The Week in Europe 3-9/06/02

13.06.2002 | Euroskop

EU news in brief

Commission proposes simplifying and modernising the provision of company information

The European Commission has presented a proposal to modify the First Company Law Directive (68/151/EEC) to make company information more easily and rapidly available to the public while at the same time simplifying the disclosure formalities required from companies. The proposed modifications would allow full advantage to be taken of modern technology. Companies would be able to file their documents and particulars either by paper means or by electronic means. Interested parties would be able to obtain copies by either means. Companies would continue to file their documents and particulars in the language(s) of their Member State but would be able voluntarily to file the same information in other EU languages, in order to improve cross-border access. These amendments are based on recommendations issued in 1999 by a "Simplification of Legislation on the Internal Market" (SLIM) working group.

[Background paper IP/02/798]

Financial reporting: Commission proposes to update accounting rules for the 21st century

The European Commission has presented a proposal for a Directive amending the existing European Union Accounting Directives. The proposal brings existing EU rules into line with current best practice. It complements the International Accounting Standards (IAS) Regulation, due for final adoption by the Council in the next few days, that requires all EU companies listed on a regulated market to use IAS from 2005 onwards and allows Member States to extend this requirement to all companies (see IP/02/417 and IP/02/200). The amendments now proposed to the Accounting Directives would allow Member States which do not apply IAS to all companies to move towards similar, high quality financial reporting. They would allow appropriate accounting for special-purpose vehicles, improve the disclosure of risks and uncertainties and increase the consistency of audit reports across the EU. The proposal is an important element in the Financial Services Action Plan (see IP/00/1269), endorsed by the Lisbon European Council as a key element of the creation of an integrated financial services market. It is also in line with the strategy outlined in the Commission's June 2000 Communication on the future of financial reporting in Europe (see IP/00/606).

[Background paper IP/02/799]

European Union ratifies the Kyoto Protocol

The European Union ratified the Kyoto Protocol on 31 May. This act reaffirms the commitment of the EU and all its Member States to pursue multilateral solutions to issues of global concern. As the ratification papers were deposited at the UN Headquarters in New York, the European Union was represented by the Spanish President of the Environment Council, Jaume Matas, and EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström, as well as several EU environment ministers. These events fulfil the EU's ambition to enable the Kyoto Protocol to come into force before the World Summit on Sustainable Development in August/September 2002. The EU calls on other major Parties to ratify as soon as possible and continues to urge the United States to participate in the global framework for addressing climate change. (See MEMO/02/120 for background information on the Kyoto Protocol and climate change)

[Background paper IP/02/794]

EU Farm Commissioner Fischler in Moscow: "Russia and the EU: Partners in peace, partners in trade"

Speaking to the press in Moscow, Franz Fischler, EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries, hailed the effort made by the Russian people to restructure their economic system. "Russia has come a long way, including in the farm sector, and the European Union (EU) recognises the progress that has been made. The EU has played its part by providing 70 billion roubles (€ 2.4 billion) to assist the restructuring process, from which 4.3 billion roubles (€ 153 million) went to the Russian farm sector. I think that in the future TACIS money could usefully be directed in particular to support the development of institutions providing credit for investment by farmers, because more investments are key to further improve quality and productivity," he pointed out.

[Background paper IP/02/804]

Better consultation and accountability: modernisation plan for clearer and better European legislation

President Romano Prodi proposed a first set of initiatives to fulfil the commitment of the White Paper on European Governance to make the European Institutions work better. This can be done already now without requiring any change to the European Treaties. It is about doing better what the EU has to do, not about new powers or rules. The initiatives will enhance the openness and efficiency of the EU's working methods, complementing the Commission's proposals to the Convention on the future of the EU. The Commission calls on the other institutions and Member States to join it in this initiative by playing their part fully in making the EU's legislative process more accessible and accountable. An Action Plan on Better Regulation will improve and simplify the EU's regulatory environment by making legislation more targeted and lighter. In order to improve general access by citizens to information on the various stages of the legislative process, the Commission will, together with the other institutions, improve the Internet service 'Eur Lex' (available on following web site:

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/index.html)

A database will provide information on the various bodies currently consulted, giving a picture of how consultation of civil society can be structured. The database also provides information on civil society organisations, and is available on the Europa web site:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/civil_society/coneccs/index_en.htm

The 259 reactions to the White Paper on European Governance can be viewed at http://europa.eu.int/comm/governance/index_en.htm. That web site will also contain information on the consultation process on minimum consultation standards.

[Background paper IP/02/825]

Commission proposes new Directive on exploitation of public sector information

The European Commission presented a proposal for a Directive aiming to facilitate the re-use of public sector information throughout Europe. The aim is to lower the barriers which Europe's content companies face as they develop a new generation of information services and products based on public sector information. The result should decrease the gap between European companies and their counterparts in the US, where a single set of rules has helped stimulate a market several times larger than in the EU. "Better exploitation of public sector information will lead to increased activity and job creation in Europe's digital content industry, which is largely composed of SMEs," says Erkki Liikanen, European Commissioner for the Information Society. "It will also benefit the citizen, creating a range of added-value information products that the public sector itself cannot provide."

[Background paper IP/02/814]

Commission welcomes Council agreement on proposed Pension Funds Directive

The European Commission has warmly welcomed the political agreement reached at the Council of Economics and Finance Ministers on the substance of the proposal for a pension funds Directive. The proposed Directive on institutions for occupational retirement provision (pension funds, superannuation schemes, etc) was put forward by the Commission in October 2000 (see IP/00/1141 and MEMO/00/62). The aim is to create at the level of the European Union a prudential framework strong enough to protect the rights of future pensioners and to increase the affordability of occupational pensions. The proposal for a Directive also seeks to enable an institution in one Member State to manage company pension schemes in other Member States. The Council should now be able swiftly to reach a full common position.

[Background paper IP/02/820]

Asia-Europe Meeting: Foreign Ministers to Deepen Political Dialogue

Foreign Ministers from the 15 EU member states, and ten Asian countries met in Madrid on 6 and 7 June. The European Commission was represented by External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten. This was the first of three key ministerial meetings this year, leading up to the ASEM Summit in Copenhagen in September: finance ministers will meet in July and economic ministers in September. The tasks of this meeting are preparation of the Summit, and the deepening of political dialogue covering a wide range of topics.

For further information see:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/asean/intro/index.htm

http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/asem/intro/index.htm

http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/asem/cluster/index.htm

[Background paper IP/02/821]

World Environment Day: EU citizens worried about global environment trends

According to a special Eurobarometer Survey carried out in the fifteen Member States and released by the European Commission to coincide with World Environment Day, concern about the future of the environment remains high among European citizens. The survey shows that the vast majority of Europeans are worried about trends in areas like environment and health, nature and wildlife protection, waste and climate change. 7,500 citizens from all 15 Member States were interviewed for the survey between 6 and 15 April 2002. The full results of the Flash Eurobarometer "Sustainable Development and environmental concerns of Europeans" are available on the web site of DG Environment:

http://europe.eu.int/comm/environment/barometer/index.htm

[Background paper IP/02/826]

Eurostat news releases

Euro-zone unemployment up to 8.3%, EU15 up to 7.6%

According to the latest Eurostat report, Euro-zone seasonally-adjusted unemployment rose to 8.3% in April 2002 from 8.2% in March. It was 8.0% in April 2001. The EU15 unemployment rate was 7.6% in April compared to 7.5% in March. It was 7.4% in April 2001.

In April 2002, lowest rates were registered in Luxembourg (2.2%), the Netherlands (2.7% in March), Austria (4.0%), Denmark (4.1% in March), Portugal and Ireland (4.4% each). Spain's 11.3% remained the EU's highest rate.

[Background paper STAT/02/67]

Enlargement news

Commission encourages candidate countries to further develop their administrative capacity

EU enlargement negotiations are progressing satisfactorily and so far candidate countries are generally meeting their commitments in the negotiations, in accordance with the agreed timetables. Meanwhile, the candidate countries need to further develop their administrative and judicial capacity to be able to properly implement and enforce the rules and standards of the European Union upon accession. To achieve this goal, the Commission has drawn up individual Action Plans jointly with each negotiating country concerned, which are now being implemented. At the initiative of Enlargement Commissioner Günter Verheugen, the European Commission adopted a report which provides a detailed overview on the issues covered by the Action Plans and expresses confidence that the candidates will be able to make convincing progress in the months to come. It is important that candidate countries make full use of the opportunities offered by the Action Plans, and speed up their efforts along those lines.

[Background paper IP/02/813]

EIB loan for Masaryk University in Brno

The European Investment Bank, the European Union's project financing bank, is lending € 95 million to the Czech Republic for the expansion and modernisation of Masaryk University in Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic, and also the second largest centre of education in the country. The loan will help finance the development of a new university campus on a site near an existing teaching hospital on the periphery of Brno, where the university's faculty of medicine and the chemistry and biology departments of the faculty of science will relocate. Part of the loan will also help upgrading existing university buildings and financing the acquisition of state-of-the-art teaching and research equipment. The investments are intended to make it possible to teach a growing number of students, expand the range of courses and research activities and increase the quality of education. The upgrading of existing facilities will help preserve the historical buildings to be vacated in the city centre, and further the architectural heritage. In 1999 the European Investment Bank extended its financing of health and education projects to the candidate countries, and early involvement with the project presented by Masaryk University was one of EIB's first experiences in the region in the human capital sector.

The loan brings total EIB financing in the Czech Republic since 1993 close to € 3 billion. The largest projects financed so far were in particular the modernisation of the main railway lines; the extension and upgrading of the road and motorway networks; the expansion of the telecommunications network; the rehabilitation and extension of municipal infrastructure; the implementation of environment protection schemes; and the reconstruction of flood damaged infrastructure. A growing number of small and medium-scale industrial and tourism ventures, as well as some smaller municipal infrastructure and environmental schemes were financed through several global loans, in the form of credit lines, to local commercial banks. Since 1990, the EIB has lent nearly € 17 billion for projects in the ten central and eastern European candidate countries.

For more information on the EIB loan, see http://www.eib.eu.int/pub/press/2002/2002-028.htm Find out more about the Masaryk University, Brno on http://www.muni.cz/

Candidates win golden stars for town twinning projects

Town twinning projects involving municipalities in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland, and Turkey are among the recipients of EU "Golden Stars of Town Twinning" awarded last week. Since 1993 the EU has given annual prizes for exceptional projects supported by its town twinning fund. The winners of these 2001 awards include the city of Egiros in Greece for a meeting with municipalities from Turkey (Kesan, Edirne) and Bulgaria (Topolovgrad); the Swedish town of Borlänge for inviting Czech citizens from Prostejov representing different walks of life (politicians, civil servants, the business community, youth, cooks, dancers, the theatre, musicians, as well as people from different associations) to participate in exchanges under the motto "Towards a multicultural Europe"; the city of Sint-Michielsgestel for organising a Dutch-Polish pedagogical exchange with its Polish twin-town Buk, with a focus on urban issues and social, health, and care services; the Polish town of Sepopol for its project "Small twin towns as a major factor to support European integration at the local level", carried out together with its German twin town Lagerdorf; and the Lithuanian town of Panevezys for organising the "International Panevezys Children and Youth Arts Festival".

EP committee backs phasing-in of farm subsidies to new member states

The European Parliament's agriculture committee is backing the European Commission's proposals to phase in subsidies to farmers in the new member states over a ten-year period. In an own-initiative report drawn up by Swedish liberal MEP Karl Erik Olsson and adopted unanimously last week, it describes this as a "reasonable option" and considers the Commission's proposals for integrating the new member states into the common agricultural policy "a realistic proposal for a negotiating package". The committee says that applying the full levels of aid currently paid to farmers in the EU-15 to the new member states as soon as they join would create an imbalance between agricultural and non-agricultural incomes in rural areas in the applicant countries. It also fears that "an excessive influx of cash as a result of direct payments" would allow low productivity to persist and discourage investment. Instead, it believes priority must go to supporting rural development. The report endorses the Commission's proposal for a simplified system of area payments and believes the applicant countries should be allowed to make top-up national payments, under certain conditions. It is also keen to ensure that countries that have already reduced output levels whilst becoming competitive are not penalised and wants the special support for subsistence farming proposed by the Commission to be available to farmers seeking to diversify. On CAP reform, however, the committee urges the Commission to start talking to the applicant countries now about the direction of farm policy after 2007. The Parliament's June plenary session in Strasbourg will debate the resolution.

For full draft report, see the site of the EP Agricultural Committee on

http://www.europarl.eu.int/meetdocs/committees/agri/20020527/444087en.pdf

"Candidates do not meet political criteria," says van der Laan

"Countries that do not respect human rights are not welcome in the EU," Dutch member of the European Parliament Lousewies van der Laan argued last week in Prague. "The assertion that the so-called Copenhagen political criteria are currently fulfilled by 12 of the 13 candidates is nonsense." The European Commissions regular reports make it clear that many problems remain in the area of fundamental rights, she said - yet still the 15 member states repeat that they wish to stick to the timetable for accession in 2004 by 10 countries. "This makes a mockery of the criteria," said van der Laan, and "it also confirms to our citizens that we do not take their concerns about enlargement seriously. In the long run this attitude will threaten the enlargement process." Speaking at the EU Information Centre, van der Laan said she had voted against Cyprus membership last year because of discrimination against homosexuals in the Cypriot legislation, and she pointed out that the same laws exist in Hungary. In addition many applicant countries have persistent problems with discrimination, corruption and pre-trial arrests, she went on. Unless it is made clear that these problems need to be resolved before membership, the EU will lose the capability to improve the human rights situation, she warned. "We should hold them to the previously agreed criteria, notably the political ones. Human rights are not negotiable," she said.