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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 98-01-16
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
16/01/98
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Le rôle de l'Union européenne dans le processus de paix au Proche-
Orient et son aide future
[02] WTO ruling on EU hormone ban is a victory for Europan consumers
[03] La Commission adopte des critères révisés d'attribution du label
écologique aux produits en papier mince
[04] ECU 137 million from the European Union to help the Rhine-Meuse Area
to act against floods
[05] European Union funds democratic elections in Cambodia
[06] Commission supports for Barents Euro-Arctic Council
[07] Neil Kinnock : "Rail policy thinking has been preoccupied by the past
for too long"
[08] Franz Fischler: "Offensive strategy at next WTO-Round will give EU
possibility to raise important issues such environment, food safety and
quality"
[01] Le rôle de l'Union européenne dans le processus de paix au Proche-
Orient et son aide future
La Commission européenne vient d'approuver une Communication au Conseil des
Ministres et au Parlement européen sur le rôle de l'Union européenne (UE)
dans le processus de paix au Proche-Orient. Le but du document est de
fournir des éléments pour un débat approfondi au sein de l'UE sur la
situation actuelle au Proche-Orient et l'impact de la stratégie politique
et économique de l'UE pour la région. La communication fournit une analyse
(i) de la situation actuelle du processus de paix au Proche-Orient, (ii) de
l'aide financière et politique de l'UE, (iii) de l'interface avec le
partenariat euro-méditerranéen, (iv) des résultats de l'aide économique de
l'UE aux Palestiniens, (v) des atouts et des insuffisances de l'effort de
l'aide internationale et, dans sa partie finale, (vi) du rôle
complémentaire de l'UE à côté du rôle déterminant des Etats-Unis dans le
processus.
[02] WTO ruling on EU hormone ban is a victory for Europan consumers
The European Commission today welcomed the World Trade Organisation's (WTO)
ruling which accepted the substantive arguments of the European Union (EU)
case in favour of maintaining the ban on the use of hormones for growth
promoting purposes. The WTO's Appellate Body ruled that the EU has the
right to establish on a scientific basis a level of consumer protection
which it considers appropriate and which is higher than the level resulting
from international health standards. The Appellate Body also upheld the EU
view that the ban was not inconsistent with other EU policies. On a third
point, the Appellate Body maintained that the hormone ban in the EU is not
based on a risk assessment because the scientific studies do not focus
specifically on residues in meat of hormone-treated cattle. The Commission
will now examine carefully together with the other EU institutions and the
Member States how to implement the EU's international obligations, in
particular with respect to a new risk assessment along the indications
given by the Appellate Body.
[03] La Commission adopte des critères révisés d'attribution du label
écologique aux produits en papier mince
La Commission européenne a adopté des critères révisés et simplifiés pour
l'attribution du label écologique aux produits en papier mince. Dans le
cadre de ces critères révisés, les catégories de produits comprenant le
papier hygiénique et le papier de cuisine ont été regroupées au sein d'une
même catégorie, les "produits en papier mince". L'élargissement de cette
catégorie vise à couvrir des produits destinés à l'hygiène personnelle, à
l'absorption de liquides et au nettoyage de surfaces souillées. Cela
signifie que les producteurs ont désormais la possibilité d'appliquer le
label écologique (logo représentant une fleur) à une catégorie de produits
plus large, et qu'ils peuvent ainsi montrer au public que leurs produits
respectent les normes environnementales exigeantes qui ont été fixées. De
leur côté, les consommateurs peuvent choisir en toute connaissance de cause
des produits arborant le label écologique.
[04] ECU 137 million from the European Union to help the Rhine-Meuse Area
to act against floods
Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg, the Netherlands and Switzerland will
be able to work together in the field of flood prevention thanks to a new
type of European Union interregional cooperation programme. The main
objective of the new Interreg II C programme "Interreg Rhine-Meuse
Activities" (IRMA) is to prevent damage which floods cause to the catchment
area of the rivers and to create a balance between the different activities
concerning sustainable management of water in the area. The total cost of
the programme amounts to ECU 427 million, with ECU 137 million coming from
the European Regional Development Fund, the rest from the countries
involved.
[05] European Union funds democratic elections in Cambodia
The European Union (EU) officially announced today that it will contribute
ECU 9.5 million (approx. US$ 10.5 million) for the preparation and carrying
out of free and fair elections in Cambodia. ECU 8.3 million are dedicated
to the electoral registration process, ECU 0.1 million to training of the
local media and ECU 1.1 million to the provision of an independent European
Observation Unit throughout the electoral process.
[06] Commission supports for Barents Euro-Arctic Council
External Relations Commissioner Hans van den Broek will participate on 19
and 20 January in a meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the
Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) which will take place at Luleå, Sweden,
under Swedish chairmanship. The European Commission actively supports
cooperation in the Barents region as a means to promote peace, prosperity,
stability and security, as well as to strengthen links between the European
Union (EU) and its neighbours. EU assistance in the Barents region is
provided through use of existing EU instruments, notably Tacis, Interreg,
and the "Objective 6" programmes. Since 1991, over ECU 300 million has
been made available to the region. This covers activities in a wide range
of fields, including the promotion of regional development and trans-
frontier cooperation, the safeguarding of the region's environment, the
improvement of nuclear safety and the handling of nuclear waste, the
enhancement of educational and cultural exchange, and the promotion of
research and development. At Luleå, Hans van den Broek will also have
bilateral meetings with the Foreign Minister of Russia, Mr Yvgeni Primakov,
the Foreign Minister of Norway, Mr Knut Vollebæk, and US Deputy Secretary
of State, Mr Strobe Talbott.
[07] Neil Kinnock : "Rail policy thinking has been preoccupied by the past
for too long"
Neil Kinnock, European Commissioner for transport policy, welcomes the
opening of the first rail freight freeways as an important step in the
Commission's strategy to overcome some of the historical handicaps of
international rail freight. "Railway undertakings now have a real
opportunity - and a pressing need - to rethink their policies and remake
their industry to deliver services that meet customer needs," he said
announcing a series of legislative proposals designed to promote
international rail freight and so ease road congestion.
[08] Franz Fischler: "Offensive strategy at next WTO-Round will give EU
possibility to raise important issues such environment, food safety and
quality"
In his speech at the International Green Week in Berlin on January 15,
Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Franz Fischler emphasised
the need to make EU agricultural products more competitive in order to
benefit from positive trends on the international world markets. "However
we can only make use of growing opportunities on international markets if
we make our products more competitive and decouple exports from export
subsidies", Mr Fischler said referring to the next WTO-round. By choosing
an offensive strategy as proposed in the Agenda 2000 for the next
multilateral trade negociations, the EU would be in a position to raise
important issues such as food safety and quality and the environment
besides the classic ones being export subsidies, import restrictions and
market access. Mr Fischler further noted that "we cannot accept that
Europe's agricultural sector must face disadvantages in world trade simply
because it tries to meet the growing environmental expectations of its
citizens" and urged for an offensive strategy putting the EU in stronger
negociation position at the next WTO-round.
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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