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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 07-09-28Midday Express: News from the EU Commission Spokesman's Briefings Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>CONTENTS / CONTENU
MIDDAY EXPRESSNews from the Communication Directorate General's midday briefingNouvelles du rendez-vous de midi de la Direction Générale Communicationb28/09/07[01] European Commission encourages investments in the Energy communityEnergy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs is attending today, in Athens, a high level conference on Investments for the Energy community. The conference is organised by the Energy community secretariat, based in Vienna, in cooperation with the European Commission.[02] September 2007: Economic sentiment weakens in both the EU and the euro areaIn September, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) continued to decrease in both the EU and the euro area. It dropped by 2.3 points in the EU and by 2.8 points in the euro area, to 110.8 and 107.1 respectively. However, despite the declines observed in the third quarter, the indicator remains well above its long-term average in both areas.[03] September 2007: Business Climate Indicator for the euro area declines in SeptemberFollowing a slight increase in August, the Business Climate Indicator (BCI) for the euro area fell significantly in September. Nevertheless, the still- high level of the indicator, following the pick-up in industrial production in July, suggests that economic activity in the industry sector grew at a solid pace in the third quarter of this year. The decrease in the BCI is largely due to a pronounced worsening of industry managers' assessments of their order books and of the production trend observed in recent months. Their production expectations and views of both export order books and stocks of finished products also deteriorated somewhat.[04] Mergers: Commission approves proposed acquisition of Actebis by ArquesThe European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of the Actebis group, which is mainly active in the wholesale of Information Technology products, by Arques Industries AG of Germany. The Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.[05] Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner visits Central America and announces aid packagesThe European Commissioner for external relations and European neighbourhood policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, is to tour Central America from 30 September to 4 October, where she will visit, for the first time as a Commissioner, Panama (30 September to 1 October), El Salvador (1-2 October), Honduras (3 October) and Nicaragua (3-4 October). Three weeks before the first round of negotiations on an Association Agreement between the EU and Central America to be held in Costa Rica at the end of October, Ms Ferrero- Waldner wishes to send a strong signal to the region of the importance the EU accords to this agreement. The Commissioner will meet the President and Foreign Affairs Minister of each country. She will also visit projects financed by the European Union and meet representatives of the press and civic society. In each country she will present the European Commission's proposed new aid programmes for 2007-2013.[06] Commission clears acquisition of NSR by ELG Haniel and Metal OneThe European Commission has granted clearance under the EU Merger Regulation to the acquisition of joint control of ELG Nippon Stainless Resources (NSR) of Japan by ELG Haniel GmbH of Germany and Metal One Corporation of Japan. ELG Haniel is active in the global trade of primary and secondary raw materials for the steel industry. Metal One produces and trades steel products and trades primary and secondary raw material for the steel industry, mainly in Asia. NSR trades secondary raw material for the steel industry in Japan and Asia. The operation was examined under the simplified merger review procedure.[07] Commission clears acquisition of Fondsdepot Bank by Xchanging and AllianzThe European Commission has granted clearance under the EU Merger Regulation to the acquisition of joint control of Fondsdepot Bank GmbH of Germany by Xchanging Transaction Bank GmbH of Germany and Allianz Global Investors Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH (Allianz GI) also of Germany. Xchanging Transaction is a securities transaction processing services for banks and financial service companies. Allianz GI manages and distributes investment funds. Fondsdepot Bank administers investment fund accounts. The operation was examined under the simplified merger review procedure.[08] Euro area inflation estimated at 2.1%Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 2.1% in September 2007 according to a flash estimate issued by Eurostat. It was 1.7% in August. Euro area inflation is measured by the Monetary Union Index of Consumer Prices (MUICP). To compute the MUICP flash estimates, Eurostat uses early price information relating to the reference month from Member States for which data are available4 as well as early information about energy prices.[09] Rédiffusion[10] Mergers: Commission approves proposed acquisition of Hamilton by AvivaThe European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Hamilton Life and Hamilton General (Hamilton), the insurance branch of HSBC Bank of the UK, by Aviva also of the UK. After examining the proposed operation the Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.[11] Cohesion policy 2007-2013: green light for first Bulgarian programmeBulgaria's first Operational Programme (OP) for investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) gets the green light today in Brussels. The programme, worth a total of € 988 million, is the first of seven. The rest should be adopted before the end of the year. Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner and Bulgarian Prime Minister Mr Sergei Stanishev will sign the programme, entitled Development of the competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy, at a ceremony that marks the official start of Cohesion Policy in Bulgaria for the years 2007-2013.[12] Autre matériel diffuséSpeech by Charlie McCreevy on the "Current issues in the EU banking sector at the dinner with BEF board Members in BrusselsSpeech by Neelie Kroes on "Improving competition in European energy markets through effective unbundling at the Fordham Corporate Law Institute's Annual Seminar 2007 Speech by President José Manuel Barroso on the "Future of the Cohesion Policy in Europe at the 4th Cohesion Forum in Brussels Speech by Vice-President Margot Wallström on "the Reform Treaty and Europe's Future: the Communication Challenge" at the European and Social Committee Conference in Brussels Calendrier hebdomadaire du 1er au 7 octobre 2007 Top News from the European Commission (1 October to 28 October 2007)
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/ Midday Express: News from the EU Commission Spokesman's Briefings Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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