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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 05-10-20
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[I] Résultats de la Commission de ce jour - Outcome
of today's Commission meeting
[01] Under a new European Commission Directive, European citizen can from
now on move jobs and country without losing work pension benefits
[02] Commission re-assesses budgetary situation of Hungary
[03] La Commission inflige une amende de €56 millions des sociétés
pour entente sur le marché italien du tabac brut
[04] Commission invites interested parties to comment on the UK project
"Investbx"
[05] Commission approves UK's NESTA Invention and Innovation Programme
supporting new innovative firms
[06] Commission probes tax exemption for German greenhouse producers
[07] Commission authorises Czech Republic to grant €74 million aid to its
coal industry
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[08] Neuf universités sur dix en Europe sont membres de réseaux Erasmus
[09] Building confidence in measurements
[10] Commission clears joint venture between Toyoda Gosei and Tridonic
[11] Nanotechnology : Commission launches consultation on how best to
assess health and environmental risks
[12] August 2005 : Euro-zone external trade deficit €2.6 billion ;
€14.2 billion deficit for EU25
[13] La protection sociale dans l'UE en 2002 : les dépenses de protection
sociale ont représenté 27,7% du PIB de l'UE25 ; les pensions constituent
près de la moitié des prestations sociales
[14] La Commission accueille une conférence internationale sur Haïti
[15] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express of 2005-10-20
Reference: MEX/05/1020
Date: 20/10/2005
EXME05 / 20.10
MIDDAY EXPRESS
News from the Press and Communication Directorate General's midday briefing
Nouvelles du rendez-vous de midi de la Direction Générale Presse etb
Communication
20/10/05
[I] Résultats de la Commission de ce jour - Outcome
of today's Commission meeting
[01] Under a new European Commission Directive, European citizen can from
now on move jobs and country without losing work pension benefits
Workers switching jobs or countries will no longer have to worry about
substantial loss of work pension benefits under the 'portability of
pensions' Directive, proposed by the European Commission today. At present,
changing job or country can mean losing occupational pension benefits in
some Member States. But today's proposal would mean avoiding major losses
and in many cases allowing benefits to transfer with the worker across
sectors and countries in the EU. The Directive will help the growing
numbers of EU workers who are switching jobs. In the EU15, one worker in
three changes jobs every five years and 9% employees change employer each
year.
[02] Commission re-assesses budgetary situation of Hungary
Given a substantial deterioration of the budgetary outlook in Hungary, the
European Commission has recommended to the Council to decide for the second
time this year that the Hungarian government has failed to take effective
action to correct its deficit. The deficit targets that the government set
itself for 2005 and 2006 will be missed by a large margin, calling into
question the 2008 deadline for correcting the deficit below the 3% Treaty
reference value.
[03] La Commission inflige une amende de €56 millions des sociétés
pour entente sur le marché italien du tabac brut
La Commission européenne a infligé quatre sociétés
italiennes transformatrices de tabac une amende d'un montant total de €56
millions pour collusion, pendant plus de six ans, sur le prix payé aux
producteurs et autres intermédiaires et sur la répartition des
fournisseurs. Ce genre de collusion est interdite par le traité CE
(interdiction des pratiques restrictives l'article 81). Les
transformateurs considérés sont Deltafina, Dimon (rebaptisé Mindo),
Transcatab et Romana Tabacchi. La Commission a également infligé des
amendes moins élevées APTI et UNITAB (respectivement l'association
italienne des transformateurs de tabac et celle des producteurs de tabac)
pour avoir mené des négociations collectives sur les prix.
[04] Commission invites interested parties to comment on the UK project
"Investbx"
The European Commission has opened a formal investigation under the EC
Treaty state aid rules (Article 88(2) EC) into a proposal by the UK to
spend £3.8 million (approximately €4.38 million) to set up "Investbx",
a market for equity investments in SMEs in the West Midlands. The
Commission has already received a complaint, but invites all interested
parties to comment on the measure as a first step in this formal
investigation procedure.
[05] Commission approves UK's NESTA Invention and Innovation Programme
supporting new innovative firms
The European Commission has approved under EC Treaty State aid rules a
€35.3 million risk capital fund that supports newly created innovative
micro and small-sized enterprises in the UK. The adoption of this decision
is in line with the Commission Communication on State Aid and Risk Capital
and underscores the commitment of the Commission to facilitate innovation
by easing access of these enterprises to seed and early stage capital.
[06] Commission probes tax exemption for German greenhouse producers
The European Commission has opened a formal investigation procedure in
respect of a German tax exemption in favour of greenhouse horticulture. The
measure consists of a reduced rate of taxation applicable to heating fuel,
methane and liquid gas used to heat greenhouses. This exemption, introduced
in 2001 would appear to entail aid for German greenhouses of approximately
€15 million per year.
[07] Commission authorises Czech Republic to grant €74 million aid to its
coal industry
The European Commission has decided not to raise any objections to the
€74 million aid which the Czech Republic is proposing to grant its coal
industry. The aid is compatible with the proper functioning of the common
market. The money is exclusively intended to cover so-called inherited
liabilities, which arise in the context of the close down of coal mines.
The Czech coal industry does not receive any subsidies for current coal
production. The Commission today also decided that the state funding of the
public body PKU (Palivový kombinát stí) does not constitute state aid,
as PKU is not carrying out an economic activity.
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[08] Neuf universités sur dix en Europe sont membres de réseaux Erasmus
En 2005, le pourcentage des universités européennes participant au
programme de coopération universitaire Erasmus a atteint le chiffre
impressionnant de 87% de toutes les universités européennes dans 31 pays.
Le succès des partenariats subventionnés de coopération inter-
universitaire confirme la capacité du programme Erasmus intégrer et
mettre en réseau les établissements européens d'enseignement supérieur
en leur donnant les moyens pour relever les enjeux internationaux du monde
de demain forte intensité de qualifications.
[09] Building confidence in measurements
Reliable measurement results support environmental protection, food safety
and health control, influence important decisions in industry and help to
detect and combat fraud. This can only be achieved by assuring the
appropriate quality of measurements and the comparability of testing data,
based on reference materials. This ensures EU market transparency and
predictability, while reducing barriers to trade. Today, at the Institute
for Reference Materials and Measurements of the European Commission's Joint
Research Centre (JRC-IRMM), Science and Research Commissioner Janez
Potočnik will open one of the world's largest storage buildings for
reference materials.
[10] Commission clears joint venture between Toyoda Gosei and Tridonic
The European Commission has granted clearance under the EU Merger
Regulation to the acquisition of joint control of a newly created company
constituting a joint venture by Austrian undertaking TridonicAtco Gmbh & Co
KG (Tridonic) and Toyoda Gosei of Japan, part of the Toyota Motor Company.
Tridonic produces lighting components and is part of lighting equipment
producer Zumtobel. Toyoda Gosei manufactures and sells car parts and
optoelectronics. The joint venture company will be active in the
development, manufacturing and sales of high brightness light emitting
diodes (HB-LEDs) in general lighting applications. The operation was
examined under the simplified merger review procedure.
[11] Nanotechnology : Commission launches consultation on how best to
assess health and environmental risks
Stakeholders are invited to comment on a scientific opinion on risk
assessment methods for the products of nanotechnologies. The opinion, which
is the first of its kind ever produced on this subject, was drawn up by the
Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks
(SCENIHR). Nanotechnology involves the controlled production of new
materials which have one or more dimensions thousands of times smaller than
the diameter of a human hair. Industry is increasingly using nanotechnology
for a wide variety of sectors, including healthcare, consumer products,
information technology and the environment. The SCENIHR opinion concludes
that some modifications will be necessary due to unique properties of
products of nanotechnologies and highlights the need for case-by-case
approach to risk assessment. It also identifies gaps in knowledge,
especially regarding human exposure, health effect and the environmental
impacts. The online consultation aims to gather feedback on the
appropriateness of current risk assessment methods for nanotechnology
products and how they can be improved. The consultation will run until 16
December 2005. For more information, and the online consultation, see : <a
href="http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph_risk/committees/04_scenihr/scenihr_cons_01_en.htm">http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph_risk/committees/04_scenihr/scenihr_cons_01_en.htm
[12] August 2005 : Euro-zone external trade deficit €2.6 billion ;
€14.2 billion deficit for EU25
The first estimate for euro-zone trade with the rest of the world in August
2005 was a €2.6 billion deficit, against a €2.5 billion surplus in
August 2004. The July 2005 balance was +7.9 billion, compared with +12.9
billion in July 2004. In August 2005 compared with July 2005, exports,
seasonally adjusted, increased by 3.4% and imports by 5.1%. The first
estimate for August 2005 extra-EU25 trade was a €14.2 billion deficit,
compared with -8.3 billion in August 2004. In July 2005, the balance was -
3.0 billion, against +1.0 billion in July 2004. In August 2005 compared
with July 2005, exports, seasonally adjusted, increased by 2.3% and imports
by 5.2%. These data are released by Eurostat.
[13] La protection sociale dans l'UE en 2002 : les dépenses de protection
sociale ont représenté 27,7% du PIB de l'UE25 ; les pensions constituent
près de la moitié des prestations sociales
Les dépenses de protection sociale représentaient en moyenne 27,7% du PIB
de l'UE25 en 2002, contre 27,3% en 2001. Cette moyenne, exprimée en
pourcentage du PIB, continuait de masquer de fortes disparités d'un Etat
membre l'autre en 2002. La part des dépenses de protection sociale
était la plus élevée en Suède (32,5%), en France (30,6%), en Allemagne
(30,5%) et au Danemark (30,0%) et la plus faible en Estonie et en Lettonie
(14,3% chacun en 2001), en Lituanie (15,2% en 2001) et en Irlande (16,0%).
Ces écarts reflètent des différences de niveaux de vie, mais illustrent
aussi la diversité des systèmes nationaux de protection sociale ainsi que
des structures démographiques, économiques, sociales et institutionnelles
propres chaque pays. Ces informations proviennent d'un rapport publié
par Eurostat sur la protection sociale au sein de l'UE.
[14] La Commission accueille une conférence internationale sur Haïti
La Commission européenne accueille aujourd'hui et demain Bruxelles une
Conférence Internationale sur Haïti qui réunit les principaux acteurs
institutionnels impliqués dans la transition et la stabilisation,
notamment les représentants du gouvernement intérimaire Haïtien et les
bailleurs de fonds.
[15] Autre matériel diffusé
Portability of pensions
Speech by Günter Verheugen : "A renewed EU Tourism Policy: Towards a
stronger Partnership for European Tourism" at 4th European Tourism Forum
(Malta)
Speech by László Kovács : "Tax harmonisation versus tax competition in
Europe" at Conference 'Tax harmonisation and legal uncertainty in Central
and Eastern Europe' (Vienna)
Speech by Joaquin Almunia : "Time to address the economic challenges of
Europe" to the BDI, Federation of German Industries (19/10)
Speech by Charlie McCreevy to the Global Public Policy Symposium (London)
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
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