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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 04-10-21
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[I] Résultats de la Commission du 20 octobre 2004 -
[01] Commission proposes a package of new measures for the fight against
terrorism to enhance prevention, preparedness and response to terrorist
attacks
[02] Nouvelles mesures contre le terrorisme : Communication sur le
financement du terrorisme
[03] New measures against terrorism : protection of critical infrastructure
against terrorist attacks
[04] Nouvelles mesures contre le terrorisme : développer la prévention et
la gestion des conséquences en matière d'attentats terroristes
[05] Echange de quotas d'émission : la Commission approuve huit nouveaux
plans et les échanges pourront commencer à la date prévue
[06] Commission fines companies in Spanish raw tobacco market
[07] Aides d'Etat : la Commission arrête des décisions concernant des
chantiers navals allemands, espagnols et grecs
[08] Free movement of goods : Germany will be referred to Court over its
rules on deposits for one-way packaging, unless the system is amended
within three months
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[09] Telephone bills : data privacy need not preclude individual billing of
calls, says European Court of Justice
[10] La Commission se félicite que la France a mis fin à la discrimination
des fournisseurs de services de téléphonie sur réseaux câblés
[11] Excise duties : Commission decides to take Sweden to Court over tax
discrimination against wine
[12] What Europeans think of the EU's farm policy
[13] Août 2004 : excédent de 3 milliards d'€ du commerce extérieur
pour la zone euro ; déficit de 7,8 milliards d'€ pour l'UE25
[14] First European Seminar for Leader+
[15] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express of 2004-10-21
Reference: MEX/04/1021
Date: 21/10/2004
EXME04 / 21.10
MIDDAY EXPRESS
News from the Press and Communication Directorate General's midday briefing
Nouvelles du rendez-vous de midi de la Direction Général Presse etb
Communication
21/10/04
[I] Résultats de la Commission du 20 octobre 2004 -
Outcome of Commission meeting of 20 October
(voir aussi - see also ME of 20/10)
[01] Commission proposes a package of new measures for the fight against
terrorism to enhance prevention, preparedness and response to terrorist
attacks
The European Commission has adopted four Communications in which new
measures for fighting terrorism are presented. The four Communications
respond to requests made by the European Council in March and June and aim
to contribute to the preparation, together with the Council, of the
European Council meeting of 17 December 2004. The different documents put
forward clear suggestions on what would enhance European prevention,
preparedness and response to terrorist attacks, respectively on terrorist
financing, on prevention and consequence management and finally on critical
infrastructure protection.
[02] Nouvelles mesures contre le terrorisme : Communication sur le
financement du terrorisme
La Commission européenne a adopté une Communication intitulée "Prévenir
et combattre le financement du terrorisme", qui met l'accent sur la
nécessité de renforcer l'échange d'informations entre les instances
compétentes au niveau national, communautaire et international. La
Communication souligne également qu'il importe de faciliter la mise en
place de structures de coopération et d'échange englobant les autorités
fiscales, les organismes de surveillance financière, le ministère de la
justice, les services de renseignement, les forces de l'ordre et les
autorités responsables du gel administratif.
[03] New measures against terrorism : protection of critical infrastructure
against terrorist attacks
The European Commission has adopted a Communication on critical
infrastructure protection in the fight against terrorism. The document
gives an overview of the actions that the Commission is currently taking on
protection of critical infrastructure and proposes additional measures to
strengthen existing instruments mainly by the establishment of a European
programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection (EPCIP) to provide
enhanced security for critical infrastructure as an ongoing, dynamic annual
system of reporting where the Commission would put forward its views on how
to assure the continued functioning of Europe's critical infrastructure
[04] Nouvelles mesures contre le terrorisme : développer la prévention et
la gestion des conséquences en matière d'attentats terroristes
La Commission européenne a adopté une Communication relative à l'état de
préparation et à la gestion des conséquences dans la lutte contre le
terrorisme. Ce document donne une vue d'ensemble des mesures prises
actuellement par la Commission et en propose d'autres pour renforcer les
instruments existants en matière de protection civile et de gestion des
conséquences. La Commission doit veiller à ce que les informations
pertinentes soient partagées instantanément avec tous ses services et
toutes les autorités nationales qui sont concernés.
[05] Echange de quotas d'émission : la Commission approuve huit nouveaux
plans et les échanges pourront commencer à la date prévue
La Commission européenne a approuvé une deuxième série de huit plans
nationaux d'allocation de quotas d'émission de CO². Six plans – soumis
par la Belgique, l'Estonie, la Lettonie, le Luxembourg, la Slovaquie et le
Portugal – ont été acceptés sans réserve et deux autres – ceux de
la Finlande et de la France – ont été approuvés sous
réserve de modifications techniques. Ces modifications assureront leur
acceptation automatique, sans autre évaluation par la Commission. Les
plans nationaux indiquent le nombre de quotas d'émission de CO² que les
Etats membres entendent allouer aux installations industrielles grosses
consommatrices d'énergie afin qu'elles puissent participer au système
d'échange à partir de janvier 2005. Cette décision autorise les quotas
alloués à plus de 2.100 installations, à savoir 15% d'un total estimé Ã
12.000 dans l'UE25. En juillet, la Commission avait approuvé huit plans
qui portaient sur plus de 5.000 installations représentant quelque 40% des
quotas prévus. Le système d'échange de quotas d'émission de l'UE
permettra de réduire, à moindre coût pour l'économie, les émissions de
gaz à effet de serre dans les secteurs énergétique et industriel, ainsi
qu'à l'UE et ses Etats membres d'atteindre leurs objectifs conformément au
protocole de Kyoto de 1997.
[06] Commission fines companies in Spanish raw tobacco market
The European Commission has fined five companies active in the Spanish raw
tobacco processing market a total of €20 million for colluding on the
prices paid to, and the quantities bought from, the tobacco growers in
Spain. The concerned processors of raw tobacco are Compañia Española de
Tabaco en Rama (Cetarsa), Agroexpansión, World Wide Tobacco España (WWTE),
Tabacos Españoles (Taes) and Deltafina, the Italian tobacco processor
which is also the main buyer of tobacco in Spain. The Commission also
imposed small fines on the tobacco growers for engaging in collective price
negotiations.
[07] Aides d'Etat : la Commission arrête des décisions concernant des
chantiers navals allemands, espagnols et grecs
La Commission européenne a arrêté des décisions finales concernant des
chantiers navals allemands, grecs et espagnols. Dans les trois cas, des
subventions illégales doivent être remboursées et dans le cas de la
Grèce certaines dispositions incompatibles avec le Traité doivent être
abrogées.
[08] Free movement of goods : Germany will be referred to Court over its
rules on deposits for one-way packaging, unless the system is amended
within three months
The European Commission has decided to refer Germany to the European Court
of Justice over the national deposit and return rules that apply to one-way
packaging as of 1 January 2003, because it believes that the way in which
the deposit and return systems function in Germany constitutes a
disproportionate barrier to the free movement of packaged beverages from
other Member States, in breach of the Treaty's rules on free movement of
goods (Article 28) and of Article 7 of Directive 94/62/EC (the "Packaging
Directive"). However, given the recent active attempts of the German
authorities to meet the Commission’s concerns, the referral to the Court
will be suspended for three months. Under the current rules, retailers are
only obliged to take back used one-way packaging of the same type, shape
and size as packaging that they carry in their product range. This allows
retailers to refuse taking back any packaging that is not exactly of the
same type, shape and size as the packaging of the products they market
themselves. As a consequence, consumers cannot return used one-way beverage
packages to any point of sale of their choice. While the Commission
strongly supports environmental protection, it believes that this goal
requires effective return systems that allow consumers to return used one-
way packaging at any point of sale in order to recover the deposit. The
current measures particularly affect imported drinks, given that, for
reasons mainly related to long distance deliveries, some 95% of imported
drinks are in 'one way' packaging.
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[09] Telephone bills : data privacy need not preclude individual billing of
calls, says European Court of Justice
European Court of Justice strengthens Consumers' rights in two rulings. EU
data privacy rules need not prevent telephone operators from providing
telephone bills that list individual calls, and there need not be any extra
charge for this service, said the European Court of Justice in a judgment
given on 14 September. The Court upheld the European Commission's case that
Austria had failed to ensure that bills for using the fixed public
telephone network were itemized in sufficient detail to allow users to
check individual calls. Standard itemized bills could provide a higher
level of detail, at no extra cost to subscribers, it noted. The Court
rejected Austria's argument that because the itemized billing provisions of
Directive 98/10/EC are subject to data privacy protection, no additional
levels of detail could be offered to subscribers at reasonable tariffs.
Finally, the Court found that Austria had failed to provide detailed
arguments supporting its assertion that bills more detailed than those
currently required in Austria would infringe data protection legislation.
[10] La Commission se félicite que la France a mis fin à la discrimination
des fournisseurs de services de téléphonie sur réseaux câblés
Le 15 juin 2004, la Commission européenne annonçait la saisine de la Cour
européenne de Justice contre la France pour manquement aux directives
"câble" et "pleine concurrence". En violation de ces règles énoncées,
la France maintenait un régime d'autorisation spécifique pour la
fourniture de services de téléphonie par câble, ce qui pénalisait les
câblo-opérateurs. La France a depuis amendé sa législation, notamment Ã
l'occasion du vote de la loi sur les communications électroniques. La
Commission a pris acte avec satisfaction des nouvelles dispositions mises
en place par la France et a décidé de mettre fin au recours engagé
devant la Cour.
[11] Excise duties : Commission decides to take Sweden to Court over tax
discrimination against wine
The European Commission has decided to refer Sweden to the European Court
of Justice over its tax discrimination against wine in comparison to beer.
The Commission considers that the Swedish tax system affords undue
protection to beer, mainly produced domestically, in comparison to wine,
which comes from other Member States. In the Commission's view, this
discriminatory tax regime violates EC Treaty rules (Article 90) that forbid
Member States to impose higher taxes on products from other Member States
than on competing domestic products. The Court of Justice has ruled in
several cases that beer and table wine are competing products.
[12] What Europeans think of the EU's farm policy
A special Eurobarometer survey entitled "European Union citizens and
agriculture from 1995 to 2003" gives an general idea of the evolution of
people's perceptions of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), its
objectives, benefits and how they evaluate the changes that have occurred.
Overall, the survey shows that EU citizens have a positive perception of
the role of the CAP in meeting the EU citizen's demands. But it also
highlights that more has to be done to the general public to explain the
way it works.
[13] Août 2004 : excédent de 3 milliards d'€ du commerce extérieur
pour la zone euro ; déficit de 7,8 milliards d'€ pour l'UE25
D'après les premières estimations publiées aujourd'hui par Eurostat,
pour le mois d'août 2004, la zone euro a réalisé un excédent du
commerce extérieur de 3,0 milliars d'€ avec le reste du monde, contre
+7,2 milliards en août 2003. Le solde enregistré au mois de juillet 2004
était de +12,8 milliards, contre +12,4 milliards en juillet 2003. En
août 2004, les exportations, corrigées des variations saisonnières, sont
restées pratiquement stables par rapport à juillet 2004 (+0,5%), alors que
les importations ont progressé de 3,4%. Les premières estimations du
solde des échanges extra-UE25 pour le mois d'août 2004 indiquent un
déficit de 7,8 millirds d'€, contre -2,6 milliards en août 2003. Au
mois de juillet 2004, le solde était de +1,2 milliard, contre +1,7
milliard en juillet 2003. En août 2004, les exportations, corrigées des
variations saisonnières, sont restées pratiquement stables par rapport Ã
juillet 2004 (+0,4%), alors que les importations ont augmenté de 3,7%.
[14] First European Seminar for Leader+
The first European Leader+ seminar entitled "Quality of life in rural
areas: experiences and cooperation" will take place on 25 October in
Brussels in the presence of European Commissioner Franz Fischler. The
seminar is designed to assist rural actors to reflect on the potential of
the quality of life in their local regions and is organised by the Leader+
Observatory. New ways of improving living conditions for individuals and
families in rural areas are at stake. The theme "Quality of life" was
selected by 250 out of the 892 different LAGs (Local Action Groups). The
seminar will present innovative projects and good practice on related
topics such as transport, culture, social inclusion, community life as well
as local basic services, living environment. Leader+ is one of four
initiatives financed by EU structural funds and encourages the
implementation of integrated, high-quality and original strategies for
sustainable development. There is a strong focus on partnership and
networks of exchange of experience. Follow-up seminars on other Community
strategic themes for Leader+ (e.g. new know-how and new technologies) are
expected to take place in local regions across various Member States. For
more information on Leader+ see :
<a href="http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/rur/leaderplus/index_en.htm">http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/rur/leaderplus/index_en.htm
[15] Autre matériel diffusé
Speech by Olli Rehn : "Turkey and the EU: a common future?" at a group
meeting of the Greens/EFA of the European Parliament (20/10, Istanbul)
Discours de M. Prodi à l'inauguration du Berlaymont
Speech by David Byrne : "EU Consumer Policy : Making it work!" at Dutch
Presidency Conference on EU Consumer Policy (Amsterdam)
Speech by Siim Kallas : "Modernising Europe - the state of Europe in the
world" at 12th annual Congress of Eurochambres
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
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