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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 06-03-30
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] "L'Union européenne et les droits de l'enfant" : la Commission lance
un concours destiné tous les jeunes de l'UE
[02] Pandemic influenza : Commission publishes evaluators' report on
simulation exercise
[03] New standard signalling for trains in Europe
[04] Marchés des valeurs mobilières : la Commission fait appel aux
candidatures pour un nouveau groupe d'experts
[05] Commission approves joint venture between Virgin and CPW
[06] La Commission autorise l'acquisition du contrôle en commun de COSEC
par Euler Hermes et BPI
[07] Markos Kyprianou addresses first EU conference on animal welfare
[08] Le Havre : modernisation portuaire avec aide européenne
[09] Can Europe afford to grow old?
[10] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express of 2006-03-30
Reference: MEX/06/0330
Date: 30/03/2006
EXME06 / 30.3
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
30/03/06
[01] "L'Union européenne et les droits de l'enfant" : la Commission lance
un concours destiné tous les jeunes de l'UE
"L'Union européenne et les droits de l'enfant", tel est le titre d'un
concours lancé par M. Franco Frattini, vice-président de la Commission
européenne chargé de la justice, de la liberté et de la sécurité,
invitant les enfants et les adolescents européens, âgés de 10 18 ans,
créer une affiche sur les droits de l'enfant au sein de l'Union. Le
concours vise sensibiliser ces jeunes citoyens européens aux actions de
l'UE dans ce domaine. Après une première sélection au niveau national et
une cérémonie de remise des prix organisée dans chaque pays de l'UE au
début de mai 2006, les équipes lauréates des premiers prix nationaux
seront invitées Bruxelles pour une cérémonie européenne de
remise des prix. Les meilleurs travaux seront utilisés dans les futures
campagnes européennes de promotion des droits de l'enfant. La Commission
mettra en place une stratégie de promotion et de protection des droits
dans l'enfant dans toutes ses politiques internes et externes dès le mois
de juin 2006.
[02] Pandemic influenza : Commission publishes evaluators' report on
simulation exercise
The European Commission today published the final evaluation report on the
Common Ground exercise on an influenza pandemic. The two-day "tabletop"
simulation was carried out on 23-24 November 2005 and aimed to test how
national preparedness plans would work together in the event of an
influenza pandemic, as well as testing coordination and communication
between the Commission, Member States, EU agencies, international
organisations and the pharmaceutical industry. The evaluation report was
prepared for the Commission by the UK-based Health Protection Agency which
conducted the exercise. The report concluded that the exercise was "a
successful event” which showed considerable improvements from an earlier
exercise, and identified many issues for further improvement. The report
sets out twelve recommendations to follow-up lessons learned from the
exercise, notably to review and develop communications systems. The
European Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said:
"To my knowledge, an exercise on this scale on human influenza pandemic
preparedness is unprecedented. The main reason to carry out such an
exercise is to learn from experience what works and what doesn't when plans
on paper are applied in practice. This report sets out important
recommendations for the future and identifies areas of weakness in our
pandemic preparedness plans where we need improvements. Work has already
begun on addressing these weaknesses, and we will continue to refine,
improve and upgrade our preparedness with Member States, the ECDC and our
other partners."
[03] New standard signalling for trains in Europe
The European Commission has adopted technical specifications for
interoperability for control/command and signalling on the conventional
trans-European railway network. At the moment, more than twenty different
signalling and speed control systems are used in Europe, which means that
most international passenger and goods trains still have to stop at the
border station to change locomotive. The adopted decision will allow these
incompatible systems to be gradually replaced by a single system known by
its abbreviation ERTMS.
[04] Marchés des valeurs mobilières : la Commission fait appel aux
candidatures pour un nouveau groupe d'experts
La Commission européenne s'apprête créer un groupe européen
d'experts des marchés des valeurs mobilières (ESME), qui sera chargé de
suivre de près la façon dont les directives européennes sur les valeurs
mobilières sont concrètement mises en œuvre, d'apprécier si ces
directives produisent les résultats attendus et, le cas échéant, de
proposer des modifications. La création du ESME fait suite au livre blanc
sur la politique des services financiers 2005-2010 (voir IP/05/1529) et
s'inscrit dans le cadre du programme d'amélioration de la législation. Le
groupe sera composé de professionnels et autres acteurs du marché
directement concernés par la législation européenne et les questions
d'actualité touchant les marchés européens des valeurs mobilières,
comme les agences de notation du crédit, car ce sont les mieux placés
pour détecter tout problème potentiel. Les personnes intéressées sont
invitées envoyer leur candidature la Commission avant le 30 avril
2006.
[05] Commission approves joint venture between Virgin and CPW
The European Commission has granted clearance under the EU Merger
Regulation to the joint control of a newly created company constituting a
joint venture, Omer Telecom Limited (JV Co), by Bluebottle UK Limited,
belonging to the Virgin Group (Virgin) of the UK and The Carphone Warehouse
Limited (CPW), also of the UK. Virgin's business interests include mobile
telephony services as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in the UK
and several countries outside Europe. CPW sells mobile telecommunications
services and products in Europe and provides fixed line telecommunication
services in France. JV Co will provide mobile telephony services to
consumers in France. The operation was examined under the simplified merger
review procedure.
[06] La Commission autorise l'acquisition du contrôle en commun de COSEC
par Euler Hermes et BPI
La Commission européenne a autorisé, en vertu du règlement sur les
concentrations de l'Union européenne, le projet d'acquisition du contrôle
en commun de Companhia de Seguro de Créditos (COSEC) par Euler Hermes SFAC
(Euler Hermes) et Banco BPI S.A. (BPI). Après avoir examiné en détail
l'opération en cause, la Commission a conclu qu'elle n'entraverait pas
significativement une concurrence effective dans l'Espace Economique
Européen ou une partie substantielle de ce dernier.
[07] Markos Kyprianou addresses first EU conference on animal welfare
Markos Kyprianou, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection,
today addressed the first EU-level conference on animal welfare, which is
being hosted by the Austrian Presidency in Brussels. The conference is an
opportunity for the Commission to present its recently published Animal
Welfare Action Plan (see IP/06/64) to Member State representatives,
international partners and a broad array of stakeholders from across the
food chain. The Action Plan sets out concrete measures to be taken over the
next five years to improve animal welfare in the EU and to further promote
it internationally. The conference offers the opportunity to gather input
from interested parties on future EU animal welfare actions, and to look at
where the responsibilities of different sectors lie in terms of promoting
and protecting animal welfare. Among other issues which to be discussed
during the day are consumer expectations, the role of animal welfare
organisations, retailers' and producers' view-points, the international
dimension of animal welfare protection, and socio-economic considerations.
Mr Kyprianou said: "Some people ask whether this is the right time to talk
about animal welfare as a priority issue in the food chain, citing
international competition and the difficulties certain sectors such as
poultry are currently facing. My answer to this is a clear 'yes'. Surveys
have shown that consumers are strongly committed to animal welfare
improvements and are willing to pay for them. So animal welfare offers
industry an opportunity to restore consumer confidence in the food chain
and capitalise on the marketing advantages it offers. Our animal welfare
standards need to be promoted as an asset and a golden opportunity, not an
economic burden." For further information, see:
<a href="http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/animal/welfare/index_en.htm">http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/animal/welfare/index_en.htm
[08] Le Havre : modernisation portuaire avec aide européenne
Jacques Barrot, vice-Président de la Commission européenne en charge de
la politique des transports, et Danuta Hübner, Commissaire responsable de
la Politique régionale, assistent aujourd'hui l'inauguration de Port
2000, le nouveau port au Havre en France. Le plus grand chantier maritime
d'Europe achève sa première tranche de travaux qui ont été cofinancés
par l'Union européenne concurrence de €50 millions. Bâti dans
l'estuaire de la Seine et composé d'un seul quai de 4 km protégé par une
digue, ce projet marque la renaissance du port et prépare Le Havre
l'augmentation du trafic maritime.
[09] Can Europe afford to grow old?
A panel of international experts and government members will discuss on
Friday 31 March whether the reforms carried out and/or planned under the
revised Strategy for Growth and Jobs are enough to meet the significant
challenges that an ageing population will put on public finances in the
European Union. As a report published by the Commission and the Economic
Policy Committee shows, in the decades up to 2050, the EU population will
remain roughly the same at 450 million but it will become significantly
older. With the retirement of the baby-boom generation as of 2010, low
birth rates and continuous increases in life expectancy, the working-age
population will fall by 48 million (or 16%) whereas the population aged 65+
will rise sharply, by 58 million (or 77%). This means that by 2050 there
will be two people of working age for every elderly citizen as opposed to
four currently. Unless policy changes, the EU potential growth rate of 2.4%
will be cut by half and public spending on pensions, health care and long-
term will increase by about 4 percentage points of GDP. Some countries have
already started dealing with the problem, but have they done enough? What
about the others? French Finance Minister Thierry Breton will attend and
Commissioner Almunia will give the closing address.
Journalists wishing to attend are kindly requested to register themselves
on line: <a href="http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/events/2006/events_conference_0306_en.htm">http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/events/2006/events_conference_0306_en.htm
Full report on the impact of ageing on public expenditure (2004-2050)
available on <a href="http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/publications/european_economy/2006/eespecialreport0106_en.htm">http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/publications/european_economy/2006/eespecialreport0106_en.htm
[10] Autre matériel diffusé
Discours de M. Jacques Barrot : "Améliorer le marché ferroviaire
européen" la conférence annuelle EIM (29/03)
Speech by Markos Kyprianou : "Animal Welfare – A Part of EU Food Chain
Policy" at International Conference organised by the Austrian Presidency
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
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