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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 04-01-14
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] La Commission définit une stratégie de coordination et de surveillance
des politiques économiques
[02] Services : Commission proposes Directive to cut red tape that stifles
Europe's competitiveness
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[03] President Prodi to praise changes in Turkey and call for continuation
and implementation of reforms
[04] Poul Nielson to meet President of Burundi (15/01)
[05] Enlargement and agriculture : €5.76 billion for rural development in
new Member States
[06] Nature : la Commission prend des mesures pour protéger les espèces
animales et végétales menacées des régions montagneuses de l'UE
[07] Marchés publics : la Commission demande à la Belgique des procédures
efficaces de recours pour les soumissionnaires non retenus
[08] Eurobarometer poll on fraud and fight against fraud
[09] Report on dairy and meat consumption trends and the use of feed in the
Accession and Candidate Countries
[10] Commission hosts inaugural event to celebrate the launch of the
world's first all IPv6 research network
[11] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express 14/01/2004
TXT: FR ENPDF:DOC:Midday Express 14/01/2004[I] Résultats de la Commission
du 13 janvier 2004 - Outcome of Commission meeting of 13 January
[01] La Commission définit une stratégie de coordination et de surveillance
des politiques économiques
La Commission européenne a adopté une stratégie en trois volets en vue de
préciser et d'améliorer la coordination et la surveillance des politiques
économiques à la suite des conclusions du Conseil Ecofin du 25 novembre
2003. Au titre du premier volet de cette stratégie, la Commission
continuera à exercer la surveillance des politiques économiques et
budgétaires de tous les Etats membres dans le cadre du traité et du pacte
de stabilité et de croissance (PSC). Elle continuera également à suivre
l'évolution des pays en situation de déficit excessif. Au titre du deuxième
volet, la Commission, se fondant sur l'expérience acquise au cours des cinq
premières années d'existence de l'UEM, soumettra de nouvelles propositions
pour renforcer la gouvernance économique à l'avenir. L'amélioration de la
mise en œuvre du pacte de stabilité et de croissance fera partie de cette
initiative. Enfin, conformément à son rôle de gardienne des traités, la
Commission s'efforcera de garantir la clarté et la prévisibilité juridiques
des dispositions du traité relatives à l'UEM. Les conclusions du Conseil
Ecofin du 25 novembre ont des incidences politiques qui touchent au cœur
même du processus d'intégration de l'Europe. Le Conseil a adopté des
conclusions non contraignantes au lieu de prendre une décision avec des
effets juridiques précis. La Commission a donc décidé de contester les
conclusions du Conseil devant la Cour de justice des Communautés
européennes. Cependant, cette action se focalisera sur les éléments de
procédure uniquement et ne portera pas sur les aspects des conclusions du
Conseil liés à surveillance économique propre à chaque pays.
[02] Services : Commission proposes Directive to cut red tape that stifles
Europe's competitiveness
The European Commission has presented a proposal for a Directive to create
a real Internal Market in services by requiring Member States to cut
administrative burdens and excessive red tape that can currently prevent
businesses from offering their services across borders or from opening
premises in other Member States. The services covered by the proposal
account for around 50% of all economic activity in the EU. Many small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), who represent the bulk of service
providers, are at the moment dissuaded from cross-border expansion. By
encouraging cross-border economic activity and boosting competition, the
proposed Directive would increase choice, improve quality and bring down
prices for consumers and also for businesses which use services. It would
also encourage innovation in the sector which at EU level creates the most
jobs. The effect on the economy as a whole would be to improve
competitiveness and create high quality jobs. Once adopted, the proposed
Directive would resolve many of the difficulties identified by businesses
and other stakeholders in a Commission report published in July 2002 (see
IP/02/1180). The proposal will now go forward for adoption by the European
Parliament and the EU's Council of Ministers.
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[03] President Prodi to praise changes in Turkey and call for continuation
and implementation of reforms
During the first visit of a European Commission President in Turkey for the
past 40 years, Romano Prodi will repeat the strong wish of the European
Union to welcome Turkey as an equal and respected member. He will praise
the changes undertaken by the Turkish government to meet the EU accession
criteria and will call for the continuation and implementation of these
reforms. Mr Prodi will also stress the strong preference of the EU for the
accession of a united Cyprus to the EU on the 1st of May, following a
settlement based on the UN peace plan, and insist on the benefits of such
an outcome for Turkey.
[04] Poul Nielson to meet President of Burundi (15/01)
Thursday morning 15.1.04 European Commissioner for Development and
Humanitarian Aid Poul Nielson will meet President Ndayizeye of Burundi. The
meeting will be an occasion to review current promising progress in the
Burundian peace process. This will also be an opportunity for Mr Nielson to
reaffirm the EC's continued strong support for the peace process.
Commissioner Nielson and President Ndayizeye will sign the recent decision
of the EU on a €25 million grant from the European Development Fund to
support current peace keeping operations in Burundi under the authority of
the African Union (AU). Finally Commissioner Nielson and President
Ndayizeye will review current EC development cooperation. €172 million have
been available to Burundi under the 9th European Development Fund. The
meeting will take place from 9.00-9.45 at Rue de Genève 12. It will be
followed by a VIP corner.
[05] Enlargement and agriculture : €5.76 billion for rural development in
new Member States
The European Commission has decided to fix EU funding for the rural
development for the new Member States at €5.76 billion in current prices
for 2004-2006. The allocations for each new Member State are based on the
amounts contained in the declaration included in the Act of Accession. They
have now been converted from 1999 prices to current prices. During the
accession negotiations it was agreed to allocate an envelope of €5.11
billion (at 1999 prices) out of the EU agricultural budget (EAGGF Guarantee
Section) to finance rural development measures for the ten new Member
States for the period 2004-2006.
[06] Nature : la Commission prend des mesures pour protéger les espèces
animales et végétales menacées des régions montagneuses de l'UE
La Commission européenne a approuvé une liste de 959 sites naturels de
régions montagneuses de l'Union européenne. Cette décision implique une
protection renforcée de ces régions et des nombreuses espèces animales et
végétales menacées qu'elles abritent. La liste de la Commission comprend
des sites situés dans les Alpes, dans les Pyrénées, dans les Apennins et
dans les montagnes de Fennoscandie. Elle concerne des espèces animales et
végétales et des habitats menacés tels que l'ours brun, le sabot de la
vierge les prairies de fauche de montagne. La protection de ces espèces est
d'un grand intérêt scientifique pour l'Europe, et un effort concerté de
l'UE est donc nécessaire pour garantir la diversité biologique et la
conservation de la faune et de la flore naturelles dans ces régions
montagneuses d'Europe. Il s'agit également d'une étape importante pour la
mise en place du réseau Natura 2000 de sites protégés de l'UE.
[07] Marchés publics : la Commission demande à la Belgique des procédures
efficaces de recours pour les soumissionnaires non retenus
La Commission européenne a décidé de demander formellement à la Belgique de
mettre en place des procédures qui permettraient aux soumissionnaires non
retenus pour l'attribution de marchés publics de contester les décisions
des pouvoirs adjudicateurs, avant qu'il ne soit trop tard pour changer ces
décisions. La demande se présente sous la forme d'avis motivé, la deuxième
étape de la procédure d'infraction prévue à l'article 226 du Traité. En
l'absence d'une réponse satisfaisante dans un délai de deux mois, la
Commission pourrait décider de traduire la Belgique devant la Cour de
Justice.
[08] Eurobarometer poll on fraud and fight against fraud
This survey analyses public awareness of fraud in general and fraud against
the EU and its budget in the 15 Member States (EU-15) and 13 accession and
candidate countries (CC-13). The results show that respondents are
particularly concerned about corruption (55% in the EU-15 and 69% in the CC-
13), fraud relating to quality of food and agricultural products (46% in
the EU-15 and 57% in the CC-13) and commercial fraud (39% in the EU-15 and
58% in the CC-13). Citizens are more preoccupied by wrongdoing in
national/local governments and institutions (36% in the EU-15), than about
wrongdoing in EU institutions. As concerns fraud against the EU, more than
half the respondents disagree with the statement that fraud against the EU
and its budget happens very rarely. There is a very wide consensus that
defrauding the EU and its budget is harmful both for the vast majority of
citizens who are honest and for the national economy. EU citizens trust the
police force to fight against fraud, while citizens from accession and
candidate countries look more to the EU itself. Both groups agree that
fighting fraud should be a political priority and the EU has a role to
play. However, a majority of citizens feels fairly badly informed about the
fight against fraud against the EU and its budget.
[09] Report on dairy and meat consumption trends and the use of feed in the
Accession and Candidate Countries
The European Commission has published the external assessment report
"Consumption trends for dairy and livestock products and the use of feeds
in production in the CEE Accession and Candidate Countries" prepared by the
Network of Independent Experts and the Institute of Agricultural
Development in Central and Eastern Europe (IAMO). The report identifies the
determining factors of food consumption and feed use within the extended EU
food markets and provides a lot of country and market specific information.
Consumption and feed use trends are the major driving factors of future
developments on agricultural markets, which will be reinforced by the CAP
Reform. The report first provides an assessment of meat and dairy
consumption in the nineties, which concludes that it generally faced a
sharp decline during the early nineties in most accession countries. The
structure of meat consumption changed significantly : beef and mutton
consumption declined sharply while those of pork and especially for poultry
have developed very positively. The markets for fresh dairy products and
cheese have grown significantly as well alongside those for fruits and
vegetables. These trends will further strengthen due to the continuous high
increase of income, which has been on average double the rate as in the
present Member States. The report concludes with an analysis of feed use.
The report can be found on the internet at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/publi/reports/ccconsumption/index_en.htm
[10] Commission hosts inaugural event to celebrate the launch of the
world's first all IPv6 research network
The European Union has been instrumental in giving political and financial
support to the rapid take up of the new Internet Protocol IPv6. This next
generation of Internet technology will support the better integration of
new Internet services into homes, businesses and even vehicles. The
European Commission has fostered cooperation between the Research and
Education Networks around the world to establish the world's first all IPv6
research network. The global IPv6 service for the research community will
be launched at the inaugural "Global IPv6 Service Launch" event, hosted by
the Commission, on January 15-16, 2004 in Brussels in celebration of this
achievement.
[11] Autre matériel diffusé
Discours de M. Prodi : "Imaginer le futur" à l'inauguration de la
Présidence irlandaise (PE, Strasbourg)
Discours de Mme de Palacio : "Le réseau transeuropéen de transport, une
condition indispensable du marché intérieur" à la Banque Européenne
d'Investissement (Luxembourg)
Note on informal meeting of Employment Ministers (15-16, Galway)
Commission proposal for a Directive on services : frequently asked
questions
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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