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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 00-10-19
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 Service Presse et Communicationb
19/10/2000
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Third annual EU-China Summit
[02] Animal feed : Commission proposal to exclude condemned animal material
from the feed chain
[03] La Commission autorise la création de la Société Airbus Intégrée
[04] Commission clears Avnet buy of Veba's European electronics
distribution business
[05] Fusion approuvée selon la procédure simplifiée
[06] Software patents - Commission launches consultations
[07] La Commission soutient 36 projets dans le cadre de Netd@ys Europe 2000
[08] L'éducation des jeunes Européens - spécificités et points communs des
pays candidats avec l'UE
[01] Third annual EU-China Summit
The third annual EU-China Summit will take place in Beijing on Monday 23rd
October, this year. President Romano Prodi will represent the European
Commission and will be accompanied by External Relations and Economic and
Monetary Affairs Commissioners Pascal Lamy and Pedro Solbes. French
President Chirac will represent the EU Presidency and will be accompanied
by two French Cabinet Ministers and the EU's High Representative Javier
Solana. Chinese Prime Minister, Zhu Rongji, will lead for the Chinese. He
will be accompanied by Foreign Minister, Tang Jiaxuan, and Governor of the
Peoples' Bank of China, Mr Dai Xianglong and Minister for Foreign Trade and
Economic Co-operation, Shi Guangsheng.
[02] Animal feed : Commission proposal to exclude condemned animal material
from the feed chain
The proposal adopted by the European Commission today is one of the key
actions of the White Paper on Food Safety and a major step towards
preventing feed-borne food crises such as BSE and dioxin contamination. The
proposed Regulation prohibits the recycling of fallen stock and condemned
animal material in animal feed. The only animal material allowed to be used
for the production of animal feed would then be material derived from
animals declared fit for human consumption following veterinary inspection.
This will further reduce any risk of disease transmission and the risk of
presence of residues in animal feed. Clear rules are set out for what must
and may be done with the animal materials that are excluded from the feed
chain and new options are included such as transformation of the material
into bio-gas. The proposal sets out a transparent, comprehensive and
directly applicable legal framework, replacing and simplifying a multitude
of scattered veterinary directives and decisions which have developed over
more than a decade in response to internal market requirements and crisis
situations.
[03] La Commission autorise la création de la Société Airbus Intégrée
La Commission européenne a autorisé la création de la Société Airbus
Intégrée (AIC), une nouvelle société dans laquelle BAES (Royaume-Uni) et
EADS NV, ainsi que ses filiales à 100%, EADS France, EADS Allemagne et CASA
(Espagne), regrouperont leurs actifs et leurs activités liés à Airbus, y
compris les participations qu'elles détiennent respectivement dans Airbus
Industrie Groupement d'Intérêt Economique.
[04] Commission clears Avnet buy of Veba's European electronics
distribution business
The European Commission has authorised an operation whereby Avnet Inc of
the United States will acquire full ownership of Veba's European electronic
systems distribution business called RKE Systems and of certain Veba's
European electronic components distribution businesses, namely EBV, Distron,
WBC and Atlas Logistic Service.
[05] Fusion approuvée selon la procédure simplifiée
Banco Commercial Portugues / Banco de Sabadell / Ibersecurities
[06] Software patents - Commission launches consultations
The European Commission has launched consultations via the Internet on the
patentability of computer-implemented inventions. The absence of EU-
harmonised legislation may be a potential barrier to industrial growth,
competitiveness and the development of the Internal Market. Comments from
interested parties, the public at large and Member States have been invited
until 15 December 2000 on the basis of a consultation paper prepared by the
Commission's services. This paper has been made available on the
Commission's Europa Website and will also be notified formally to Member
States. Considerable debate has taken place in Europe recently about the
patentability of computer software. Some consider that patents in this
field tend to stimulate innovation in this sector by providing adequate
protection of the substantial amounts of money and resources that can be
required to develop sophisticated and specific software. Others believe
that patents will on the contrary stifle fair competition and hinder
innovation. The aim of the consultation is to help the Commission to
identify the best approach to the issue so as to strike the right balance
between promoting innovation and ensuring adequate competition in the
market place. The consultation document is available at the following URL:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/intprop/indprop/index.htm
[07] La Commission soutient 36 projets dans le cadre de Netd@ys Europe 2000
La plus grande manifestation culturelle et pédagogique d'Europe consacrée
aux nouveaux médias, Netd@ys Europe 2000, se déroulera du 20 au 27
novembre. L'initiative Netd@ys Europe est financée par les programmes
Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci, Jeunesse, Culture 2000 et Media de l'Union
européenne. Cette année, une aide globale de 750.000 euros sera accordée à
trente-six projets. L'initiative Netd@ys vise à encourager l'utilisation
d'Internet et des nouveaux médias dans les domaines de l'éducation, de la
formation et de la culture.
[08] L'éducation des jeunes Européens - spécificités et points communs des
pays candidats avec l'UE
(! embargo 12h !) Un rapport publié aujourd'hui par Eurostat met au regard
les systèmes éducatifs des pays candidats, de l'Albanie, de la Bosnie-
Herzégovine et de l'ex-République yougoslave de Macédoine de ceux des pays
de l'Union européenne. Ce rapport utilise des données qui reposent pour la
première fois sur une même méthodologie et des questionnaires communs à
tous les pays. Il illustre les spécificités, mais aussi les points communs
des différents systèmes éducatifs européens.
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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