Week in Europe 8-14/10/01

19.10.2001 | Euroskop

Week in Europe 8-14/10/01

EU news in brief

Statement by European Commission President Romano Prodi on the military action against terrorism, Brussels, 7 October 2001

At this difficult, solemn and dramatic moment, all Europe stands steadfast with the United States and its coalition allies to pursue the fight against terrorism.

We are united, and will remain united, in this struggle against those who attack the very foundations of civilisation. Our fight is not against religions or peoples.

I have asked Chris Patten immediately to coordinate external actions for which the European Commission has responsibility.

Our assistance is already being mobilised to provide help to those who may be the innocent victims of this situation and to refugees escaping from the military action.

This is a moment for unity. The international community stands in solidarity in this struggle, resolved to build a future of peace and development for all peoples on Earth.

European Company Statute: Commission welcomes formal adoption

The European Commission has welcomed the formal adoption by the EU's Council of Ministers on 8 October of the Regulation to establish a European Company Statute (ECS) and of the related Directive concerning worker involvement in European Companies. The European Company (known by its Latin name of 'Societas Europaea' or SE) will now become a reality some 30 years after it was first proposed. The SE will give companies operating in more than one Member State the option of being established as a single company under Community law and so able to operate throughout the EU with one set of rules and a unified management and reporting system rather than all the different national laws of each Member State where they have subsidiaries. For companies active across the Internal Market, the European Company therefore offers the prospect of reduced administrative costs and a legal structure adapted to the Internal Market as a whole (see also MEMO/01/314).

[Background paper IP/01/1377]

Where patents and innovation meet

Innovators and businessmen with bright, new ideas do not just need access to proper financing. They also need adequate protection of intellectual property rights, so as to make the most of business opportunities, face the challenges of the knowledge-based economy and turn innovation into entrepreneurship. The joint European Commission - European Patent Office (EPO) "PATINNOVA / EPIDOS 2001" event will address patent-related issues in the digital economy: 600 professionals from the world of patents, innovation and information brokerage will gather from 15 to 18 October in Cardiff (United Kingdom). The conference will be accompanied by an exhibition open to the public. Professionals will be on hand from more than 50 organisations to answer questions. Training seminars, open to all, will run in parallel with the main event.

Find out more about it on:

www.patinnova.org

[Background paper IP/01/1379]

EURO-83: Commission report on euro changeover preparations shows glass is only half full and calls for fast implementation of 40 best practices

In a report addressed to the Ghent European Council the Commission focuses on what can be done over the next 83 days. As many as 40 best practices identified across the euro area are proposed to governments, banks and retailers with a view to making up lost ground and achieving a smooth changeover. By and large significant progress has been made since the Commission presented its last report (April 2001). But the situation is still rather uneven: the state of preparation varies appreciably between economic operators. While national administrations have nearly completed their preparations, local authorities do not appear to be as far advanced. Preparations by SMEs are also moving rather slowly, with significant numbers not sufficiently aware of deadlines or costs. General public awareness has improved considerably but remains insufficient overall. Pedro Solbes, the Commissioner for economic and monetary affairs said: "This report shows that significant progress has been made. We now know that the changeover will be quick. However, the follow-up to the terrorist attacks in the US has de facto diverted some of the attention of various actors involved from the euro changeover. But the euro is here and it is a concrete contribution of the European Union to global peace and stability. We must do our utmost to make the changeover as painless as possible".

[Background paper IP/01/1384]

EU humanitarian aid to Afghan people over EURO 300 million

The total amount of EU humanitarian aid (EU Member States and the European Commission) to alleviate the suffering of the Afghan people stands at €314 million, of which a third is managed directly by the Commission. The Commission is now asking the European Parliament and the Council to accelerate budgetary decisions on new provision of €25 million in humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan. There may be further requests in the coming weeks if the flux of refugees and internally displaced persons increases.

[Background paper IP/01/1381]

Commission funds medical assistance worth EURO 1.5 million for victims of the conflict in Afghanistan

The European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) has announced a further allocation of targeted humanitarian aid worth €1.5 million for victims of the crisis in Afghanistan, following the launch of military action by US and UK forces. Commenting on the decision, the Commissioner responsible for development and humanitarian aid, Poul Nielson stated: "By this decision, we are showing solidarity with the victims of the crisis. This focused action is designed to alleviate, as far as possible, the suffering of those caught up in the conflict. I call for humanitarian access to be guaranteed by the combatants."

[Background paper IP/01/1389]

"Competition and the Consumer - The Case of Pharmaceutical Products" - European Competition Day, Antwerp, 11 October

The fourth "European Competition Day" will take place in Antwerp on 11 October. This twice-yearly event, inaugurated in June 2000 in Lisbon at the initiative of Commissioner Mario Monti, is held under the auspices of the rotating Presidency of the European Union. The aim is to inform people about the practical measures taken by the competition authorities and how they benefit the public. Each Competition Day deals with a different subject, which is of particular interest to consumers. On 11 October the focus was on "Pharmaceutical products and competition".

[Background paper IP/01/1387]

Towards new EU rules on aviation security following the attacks

The terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on 11 September show that the Member States now all face the same terrorist threat and must therefore formulate a collective response based on common preventive measures. The European Commission believes the best way of meeting this challenge is to use the EU's powers which have already been proven in other sectors in which similar problems have arisen and to take action on aviation security as recommended by the European Council at its extraordinary meeting in Brussels on 24 September. The formula proposed covers the main measures developed within the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC). It is intended to ensure they are effectively and uniformly implemented throughout the European Union by incorporating into Community law a number of measures that until now were no more than cooperation arrangements. It also provides for a collective mechanism for the control of the proper application of these measures and creates the conditions for the rapid adoption of implementing measures. Lastly, the Commission also plans to propose international measures to be taken to ensure the protection of European Union citizens throughout the world.

[Background paper IP/01/1397]

Terrorist attacks: emergency measures for air transport

The European air transport industry has been hard hit by the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on 11 September. The European Union has therefore mobilised to tackle the most pressing problems. In addition to measures to tighten up security, the question arises as to the impact of the attacks on an air transport industry already in need of consolidation. In view of the magnitude of the crisis, the European Commission, on the initiative of Loyola de Palacio and Mario Monti, considered it justified to adopt certain emergency measures, for a temporary period, to deal with the exceptional circumstances in which the industry finds itself following the events of 11 September. In particular, the Commission considers that aid to compensate for the losses directly resulting from these exceptional circumstances is permissible. Moreover, the application of Community competition law allows account to be taken of changes in the economic context. The framework has several dimensions: possibilities of Community law (legislation on airport slots, State aid schemes), insurance problems, assumption of the additional costs of security and compensation for the direct losses suffered in the days following the attacks. It will enable Member States to act in concert and to avoid creating discriminatory situations. The Commission also intends to monitor developments closely and it will take rapid action should the current situation deteriorate.

[Background paper IP/01/1399]

A single European sky in 2004: towards a more efficient and safer airspace

The European Commission adopted a package of proposals on air traffic management designed to create a single European sky by 31 December 2004. This package sets out the objectives of the single European sky and its operating principles, based on six main lines of action: joint management of airspace; establishment of a strong Community regulator; gradual integration of civilian and military management; institutional synergy between the EU and Eurocontrol; introduction of appropriate modern technology; and better coordination of human resources policy in the air traffic control sector. In order to speed up its creation, the Commission also adopted three proposals concerning the first specific measures: provision of air navigation services, organisation and use of airspace and interoperability of equipment.

[Background paper IP/01/1398]

Euro 400 million from the EU Budget for foot-and-mouth disease in 2001

Four EU countries will receive advance payments worth euro 400 million from the EU Budget for veterinary measures taken in relation with foot-and-mouth disease in 2001. These payments are broken down as follows: euro 355 million for the United Kingdom, euro 39 million for the Netherlands, euro 3.3 million for France and euro 2.7 million for Ireland. The disbursements are equal to 60% of the eligible costs incurred by the Member States in compensating owners for the slaughter and destruction of animals, the destruction of milk, the cleaning and disinfecting of holdings, the destruction of contaminated feeding stuffs (Cf. 90/424/EEC: Council Decision of 26 June 1990 on expenditure in the veterinary field). These euro 400 million have been available through redeployment of funds within agricultural expenditures thanks to lower spending in some areas: arable crops (euro 50 million), dairy products (euro 250 million) and ewe and goat premiums (euro 100 million). The budgetary authority (Council and European Parliament) has approved the transfer proposed by Budget Commissioner Michaele Schreyer. "By carefully managing the budget, the Commission can make advance payments this year and, therefore, lessen the burden on the 2002 Budget," said Mrs Schreyer.

Court of Auditors' report on the management of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)

The European Court of Auditors published a report on the management of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The Commission's response is published in an annex to the report. The report covers the period 1997-1999 and follows the Court's opinion No 1/97 on the same subject. The Court recognises that notable improvements have been accomplished in recent years. According to the Court, unclear arrangements for the implementation of CFSP complicate day-to-day management. The Court recommends therefore adopting clear operational principles with the regard to the Commission's role in the implementation of the CFSP. Commissioner Patten welcomed the overall positive opinion and declared that "the Court's recommendations encourage the Commission to pursue its reform of the management of external programmes". We will shortly issue a communication on how to streamline the financing of CFSP in order to make it more operational and effective, particularly in crisis situations.

[Background paper IP/01/1411]

Commission marks World Standards Day with focus on Environment and Standards

On 14 October the International Standards Organisation will celebrate the World Standards Day, which this year is focusing on "the environment and standards: closer together". Pursuing environmental improvements through standards is also a top priority for the European Union. This day is a means of paying tribute to the collaborative efforts of all the experts around the world who develop technical specifications for the production of goods and services and for the management of processes. The Commission aims to provide leadership in this important field.

[Background paper IP/01/1408]

Philippe Busquin speaks at conference on new satellite capacity for global monitoring of the environment and security (GMES)

At a Belgian presidency conference next Monday, 15 October, European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin presented the Commission's initiative for building a new satellite-based capacity to monitor the environment and gather security-relevant information. The aim of the conference is to present the GMES concept and to discuss an action plan proposed jointly by the Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA). The conference's conclusions will feed into the EU Research (30 October) and Environment Councils (29 October) as well as to the ESA Council (14 and 15 November). GMES is an initiative to federate Earth observation satellite systems and capacities in order to deliver new and/or better information services in support of policies such environment, agriculture, civil protection, humanitarian relief or external relations. The Commission launched the initiative in 1998 jointly with European and national Space Agencies. Recently, other nations such as Russia have expressed an interest in participating. [Background speech SPEECH/01/462]

Commission services publish study on reform of tax and benefit systems in the Union

A research paper published by the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission concludes that while Member States have started to ease the tax burden on labour, progress on reforms has been unequal between tax and benefit systems: the emphasis has clearly been on the tax side while benefit reforms have mostly been relatively minor, and without adequate attention to the interaction between tax and benefit schemes. In view of the goal of full employment, to which the Union and the Member States are committed, it has become more urgent to speed up reforms of tax and benefit systems in order to increase labour supply and reduce structural unemployment. Further reforms aimed at making work pay should take a more comprehensive approach, including a review of the interaction between tax and benefit systems and their joint incentives to work. In general, further efforts are needed to reduce the overall generosity of benefit schemes, including eligibility rules, and to strengthen their interaction with active labour market policies in order to enhance the efficiency of active policies. This strategy could help to move people from benefit dependency to work, while preserving an adequate level of social protection for those in need. The full paper can be found on the DG ECFIN website:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/document/ecopap/ecp160en.htm

The music sector and Community policy: European conference in Brussels on 13 October 2001

The music sector has a bearing on Community policy in cultural, educational and social terms and also because of its economic importance. In the European Union, it is a highly competitive sector typified by its considerable diversity: it encompasses amateurs and professionals, large corporations and SMEs and combines an industrial and a cultural dimension. In order to analyse the developments in this sector, where new communication technologies have an increasingly important role to play, and explore ways in which Community policy can complement these changes, the Belgian Presidency, with the support of the European Commission, is organising a conference on music in Europe, which was held in Brussels on 13 October.

Enlargement news

Publication of an 'Enlargement Argumentaire' on the web

As EU enlargement draws closer, it is important that the public, in particular in the Member States and in the candidate countries, is well informed of the aspects and implications of accession. The integration of candidate countries into the EU will generate adjustments which need to be well understood and foreseen. For the candidate countries, the challenge is to adapt in the most beneficial way to the economic context of a highly developed integrated area with common rights and obligations. At the same time, the economies of present Member States will also be influenced, although to a relatively lesser extent, and the whole EU will have a broader dimension. This is the reason why the European Commission is developing a communications strategy for enlargement aimed at helping the people of Europe understand the rationale for enlargement, as well as the benefits it will bring and the challenges it poses. The Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs is contributing to this exercise with the publicationof an 'Enlargement Argumentaire'. It includes forty-two questions and answers which cover key economic issues underlying the integration process associated with enlargement. They focus on five themes mostly relevant at the EU level: general economic questions, economic and monetary union, employment and labour markets, agriculture, structural funds and budget. The full text of the 'Enlargement Argumentaire' can be found on the DG ECFIN website:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/document/enlargement/elp05en.pdf

Michaele Schreyer addresses top financial controllers in Tallinn

European Budget Commissioner Michaele Schreyer recalled that financial control is a key chapter of the enlargement negotiations while she opened the 4th annual meeting of the 'Contact Group for European Financial Control Organisations' in Tallinn (Estonia). Mrs Schreyer also stressed that in financial matters legislation is nothing without implementation. "European taxpayers want the assurance that their money is spent in an effective and efficient way," she added. This year's meeting will concentrate on internal audit and risk management. Financial control organisations of the 13 EU Candidate Countries (10 Central and Eastern European Countries, Cyprus, Malta and Turkey) and of 15 EU Member States together meet under the auspices of the Commission every year since 1998. Mrs Schreyer will also meet the Finance Minister of Estonia, Mr Siim Kallas, and the Auditor General, Mr Juhan Parts, of the State Audit Office.

Candidate Countries to be involved in the Media Plus Programme

At a meeting with candidate countries ministers responsible for audiovisual policy Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for culture and audiovisual policy, announced that the implementation of Community law, particularly the provisions of the Television without Frontiers Directive has been judged as satisfactory in ten candidate countries and that the negotiating chapter on culture and audiovisial policy (Chapter 20) has been tentatively closed with them. This applies to Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Mrs Reding declared: ”In 2002, nine candidates (the above ten without Malta) will participate in the Media Plus Programme in 2002. This is an important event and we are all happy to see it. After decades of separation, European film industries will meet again and audiences in each country will have easier access to the works of foreign film industries.” The Media Plus project involves 27 countries, is a specific expression of the massive return of European film, and opens up new horizons of cooperation in the service of culture and European audiovisual policy.

High priority for enlargement in new TENs guidelines

Planned adaptations to the European Union's trans-European transport networks will help build links to the candidate countries. The European Commission proposed on October 3 to refocus the programme, and one of the key objectives is to ease contacts with the prospective member states. "The network will provide links to countries bordering the EU and in particular create a bridge to the candidate countries", says the Commission proposal.

An updated list of EU priority projects includes the Eastern European high-speed train/combined transport system, and improved navigability on the Danube. The Commission is also proposing to double the level of EU financing in candidate countries for all cross-border transport projects designed to reduce bottlenecks and improve infrastructure safety.

The Commission's justification for the new high-speed rail/road project is that west-east links between the member states and the candidate countries are largely underdeveloped. Because trade with these countries is generating significant and increasing traffic flows, there is a need for better infrastructure. This upgrading of the East-West route would be a positive signal for enlargement and encourage the modal rebalancing that is urgently needed, says the Commission. By transferring part of the road traffic on a rapidly developing West-East corridor, it will help prepare for enlargement.

The proposed modification of the TENS projects reinforces some of the priorities set out in the Commission's recent White Paper on Transport, which also highlighted the importance of EU links to the candidates. A further step is already in prospect for 2004: to redefine the TENS guidelines in order to prepare the trans-European network for 2020-2025 in an enlarged EU.

Other news

Candidate countries' backing for the EU battle to control arms was acknowledged by European External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten when he spoke to the European Parliament last week. "As Parliament is already aware, the associated countries of central and eastern Europe, Cyprus, Turkey, Malta, and our EEA/EFTA partners have issued declarations through which they align themselves with the criteria and the principles contained in the European Union's Code of Conduct on Arms Exports", he pointed out. The EU has continued to assist the candidates in their efforts to bring their legislation and administration fully into line with the provisions of the code, he added.

According to the latest figures from Eurostat, the EU's statistical service, the candidate countries continued to record positive growth rates in the first quarter of 2001 - apart from Turkey, where growth fell from +8.3% to -1.9%. But seven of the candidates recorded lower rates than in the final quarter of 2000. Romania displayed the greatest improvement in growth (1.3% to 4.8%) while Latvia enjoyed the highest quarterly growth rate (8.2%). The combined growth rate of the candidates (excepting Malta and Turkey) remained constant, at 3.3%, while that of the EU-15 fell from 2.9% to 2.5%. The growth of the thirteen candidates fell steeply (from 5.1% to 1.5%) due to Turkey's high weighting in this group.

The EU's Economic and Social Committee has developed a presentation pamphlet in the official languages of the applicant countries on what it does and how it is involved in EU enlargement discussions

(http://www.esc.eu.int/pages/Enlarg/present/pres_esc_en.htm).

To boost the fight against trafficking in human beings and to strengthen operational cooperation between police forces, the Belgian Presidency of the EU, in association with existing and candidate member states, has organised an exercise - codenamed "Operation High Impact" - as a dry-run for the policing of the future external borders of the European Union. The ten candidate countries of central and eastern Europe are hosting police force delegations from the member states. Malta, Cyprus and Turkey are observers. Europol is coordinating and analysing the results.