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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 08-01-23
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Commission assesses stability programmes of Germany, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands and Finland
[02] Commission assesses convergence programmes of Hungary, Sweden and the
United Kingdom
[03] Mergers: Commission clears proposed acquisition of Cumerio by
Norddeutsche Affinerie
[04] Antitrust: Commission fines synthetic rubber producers € 34.2
million for price fixing cartel
[05] Les femmes sont plus nombreuses Ă travailler, mais il leur faudrait
aussi des emplois «meilleurs»
[06] Industrial new orders up by 2.7% in euro area
[07] L'UE27 a enregistré un déficit des échanges courants de 17,2
milliards d'euros
[08] Science and Research Commissioner Janez PotoÄŤnik meets
representatives of the European Biofuels Technology Platform
[09] En visite au Tchad, le Commissaire Louis Michel annonce 10M€ pour la
stabilisation
Midday Express of 2008-01-23
Reference: MEX/08/0123
Date: 23/01/2008
EXME08 / 23.01
MIDDAY EXPRESS
News from the Communication Directorate General's midday briefing
Nouvelles du rendez-vous de midi de la Direction Générale Communicationb
23/01/08
[01] Commission assesses stability programmes of Germany, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands and Finland
Today the European Commission examined the updated stability programmes of
Finland, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. All four have reached,
maintained or exceeded the objective they have set themselves to have sound
public finances. Luxembourg and the Netherlands have presented budgetary
strategies that are in line with the sound principles established in the
Stability and Growth Pact. In both countries, the trajectory seems
sufficient to maintain, by a large margin, their medium-term objective
(MTO) (see below). Germany has achieved a remarkable budgetary
consolidation and reached its MTO of a balanced budget already in 2007 but
will relapse into a small deficit in 2008, in structural terms, unless it
maintains a firm control over expenditure. No specific recommendation is
considered necessary for Finland, which expects to easily achieve and
indeed exceed its MTO of a 2% surplus throughout the programme period.
Finland is also at low risk with regard to the long-term sustainability of
its public finances. Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands are at medium
risk.
[02] Commission assesses convergence programmes of Hungary, Sweden and the
United Kingdom
Having examined its updated convergence programme , the European Commission
finds that Sweden’s budgetary stance is a sound one as it has surpassed
its medium-term objective, a surplus of 1% of GDP, by a large margin and
plans for equally safe positions in the years ahead. The pace of fiscal
consolidation in the United Kingdom appears insufficient and should be
strengthened significantly. Regarding Hungary, the budgetary stance in its
updated programme seems broadly consistent with a durable correction of the
excessive deficit by 2009. But for this to happen, the government needs to
implement the planned budgetary measures and structural reforms fully and
effectively. Hungary is at high risk with regard to the long-term
sustainability of its public finances, while the United Kingdom is at
medium risk and Sweden at low risk
[03] Mergers: Commission clears proposed acquisition of Cumerio by
Norddeutsche Affinerie
The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the
proposed acquisition of sole control of Cumerio SA of Belgium by
Norddeutsche Affinerie AG (NA) of Germany. Both companies are active at
several stages of the copper processing chain, in particular producing
copper cathodes, copper rod and copper shapes. In September 2007 the
Commission opened an in-depth investigation to check whether the proposed
acquisition might significantly impede competition, in particular with
regard to the European market for copper shapes (see IP/07/1354). Copper
shapes are formats cast from pure copper, which are called cakes when they
have a rectangular section and billets when they have a circular section.
However, the in-depth inquiry has shown that factors such as overcapacity
on the market, very substantial in-house production of shapes by other
firms, ease of entry and competition on the downstream markets of semi-
finished copper products make it unlikely that the transaction would have
harmful effects on consumers. The Commission has therefore concluded that
the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition within
the European Economic Area (EEA) or a significant part of it.
[04] Antitrust: Commission fines synthetic rubber producers € 34.2
million for price fixing cartel
The European Commission has imposed fines totalling € 34 230 000 on the
Bayer and Zeon groups for fixing prices for Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBR)
in violation of the EC Treaty’s and the EEA Agreement’s ban on cartels
and restrictive business practices (Article 81 of the EC Treaty and Article
53 of the EEA Agreement). NBR is used mainly in car manufacturing for fuel
and oil handling hoses, seals, o-rings and water handling applications.
Between late 2000 and 2002, Bayer and Zeon managed to raise or otherwise
stabilise prices through a series of meetings and other illicit contacts.
Bayer's and Zeon's fines are reduced by 30% and 20%, respectively, because
they co-operated with the investigation under the Commission's 2002
Leniency Notice (see IP/02/247 and MEMO/02/23). However Bayer's fine was
increased by 50% because it had been fined for cartel activity in a
previous Commission decision.
[05] Les femmes sont plus nombreuses Ă travailler, mais il leur faudrait
aussi des emplois «meilleurs»
Les femmes continuent de jouer un rĂ´le moteur dans la croissance de
l'emploi en Europe mais restent défavorisées par rapport aux hommes sur
le marché du travail, selon un rapport adopté aujourd'hui par la
Commission européenne. Malgré un niveau d'études plus élevé, les
femmes sont toujours moins employées et moins bien payées que les hommes.
L'édition 2008 du rapport sur l’égalité entre les femmes et les hommes
sera présentée aux dirigeants de l'Union européenne (UE) lors du sommet
de printemps qui aura lieu les 8 et 9 mars.
[06] Industrial new orders up by 2.7% in euro area
The euro area (EA13) industrial new orders index grew by 2.7% in November
2007 compared with October 2007. The index grew by 2.5% in October, EU27
new orders increased by 1.9% in November 2007 after a rise of 5.5% in
October. Excluding ships, railway & aerospace equipment industrial new
orders gained 0.6% in the euro area and 0.5% in the EU27 in November 2007.
In November 2007 compared with November 2006, industrial new orders
increased by 11.9% in the euro area and by 15.7% in the EU27. Total
industry excluding ships, railway & aerospace equipment grew by 6.6% in the
euro area and by 8.1% in the EU27. These estimates are released by
Eurostat.
[07] L'UE27 a enregistré un déficit des échanges courants de 17,2
milliards d'euros
Selon les dernières révisions, le compte des opérations courantes de
l’UE27 avec les pays tiers a enregistré un déficit de € 17,2
milliards d'euros au troisième trimestre 2007, contre un déficit de €
24,6 milliards au troisième trimestre 2006 et un déficit de € 16,3
milliards au deuxième trimestre 2007. Au troisième trimestre 2007, par
rapport au troisième trimestre 2006, le déficit du compte des biens s'est
réduit (€ -41,5 milliards d'euros contre € -44,5 milliards), tandis
que l'excédent du compte des services s'est accru (€ +23,2 milliards
contre € +16,7 milliards). L'excédent du compte des revenus a diminué
(€ +14,8 milliards contre € +16,5 milliards), tandis que le déficit du
compte des transferts courants est resté pratiquement stable (€ -13,8
milliards contre € -13,3 milliards). Ces données provisoires, publiées
par Eurostat sont sujettes à révision.
[08] Science and Research Commissioner Janez PotoÄŤnik meets
representatives of the European Biofuels Technology Platform
Yesterday, 22 January, Janez PotoÄŤnik, European Science and research
Commissioner met with representatives of the European Biofuels Technology
Platform. After the meeting he released the following statement: "I had a
very interesting meeting today with the European Biofuels Technology
Platform, an organisation which brings together more than 100
representatives of the agriculture and forestry sectors, food, paper and
biotechnology industry, biofuels industry, oil companies, car manufacturers,
universities and researchers to move forward on the research needed to
develop Europe's use of biofuels. We discussed their Strategic Research
Agenda, which will be presented officially on 31 January. This document
provides a long-term view on how to overcome the technical and non-
technical challenges of sustainable use of biofuels within Europe. It is
well known that the increased use of biofuels will need to be accompanied
by technological developments. In particular we discussed the balance of
existing "first generation" biofuels and future "second generation"
biofuels, which can be produced more efficiently, with far fewer emissions
and from a wider range of agricultural products. The environmental
performance of biofuels depends very much on the different production
pathways. If produced and used sensibly, biomass used for fuel can reduce
greenhouse gas emissions. It can also be used to reclaim degraded land,
reduce erosion, stabilise slopes and improve water retention and water
quality. The Strategic Research Agenda sets a 70% target for carbon
emission savings. I was extremely encouraged by the clear priority given by
the Technology Platform leaders to environmental concerns throughout the
biofuels chain. I strongly supported their intention to take into account
in their future research issues such as biodiversity, water use and changes
in land-use, and to closely align their work with tomorrow's Directive on
the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources. also strongly
encouraged the members of the European Technology Platform to ensure their
close involvement in the "Bio-energy Europe Initiative" that we proposed as
part of the Strategic Energy Technology Plan in November 2007. "Bio-energy
Europe" will focus on next generation biofuels in the context of an overall
strategy for bio-energy." The Biofuels Technology Platform: www.biofuelstp.eu
Rediffusion
[09] En visite au Tchad, le Commissaire Louis Michel annonce 10M€ pour la
stabilisation
Le Commissaire européen au développement et à l'aide humanitaire, en
visite au Tchad du 20 au 22 janvier 2008, a signé aujourd'hui un Programme
d'Accompagnement Ă la Stabilisation (PAS) de 10 millions d'euros destinĂ© Ă
l'Est du Tchad.
Autre matériel diffusé
• Memo on Competition: Commission action against cartels – Questions
and answers
• Speech by Commissioner McCreevy to the Institute of International and
European Affairs in Brussels
<!-- PRV_REF ID="SPEECH|08/33|0|EN" -->• Speech by Vice President
Verheugen on The Strategy for Growth and J
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