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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 02-12-09
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] VAT : Commission proposes to adapt rules for gas and electricity
supplies
[02] Commission clears merger of Logica and CMG
[03] La Commission approuve l'acquisition de GIB par AvH et CNP
[04] Commission clears venture between Japanese firms Toray, Murata and
Teijin
[05] La Commission publie les nouvelles prévisions à moyen terme concernant
les marchés agricoles de l'UE
[06] Commission launches public consultation on open platforms in digital
TV and 3G
[07] La Commission recommande des critères de qualité applicables aux sites
Web consacrés à la santé
[08] Copyright : report highlights successful EU-wide recognition of
directors as "authors" of films
[09] Renewable sources of energy : winners of the 2002 EU Campaign for Take-
Off received their awards on 9 December
[10] Crisis in Ethiopia : Commission to increase emergency aid to €97
million by the end of 2002
[11] Chris Patten welcomes adoption of Constitutional Charter for Serbia
and Montenegro
[12] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express 09/12/2002
TXT: FR ENPDF:DOC:Midday Express 09/12/2002
[01] VAT : Commission proposes to adapt rules for gas and electricity
supplies
The European Commission has adopted a proposal to amend the rules on the
place of taxation of natural gas and electricity for the purposes of Value
Added Tax (VAT) so as to facilitate the functioning of the Single Market
for energy. The proposal would eliminate current problems of double
taxation and non-taxation and distortions of competition between traders by
changing the place of taxation of natural gas in pipelines and of
electricity from the place of supply to the place of consumption. Under the
proposed rules, where the buyer was a trader reselling the supplies, the
place of taxation would be the place where the buyer was established. Where
the sale was to a final consumer, the place of taxation would be the place
of consumption. For transmission services closely linked to the supply of
gas and electricity, the proposal contains a corresponding clause providing
that taxation would take place in the country where the customer was
established. The current rules have worked adequately in a national context
but are not appropriate now with market liberalisation and increasing cross-
border supplies of gas and electricity. It is difficult to determine where
the place of supply of gas and electricity is located and this leads to
differences of interpretation of the rules by Member States and
difficulties for traders supplying gas and electricity across borders.
[02] Commission clears merger of Logica and CMG
The European Commission has cleared the proposed merger of information and
communication technologies companies Logica of Britain and Anglo/Dutch CMG.
The merged company will have a strong position in the market for mobile
telephone text messaging (Short Messaging Services or SMS) technology. But
the Commission concluded that LogicaCMG would be under sufficient
competitive constraint both in the current technology and the new version
Multimedia Messaging Services which combines text, image and sound.
[03] La Commission approuve l'acquisition de GIB par AvH et CNP
La Commission européenne a donné son feu vert à un projet de concentration
par lequel les entreprises belges Ackermans & van Haaren NV/SA (AvH),
contrôlée par Belfimas NV, et Compagnie Nationale à Portefeuille SA (CNP),
appartenant à Frère Bourgois Group, acquièrent le contrôle en commun de
l'entreprise belge GIB SA. (L'opération, qui avait été notifiée le 5
novembre 2002, a été examinée sous une procédure simplifiée)
[04] Commission clears venture between Japanese firms Toray, Murata and
Teijin
The European Commission has granted regulatory approval to a proposed joint
venture between Japanese companies Toray, Murata and Teijin which will
combine their respective activities in the synthetic fibre machinery
sector. The deal raises no competition concerns in the European Union.
[05] La Commission publie les nouvelles prévisions à moyen terme concernant
les marchés agricoles de l'UE
La Commission européenne a publié aujourd'hui les nouvelles prévisions à
moyen terme concernant les marchés agricoles de l'Union européenne. Le
rapport tient compte des effets anticipés de la nouvelle loi américaine sur
l'agriculture, des derniers accords "double profit" conclus avec les pays
candidats et de la récente évolution des marchés agricoles et de l'économie
communautaire. A la suite de la publication, en juin 2002, des perspectives
pour les marchés agricoles 2002-2009, cette évolution probable des marchés
de l'UE a été établie en tenant compte des marchés mondiaux des produits de
base qui devraient rester assez largement similaires à ceux qui ont servi à
établir les projections de juin.
[06] Commission launches public consultation on open platforms in digital
TV and 3G
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on a report on
remaining barriers to the achievement of widespread access to new services
and applications of the Information Society through open platforms in
digital television and 3G mobile communications, which was requested by the
Barcelona Summit and the Seville Council. The consultation will run until
15 February 2003. A public hearing is currently scheduled for 4 February
2003.
[07] La Commission recommande des critères de qualité applicables aux sites
Web consacrés à la santé
Les citoyens européens sont de fervents consommateurs d'informations
relatives à la santé sur l'internet. La Commission européenne a adopté une
communication établissant un ensemble de critères de qualité fondamentaux
applicables aux sites Web consacrés à la santé. Les six critères de qualité
suivants y sont fixés : transparence et honnêteté, obligation de référence,
protection des données et de la vie privée, actualisation des informations,
responsabilité et accessibilité. La communication dispose qu'il convient
d'adapter ces critères selon les publics visés et décrit les méthodes de
mise en œuvre des critères de qualité, notamment au moyen de codes de
conduite, de l'adhésion volontaire à des codes ou des chartes de qualité,
d'instruments d'orientation des utilisateurs, d'instrument de filtrage ou
de labels de qualité et d'homologation par un organisme tiers.
[08] Copyright : report highlights successful EU-wide recognition of
directors as "authors" of films
All Member States now recognise the principal director of a film or
audiovisual work as an author of the work and accord him or her the
associated intellectual property rights, in line with the 1992 Directive on
the Rental and Lending Right and Certain Related Rights. This has not made
it more difficult to distribute and market audiovisual works, despite fears
expressed by some Member States when the Directive was adopted. Those are
the main conclusions of a report issued today by the European Commission.
The objective of the relevant provision in the Directive was to ensure
copyright for the principal director as the main creator of a film. Member
States remain free to use national law to designate other co-authors.
[09] Renewable sources of energy : winners of the 2002 EU Campaign for Take-
Off received their awards on 9 December
European Commission Vice-President Loyola de Palacio and Mr José Folgado,
Spanish Secretary of State for Energy handed-over today in Salamanca the
2002 EU awards of the Campaign for Take-Off. The Campaign for Take-Off
rewards efforts made in promoting renewable energy and showcasing
successful projects and initiatives all over Europe. For this third EU
awards edition, the winners represent eight EU countries. "The European
Union is making steady progress in legislating in favour of renewables, be
it with the renewables Directive, now being implemented by Member States,
with the energy efficiency in buildings Directive, adopted in record time,
or with the biofuels Directive on which discussions are progressing. But
legislation can sometimes be a dead letter without a true involvment from
stakeholders. This is why I am particularly thrilled to see that on the
ground innovative renewables projets are implemented throughout the
European Union", said Loyola de Palacio.
[10] Crisis in Ethiopia : Commission to increase emergency aid to €97
million by the end of 2002
In response to the Ethiopian Disaster Prevention and Preparedness
Commission (DPPC) appeal for emergency requirements in 2003, the European
Commission is currently preparing a €70 million emergency food aid
assistance programme to be adopted before the end of the year. This new
contribution is equivalent to about 260,000 metric tons (Mt) of cereals and
will meet food aid requirements during the first half of the year 2003.
This comes in addition to the food aid assistance already provided for the
needs of the last quarter of 2002 (€23 million 97,000 Mt) and non-food
humanitarian aid worth €4 million allocated in November 2002 by the
European Office for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO), which comes under the
responsibility of Commissioner Poul Nielson. This new contribution will
bring the total EC emergency aid to the present crisis in Ethiopia up to
€97 million for 2002. Member States are bilaterally providing €35 million
in humanitarian aid and food aid in response provided by the EU to the
present crisis in Ethiopia, bringing the total EU amount to €132 million.
[11] Chris Patten welcomes adoption of Constitutional Charter for Serbia
and Montenegro
European External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten stated on 7 December
: "I am delighted to hear that after much discussion and debate the
Constitutional Charter for Serbia and Montenegro has been adopted by the
Constitutional Commission. I hope everyone will now work together to make a
success of these important new arrangements and that this will be followed
by a rapid agreement on the action plan to create a single market and
customs area."
[12] Autre matériel diffusé
Discours de M. Prodi : "Une éthique pour l'Europe" à la Conférence Politics
and Morality (06/12, Vienne)
Speech by Philippe Busquin : "The European Union and the Research and
Development Gap" at the Innovation Lecture 2002 (The Hague)
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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