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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 97-10-23
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
MIDDAY EXPRESS
News from the Spokesman's midday briefing
Nouvelles du rendez-vous de midi du Porte-Paroleb
23/10/97
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Jacques Santer: "The prospects for EMU have never been brighter"
[02] La production industrielle de l'UE a augmenté de 1.5%
[03] Ritt Bjerregaard reacts to US position on Climate Change
[01] Jacques Santer: "The prospects for EMU have never been brighter"
President of the European Commission, Jacques Santer took advantage of a
speech to the Community of European Management Schools to reply to some of
the most common economic questions about EMU. In particular, he stressed
that the problems associated with regional economic stabilisation in the
absence of exchange rate flexibility should not be overstated. "The loss
of the exchange rate instrument in the euro zone is difficult to see as a
major cost. (...) Structural reform has now moved to the top of the
European Union policy agenda. EMU will reinforce this process of
structural change." The President also concludes that "greater economic
policy co-ordination between euro participants may be required. (...) To
this end it seems sensible to develop a forum for informal contacts and
discussions. Any decisions would however continue to be taken by the
Council of Ministers alone". Finally, President Santer stressed that there
is "absolutely no risk of speculation" during the period 1999 to 2002 when
the euro and national currencies will co-exist. During this period "the
national currencies will no longer have an independent existence but will
be merely denominations of the euro. Thus speculation between national
currencies would be as pointless as speculating between marks and
pfennigs."
[02] La production industrielle de l'UE a augmenté de 1.5%
La tendance de la production industrielle de l'Union européenne (UE) a
progressé de 1.5% de mai à juillet par rapport aux trois mois précédents,
annonce aujourd'hui Eurostat, l'Office statistique des Communautés
européennes à Luxembourg. Les données confirment une expansion soutenue.
Entre le premier et le second trimestre, la croissance s'est élevée à 1.5%.
Pendant l'hiver dernier, le taux de croissance sur trois mois avait atteint
en moyenne 0.8%, durant l'été 1996: 0.1%. Tous les Etats membres pour
lesquels des données sont disponibles enregistrent une hausse. Le taux le
plus élevé a été observé en Finlande, avec 3.2%. La Suède (2.1%) et
l'Espagne (1.7%) dépassent également la moyenne communautaire, l'Allemagne
se situant à cette moyenne et l'Italie (1.4%) à un niveau légèrement
inférieur. Le taux de croissance de l'UE dépasse maintenant celui des
Etats-Unis et du Japon qui, de mai à juillet, ont atteint des taux de 0.8%
et 1.1% respectivement. Au sein de l'UE, le redressement est imputable
surtout aux biens d'investissement (+2.5%), contre 2.1% pour les biens
intermédiaires, 1.7% pour les biens de consommation durables et 0% pour les
biens de consommation non-durables.
[03] Ritt Bjerregaard reacts to US position on Climate Change
"I am disappointed with the very weak level of ambition of the US. This is
not an adequate response to the global problems of Climate Change", said
Ritt Bjerregaard, European Commissioner for the Environment, as a first
reaction to the US position on Climate Change. In a speech yesterday US
President Bill Clinton outlined the challenges for the US and the world
before the Conference on Climate Change in Kyoto in December. Whilst
clearly recognizing the need for action, the US contributions to the
further discussions fall well short of expectations. Mrs Bjerregaard
underlines that "the Convention on Climate Change as adopted at the Earth
Summit in Rio in 1992 already urges emission stabilisation by 2000 at 1990
levels for industrialised countries. The US position to reach this goal by
sometime around 2010 is therefore a significant step in the wrong
direction. Kyoto is all about legally binding emission objectives and
should clearly improve the Convention. Instead the US seeks to weaken it
considerably - even though they are responsible for close to 25% of the
global emissions of greenhouse gases".
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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