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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 97-03-25
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
MIDDAY EXPRESS
News from the Spokesman's midday briefing
Nouvelles du rendez-vous de midi du Porte-Paroleb
25/03/97
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Commission clears a merger concerning Birmingham International Airport
[02] Eurobarometer: Central and Eastern European candidate countries see
their future increasingly linked to the EU
[01] Commission clears a merger concerning Birmingham International Airport
The European Commission has authorised a joint venture through which the
two companies which are active in the operation and management of
Birmingham International Airport, Birmingham International Airport Ltd. and
Eurohub (Birmingham) Ltd., will in the future be jointly controlled by the
seven District Councils of the British West Midlands on the one hand, and
Aer Rianta International cpt and NatWest Ventures Ltd of the National
Westminster Bank group on the other hand. The Commission has concluded
that there is neither creation nor strengthening of a dominant position as
a result of the proposed operation and has, therefore, decided not to
oppose it.
[02] Eurobarometer: Central and Eastern European candidate countries see
their future increasingly linked to the EU
The new Eurobarometer which has done a 20 country survey of public opinion
in Central and Eastern Europe shows that 40% of people in the candidate
countries see their future increasingly linked with Europe and only 17%
favour closer ties with the United States. With the exception of the
Baltics, all countries show majorities in favour of EU membership, with
Romania (80%) and Poland (70%) taking the lead. Decision-makers/opinion-
formers are generally much more positive (80%) about the EU than the
general public (49%). With regard to the overall situation, 43% in the
candidate countries believe that their country is now going in the right
direction which is a 6% increase from last year. In the CIS, this figure
is only 20%.
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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