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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 06-07-03
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Commission approves terms for negotiating new EU-Russia agreement
[02] May 2006 : Euro area unemployment down to 7.9% ; EU25 stable at 8.2%
[03] La Commission lance une consultation publique en ligne sur
l'identification par radiofréquence
[04] Commission clears acquisition of IMC by Berkshire
[05] Evaluation des incidences sur l'environnement : la Commission engage
des procédures pour améliorer la mise en œuvre dans dix Etats membres
[06] Ireland : Commission seeks further action to protect wild salmon
[07] Commission takes legal action to improve protection of birds and
habitats and halt biodiversity loss in the EU
[08] Italie : la Commission engage des poursuites judiciaires pour
violations continues de la législation environnementale
[09] Poland becomes full participant of the Emissions' Trading System
Midday Express of 2006-07-03
Reference: MEX/06/0703
Date: 03/07/2006
EXME06 / 3.7
MIDDAY EXPRESS
News from the Communication Directorate General's midday briefing
Nouvelles du rendez-vous de midi de la Direction Générale Communicationb
03/07/06
[01] Commission approves terms for negotiating new EU-Russia agreement
The European Commission agreed today draft negotiating directives for a new
EU-Russia Agreement. The Agreement will provide an updated and more
ambitious framework for the EU-Russia relationship. It will be legally
binding and will replace the previous EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation
Agreement (PCA). The Commission is proposing an agreement which covers the
whole range of EU-Russia cooperation, with a particular focus on
progressive deepening and development of trade relations and fair and open
development of the energy relationship between the EU and Russia. The
Commission will work with the Finnish Presidency to seek the agreement of
the Council on the negotiating directives before the end of the year, and
negotiations with the Russians can start as soon as possible thereafter.
[02] May 2006 : Euro area unemployment down to 7.9% ; EU25 stable at 8.2%
Euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment stood at 7.9% in May 2006,
compared to 8.0% in April. It was 8.7% in May 2005. The EU25 unemployment
rate was 8.2% in May 2006, unchanged compared to April. It was 8.8% in May
2005. In May 2006, the lowest rates were registered in Denmark and the
Netherlands (both 3.9%), Ireland (4.3%), and Luxembourg (4.7%).
Unemployment rates were highest in Poland (16.4%), Slovakia (15.5%), Greece
(9.6% in the fourth quarter 2005), France (8.8%) and Belgium (8.4%). These
figures come from Eurostat.
[03] La Commission lance une consultation publique en ligne sur
l'identification par radiofréquence
La Commission européenne a lancé aujourd'hui sur le site web "Votre point
de vue sur l'Europe" (<a
href="http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/index_fr.htm">http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/index_fr.htm)
une consultation publique en ligne sur la manière dont elle pourrait
garantir que l'utilisation accrue des étiquettes d'identification par
radiofréquence (RFID) dynamise la compétitivité de l'économie de
l'Europe et améliore la qualité de vie de ses citoyens, tout en
préservant leurs droits fondamentaux, et notamment leur droit à la vie
privée.
[04] Commission clears acquisition of IMC by Berkshire
The European Commission has granted clearance under the EU Merger
Regulation to the acquisition of sole control of Metalworking IMC
International Metalworking Companies (IMC) of Israel by Berkshire Hathaway
Inc. (Berkshire) of the US. Berkshire is active in property and casualty
insurance. IMC supplies cutting tools for metalworking applications. The
operation was examined under the simplified merger review procedure.
[05] Evaluation des incidences sur l'environnement : la Commission engage
des procédures pour améliorer la mise en œuvre dans dix Etats membres
La Commission européenne a engagé des procédures d'infraction Ã
l'encontre de dix Etats membres pour violation d'une importante directive
de l'UE relative à l'évaluation des incidences des projets sur
l'environnement (EIE). Cette directive a pour finalité d'obtenir que les
incidences environnementales d'une large gamme de projets dans le domaine
des infrastructures, de l'industrie, des activités minières, etc., soient
dûment examinées avant leur lancement. La directive accorde également
des droits de participation importants aux citoyens. La Commission a
identifié des lacunes et des défaillances dans la législation de dix
Etats membres et c'est pourquoi elle a décidé de leur envoyer un premier
avertissement écrit leur enjoignant de se conformer aux dispositions de la
directive.
[06] Ireland : Commission seeks further action to protect wild salmon
The European Commission has requested Ireland to take further steps to
ensure that, from next year onwards, its wild salmon fishery fully respects
a key EU nature conservation law. The law in question is the EU's Habitats
Directive which, amongst other things, protects the wild Atlantic salmon
and the major freshwaters where it spawns. At present Ireland allows the
use of drift nets at sea which catch high numbers of salmon bound for
certain spawning rivers where salmon numbers are low. The Commission is
asking Ireland to fully apply the Habitats Directive when authorising drift
net fishery on an annual basis. At the same time, two other, unrelated,
infringement cases against Ireland have been closed by the Commission
following the provision of new information by the Irish authorities. These
cases concern the protection of the ozone layer and waste management of end
of life vehicles.
[07] Commission takes legal action to improve protection of birds and
habitats and halt biodiversity loss in the EU
Correct implementation of the EU's Birds and Habitats Directives is crucial
to achieve the EU goal of halting the loss of biodiversity in Europe by
2010. Yet, a screening carried out by the European Commission has showed
that a large number of Member States have not correctly implemented these
two laws. The Commission has therefore launched infringement procedures
against thirteen Member States over violations of the Birds Directive, and
against a further eight Member States over their implementation of the
Habitats Directive. These two Directives aim at ensuring a high level of
protection for birds and animals, and their respective habitats throughout
the EU. Unfortunately, a high number of the infringement cases opened by
the Commission for bad implementation of EU law in the area of environment,
relate to these Directives. With its actions, the Commission hopes to
improve significantly this situation.
[08] Italie : la Commission engage des poursuites judiciaires pour
violations continues de la législation environnementale
La Commission européenne a décidé d'engager des poursuites judiciaires
contre l'Italie pour quatre infractions à la législation communautaire en
matière de protection de la santé humaine et de l'environnement. Trois
dossiers concernent une gestion inadéquate des risques présentés par les
déchets. Dans le quatrième cas les autorités italiennes n'ont pas
examiné la nécessité de réaliser une évaluation des incidences sur
l'environnement pour deux nouveaux tronçons routiers à Milan. Dans deux
affaires, la Commission poursuit l'Italie devant la Cour de justice
européenne alors que dans les deux autres elle lui adresse un dernier
avertissement écrit lui signifiant que la Cour sera saisie si les
infractions ne sont pas corrigées dans un futur proche.
[09] Poland becomes full participant of the Emissions' Trading System
The European Commission has confirmed on 30 June that Poland's National
Allocation Plan for the first phase of the EU emissions trading scheme
(2005-2007) now conforms with requirements the Commission set out in March
2005. As a result, Poland's national registry of emission allowances became
operational this morning. The table of installations in Poland covered by
the EU scheme is being finalised and will be entered into the registry, and
thereby made public, at 14.00 CET on Wednesday 5 July. This information is
market sensitive as it states the allowance allocations to individual
installations and their actual 2005 emissions. Environment Commissioner
Stavros Dimas commented: "I am very pleased that Poland has taken the steps
needed to make its registry operational and thereby to become a full
participant in the emissions trading scheme."
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
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