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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 99-04-21
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
21/04/99
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[I] Résultats de la Commission de ce jour - Outcome of today's Commission
meeting
[01] La Commission adopte un document sur l'emploi pour le Sommet de
Cologne
[02] Commission promotes closer relations with Japan
[03] Commission finds no State aid in the treatment of 'technolease' by the
Netherlands' tax authorities
[04] Commission approves social aid and rejects restructuring aid to
Dieselmotorenwerk Rostock (Germany)
[05] La Commission donne son accord à une aide en faveur de Rockwool
Peninsular S.A. (Espagne)
[06] Commission condemns Germany for Treaty infringement
[07] Commission approves German ecotax under State aid rules
[08] La Commission approuve le régime allemand de soutien à la production
cinématographique
[09] La Commission ne soulève pas d'objections à l'incitation à la création
d'emplois en Catalogne (Espagne)
[10] Commission approves Danish environmental subsidy for the transport of
goods by rail
[11] La Commission demande à la Cour de justice européenne d'imposer une
astreinte journalière de 142.425 euros à la France pour non-exécution d'un
arrêt antérieur sur le travail de nuit des femmes
[12] Commission decides Court application against Denmark in the Can Ban
case
[13] La Commission décide d'adresser une lettre de mise en demeure
complémentaire à la Belgique dans le cas de l'incinérateur de Drogenbos
pour mauvaise transposition et mauvaise application de la Directive Impact
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[14] Franz Fischler rejects Cairns Group criticism of CAP reform
[I] Résultats de la Commission de ce jour - Outcome of today's Commission
meeting
[01] La Commission adopte un document sur l'emploi pour le Sommet de
Cologne
La Commission européenne a adopté une Communication sur les politiques
communautaires visant à promouvoir la création d'emplois qui doit être
présentée au Sommet de Cologne. Elle préconise un dosage équilibré de
politiques macro-économiques, l'amélioration des politiques nationales de
l'emploi et la mise en oeuvre de réformes dans les marchés des produits,
des services et des capitaux afin de répondre aux problèmes de l'emploi qui
se posent dans l'Union européenne (UE). Alors que plus de 70% de la
population en âge de travailler exercent un emploi aux Etats-Unis et au
Japon, ce taux est de 61% dans l'UE.
[02] Commission promotes closer relations with Japan
The European Commission adopted a Working Paper which argues for deeper and
broader relations between the European Union (EU) and Japan. The paper,
requested by the Member States, reviews recent developments and sets out a
focused agenda of actions in the political, economic and cooperation
spheres. It suggests that these are adopted at the forthcoming EU-Japan
Summit. Particular emphasis is placed on reinforcing EU-Japanese political
relations, intensifying dialogue in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to
prepare and launch the New Millennium Round, and further improving
bilateral trade and economic relations. On this last point, the paper
advocates an annual Ministerial meeting on deregulation, the rapid
conclusion and implementation of an EU-Japan Mutual Recognition Agreement,
as well as a strengthened EU-Japan business dialogue. The paper also argues
for the establishment of a programme of cooperation initiatives, attaching
particular importance to reaching an agreement on the peaceful uses of
nuclear energy. The working paper will be discussed during High-level
consultations between the Commission and the Government of Japan to be held
in Brussels this Thursday and Friday.
[03] Commission finds no State aid in the treatment of 'technolease' by the
Netherlands' tax authorities
The European Commission has decided to close the investigation into the tax
treatment of the technolease agreement between Philips and Rabobank finding
no element of State aid present. The Commission opened procedures under
Article 93(2) of the EC-Treaty on 24 April 1997 further to the articles in
the Dutch press suggesting that the Netherlands' tax authorities had
granted an unspecified amount of aid to Philips and/or Rabobank in the form
of a tax advantage within the framework of technolease. However, after a
thorough investigation of Dutch fiscal legislation and jurisprudence, the
Commission found that the Netherlands' tax authorities did not exercise any
discretionary power in the application of their general tax law to the
technolease agreement.
[04] Commission approves social aid and rejects restructuring aid to
Dieselmotorenwerk Rostock (Germany)
The European Commission closed the State aid procedure opened on the rescue
and restructuring aid for the east German ship engine producer
Dieselmotorenwerk Rostock (DMR), deciding that the restructuring aid of
60.5 million euro (118.35 million DEM) was incompatible with the Common
Market. In its decision the Commission raised no objections against the
granting of 5.1 million euro (10 million DEM) social aid envisaged in 1999
to finance severance payments to a part of the workforce. Germany shall
take the necessary measures to recover from the recipient the aid
unlawfully granted, and shall inform the Commission within two months of
the measures taken to comply with this obligation.
[05] La Commission donne son accord à une aide en faveur de Rockwool
Peninsular S.A. (Espagne)
Dans sa première décision en vertu de l'encadrement multisectoriel des
aides à finalité régionale en faveur de grands projets d'investissement,
applicable à compter du 1.9.1998 pour une période d'essai de trois ans, la
Commission européenne a décidé de ne pas soulever d'objections contre un
projet d'aide, d'un montant de 15,3 millions d'euros (2.544 millions d'ESP),
en faveur de Rockwool Peninsular S.A., filiale à part entière de Rockwool
International A/S, fabricant danois de laine de roche, pour un nouvel
investissement à Caparroso (Navarre, Espagne).
[06] Commission condemns Germany for Treaty infringement
The European Commission has adopted a negative decision against Germany for
infringement of the ECSC Treaty in respect of the failure to recover 37.8
million euro (74 million DM) of State aid granted to Neue Maxhütte, a steel
company located in Bavaria. The Commission considers that Germany has
violated its duty to take all measures to fulfil its obligations resulting
from the Commission's decisions.
[07] Commission approves German ecotax under State aid rules
The European Commission considers that the special tax provisions in the
law introducing an ecological tax reform for the benefit of certain sectors
of the economy, which the German government has notified to the Commission
under European Union (EU) State aid rules are in accordance with the EC-
Treaty. It has decided to approve for three years these special provisions
pursuant to the EU guidelines on State aid for environmental protection,
taking into account its previous practice and the environmental policy of
the EU.
[08] La Commission approuve le régime allemand de soutien à la production
cinématographique
La Commission européenne a approuvé au titre de l'article 92, §3, point d,
du Traité CE (aides destinées à promouvoir la culture) la reconduction pour
une nouvelle période de cinq ans du régime allemand de soutien à la
production cinématographique. Ce régime avait déjà été approuvé par la
Commission en 1992. Il prévoit des aides pour un montant annuel d'environ
20,452 millions d'euros (40 millions de DM).
[09] La Commission ne soulève pas d'objections à l'incitation à la création
d'emplois en Catalogne (Espagne)
La Commission européenne a décidé de ne pas soulever d'objections à l'égard
du régime d'incitations à la création d'emplois suite à la réorganisation
et à la réduction du temps de travail, proposé par le gouvernement de la
Région de Catalogne. Les autorités espagnoles estiment à 214 le nombre de
contrats pouvant donner droit à des incitations en 1999 pour un montant
compris entre 132.000 euros (22 millions d'ESP) et 661.000 euros (110
millions d'ESP). Il s'agit pour la Commission d'une aide à l'emploi
s'inscrivant dans une logique de création nette et non pas de maintien de
l'emploi.
[10] Commission approves Danish environmental subsidy for the transport of
goods by rail
The European Commission has approved a Danish scheme to subsidise the
transport of goods by rail as compatible with the State aid rules of the
Treaty. The scheme, laid down in a Danish law of 1998, aims at - partly -
compensating the railways for the unpaid costs of road haulage and thereby
creating more equitable conditions of competition between these modes. It
should be seen against the background of the introduction of infrastructure
charges that railway undertakings have to pay for the use of the Danish
railway infrastructure. The underlying objective of the policy is to try
and shift the transport of goods from road to rail. Since this is
potentially distortive to competition the Commission has examined the
proposed subsidy scheme to ensure that it is nonetheless compatible with
the Treaty. Accordingly, the Commission finds that since the subsidy is
significantly smaller than the estimated unpaid external and infrastructure
costs of road haulage, that it applies equally to the transport of all
goods by rail, that it will not negatively affect maritime transport and
that it does not hinder the development of European Union trade, it is a
State aid compatible with the Treaty.
[11] La Commission demande à la Cour de justice européenne d'imposer une
astreinte journalière de 142.425 euros à la France pour non-exécution d'un
arrêt antérieur sur le travail de nuit des femmes
La Commission européenne a décidé de demander des sanctions financières
contre la France qui n'a pas exécuté un arrêt de la Cour de Justice
européenne (CJE) du 13 mars 1997. Dans cet arrêt, la CJE a constaté que la
France a violé le principe de l'égalité de traitement entre les hommes et
les femmes en maintenant dans sa législation une interdiction du travail de
nuit pour les femmes et pas pour les hommes. La Commission propose que la
CJE fixe une astreinte (amende journalière) de 142.425 euros. Cette
sanction s'appliquerait à chaque journée de non-respect du deuxième arrêt
de la CJE au titre de l'article 171 du traité CE.
[12] Commission decides Court application against Denmark in the Can Ban
case
The European Commission decided to make an application to the European
Court of Justice against Denmark because its general ban on the use of
metal cans for beverages ("can ban") does not comply with the Packaging
Waste Directive (Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste). In
addition, the decision addresses the Danish ban on the marketing of
beverages of domestic origin in non-refillable glass and plastic packaging,
which also infringes the Directive.
[13] La Commission décide d'adresser une lettre de mise en demeure
complémentaire à la Belgique dans le cas de l'incinérateur de Drogenbos
pour mauvaise transposition et mauvaise application de la Directive Impact
La Commission européenne a décidé l'envoi d'une lettre de mise en demeure
complémentaire à la Belgique afin de recueillir les observations des
autorités belges compétentes sur la violation présumée de la Directive sur
l'évaluation d'impact environnemental (85/337/CEE - concernant l'évaluation
des incidences de certains projets publics ou privés sur l'environnement)
lors de la délivrance du permis de bâtir ("bouwvergunning") de
l'incinérateur de Drogenbos.
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[14] Franz Fischler rejects Cairns Group criticism of CAP reform
The European Commissioner of Agriculture and Rural development, Mr Franz
Fischler, rejected the criticism levelled at the Agenda 2000 agricultural
reform by the Cairns Group as totally unfounded in fact. In the case of
the three sectors concerned (cereals, beef and milk), the combination of
the 1992 and Agenda 2000 reforms result in a reduction in price support of
45%, 40% and 20% respectively which in turn lead automatically to
reductions in export refunds, he said. Mr Fischler totally rejected the
suggestion by the Cairns Group that the European Union (EU) should make
further reforms in the context of the forthcoming World Trade Organisation
(WTO) round and said : "it must be clear to all of our WTO partners that
the outcome of Agenda 2000 is not an opening bid on the part of the EU for
the WTO negotiations but rather the policy with which the outcome of these
negotiations must be compatible. If the sentiments expressed by the Cairns
Group are an accurate reflection of their position in the forthcoming
negotiations then it is quite clear that we have large differences to
narrow between both parties. Mr Fischler went on to point out that the
Cairns group criticism of the CAP regarding its impact on developing
countries ignores the contribution the reforms have made towards
stabilising world market prices, a situation which indeed is not helped by
the agricultural trading arrangements operated by some of the Cairns Group
members. Furthermore the Group ignores the fact that the EU is the largest
importer of food and agricultural products in the world much of which is
imported from developing countries on conditions much more favourable than
those provided by Cairns Group countries. Concluding, Mr Fischler said :
"I am disappointed with the Cairns Group statement both by its tone and
content as it reflects the same ill-informed appreciation of the EU and its
objectives regarding the CAP as prevailed in the late 1980's which I had
hoped would have evolved over the years in the light of the various reforms
carried out and the numerous contacts between the EU and the Group's
members".
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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