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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 01-02-12
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
Midday Express 12/02/2001
[01] La Commission autorise l'opération de concentration entre VNU et
ACNielsen
La Commission européenne a autorisé l'opération de concentration entre VNU
N.V. (Pays-Bas) et ACNielsen Corp (Etats-Unis) après être parvenue à la
conclusion que les activités des parties dans le domaine des études de
marché ne se chevauchaient pas en Europe.
[02] Commission clears acquisition of Thomas Cook Holdings by C&N Touristic
The European Commission has cleared the acquisition by the vertically
integrated German tour operator C&N Touristic of the UK travel company
Thomas Cook Holdings. The only EU Member States in which Thomas Cook is
active in leisure travel are the UK and Ireland. C&N is not active in
either of these countries. In view of this absence of overlap, the
Commission has decided to clear the operation.
[03] Structural funds - Commission approves almost euro 200 million support
for urban areas in The Netherlands
The European Commission has approved a development programme for "urban
areas in The Netherlands" over the period 2000-2006. This programme amounts
to euro 199.67 million in financial support from the European Union. It
concerns urban areas in difficulties, and as such eligible for "Objective
2" of the Structural Funds. The European funding will attract a further
euro 348 million in investment from the Netherlands public sector and euro
41 million from the private sector, making total spending of euro 588
million. The aim of this programme is to create around 6,500 new jobs, to
revitalise business sites and to support 500 small and medium sized
enterprise.
[04] Endangered species : Commission acts against UK over damage to
breeding and resting places
The European Commission has decided to issue a Reasoned Opinion against the
United Kingdom for failure properly to apply the European Union's Habitats
Directive which aims to safeguard the breeding and resting places of
endangered species. The Directive requires Member States to prohibit the
deterioration or destruction of the breeding sites and resting places of a
number of endangered animal species including the otter, the great crested
newt and all bat species. Today's decision reflects the Commission's
concern that the application of the licensing system used to grant
exceptions to the Directive in the UK does not respect its strict
conditions. In particular, licences seem to be issued as a formality after
development consent for a construction or infrastructure project has
already been given, and do not appear to involve a careful weighing of the
arguments for and against allowing damage to occur.
[05] Commission takes further legal action against Germany over threat to
endangered hamster habitats
The European Commission has decided to send a Reasoned Opinion (second
warning letter) to Germany for failure to properly ensure the protection of
the habitats of an endangered hamster, the Cricetus cricetus. The habitats
are situated at Horbacher Börde, near the town of Aachen, close to the
Dutch border, and is one of the three most important sites for the species
in the north-west of Germany. The habitats are being threathened by
intensive agriculture and the construction of a cross-border industrial
site. The provisions of the Habitats Directive on prohibiting the
deterioration or destruction of breeding sites or resting places are being
infringed.
[06] Commission and Germany start focused discussions on guarantees to
public banks
A delegation led by Mr Caio Koch-Weser, State Secretary at the German
Federal Ministry of Finance, and Mr Peer Steinbrück, Minister of Finance of
the Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, met on Friday 9 February with European
Competition Commissioner Mario Monti to discuss the issue of State aid in
the form of guarantees to public banks in Germany. The meeting took place
in the context of the process started by the letter of 26 January 2001 (see
IP/01/119) by which the Commission informed the German authorities that it
considers these guarantees in as far as they affect the competitive
position of the banks and trade between Member States to be State aid which
is incompatible with EU law. "I welcome the fact that the discussion with
Germany on the guarantees has started again after quite some precious time
has been lost since we entered into talks last February", Mr Monti said.
"This is a constructive development and I hope that it will provide an
impetus for making rapid progress in the context of the procedure launched
to bring the guarantee schemes concerned into line with EU rules."
[07] La Commission approuve 17.8 millions d'euros d'aide humanitaire en
faveur de la République Fédérale de Yougoslavie, du Kosovo, de l'Albanie et
de l'Ancienne République Yougoslave de Macédoine (ARYM)
La Commission européenne a octroyé un financement additionnel de 17.8
millions d'euros afin de permettre la poursuite ininterrompue de
l'assistance humanitaire durant l'hiver. Imputée au budget 2001, cette
décision complète un financement de 31.6 millions d'euros prise en décembre
2000. Cette aide est gérée par l'Office d'Aide Humanitaire (ECHO) et est
destinée à couvrir les besoins humanitaires de base des réfugiés, personnes
déplacées et autres groupes vulnérables pendant l'hiver. Ces besoins
concernent notamment les secteurs de la santé, de l'hébergement, de la
nourriture et de l'aide au rapatriement.
[08] Renewal of the Fisheries Protocol between the EU and Equatorial Guinea
The European Union and Equatorial Guinea have initialled a Protocol to the
Fisheries Agreement between the two parties for a period of three years
from 1st July 2001. This Agreement solely concerns tuna fisheries and will
provide fishing possibilities for 62 vessels. The annual financial
compensation has been increased from euro 320,000 to euro 412,500 to
reflect the increase in the annual level of captures available to Community
vessels from 4,000 to 5,500 tonnes.
[09] Fusion approuvée selon la procédure simplifiée
Océ-Technologies B.V. (NL) / Real Software Group N.V. (B) / Océ-Real
Business Solutions B.V. (NL)
[10] Autre matériel diffusé
Discours de Mme Reding : "Le multilinguisme : une chance pour l'Europe" à
la Conférence d'ouverture de l'Année Européenne des Langues (10/02,
Thionville)
Discours de M. Byrne : "Trust through transparency" au Biovision World Life
Sciences Forum (10/02, Lyon)
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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