|
|
|
European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 97-06-02
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
02/06/97
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Jacques Santer confiant que la France poursuivra son action déterminée
pour l'Europe
[02] Commission agrees measures to curb Norwegian salmon dumping
[03] Inaugural session of the European Green Forum on 5 June: "A commitment
for the future"
[04] EU Ministers back better market access for world's poorest countries
[05] Franz Fischler: "Greater separation of market and income policy needed
in a modern agricultural policy"
[01] Jacques Santer confiant que la France poursuivra son action déterminée
pour l'Europe
Le Président de la Commission européenne, Jacques Santer, a déclaré à
l'issue des élections françaises: "L'Europe a toujours été au coeur des
ambitions de la France. Je suis confiant que la France poursuivra son
action déterminée en faveur de l'intégration européenne et, plus
particulièrement, de la réussite, selon le calendrier convenu, de la
Conférence intergouvernementale à Amsterdam et de la monnaie unique le 1er
janvier 1999. Je pense que le débat en France, comme ailleurs, montre
l'importance que les citoyens attachent à l'emploi. Je me réjouis de la
perspective de travailler avec le gouvernement français et les autres à la
réalisation du Pacte de Confiance pour l'Emploi que j'ai lancé il y a un an
et demi. J'espère rencontrer la nouvelle équipe gouvernementale le plus
rapidement possible et remercie le gouvernement sortant pour sa
contribution à l'avancement de l'Europe."
[02] Commission agrees measures to curb Norwegian salmon dumping
The European Commission last night approved a package of measures -
including minimum prices, stand-by dumping duties, export volume limits, an
increased Norwegian export tax and tight surveillance procedures - that
will counteract the dumping and subsidisation of Norwegian salmon on the
European market and alleviate the damage caused to European salmon
producers in the process. Under the measures, negotiated and agreed with
Norway, Norwegian salmon exporters will respect a minimum price of ECU 3.25
per kilo which, if broken, would automatically lead to the imposition of
import duties when selling to the European Union. There would also be an
indicative rate at which the volume of imports from Norway would increase
over the next five years, as well as an increase in Norway's own tax on
salmon exports and a tight surveillance mechanism to ensure that the terms
of the agreement are upheld. The negotiations followed an investigation
which showed that Norwegian salmon was being dumped and subsidised between
1995 and 1996, harming the interests of European - mainly Scottish - salmon
farmers.
[03] Inaugural session of the European Green Forum on 5 June: "A commitment
for the future"
European Commissioner for the Environment and Nuclear Safety, Mrs Ritt
Bjerregaard, will officially install the new European Green Forum on Friday
5 June, to mark the World Environment Day. The inaugural session will be
held in Brussels, at the "Concert Noble", 82 rue d'Arlon. On this occasion,
Mr Jacques Santer, President of the European Commission, will make a
statement on the challenges for European Environment Policy. The European
Green Forum is a consultative Forum, chaired by Thorvald Stoltenberg, which
together with the Commission will look at ways to move towards the highest
possible level of environmental protection and sustainable development in
the European Union and in Europe as a whole.
[04] EU Ministers back better market access for world's poorest countries
The European Union (EU) has taken an important step today towards improving
access for the world's poorest countries to the European market. EU
Foreign Ministers have outlined a strategy aimed at giving the least
developed countries the best market access terms available for developing
countries. It has also backed the adaptation of rules of origin that will
enable least developed nations to better use their duty-free advantages.
Today's decision endorses the strategy laid out by the European Commission
last April, and places the EU at the forefront of those in the developed
world seeking to reduce the marginalisation of the the poorest countries,
from the world trading system in line with principles established at the
World Trade Organisation Ministerial in Singapore in December 1996. Today's
step focuses on the autonomous measures which can be taken immediately and
in the medium term by the EU.
[05] Franz Fischler: "Greater separation of market and income policy needed
in a modern agricultural policy"
Addressing a Land Use and Food Policy Intergroup in Brussels today, the
Commissioner of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Franz Fischler, said
that the European Union's (EU) agricultural sector faces a number of
challenges in the future including the danger of food mountains developing
again, EU enlargement and a new round of negotiations of the World Trade
Organisation. We cannot afford to ignore the changes going on around us,
he said, and described the "waiting game" which some people favour so as to
avoid dealing with future developments as a dangerous strategy. There is,
he said, only one realistic approach for the future of the CAP and that is
to "consistently follow the direction we set out upon with the 1992
reforms". We will have to rely on the price support mechanism even less in
the future than we do today for it cannot guarantee farm incomes for the
long term, he said. The farmer's contribution to the stewardship of the
countryside should be recognised and rewarded in its own right and this
role should be central to the development of our agriculture policy, he
added.
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
|
