The Week in Europe 28/10-5/11/02

15.11.2002 | Euroskop

The Week in Europe 28/10-5/11/02

EU news in brief

"Seize opportunity to build strong CAP before it is too late", Franz Fischler urges after Brussels Summit

Speaking at the AGRA EUROPE Conference in Brussels, Franz Fischler, European Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries, stressed that last week's Brussels Summit was a success. "The deal on financing opens the way for EU enlargement. This is good news for Europe. For European agriculture, the decisions mean the following. We now have a clear idea of the farm budget available in the future. For me, this means a clear mandate to try and guarantee a long-term planning security for our agriculture. We now also know that the milk reform and all other upcoming reforms, as well as a part of the direct payments for the new Member States, will have to be financed out of this fixed budget. On the other hand, the means for rural development have not been restricted. On the contrary, the Heads of States have even reminded us of the importance of support for less favoured areas. Concerning the timing of the implementation of the Mid-Term Review (MTR), the Commission will fully respect the wishes of the Heads of States. But the fundamental issues and the aims that were addressed in the MTR remain unchanged. We now must put these aims into the perspective of the new financial framework. I am convinced that if we do not act quickly, the gap between our ambitious policy objectives and what the CAP delivers to consumers, citizens and farmers would grow further. And sooner or later it would become unsustainable. We must therefore seize the opportunity to build a strong and sustainable Common Agricultural Policy before it is too late," Fischler said.

[Background paper IP/02/1565]

Enlargement becomes an early reality as candidate countries sign 6th EU Research Framework Programme

On 29 October 2002 in Brussels, the European Commission and Candidate Countries (CCs) signed association agreements on the €17.5 billion 6th EU Research Framework Programme (FP6 2003-2006). Commission President Romano Prodi, Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin and Enlargement Commissioner Günther Verheugen welcomed Research Ministers from Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Turkey, to sign Memoranda of Understanding. Participants also discussed the role and opportunities for Candidate Countries in FP6. Candidate Countries will have the same rights and obligations as EU Member States within FP6. Research will therefore be the first area in which EU enlargement becomes a reality. For further information on Candidate Countries participation in FP5 (1998-2002):

http://www.cordis.lu/fp5/enlargement.htm

and www.cordis.lu/candidate_countries

Information on FP6:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/fp6/index_en.html

[Background paper IP/02/1559]

Recognition of professional qualifications: four Member States before the Court

The Commission has decided to bring proceedings before the Court of Justice against Austria, Greece, Portugal and Finland in order to uphold European law in the field of recognition of professional qualifications. In Austria, the rules governing access to posts of sickness insurance fund doctors favours candidates domiciled or resident in the geographical area of the fund concerned. Again in Austria, three paramedical professions can be exercised only by persons in paid employment. In Greece, the conditions laid down for companies operating opticians' shops are too restrictive. Finally, Greece, Portugal and Finland have not communicated the measures transposing Directive 1999/42/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications relating to certain industrial, commercial and craft activities. The Commission decisions are intended to ensure that persons who, according to European law, possess the qualifications and/or the appropriate experience are not deprived of the right to exercise their profession and to become established anywhere in the European Union. Moreover, defending the free movement of qualified persons ensures that undertakings and citizens in the host country really do have access to such services, thereby promoting the dissemination of best practice and innovative ideas.

[Background paper IP/02/1572]

Radioactive waste management: Commission supports co-ordination of European research

The European Commission has launched a project to create a network of major radioactive waste management organisations across Europe. This project aims to improve the co-operation on research for disposal of radioactive waste. The project is of significance as it will see seven EU Member States (Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom) and Switzerland working collaboratively in the Net.Excel network. As a result, the participants will enhance the quality of research, and be able to make more efficient and co-ordinated decisions in the field of radioactive waste management. Sharing research in underground laboratories in Europe will be an important component in the project. The network will strengthen EU competence in dealing with the disposal of spent fuel or high-level radioactive waste.

For further information on EU nuclear research and Euratom please visit:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/energy/fi/fi_en.html

[Background paper IP/02/1570]

Data protection at work: Commission proposes new EU framework to European social partners

The Commission has launched a second formal consultation of social partners on an initiative to improve protection of workers' personal data throughout the EU. The Commission proposes to the European-level social partner organisations (including UNICE, ETUC, UEAPME, CEC and Eurocadres) a set of principles and rules governing treatment of personal data at work in order to provide clear and comprehensive guidance to employers and workers about their rights and obligations in this field. The Commission decision covers a range of specific questions related to data protection at the workplace, which were originally identified in the Commission's first consultation of social partners on this subject in August 2001, including treatment of sensitive information, such as health data, drug testing and genetic testing data, and monitoring of workers' e-mails and internet use. Following this Commission consultation, the social partners now have an indicative period of six weeks in which to comment on the Commission's proposals, or they may decide to take up the matter themselves, independently of the Commission, with a view to establishing their own EU-wide initiative in this area.

[Background paper IP/02/1593]

Commission launches major public consultation on the future of European co-operation in education, training and youth

Viviane Reding, Member of the European Commission responsible for Education and Culture, has launched a large-scale public consultation process on the development of new European education, training, and youth programmes after 2006, when the existing Socrates, Tempus, Leonardo da Vinci and Youth programmes expire. The basis for the consultation is a document which summarises what has been achieved so far through European programmes in the field, outlines the important policy developments which have occurred since the Lisbon European Council in 2000, and calls for responses on thirteen key issues divided into three sections: the type of action to be supported after 2006; the geographical span of the programmes; the structure of the new generation of programmes. The present document is addressed to all authorities, institutions, associations, social partners and individuals with a direct or indirect interest in the field at European level, in the EU Member States and other countries including the EEA and candidate countries. The results of the consultation will be fed into the legislative proposals for new programmes that the Commission will prepare in late 2003. The consultees are invited to send their replies via online response form by 28 February 2003. The consultation document is available in the 11 official EU languages at:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/newprogconsult.html

Eurostat news releases

Flash estimate - October 2002: Euro-zone inflation estimated at 2.2%

Euro-zone annual inflation is expected to be 2.2% in October 2002, up from 2.1% in September 2002, according to a flash estimate issued today by Eurostat.

[Background paper STAT/02/128]

Enlargement news

Enlargement at top of the Commission plans for 2003

The European Commission's legislative and work programme for 2003 - unveiled last week - puts enlargement right up at the top of the list of priorities. "The programme shows how the Commission will work for a successful enlargement of the European Union, contribute towards stability and security for EU citizens, and continue making progress towards a sustainable and inclusive EU economy. This follows the Commission's recommendation earlier this month that the European Union enlarge to 25 member states in 2004", it said in a statement.

Commission President Romano Prodi insisted: "Making a success of EU enlargement is the historic task faced by our generation. Earlier this month, we recommended that the EU should welcome ten new states in 2004. Now the Commission is setting out what it will do in 2003 to make that a reality. Enlargement preparations are vital. To ensure that the enlarged Union is successful, we are also prioritising stability and security and the sustainable and inclusive economy." Specific activities listed in the plan under "Enlargement preparations" include: "assist and monitor candidate countries' preparations for accession; prepare the Commission to serve an enlarged EU effectively from day one of accession; review Community policies so that they respond to the needs of an enlarged European Union."

The Commission President will formally present the Legislative and Work Programme to the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 18 November and to the European Parliament on 20 November 2002.

See IP/02/1590

Presidency spells out summit results

"We managed to reach an agreement among the present member states at the meeting of the European Council on Friday", EU Council President Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced when he addressed the senior figures from the candidate countries in Copenhagen on October 28. "Reaching an agreement among the 15 member states was not easy". Listing the results of the Brussels Council, he told candidate country leaders: "Our meeting marks the beginning of the final round of the enlargement negotiations". And, he went on, "the enlargement process continues after the European Council in Copenhagen for those candidate countries that will not be able to be part of the first round of accession".

"You know that a number of member states questioned the need for a decision now. You know that some member states did not agree to the proposal on direct payments, the sum for structural funds and principle of budgetary compensation. To this you should add the main difficulty - that is the link to the future development of the CAP", said the Danish Prime Minister. But "We needed an offer" to emerge from the discussion among EU leaders at the Brussels summit "so that you, the candidates, should not be placed in a situation where there was no time to negotiate", he said.

On the most sensitive issue, the financial package, the European Council decided to follow the main elements of the proposal by the Presidency and the Commission, he said: "On direct payments, the European Council decided on the offer proposed by the Commission: that is, phasing in beginning in 2004 with 25 per cent and ending in 2013. On structural and cohesion funds, the Council agreed on a total sum of € 23 billion. That is, as you will know, somewhat less than the original Commission proposal for a total sum of € 25.5 billion. This should, however, also be seen in the light of the fact that the European Council confirmed the principle of budgetary compensation using 2003 as the reference point. This makes it clear that no new member state will find itself worse off in budgetary terms in the years just after accession than in the year before accession."

Mr Rasmussen told candidate countries he perceived "a sincere wish" among all EU member states "to stick to the timetable and to make the compromises that are necessary" - and "That is a very encouraging signal" in the run-up to Copenhagen, he said. But he did warn that "the room for manoeuvre in the final phase of the negotiations is very limited when it comes to the overall financial package. The European Council confirmed that the ceiling for enlargement set out in Berlin must be respected. And the difficult negotiations leading to the offer on direct payments make it very unlikely that the European Council in Copenhagen should be able to arrive at another result than the offer on direct payments agreed in Brussels. I would therefore like to reiterate what I have said to most of you individually on previous occasions: please concentrate less on direct payments and more on other elements such as quotas".

Business charter progress in candidate countries

Education and training for entrepreneurship has received a boost in the Czech Republic since last year, according to responses to an EU questionnaire. As part of the process of implementing the European Charter for Small Enterprises, candidate countries have been asked to indicate progress across the key areas covered by the Charter - which aims to help the authorities create an entrepreneurial climate that will allow small firms to create jobs and growth.

The Czech Republic says education and training for entrepreneurship has improved, with more emphasis on the needs and requirements of small and medium-sized enterprises in study materials for colleges, technical schools and universities. The Czech response also claims that its legislation has been adapted to ease fast and cheap set-up of new companies, with new provisions recently introduced such as for electronic signature, or the creation of a new government programme in support of small and medium-sized enterprises - START - which will provide loans on advantageous terms, providing beneficiaries have taken one of the new basic business courses set up by the government. And increasingly the internet is being used as a vehicle for business communication: already it incorporates the VAT payer register, excise tax payer register, a selection of tax laws including certain bills, all types of tax returns and information on tax payment, and double taxation treaties, and progress is being made towards being able to file tax returns in electronic format.

The Czech Republic says it is brining itself in line with EU internal market reforms so as to ensure a climate that is friendly to small businesses. In addition to longer-term co-operation, more recent specific changes listed by the Czech authorities include an update to the rules on Anti-Monopoly Protection, which, among other things, provides for the EU competition law concept of de minimis agreements for the first time. And business- and innovation-related information is being circulated more effectively through the use of new technologies, and with the assistance of new programmes - such as a Phare-funded programme designated "Transfer", providing € 4 million for the regions of north-west Bohemia and Moravia-Silesia.

Based on the information from the Czech Republic and the other candidates, the European Commission will publish its first Charter Report on the region in January 2003, at the same time as the Report on EU member states. The candidate countries endorsed the European Charter in Maribor, Slovenia, in April 2002, and during the summer bilateral meetings between the Commission and national authorities took place to help prepare this input to the report. These individual national responses to the Commission questionnaire can be seen at

http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/enterprise_policy/enlargement/charter_ccs_2003.htm

Getting a grip on financial control

How to switch checking methods from pre-accession aid to post-accession aid was at the top of the agenda when candidate country officials took part in the fifth meeting of the contact group for European financial control organisations in Malta last week. Michaele Schreyer, European Commissioner for Budget, and Fiorini Lowell, the secretary to the Cabinet of the Maltese prime minister, opened the meeting in Valletta, that brought together representatives from the candidate countries and the EU member states. The group is a platform designed to allow the candidate countries to work with the 15 EU member states: it helps to clarify concepts and share experience in public internal financial control and audit. Experts exchange information on financial control and audit methodology. The group - which is supported by the Commission's Budget directorate general - also gives an impetus to research and studies related to financial control. The subject matter may appear esoteric: the first day of this meeting focused on "the criteria for management and control of EU financial aid in the transition from EU-aid prior to accession to EU financial assistance after accession", and the second day was devoted to "the improvement of the effectiveness of the member states' and the Commission's control responsibilities by developing 'joint audits of the Traditional Own Resources'." But the reality is very simple: EU money - EU taxpayers' money - has to be spent appropriately, according to the rules laid down. So adequate checks have to be made to ensure that the rules are being followed - in the current member states and the candidate countries - and in the new member states too, when they join.

Clarifying candidate countries' role in EU defence policy

In addition to the major decisions the Brussels summit took on EU enlargement, it also moved further ahead with the EU's own Common European Security and Defence Policy - and on how, among other things, this relates to the EU candidate countries. In an annex to the Brussels conclusions, EU leaders set out how they had agreed to put into effect the provisions in the Nice Treaty on involving "the non-EU European allies" - that is, the EU candidates already in NATO (Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Turkey), as well as the other two European NATO members not in the EU (Iceland and Norway). The EU will have permanent and continuing consultations with the non-EU European allies, says the annex, covering the full range of security, defence and crisis management issues. Additional meetings will be arranged as required, it says, in particular in advance of meetings of the EU's Political and Security Committee and Military Committee "where decisions may be taken on matters affecting the security interests of the non-EU European allies". The arrangements, which have been particularly tailored to overcome concerns initially raised by Turkey in the context of EU access to NATO assets, also make provision for relations in the context of EU-led operations and exercises, and for taking part in them and their planning.