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EU News Flashes and Events for 96-05-31
From: News Distribution Manager <dist@hri.org>
CONTENTS
[01] Germany attacked on cartel body
[02] Visa and rival cards
[03] More information on Bremer Vulkan
[04] EU decision on Atlas mid July
[05] No split on competition policy
[06] Van Miert on state aid
[07] Vertical restraints paper
[08] Merger regulation before summer
[09] Banco di Napoli rescue plan June
[10] Aid in Danish shipbuilding
[11] UK baby milk does not name brands
[12] British beef ban easing
[13] Eight years for BSE research
[14] EU/WTO complaint on milk product
[15] Commission acts on SLOM
[16] Irish vet agency
[17] South Africa and British beef
[18] EU/U.S. copyright accord
[19] WTO procedure against Japan
[20] Germany warned on rising deficit
[21] Next EU forex grid to be sturdier
[22] EU attack over Cuba
[23] Inter-governmental conference
[24] Main EU events for May 31
[01] Germany attacked on cartel body
BRUSSELS - European Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert attacked Germany
fiercely at a news conference on Thursday over its call for a European cartel
office, saying he was fed up with political pressure from member states.
[02] Visa and rival cards
BRUSSELS - Van Miert said on Thursday that the European Commission could not
accept a plan by Visa International to ban its European bank members from
offering other credit cards.
[03] More information on Bremer Vulkan
BRUSSELS - Van Miert said on Thursday the European Commission needed detailed
information about the bankruptcy of German shipbuilder Bremer Vulkan AG.
[04] EU decision on Atlas mid July
BRUSSELS - The European Commission is likely to approve by the middle of July
the Atlas deal between Europe's largest telecoms operators Deutsche Telekom
and France Telecom and their alliance with Sprint Corp of the United States.
[05] No split on competition policy
BRUSSELS - Van Miert strongly rejected on Thursday talk of a split within the
Commission over European Union competition policy.
[06] Van Miert on state aid
BRUSSELS - Van Miert said on Thursday he was worried about the handling of
state aid in the European Union, suggesting that companies and member states
sometimes lied.
[07] Vertical restraints paper
BRUSSELS - The European Commission's green paper on distribution agreements or
vertical restraints has been delayed once more and Van Miert is now expecting
it to be adopted in the autumn.
[08] Merger regulation before summer
BRUSSELS - The European Commission is aiming to adopt a proposal amending the
merger regulation before the summer break, Van Miert said on Thursday.
[09] Banco di Napoli rescue plan June
BRUSSELS - The European Commission is expecting Italy to advise it towards the
end of June of plans to rescue Banco di Napoli, Van Miert said on Thursday.
[10] Aid in Danish shipbuilding
BRUSSELS - Van Miert said the Commission would not hesitate to demand money be
refunded if illegal aid had been given to the Danish shipbuilding industry.
[11] UK baby milk does not name brands
BRUSSELS - The European Commission said on Thursday that it had received a
report from Britain on its baby milk scare, but that it did not name the
brands that were found to contain chemicals that could impair fertility.
[12] British beef ban easing
BRUSSELS - European Union officials said on Thursday prospects had risen for
easing a worldwide ban on British beef exports next week, although it may be
years before the real risks to humans from mad cow disease are known.
[13] Eight years for BSE research
BRUSSELS - The European Commission has been told by independent scientists
that it could take up to eight years to find out for sure whether mad cow
disease can be transferred to humans. "They indicated their definitive
response to this question could not be given for five to eight years,"
European Union Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler said on Thursday.
[14] EU/WTO complaint on milk product
GENEVA - The European Union complained on Thursday that some countries were
barring British milk products, wrongly extending a worldwide ban on exports of
meat and meat products from Britain over "mad cow" disease.
[15] Commission acts on SLOM
BRUSSELS - The European Commission is likely to decide next Wednesday whether
to grant Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler powers to set compensation for dairy
farmers unfairly excluded from milk quota awards in 1984, an EU official said
on Thursday.
[16] Irish vet agency
BRUSSEL - EU farm ministers will decide later this year whether to allow the
setting up of an independent veterinary agency in Ireland, an EU official said
on Thursday.
[17] South Africa and British beef
BRUSSELS - South African Agriculture Minister Kraai van Niekerk will meet
British Agriculture Minister Douglas Hogg to discuss ways of resuming imports
of British beef, a South African ministerial aide said on Thursday.
[18] EU/U.S. copyright accord
BRUSSELS - The European Union hopes to hammer out an agreement with the United
States on intellectual property rights at the EU/U.S. summit in Washington
next month.
[19] WTO procedure against Japan
BRUSSELS - The European Union has filed a formal complaint with the World
Trade Organisation over Japan's attitude to international laws regarding
copyright of sound recordings, a spokesman said on Thursday.
[20] Germany warned on rising deficit
BRUSSELS - The European Union's monetary committee has warned Germany about
its rising budget deficit and recommended that EU finance ministers include
the country among those needing to bring their finances under control.
[21] Next EU forex grid to be sturdier
FRANKFURT - Alexandre Lamfalussy, the president of the European Monetary
Institute, said on Thursday that a successor to the European Union's currency
grid need not fall prey to the tumult that has dogged its forerunner.
[22] EU attack over Cuba
BRUSSELS - Washington's policy of punishing businesses trading with Cuba will
come under intense scrutiny next week when the European Union formally begins
consultations with the U.S. at the World Trade Organisation.
[23] Inter-governmental conference
BRUSSELS - Italy wants its end-of-presidency European Council in Florence to
give the inter-governmental conference a push. Silvio Fagiolo, chairman of the
foreign ministers' representatives group, said on Thursday that he hoped
European Union leaders would take the debate further than they have before
when they meet on June 21 and 22.
[24] Main EU events for May 31
DUBLIN - Commission President Santer meets Irish President Mary Robinson,
Prime Minister John Bruton, Employment Minister Richard Bruton and social
partners in the framework of his capital tour on the confidence pact for
employment (Friday).
BRUSSELS - Amnesty International holds news conference on "Freedom has been in
jail in China for seven years" at 0915 GMT (Saturday).
HONG KONG - Trade Commissioner Brittan meets Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten,
Legislative Council President Andrew Wong, Trade Secretary of State Denise
Yue, Secretary for Financial Services Rafael Hui (Saturday).
GENEVA - U.S. chairs meeting with Balkan leaders to discuss the peace process
in Bosnia (Sunday).
BERLIN - NATO foreign ministers three-day meeting begins. NATO Secretary
General Javier Solana meets Berlin Governing Mayor Diepgen at 1630 GMT
(Sunday).
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://www.cec.lu/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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