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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 99-06-16
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-Parole 16/06/1999b
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[I] Résultats de la Commission de ce jour - Outcome of today's Commission
meeting
[01] Marché unique: mieux faire fonctionner le principe de reconnaissance
mutuelle
[02] First steps towards new agreement with the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[03] Preliminary results of EU-inspection to Belgium
[04] La Commission décide de réaliser une enquête approfondie sur le projet
d'entreprise commune présenté par Telia et Telenor
[05] Commission clears the merger between Kingfisher and ASDA
[06] Aide humanitaire : nouvelles brèves
[07] Single Market : scoreboard underlines further efforts required by
Member States
[I] Résultats de la Commission de ce jour - Outcome of today's Commission
meeting
[01] Marché unique: mieux faire fonctionner le principe de reconnaissance
mutuelle
La Commission européenne vient d'adopter une Communication pour faciliter
et améliorer l'application du principe de reconnaissance mutuelle dans le
marché unique. La Communication répond aux souhaits exprimés par les Etats
membres et les opérateurs économiques suite au Plan d'Action pour le marché
unique de juin 1997, qui avait indiqué que ce domaine demandait une
attention toute particulière. Selon le principe de reconnaissance mutuelle,
chaque Etat membre a l'obligation d'accepter sur son territoire les
produits légalement fabriqués et/ou commercialisés et les services
légalement prestés dans les autres Etats membres. Les Etats membres ne
peuvent contester l'application du principe que dans des cas limités,
mettant en cause notamment la sécurité publique, la santé ou la protection
de l'environnement ; encore faut-il que dans ces cas les mesures qu'ils
prennent répondent aux principes de nécessité et de proportionnalité. La
Communication prévoit une série d'actions pour une meilleure surveillance
de l'application de la reconnaissance mutuelle : mieux faire connaître le
principe aux citoyens, aux opérateurs économiques, et aux autorités
compétentes des Etats membres à tous les niveaux; faciliter et améliorer
les contacts entre administrations nationales et améliorer la gestion par
la Commission des plaintes individuelles.
[02] First steps towards new agreement with the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia
The European Commission adopted a report that signals the beginning of
negotiations on the upgrading of the European Union's (EU) contractual
relations with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). In the
report - to be submitted to the General Affairs Council on 21 June - the
Commission concludes that it is feasible to envisage the opening of
negotiations for a Stability & Association Agreement (SAA) with FYROM, the
first of the countries of South Eastern Europe to be considered for such an
agreement (see IP/99/350). Negotiation of the agreement will depend on
FYROM's capacity to fulfil contractual obligations in a number of key areas
including the liberalisation of trade. Other areas include the
harmonisation of banking legislation, the opening up of the services market
to foreign companies, and a programme of approximation of FYROM legislation
with EU legislation. It is understood that FYROM can continue to benefit
from financial assistance and monetary cooperation as well as cooperation
in a wide range of other areas, like customs and taxation, education and
training, transport and energy, justice and home affairs, etc. Political
dialogue will also be covered by the agreement. Taking into account the
conclusions drawn by the Council on 21 June, the Commission will be ready
to submit to the Council draft negotiating directives for such SAA with
FYROM.
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[03] Preliminary results of EU-inspection to Belgium
The source of the dioxin contamination in Belgium is still not clear. Both
hypothesis on how the contamination of the fat at the beginning of the feed
chain may have occurred - whether by a leak in the heating system or by a
mistake during the collection of oils - therefore have to be maintained.
This is the main preliminary result of the mission of European Union
inspectors to Belgium last week. In the draft urgency report, that was sent
to the Belgian authorities for comments before a final report is written,
the inspectors also point to the fact that the protective measures taken by
the Commission against the dioxin contamination are not fully applied. The
inspectors also noted shortcomings in the control of the feed production
chain and criticised the general co-ordination and the information flow of
the Belgian authorities which lead to a great confusion among consumers.
[04] La Commission décide de réaliser une enquête approfondie sur le projet
d'entreprise commune présenté par Telia et Telenor
La Commission européenne a décidé d'ouvrir une enquête approfondie sur le
projet d'association de leurs activités présenté par l'opérateur public de
télécommunications suédois Telia et l'opérateur public de communications
norvégien Telenor. L'opération prévue a suscité des préoccupations
sérieuses sur le plan de la concurrence, qui n'ont pu être écartées par les
modifications que les entreprises ont proposé d'apporter au projet au cours
de la période d'enquête, qui a duré six semaines.
[05] Commission clears the merger between Kingfisher and ASDA
The European Commission has approved the merger between the specialised
retailer Kingfisher plc and ASDA Group plc, a major food retailer in the
UK. In the light of the limited market share increment resulting from the
merger and the existence of a sufficient number of significant competitors,
the operation does not raise competition concerns.
[06] Aide humanitaire : nouvelles brèves
La Commission européenne a octroyé des fonds destinés à l'aide humanitaire
au Tadjikistan (16 millions d'euros), à l'Angola (10 millions d'euros), au
Cambodge (5,5 millions d'euros), à la Sierra Leone (5 millions d'euros), à
la Corée du Nord (4 millions d'euros), au Guatemala (2 millions d'euros), à
l'Iraq (2 millions d'euros), à la Fédération de Russie (800.000 euros) et
au Yémen (800.000 euros). Par ailleurs, le financement du service ECHO
Flight dans la Corne de l'Afrique a été renouvelé avec une subvention de 8,
8 millions d'euros. Ces fonds, qui seront gérés par l'Office Humanitaire de
la Communauté européenne (ECHO), permettront aux organisations humanitaires
de mener à bien des projets pour les 6 à 12 prochains mois.
[07] Single Market : scoreboard underlines further efforts required by
Member States
Implementation of Single Market rules is improving but Member States will
need to maintain their efforts to ensure that the full benefits of the
European Union's (EU) Single Market are passed on to citizens and business,
according to the latest issue of the European Commission's Single Market
scoreboard. Member States have given new impetus to implementing Single
Market Directives, so that the 'fragmentation factor (Directives not yet
implemented in one or more Member States) has now fallen to 12.8% from
18.2% in May 1998. However, Member States efforts on this front have tended
to fade since the beginning of 1999. Concerning infringement proceedings
against Member States under Article 226 (formerly 169) of the EU Treaty for
failure to apply Single Market rules, the scoreboard notes a steep rise in
the number of 'reasoned opinions' (the second stage) and referrals to the
European Court of Justice, largely as a result of faster handling of
infringement cases by the Commission. The scoreboard also features feedback
from the "Dialogue with Citizens" concerning the difficulties encountered
by people trying to exercise their Single Market rights. These problems
stem from lack of information about the rules, lack of transparency in the
way national administrations apply these rights and administrative
procedures on the part of Member States which fail to ensure that those
rights can be fully and easily exercised in practice.
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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