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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 07-02-08
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Consumers : Commission acts to boost confidence in digital worldA
major new drive to fundamentally overhaul core EU consumer rules –
including guarantees, refunds, cooling off periods - to adapt them to the
challenges of a fast changing digital world has been launched today with
the adoption of a European Commission Green Paper reviewing the existing
rules. Consumer spending (households and non-profile institutions) accounts
for a total of 58% of EU GDP. Consumer confidence is a key factor
determining how and when consumers spend their money in different sectors
of the economy. All the evidence is that consumers are not yet
"comfortable" enough in the digital and online world to seize its full
potential. Only tiny fraction - 6% of EU consumers - are currently shopping
online cross border. With the help of the feedback from the Green Paper,
the Commission aims to boost consumer confidence in the EU Single Market,
with a single and simple set of rules which empower consumers to know their
rights, make sound choices and ensure adequate protection when things go
wrong. Clear legal rules will also incentivise operators, particularly SMEs
to venture beyond borders un-tapping the potential for integration for the
retail side of the market. The Green Paper invites comments and contains
over 28 concrete suggestions (cutting across 8 Directives) for possible new
action.
[02] SME retailers take to e-commerce but it’s strictly national
[03] La Commission décide que les allègements fiscaux applicables à la
production régionale en Sicile constituent une aide illégale
[04] Commission endorses German energy tax exemptions but orders partial
recovery of energy tax breaks in France, Ireland and Italy
[05] Lessons learned from the November 2006 electricity blackout : better
Europe-wide cooperation needed
[06] La Commission nomme les membres du comité d'examen des avis sur les
normes comptables
[07] Financial services : conference on better financial education for EU
consumers
[08] L'UE envoie une mission d'observation électorale surveiller les
élections présidentielles en Mauritanie
[09] Commission launches agriculture trade talks with Egypt
[10] Entreprises européennes - faits et chiffres : les entreprises
européennes vues à travers les statistiques
[11] Stavros Dimas remet les prix de la Semaine européenne de la mobilité
aux villes de Léon, Budapest et Bologne
[12] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express of 2007-02-08
Reference: MEX/07/0208
Date: 08/02/2007
EXME07 / 8.2
MIDDAY EXPRESS
News from the Communication Directorate General's midday briefing
Nouvelles du rendez-vous de midi de la Direction Générale Communicationb
08/02/07
[01] Consumers : Commission acts to boost confidence in digital worldA
major new drive to fundamentally overhaul core EU consumer rules –
including guarantees, refunds, cooling off periods - to adapt them to the
challenges of a fast changing digital world has been launched today with
the adoption of a European Commission Green Paper reviewing the existing
rules. Consumer spending (households and non-profile institutions) accounts
for a total of 58% of EU GDP. Consumer confidence is a key factor
determining how and when consumers spend their money in different sectors
of the economy. All the evidence is that consumers are not yet
"comfortable" enough in the digital and online world to seize its full
potential. Only tiny fraction - 6% of EU consumers - are currently shopping
online cross border. With the help of the feedback from the Green Paper,
the Commission aims to boost consumer confidence in the EU Single Market,
with a single and simple set of rules which empower consumers to know their
rights, make sound choices and ensure adequate protection when things go
wrong. Clear legal rules will also incentivise operators, particularly SMEs
to venture beyond borders un-tapping the potential for integration for the
retail side of the market. The Green Paper invites comments and contains
over 28 concrete suggestions (cutting across 8 Directives) for possible new
action.
[02] SME retailers take to e-commerce but it’s strictly national
E-commerce seems to be the key to further opening the retail internal
market, as 57% of retailers say they now sell via the internet. But more
than two thirds of them sell exclusively domestically. And of the 29% who
do sell cross-border most do to only or two other Member States. More would
like to sell cross-border (48% of EU retailers are prepared to do so).
These are among the main findings of a Eurobarometer survey on business
attitudes towards cross-border sales, released today by the European
Commission to coincide with a major consultation exercise on consumer
rules. However, there are still significant barriers to an EU-wide business-
to-consumer market, with perceived insecurity of transactions, differences
in national fiscal regulations and consumer rules being the main concerns.
Forty three percent of retailers believed that their cross-border sales
would increase if laws regulating consumer transactions were the same
throughout the EU.
[03] La Commission décide que les allègements fiscaux applicables à la
production régionale en Sicile constituent une aide illégale
La Commission européenne a décidé que les incitations fiscales adoptées
par la Sicile dans le cadre de deux lois régionales étaient incompatibles
avec les règles du traité CE en matière d'aides d'Etat. Les régimes en
question prévoient une exonération de l'impôt italien sur les activités
régionales de production ("IRAP") en faveur des sociétés exerçant des
activités dans certains secteurs en Sicile. Ces exonérations étant
susceptibles de fausser la concurrence au sein du marché unique de l'UE en
favorisant de manière sélective certaines catégories d'entreprises,
elles ne peuvent donc pas être appliquées. Aucune aide n'ayant encore
été accordée au titre de ces mesures, il n'y a pas lieu que la
Commission en demande la récupération.
[04] Commission endorses German energy tax exemptions but orders partial
recovery of energy tax breaks in France, Ireland and Italy
The European Commission has decided that Germany's exemptions from energy
taxation for dual use of energy products (such as in steel production,
where the energy product is also used as a raw material) and for use of
energy products in processing minerals (such as cement and glass
production) do not constitute aid under EC Treaty state aid rules since
they are a consistent part of the overall national tax system. However the
Commission has decided that tax exemptions from heavy fuel duty granted by
France, Ireland and Italy for alumina production do constitute state aid
because in all three Member States, these exemptions are highly selective
and in practice benefit only one company per country and one sector
(alumina production). The Commission concluded that 80% of the value of the
tax exemptions for the period as of 1 January 2004 is compatible with the
state aid rules. However, since the beneficiaries have not engaged in
binding agreements to improve their environmental record, the Commission
has, in accordance with the guidelines on state aid for environmental
protection (see IP/00/1519), found the remaining 20% to be illegal state
aid and ordered France, Ireland and Italy to recover this money from the
beneficiary companies Alcan, Aughinish and Eurallumina. In December 2005,
the Commission already ordered the recovery of part of the tax exemptions
for alumina production in France, Ireland and Italy for the period 2002-
2003 (see IP/05/1542). France, Ireland and Italy must now suspend the
payment of the compatible aid to beneficiaries until they have paid back
the aid found incompatible in the present and in the previous decision.
[05] Lessons learned from the November 2006 electricity blackout : better
Europe-wide cooperation needed
Lack of co-ordination between the companies responsible for transmitting
electricity – so called transmission system operators (TSOs) - was the
main reason for the 4th November 2006 system disturbance, which affected 15
million consumers in Europe. The final report on the incident, released on
6th February by the European Energy Regulators, demonstrates that common
action at European level is urgent. Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs had
asked for the assessment of the European Regulators Group (ERGEG), on the
lessons to be learned from this event. This report provides clear evidence
that the malfunctioning of the system is worse than previously thought.
[06] La Commission nomme les membres du comité d'examen des avis sur les
normes comptables
La Commission européenne a nommé les sept membres du comité d'examen des
avis sur les normes comptables, dont le rôle consiste à conseiller la
Commission sur le processus d'adoption des normes internationales
d'information financière (IFRS) et des interprétations du Comité
d'interprétation des normes d'information financière internationales
(IFRIC). Le comité d'examen aura pour tâche d'apprécier le caractère
équilibré et objectif des avis rendus par le Groupe consultatif pour
l'information financière en Europe (EFRAG) concernant l'adoption de ces
normes et interprétations. Ces nominations constituent la dernière étape
de la mise en place d'un groupe consultatif indépendant dans le domaine de
la comptabilité, décidée par la Commission en juillet 2006 (voir
IP/06/1001).
[07] Financial services : conference on better financial education for EU
consumers
To raise awareness of the need to provide high-quality financial education
to consumers, the European Commission is organising a conference on
"Increasing Financial Capability" in Brussels on 28 March 2007. Financial
education has a vital role to play in ensuring that EU consumers and
investors are equipped with the knowledge they need to make crucial
financial decisions for themselves and their families, in areas such as
planning for the costs of a child's education, managing credit sensibly,
ensuring an adequate level of insurance cover and making provisions for
retirement. This conference will also serve as a forum to exchange best
practices between existing providers of financial education.
[08] L'UE envoie une mission d'observation électorale surveiller les
élections présidentielles en Mauritanie
Faisant suite à l'invitation du gouvernement mauritanien, la Commission
européenne a décidé de déployer dans le pays une mission
d’observation électorale de l’Union européenne à l'occasion des
élections présidentielles prévues pour le 11 mars 2007. Cette mission
d'observation sera dirigée par Mme Marie-Anne Isler-Beguin, membre
français du Parlement européen. Ces élections font suite aux récentes
élections municipales et législatives, également observées par l'Union,
et mettront un terme au cycle électoral engagé par les autorités
mauritaniennes, il y a six mois, avec la réussite du référendum
constitutionnel.
[09] Commission launches agriculture trade talks with Egypt
As proposed by Mariann Fischer Boel, European Commissioner for Agriculture
and Rural Development to Mohamed Rachid, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Trade
and Industry, the Commission and Egypt held a First round of negotiations
on further liberalisation of trade in agriculture, processed agricultural
and fishery products between Egypt and the European Union on 7-8 February
2007 in Cairo. The negotiations are based on the spirit of the process set
out in the 2005 Rabat Roadmap, which aims at wide-ranging liberalisation of
trade in agriculture, processed agricultural and fishery products between
the EU and the countries of the southern Mediterranean which are covered by
the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Association Agreement. The
ambition is a Free Trade Area by 2010. At the same time, following the
enlargement of the European Union to include Bulgaria and Romania as of 1
January 2007, the Commission and Egypt discussed a technical adaptation
Protocol to extend the provisions of the Association Agreement to the two
new Member States.
[10] Entreprises européennes - faits et chiffres : les entreprises
européennes vues à travers les statistiques
La nouvelle édition de "European Business – Facts and figures", publiée
par Eurostat, fournit une vue d'ensemble complète de la structure, de
l'évolution et des caractéristiques des entreprises européennes et de
leurs différents secteurs d'activité: de l'énergie et des industries
extractives aux communications, en passant par les services d'information
et les médias. La publication présente les dernières statistiques
disponibles provenant d'un large éventail de sources et décrivant pour
chaque activité: la production et l'emploi, la spécialisation nationale
et la distribution régionale, la structure des coûts, la productivité et
la rentabilité, l'importance des petites et moyennes entreprises (PME), le
commerce extérieur, etc.
[11] Stavros Dimas remet les prix de la Semaine européenne de la mobilité
aux villes de Léon, Budapest et Bologne
M. Stavros Dimas, membre de la Commission européenne chargé de
l'environnement, a remis le prix 2007 de la Semaine européenne de la
mobilité à la ville espagnole de Léon. Le deuxième prix a été
décerné à Budapest et le troisième prix à Bologne. La Semaine
européenne de la mobilité est une manifestation soutenue par la
Commission qui se tient chaque année et qui vise à promouvoir la mobilité
durable dans les villes en encourageant l'utilisation de moyens de
déplacement peu ou non polluants tels que la marche, la bicyclette, les
transports publics et le covoiturage. La mise en place de mesures
permanentes facilitant l'usage de ces moyens de transport de substitution
constitue une obligation pour les villes qui souhaitent participer Ã
l'initiative. Les prix ont récompensé les meilleures contributions à la
Semaine européenne de la mobilité de l'année dernière, qui était axée
sur la lutte contre le changement climatique et à laquelle ont participé
1.322 villes, impliquant au total plus de 200Â millions de personnes. Le
jury indépendant composé d'experts a choisi d'accorder la première place
à la ville de Léon, en raison de la grande variété des activités
qu'elle a organisées lors de cette semaine et de l'efficacité de sa
stratégie de communication sur la mobilité durable. La remise des prix
par M. Dimas a eu lieu le 7 février à l'occasion d'un atelier organisé
au Comité des régions à Bruxelles en vue de la préparation de la Semaine
européenne de la mobilité 2007 qui se déroulera du 16 au 22 septembre.
[12] Autre matériel diffusé
Frequently Asked Questions: The Review of EU Consumer Protection Rules "The
Review of the Consumer Acquis"
Commission welcomes the European Court of Justice ruling on Belgian beer
case
Speech by Peter Mandelson : "Europe in the global age: open or closed?" at
Stockholm School of Economics (! embargo 14h00 CET !)
Speech by Olli Rehn : "Orhid Agreement: Vital for European Path" at
Conference on the Ohrid Framework Agreement (Skopje)
Speech by Andris Piebalgs : "Energy for a Changing World: The New European
Energy Policy" at the EPP seminar 'Europe's Energy Challenges' (07/02)
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
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