphasis was still on implementation of reforms: Commissioner Verheugen said it was too early to be able to promise a decision in 2002 on when Bulgaria and Romania might be able to join the EU, or when Turkey might start its negotiations.

The enlargement discussions also extended into consideration of EU relations with the new eastern neighbours of an enlarged Union - particularly Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus, who currently enjoy fewer formal links with the EU than other near neighbours. According to the Danish foreign minister, "We must make sure that the benefits of enlargement do not stop at the new EU border". The possibility was raised of talks on trade and WTO accession, as well as on borders and on possible new types of agreements with the EU.

New employment figures for Central Europe

Eurostat, the EU's statistical office, has produced new figures on employment and unemployment in the central European candidate countries. It notes that the regional unemployment rates there ranged widely, from 2.0% in the region of Közép-Magyarország, in Hungary, to 32.8% in Severozapaden, in Bulgaria, in 2001. The range was, however, very similar across the EU - from 1.2% to 33.3%. However, in 40% of the regions of the candidate countries, unemployment is double the EU average.

Of the 53 regions considered, only the regions of Közép-Magyarország and Nyugat-Dunántúl, in Hungary, and that of Prague, in the Czech Republic, had rates lower than half the EU average. In 16 regions, the unemployment rate was equal to or lower than that of the EU: 7.6% in 2001. These regions were in Romania (6 regions), Hungary (5), the Czech Republic (4) and Slovenia (1). In 22 regions, the unemployment rate was more than double that of the EU: 13 in Poland, 5 in Bulgaria, 3 in Slovakia, and one in Lithuania. But, on the brighter side, regional unemployment rates fell in half the 53 regions of the candidate countries between the second quarter of 2000 and the second quarter of 2001.

A comparison of unemployment rates shows similar levels of unemployment for both men and women (whereas in the EU unemployment amongst women is frequently higher than that of men). Female unemployment was higher than male unemployment in 2001 in 55% of the regions of the candidates, ranging from 2.0% in Közép-Magyarország to 28.5% in Severozapaden.

And a Eurostat Labour Force Survey reveals that among the candidate countries (except, for the purposes of this survey, Malta and Turkey), the employment rate varied in 2001 from 50.7% in Bulgaria and 53.8% in Poland to 67.9% in Cyprus and 65.0% in the Czech Republic. The corresponding rates for women varied between 47.9% in Bulgaria and 58.6% in Slovenia. The employment rate rose in seven of the eleven candidate countries, only falling in Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland and Romania. The employment rate for women also rose in seven of the eleven candidate countries, only falling in Estonia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania.

Candidate countries showed a pattern of employment quite distinct from the EU, Eurostat says in analysing the figures from its survey: workers may be less often employed, but, if they are, they are more often on a permanent contract than in the EU. Candidate countries also showed a lower rate of part-time employment. Eurostat suggests that the sectoral breakdown of employment explains a part of these differences: while the proportion working in industry was very similar to EU figures, agriculture occupied 21% of employed persons in the eleven candidate countries compared with only 4% in the EU, and services accounted for 48% against 67% in the EU.

In 2001, the proportion of employees in total employment varied from 54% in Romania and 72% in Poland to 93% in Estonia and 91% in Slovakia. Concerning the percentage of employees with contracts of limited duration, the highest values among candidate countries were observed in Slovenia (13%) and Poland (12%) and the lowest in Estonia and Romania (3% each). All the eleven candidate countries were below the EU average of 13.4%.

"Enlarged EU must uphold social standards"

"Our employment and social standards are not optional extras," insisted Anna Diamantopoulou, European Commissioner responsible for Employment and Social Affairs, last week. Speaking at the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions in Dublin on 29 August, she said: "Our social models have been centre stage in Europe's continued economic and social progress. And will remain so into, and after, enlargement. Since the purpose of European integration is not only to bring countries together, but to bring people together." She added that enlargement offers the possibility to create not only the largest economic entity in the world, but a new multi-dimensional, multi-cultural global region. "This new enlarged Europe high in employment, strong in growth is now a realistic, and attainable, goal," she said. "Reflecting the aspirations of its people, especially the young, who, as a recent Eurobarometer poll shows, want a Europe based on solidarity and democratic values, and who put unemployment, exclusion and poverty at the top of their concerns."

Bulgaria "will not be forgotten"

Danish minister for European affairs and integration Bertel Haarder held talks with Bulgarian minister for European affairs Meglena Kuneva and Bulgarian minister of justice Anton Stankov during August. Haarder described the encounter as "good and rewarding". He said he received "confirmation that Bulgaria had made good progress in its preparations for accession to the EU, but some work still remains to be done before Bulgaria can become a member state of the EU." And his message to the two Bulgarian ministers was that the Danish Presidency of the EU "would not forget Bulgaria". ”Even though the country will not be able to complete the accession negotiations during the Danish EU Presidency, Bulgaria is still part of the enlargement process," he insisted, and promised that in December, the Copenhagen EU Council "will assure the people of Bulgaria that the enlargement process continues, also after up to ten countries have acceded to the EU. An updated time schedule for Bulgaria's continued negotiations, and increased pre-accession support are some of the concrete elements currently being considered," he said.

Stronger Northern Dimension link to enlargement

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland took part in the special meeting of the Northern Dimension in Ilulissat, Greenland, on 28 August. Alongside the EU member states, the European Commission and the other partner countries in the Northern Dimension - Norway, Iceland, and the Russian Federation - they discussed the priorities for a new action plan. No firm decisions were reached on the content of the plan, but a number of principles were agreed, including a clear link to EU enlargement: "The Northern Dimension should within its broad approach be used as a framework for reaping benefits for the entire region and consequently for Europe as a whole. The new action plan will also help avoid the creation of any new dividing lines, and allow full advantage to be taken of the opportunities offered by EU enlargement," according to the EU Presidency. There was also agreement on the merits of the Northern Dimension initiative: "The Northern Dimension area has the potential for rapid economic and social development. High growth rates have been achieved in the area in recent years. The scientific potential for developing leading industries is high. The region can make a significant contribution to the improvement of European competitiveness and growth," read the chairman's conclusions. The Presidency is to organise a high-level conference in October to agree more precise guidelines for the new action plan.

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