|
|
|
European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 05-09-05
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Competition: Commission urges Member States to step up efforts to open
professional services to competition
[02] EU and Thailand agree on new EU rice import regime
[03] Madame Hübner, Commissaire européenne en charge de la Politique
régionale, participe la XIème Conférence des Présidents des Régions
ultrapériphériques Saint-Denis de La Réunion.
[04] Commission clears acquisition of Aviapartner by 3i
[05] Rédiffusion
[06] EU poised to send assistance to the victims of Hurricane Katrina after
request by the US
[07] Keynote address in Cernobbio by Charlie Mc Creevy on the recent
internal market developments in Italy and France
[08] Statement from Commissioner Mandelson on the state of play in the
China Textile Talks
[09] Mercosur-EU negotiators meeting at Ministerial Level
[10] Autre matériel diffusé
[11] Competition in professional services – frequently asked questions
[12] Q&A on management of oil reserves
[13] Speech by Janez Potocnik on Nuclear Energy for a New Europe 2005
[14] Speech by Charlie McCreevy – The Agenda for Europe – Economy and
Competitiveness
[15] Speech by José Manuel Barroso – Joint Statement of the 8th EU-China
Summit
[16] Speech by Neelie Kroes - Competition must drive European
competitiveness in a global economy
Midday Express of 2005-09-05
Reference: MEX/05/0905
Date: 05/09/2005
EXME05 / 05.9
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
[01] Competition: Commission urges Member States to step up efforts to open
professional services to competition
The European Commission’s 2005 Communication on competition in
professional services welcomes progress made in some Member States but
finds that regulations that seriously restrict competition are still all
too common in many countries. These regulations - for example fixing prices
or banning advertising - harm consumers and the EU’s competitiveness, and
the Commission urges Member States and the professions to support the
Lisbon Strategy by stepping up their efforts to modernise the provision of
these services.
[02] EU and Thailand agree on new EU rice import regime
The European Commission has just presented to the Member States an
agreement with Thailand on a new regime for imports of rice into the EU.
This brings to a successful conclusion the process of negotiating the move
to a new regime with our main trading partners as required under WTO rules.
The agreement establishes bound rates for husked rice, semi-milled and
milled rice and broken rice. For semi-milled and milled rice, the EU will
adjust every six months the applied tariff rate to 175 €/t or 145 €/t
based on a comparison of actual imports and a reference import level. It
will open a zero duty quota of 13,500 tonnes and allocate 4,313 tonnes to
Thailand. For broken rice, the EU will apply a duty of 65 €/t, and will
increase the reduced duty quota to 100,000 tonnes.
[03] Madame Hübner, Commissaire européenne en charge de la Politique
régionale, participe la XIème Conférence des Présidents des Régions
ultrapériphériques Saint-Denis de La Réunion.
Danuta Hübner, Commissaire en charge de la Politique régionale et
responsable au sein de la Commission européenne de la coordination des
questions liées aux régions ultrapériphériques dans l’ensemble des
politiques communautaires, est intervenue lors de la XIème Conférence des
Présidents des Régions ultrapériphériques qui s’est tenue Saint-
Denis de La Réunion les 3 et 4 septembre 2005 sous la présidence de M.
Paul Vergès, président du Conseil régional de la Réunion. .
[04] Commission clears acquisition of Aviapartner by 3i
The European Commission has granted clearance under the EU Merger
Regulation to the acquisition of sole control of Aviapartner N.V.
(Aviapartner) of Belgium by the 3i Group Plc (3i) of the UK. 3i is a
European venture capitalist which provides management advice and manages
investments on behalf of investment funds. 3i holds investments in various
sectors of industry and services, such as communications, engineering, food,
health, information technology, leisure, media, oil and gas, transport and
logistics. Aviapartner is an independent European airport ground-handler.
It provides passenger and ramp handling services, cargo services, in-flight
catering and cabin maintenance at airports in five European countries
(Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany and Italy). The operation was
examined under the simplified merger review procedure.
[05] Rédiffusion
[06] EU poised to send assistance to the victims of Hurricane Katrina after
request by the US
The U.S. has this morning made an official request for emergency assistance
to the EC Delegation in Washington and the Presidency through the US
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This request came after several
days of informal contacts and preparatory activities between the U.S., the
EC Delegation in Washington and the UK Presidency. The initial needs
identified include first aid kits, blankets, water trucks and 500, 000
prepared meals (MREs). Additional ones are being identified and will be
communicated to the EU in due course. “We are and have been ready to
contribute to the US efforts aimed at alleviating the humanitarian crisis
in New Orleans. Having received an official request by the US this morning,
the European Community Mechanism for Civil Protection is ready to co-
ordinate emergency assistance by different Member States to the area of New
Orleans,” said EU Commissioner Stavros Dimas. The European response will
be channelled through the Community Civil Protection Mechanism, in close
consultation with the UK Presidency. It has been agreed with the Presidency
that they would act as the point of contact to the U.S. while the Mechanism
would focus on internal coordination. The Mechanism will facilitate
internal coordination through its Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC)
located in DG ENV. The MIC is in contact with Member States and is
currently drawing up a preliminary list of materials, teams and equipment
based on Member States offers. A large number of Member States (UK, DE, IT,
DK, SE, NL, FI, BE) have already made specific offers or are assessing what
they can make available (AT, SK, LU, ES), focusing on material, teams and
equipment for flood response. Specialist teams from several Member States
are on stand-by and ready for immediate deployment. The MIC will also
nominate a technical coordinator based on proposals received from Member
States. The EU “package” will be discussed and consolidated with the US
authorities through the UK Presidency during Sunday and details for
delivery discussed.
[07] Keynote address in Cernobbio by Charlie Mc Creevy on the recent
internal market developments in Italy and France
"It is for policy makers to create the framework for people to take risks
in these sectors, principally to ensure that risk taking carries adequate
rewards, because there will always be losers as well as winners, assuming
there are those who risk their capital to explore new fields of
opportunity. Shielding industries from the forces of competition is the
surest way to guarantee their decline. As Commissioner for the Internal
Market I want a vibrant, open, competitive market place. Recent events in
the financial services sector demonstrate the limitations of defending
national interests. I am under no illusions but that the protection of
national interests takes place in other Member States. The recent cases in
Italy just highlight what can occur. We need to learn and draw conclusions.
There will now be a long overdue debate on the need for transparent, non
discriminatory rules. This will make the forthcoming report from the
Commission to the Council of Finance Ministers, on barriers to cross
frontier mergers in the banking sector, all the more pertinent.
Unfortunately it does not seem to be only financial services where
protectionist tendencies are evident. If press reports are to believed then
I can envisage difficulties with another major member state which seems to
want to protect certain segments of its industry from takeover. I won’t
pass judgement until I see the details. But I will vigorously pursue any
such measures that are contrary to EU law."
[08] Statement from Commissioner Mandelson on the state of play in the
China Textile Talks
Discussions are continuing between the Member States and the Commission. I
believe there is now broad agreement on the substance of the Commission's
regulation proposing action to unblock imports held in customs. The
Textiles management Committee is also discussing the nature and objectives
of the negotiation with China on how excess goods are counted against the
quota. On this I recognise there are still differences of emphasis and
tactics. These can and will be resolved. I do not expect us to reach full
agreement this evening. The talks will continue over the weekend and on
Monday. It remains my firm position that immediate action should be taken
to unblock the goods. This will be in Europe's interest. Every day that
they are held costs money for business and Member States. It is unfair to
penalise importers in this way. In the meantime, I will fly to China
tomorrow and will continue discussions there on Sunday morning. I will
pursue the issues vigorously to achieve the best possible outcome, which
preserves the interest of Member States and the integrity of the Shanghai
Agreement. Member States cannot prescribe in advance the outcome of this
negotiation. That would be self-defeating. I urge Member States to move
with utmost rapidity to approve the Commission regulation and get the goods
released.
[09] Mercosur-EU negotiators meeting at Ministerial Level
Ministers reaffirmed the importance of the strategic relationship between
Mercosur and the EU and the priority they attach to the conclusion of an
ambitious and equitable inter-regional Association Agreement as an
instrument to reinforce political, economic and trade relations and to
contribute to the reduction of existing socio-economic disparities between
the two regions. In line with the previous Lisbon Ministerial meeting,
Ministers acknowledged that substantial progress has been made already
towards the conclusion of the Association Agreement, including a free trade
area in accordance with WTO rules. However, they agreed that more needs to
be done to reach the level of ambition that reflects the strategic
importance of this Association Agreement. To this end, and recognising the
relation between the ongoing Mercosur-EU negotiations and the Doha
Development Agenda, Ministers agreed to re-convene again in early 2006 for
substantive negotiations at their level. In the meantime, Ministers called
for two meetings in November 2005 and February 2006 at co-ordinators level
to prepare the ground, exploring ways and means to substantially advance
towards an ambitious and balanced outcome taking into account the different
levels of development between the two regions. Underlining the importance
of the future Association Agreement, which goes well beyond trade into
political, economic, social and cultural co-operation, Ministers also
defined a number of actions designed to further deepening the strategic
dimension of our partnership, including the forthcoming Political Dialogue
Meeting at Senior Officials level as well as convening the Third Meeting of
the Cooperation Council and an event to be organised in early 2006 to
consult the private sector and bring together representative members of the
business community.
[10] Autre matériel diffusé
[11] Competition in professional services – frequently asked questions
[12] Q&A on management of oil reserves
[13] Speech by Janez Potocnik on Nuclear Energy for a New Europe 2005
[14] Speech by Charlie McCreevy – The Agenda for Europe – Economy and
Competitiveness
[15] Speech by José Manuel Barroso – Joint Statement of the 8th EU-China
Summit
[16] Speech by Neelie Kroes - Competition must drive European
competitiveness in a global economy
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
|
