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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 02-11-11
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] EU anti-smoking campaign goes pop : music stars join chorus of "Feel
free to say no to tobacco"
[02] En consacrant en moyenne de 62% de leur temps de diffusion à des
oeuvres européennes, les chaînes de télévision appliquent de mieux en mieux
les "quotas" prévus dans la directive "télévision sans frontières"
[03] Commission welcomes adoption of Directive on public access to
environmental information
[04] Loin des objectifs de Lisbonne : l'Europe n'investit pas assez dans la
connaissance
[05] Commission seeks views on whether pack sizes should be free or fixed
[06] EU-Russia Summit (11/11)
[07] Commission provides prompt emergency aid for victims of volcanic
eruption in Ecuador
[08] EU contributes €55 million to the United Nations Relief and Works
Agency for Palestine Refugees in 2002
[09] 8th round of EU-Mercosur association negotiations starts
implementation of work programme agreed at the July ministerial
[10] Franz Fischler calls for realism in enlargement end game
[11] Franz Fischler met ministers from all candidate countries
[12] EU formally recognises Russia as market economy country
[13] Ouverture de la conférence "La recherche européenne en 2002" à
Bruxelles : lancement du programme scientifique et technologique de l'UE
[14] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express 08/11/2002
TXT: FR ENPDF:DOC:Midday Express 08/11/2002
[01] EU anti-smoking campaign goes pop : music stars join chorus of "Feel
free to say no to tobacco"
Young people know their names and songs by heart: Moby, Sophie Ellis Bextor,
Tiziano Ferro, A-Teens, Liberty X, Loona, Billy Crawford, Natural and many
more - a long list of pop stars say no to tobacco and have joined the EU-
wide campaign aimed at preventing smoking among young people. They appear
in adverts which will be broadcast by 38 television channels in all Member
States and by MTV throughout Europe. The ads will also be shown in more
than 5,000 cinemas in the EU. "Feel free to say no" is the slogan of the EU-
wide anti-smoking campaign to help combat smoking among children and
adolescents. It started on 31 May with the kick-off of the tobacco-free
World Cup and the active support of UEFA and dozens of European World Cup
players. It is part of the Commission's broader tobacco control strategy
and targets EU-wide 36.2 million young people between 12 and 18 years. The
overall budget of the campaign is €18 million for three years (€6 million
per year).
[02] En consacrant en moyenne de 62% de leur temps de diffusion à des
oeuvres européennes, les chaînes de télévision appliquent de mieux en mieux
les "quotas" prévus dans la directive "télévision sans frontières"
La Commission européenne a adopté aujourd'hui une communication sur la mise
en oeuvre en 1999 et 2000 des articles 4 et 5 de la directive "télévision
sans frontières" (TVSF), qui ont pour objectif la promotion de la diffusion
d'oeuvres européennes, y compris celles émanant de producteurs indépendants
des télévisions. Le temps moyen de diffusion d'oeuvres européennes a été de
60,7% en 1999 et de 62,2% en 2000 pour les Quinze. Quant à la promotion
d'oeuvres, notamment récentes, de producteurs indépendants des télévisions,
le temps d'antenne moyen qui leur a été consacré est de 37,5% en 1999 et de
40,5% en 2000, soit bien au-delà du seuil de 10% prévu par la directive.
[03] Commission welcomes adoption of Directive on public access to
environmental information
The European Commission has welcomed the successful outcome of the
Conciliation procedure between the European Parliament and the Council on
the Commission's proposal for a Directive on public access to environmental
information, which is now finally agreed. The Directive will replace the
existing Directive 90/313/EC on the freedom of access to information on the
environment. The new Directive improves the public information access
provided by existing legislation and is also the first step towards EU
ratification of the international convention on access to information,
public participation in decision making and access to justice in
environmental matters, which was adopted at Aarhus in June 1998.
[04] Loin des objectifs de Lisbonne : l'Europe n'investit pas assez dans la
connaissance
L'Europe doit faire plus pour devenir une vraie économie de la connaissance,
comme demandé par le Conseil européen de Lisbonne de mars 2000. C'est ce
qui ressort du dernier rapport de la Commission européenne sur les
"Chiffres clés sur la science, la technologie et l'innovation" (2002).
Selon l'indicateur synthétique de l'investissement dans l'économie de la
connaissance développé par la Commission qui combine la recherche,
l'éducation, la formation, et les ressources humaines, le Danemark, la
Suède et la Finlande sont en tête, tandis que l'Italie et l'Espagne doivent
de façon urgente mobiliser davantage de ressources. Un autre indicateur
synthétique qui concerne la transition vers une économie de la connaissance
montre également que la majorité des pays européens ne progressent encore
que trop lentement.
[05] Commission seeks views on whether pack sizes should be free or fixed
The European Commission is seeking the views of consumers, producers,
retailers and other interested parties on where public intervention in pack-
sizing is, or is not, justified. To this end, two complementary on-line
consultations have been launched, consisting of a survey questionnaire,
which is part of the Interactive Policy Making initiative, and a discussion
forum. The Commission services have also produced a working paper to guide
the debate. Both consultations can be accessed on the Your Voice in Europe
site : http://europa.eu.int/yourvoice and on the Pack sizes site :
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/prepack/. They will be open for
contributions until 31 January 2003. The review of existing EU legislation
on pack-sizes is one of the proposals selected to undergo extended impact
assessment (cf. IP/02/1590) under the Legislative and Work Programme for
2003, and is part of the Commission's wider commitment to better regulation
and the new procedure for assessing the impact of legislation.
[06] EU-Russia Summit (11/11)
The 10th EU-Russia Summit will take place in Brussels on 11 November 2002.
The President-in-office of the European Council, Danish Prime Minister Fogh
Rasmussen, together with the President of the European Commission Romano
Prodi, will meet the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. On
the EU side Commissioners for External Relations, Chris Patten, for Trade
Pascal Lamy, for Transport and Energy, Vice-president Loyola de Palacio,
Danish Foreign Minister and President-in-office of the Council, Per Stig
Moller as well as High Representative and Secretary General of the Council
Javier Solana will also participate. President Putin will be accompanied by
a great number of top Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Igor
Ivanov and Presidential Special Representative on Kaliningrad and Chair of
the Duma Committee on International Affairs Dimitry Rogozin. This is the
second Summit with Russia this year, following the one in Moscow held last
May.
[07] Commission provides prompt emergency aid for victims of volcanic
eruption in Ecuador
The European Commission is providing humanitarian assistance worth €448,000
for relief efforts in the region of Ecuador affected by Sunday's eruption
of the "El Reventador" volcano. The aid is being channelled through the
Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) which comes under the responsibility of
Commissioner Poul Nielson. The funding decision, taken under the "primary
emergency procedure", enables assistance to be dispatched immediately to
the affected population.
[08] EU contributes €55 million to the United Nations Relief and Works
Agency for Palestine Refugees in 2002
The European Commission has decided to provide its annual contribution of
€55 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees (UNRWA) for the year 2002. The EU funds will support UNRWA's work
supporting around 3.9 million Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon,
Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza strip. The objective is to support
education, health, relief and social services programmes. The decision has
been taken in the context of the new funding convention signed between the
EU and UNRWA in September, which boosted Commission support to €237 million
for the period 2002-2005.
[09] 8th round of EU-Mercosur association negotiations starts
implementation of work programme agreed at the July ministerial
The 8th round of negotiations between the EU and Mercosur on a bi-regional
Association Agreement will take place from 11 to 14 November 2002 in
Brasilia. This is the first negotiating session following the EU-Mercosur
Ministerial meeting on 22 July 2002, during which an ambitious programme
was established to guide the trade negotiations until the second half of
2003. The negotiations will focus on a wide range of rules related issues
as well as the modalities to be followed for the negotiation of
liberalisation of trade in goods and services. Ahead of the meeting
European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said : "At the July Ministerial
Meeting both the EU and Mercosur gave a political impetus to the
negotiations by fixing an ambitious programme of work to be carried out
until 2003. It is now important that the negotiators on both sides work
constructively to agree on a set of common rules to govern our bi-regional
trade relations and to underpin the process of regional integration within
Mercosur". Commissioner for External Relations Chris Patten declared : "We
are determined to make a success of these negotiations. They are a sign of
the EU's confidence in the future of Mercosur. Regional integration and
market opening are the key to overcoming current problems in the region."
[10] Franz Fischler calls for realism in enlargement end game
Speaking at a press conference in Prague today, Franz Fischler, European
Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries, urged his
Czech partners to focus on the possible and on what is best for the Czech
Republic during the endgame of the EU accession negotiations. "The time for
playing politics is over. Realism and pragmatism must be the order of the
day. Following the decision of the Brussels Summit, from 2007 on, the
progressive increases in the direct payments for the new Member States must
be funded from a fixed budget which is based on 2006 spending. The budget
does not, therefore, cover such increases - the money must be found by
savings within the fixed envelope. Furthermore, any additional market
expenditure arising, for example, from increases in the number of suckler
cows, beyond those calculated in our first proposal of January last, will
also have to be found through savings within the fixed envelope. You will
understand that this means the margin of manoeuvre of the EU-15 has become
far narrower". Mr Fischler also praised the Czech farming sector : "They
have come a long way in terms of restructuring and modernisation. But still
much work has to be done in the run-up to Czech accession. I know that
especially Czech farmers ask themselves sometimes : 'Is the effort worth
it?' My answer is yes. What should never be forgotten is that the Czech
farming sector will earn more money after enlargement, with or without
direct payments," he said.
[11] Franz Fischler met ministers from all candidate countries
Yesterday, Franz Fischler, European Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural
Development and Fisheries met the Agriculture Ministers from all the 13
candidate countries in Prague. This meeting marked the last opportunity for
an exchange of views before the final round of enlargement negotiations for
ten candidate countries. Mr Fischler urged the ministers to pursue a
realistic approach in the end game of the enlargement negotiations : "We
have a mere six weeks to complete them. To achieve this common goal we need
realism and pragmatism. Rather, the last few weeks should be used to
carefully assess what improvements in the negotiating position of the EU
you think you can justify, on the basis of objective data, convincing
enough for the Member States to be prepared to defend the results to their
own farmers. Changes which incur additional budgetary expenditure will be
the most difficult. The decision of the Brussels Summit to freeze the CAP
budget means that any improvement can no more be covered by an increase in
the available budget. It will have to be paid by other EU farmers. Don't
forget that the money for the phasing in of direct payments for the new
members after 2006 will not fall from the sky - it has to be found within
the ceiling now established". Commissioner Fischler also insisted that the
economic situation of farmers after accession would improve for four
reasons : (1) better opportunities in an EU-market of 500 million consumers,
(2) higher prices and other CAP support mechanisms, (3) substantial rural
development support and (4) the phasing in of direct payments.
[12] EU formally recognises Russia as market economy country
The EU yesterday formalised the recognition of Russia as a market economy
in the context of trade defence by amending the EU's anti-dumping and anti-
subsidy laws. This new regime will be applicable to all cases initiated
after 8 November 2002, date of entry into force.
[13] Ouverture de la conférence "La recherche européenne en 2002" à
Bruxelles : lancement du programme scientifique et technologique de l'UE
Le lundi 11 novembre, M. Philippe Busquin, commissaire européen chargé de
la recherche, et M. Guy Verhofstadt, Premier ministre belge, ouvriront à
Bruxelles la plus grande conférence sur la recherche dans l'UE jamais
organisée en Europe. M. Erkki Liikanen, commissaire chargé des entreprises
et de la société de l'information, y participera également. L'événement,
d'une durée de trois jours (11-13 novembre), attirera plus de 8.000
participants et 200 conférenciers, dont 20 ministres, 3 lauréats du prix
Nobel et un grand nombre de chefs d'entreprise. Il marquera le lancement du
nouveau programme-cadre de recherche de l'UE (2003-2006), avant les
premiers appels à propositions qui seront publiés sous peu. Avec un budget
de 17,5 milliards d'€, le sixième programme-cadre est l'un des plus
importants programmes de recherche dans le monde. Il soutiendra des projets
dans des secteurs stratégiques sélectionnés et stimulera la mise en place
de l'Espace européen de la recherche, véritable marché intérieur des
connaissances et de la science.
[14] Autre matériel diffusé
Speech by Franz Fischler : "EU Accession of the Czech Republic - challenges
for Agriculture and Rural Areas" at a meeting with Farmers' Associations
and Agri Business Representatives (07/11, Prague)
Discours de Mme Reding : "Intensifier le dialogue entre le sport et
politique en Europe" au 11ème Forum européen du Sport (07/11, Copenhague)
Note sur la préparation du Conseil Culture (11/11) et Education (12/11)
Myths on the proposal for a Tobacco Advertising Directive
Calendrier du 11 au 15 novembre
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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