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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 99-01-28
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
28/01/99
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[I] Résultats de la Commission du 27 janvier 1999 - Outcome of Commission
meeting of 27 January
[01] Marché unique : deux propositions pour faciliter les prestations de
services transfrontaliers
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[02] White Paper on commerce : a Commission's new strategy
[03] La Commission approuve l'entreprise commune P&O Stena Line
[04] The economic situation in Finland
[05] Scientists evaluate certain types of energy drinks
[06] Appui au processus électoral au Nigeria
[07] Mario Monti addresses Financial Services Policy Group
[08] Sir Leon Brittan on EU industry and international market access
[09] Ritt Bjerregaard : "Is there really such a thing as sustainable
mobility ?"
[10] Franz Fischler : "EU-ACP partnership as a catalyst in the multilateral
system"
[I] Résultats de la Commission du 27 janvier 1999 - Outcome of Commission
meeting of 27 January
(voir aussi - see also Midday Express of 27/01)
[01] Marché unique : deux propositions pour faciliter les prestations de
services transfrontaliers
La Commission européenne a présenté deux propositions de Directive dans le
cadre de la libre circulation des services au sein du marché intérieur. La
première vise le droit des entreprises établies à l'intérieur de l'Union
européenne (UE) de prester des services dans un autre Etat membre à l'aide
de leur personnel non communautaire, légalement établi à l'intérieur de
l'UE. La deuxième vise les travailleurs indépendants non communautaires,
légalement établis à l'intérieur de l'UE. Ces deux propositions prévoient
pour l'essentiel l'introduction d'une "carte de prestation de services-CE",
émise par l'Etat membre où l'entreprise communautaire ou le travailleur
indépendant est établi. Ce mécanisme vise un double objectif : faciliter
l'exercice du droit des entreprises à la libre prestation de services et
clarifier la situation des ressortissants d'Etats tiers dans le cadre de
l'exercice de la libre prestation de services dans l'UE. Le rapport du
groupe à haut niveau, présidé par Mme Simone Veil en mars 1997, avait
souligné l'importance de ces problèmes.
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[02] White Paper on commerce : a Commission's new strategy
The European Commission adopted the first ever White Paper on commerce
putting the needs and opportunities of retailers and wholesalers on the
European Union's policy agenda. The aim of the White Paper is to identify
the different fields of action in order to contribute to increasing the
competitiveness of the sector and enhance opportunities for creating new
jobs. To achieve this, the White Paper proposes a range of actions
designed to create a coherent strategy for promoting commerce in the coming
years by which public policies at European, national and regional levels
can help to maximise efficiency in commerce taking account of its specific
characteristics.
[03] La Commission approuve l'entreprise commune P&O Stena Line
La Commission européenne a approuvé l'entreprise commune créée par P&O et
Stena pour exploiter des services de transbordeurs transmanche. P&O et
Stena ont combiné leurs activités respectives de transport par transbordeur
sur le pas de Calais et le détroit belge dans le cadre d'une entreprise
commune, P&O Stena Line. La décision de la Commission exempte l'entreprise
commune de l'interdiction des accords anticoncurrentiels édictée à
l'article 85, paragraphe 1, du traité CE pour une période allant jusqu'au 9
mars 2001.
[04] The economic situation in Finland
The European Commission has today published a comprehensive analysis of the
economic situation in Finland. The main conclusion is that the Finnish
economy has been doing quite well since the end of the severe recession of
the early nineties and particularly since joining the European Union in
1995, but more needs to be done to boost employment and to consolidate the
government accounts in the medium-term. Striking progress has been made
with budgetary consolidation : the public deficit was reduced from 8% of
GDP in 1993 to be in surplus in 1998. Other positive features of the
Finnish economy include low inflation, appropriate wage trends and low
interest rates. The present priorities for economic policy are reducing
unemployment through a reform of the social security and tax system and
continued efforts to ensure lasting sound public finances in the face of
population ageing.
[05] Scientists evaluate certain types of energy drinks
<NAMEDCLF CLFTYPE= "Hyperlink"></NAMEDCLF> The Scientific Committee on Food
has evaluated whether there is any potential risk to health from certain
additives (caffeine, taurine and glucuronolactone) used in certain so-
called "energy" drinks, beverages that have appeared on the market in
recent years. As far as caffeine is concerned, the Committee concluded
that the contribution of energy drinks to total caffeine intakes does not
appear to be a matter of concern for adults, assuming that energy drinks
are mostly consumed instead of other beverages which are major sources of
caffeine such as coffee or tea. For children however, who do not normally
consume much tea or coffee, consumption of energy drinks might represent an
increase in daily caffeine intake, which could result in transient
behavioural changes, such as increased arousal, irritability, nervousness
or anxiety. For pregnant women, the Committee advised moderation in
caffeine intake, from whatever source. The constituents taurine and
glucuronolactone also occur naturally in the daily diet, but at much lower
levels than are present in some energy drinks. The Committee was unable to
conclude that the safety in use of taurine and glucucoronolactone in the
concentration ranges reported for these constituents in certain energy
drinks has been adequately established. This is due to lack of scientific
data describing the toxicological characteristics of the two substances.
The Commission will continue to follow the scientific evaluation of the
substances in question. The full opinion is available on the website of
DGXXIV : http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scf/ out22_en.html
[06] Appui au processus électoral au Nigeria
La Commission européenne a décidé de soutenir le processus électoral au
Nigeria en dégageant un financement de 810.000 euros. Ceci permettra
l'envoi de 100 observateurs de l'Union européenne (UE) aux élections
législatives et présidentielles qui auront lieu les 20 et 27 février 1999.
Ces observateurs seront intégrés dans la structure de coordination générale
des Nations Unies. Le Conseil des Ministres avait adopté le 22 décembre
dernier une action commune prévoyant l'envoi d'un contingent d'observateurs
de l'UE.
[07] Mario Monti addresses Financial Services Policy Group
European Commissioner for Financial services, Mario Monti, today called on
the Financial Services Policy Group to give new impetus to ensuring a fully
functional Single Market for financial services. "Your appointment as
personal representatives of Economic and Finance Ministers of the European
Union (Ecofin) demonstrates your governments' commitment to the financial
sector and provides us with a unique opportunity to achieve much-needed
progress and to keep up the momentum generated by the Framework for Action
and the Vienna Summit's mandate", he told the Group today in Brussels
charing its first meeting. "The Single Market for financial services is
crucial to the success of the euro and Economic and Monetary Union. We
need to work together cooperatively and with an open mind to forge
agreement on a series of incremental, pragmatic steps to facilitate cross-
border provision of services while ensuring confidence on the part of
users. We also need to pay particular attention to improving the
infrastructure for small value cross-border payments so as to cut costs and
to new areas for cooperation, such as sound corporate governance principles,
which are essential for efficient investment decisions". Recommendations
on priorities are due to be presented to the Ecofin Council in May and then
to the European Council in June.
[08] Sir Leon Brittan on EU industry and international market access
Sir Leon Brittan, Vice-President of the European Commission, today called
for intensified action by the European Union (EU) to remove barriers to
overseas markets for European businesses. In a speech to representatives
of European industry in Brussels, he outlined plans for an ambitious
"barriers removal programme" for 1999. This would include agreeing with
the Member States a package of offensive dispute settlement cases to be
pursued in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ; making greater use of the
EU's Trade Barriers Regulation ; tackling a series of major non-WTO issues
with each of the EU's major trading partners ; and drawing up bilateral
market access packages with non-WTO countries. It would also help the EU
set an aggressive and business-led market-opening agenda for the
forthcoming Millennium Round of trade negotiations. Sir Leon underlined
the substantial progress made under the EU's 1996 Market Access Strategy,
which has revolutionised cooperation between the Commission, the Member
States and European business in tackling trade barriers, but said that it
was time to make a "new and determined effort" to attack them, using all
the weapons at the EU's disposal.
[09] Ritt Bjerregaard : "Is there really such a thing as sustainable
mobility ?"
(! embargo 8 pm !) At her speech in Berlin on 28 January on the occasion
of the opening of the BMW Institute for Mobility Research, European
Commissioner for the environment, Ritt Bjerregaard, underlined the European
Union's committment to the concept of sustainable development, as laid down
by the Treaties of Maastricht and Amsterdam. A cornerstone of this concept
is the integration of environmental concerns into all policy areas and into
the decisions by all stakeholders in society. Transport is a key sector in
this respect. The strongly growing volume of traffic causes both
environmental problems and congestion. Both are forcing a new look at the
concept of mobility, by technological means but also and particularly by
non-technical means. These include intermodal and non-motorised transport,
increased efficiency, new services related to the provision of mobility,
and improved awareness in land use planning. The providers of transport
need not suffer from this. They should take a proactive stance and see the
opportunities rather than the threats that are implicit in such new
approaches to mobility. The ultimate reason for mobility is accessibility.
Researching the former can take us closer to the latter. That is why the
Commission welcomes research on mobility. It congratulates BMW on the
decision to set up this institute, which is an illustration of the
commitment by the car industry to accept its social responsibility.
[10] Franz Fischler : "EU-ACP partnership as a catalyst in the multilateral
system"
(! embargo 3.30 pm !) In his speech at the ACP-EU/LUFPIG (European
Parliament-Inter-group on Land Use and Food Policy) Joint Conference on
Agriculture, Trade and Sustainable Development, Franz Fischler, European
Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural development, underlined the
importance of the relationship between Europe and the ACP countries. "The
EU-ACP partnership could prove particularly valuable in fields such as
codes of conduct, respect for labour and environmental standards", said Mr
Fischler. The talks about a new partnership agreement began in September
1998, negotiations will continue and an ACP-EU Ministerial Meeting will
take place in Dakar (Senegal) on 8 and 9 February 1999. "The eliminiation
of poverty is regarded as a priority, therefore it is necessary to
establish the correct macro-economic, trade and investment framework in
order to achieve gradual integration of the ACP countries into the world
economy", Mr Fischler outlined the forthcoming tasks. Regarding the next
round of WTO negotiations starting in the end of this year, Mr Fischler
confirmed the maintainance of the present trade preferences for ACP States
and the EU's intention to view sympathetically how to deal with the
legitimate concern of developing countries. Further liberalisation will
provide better opportunities for competitive ACP agricultural products.
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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