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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 99-06-17
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-Parole 17/06/1999b
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Outcome of the Scientific Committee on food - dioxins in milk
[02] Commission clears the acquisition of Freemans by Otto Versand
[03] Premier sommet UE-Amérique latine/Caraïbes
[04] Premier rapport sur les fonds de pension européens
[05] Commission may make recommendations to individual Member States on
employment performance
[01] Outcome of the Scientific Committee on food - dioxins in milk
The Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) is of the opinion that every effort
should be taken to lower human exposure to dioxins and PCBs. The most
efficient way to lower human exposure to these substances is to prevent
entry of PCBs and dioxins into the food chain wherever possible. In an
opinion on dioxins in milk derived from cattle fed on contaminated feed in
Belgium which the scientists adopted on Wednesday, they recommend to screen
all restricted farms with appropriately sensitive methods for the presence
of PCBs in the milk produced at these farms. If levels of PCB above 100 ng
PCB/g fat are found, it is reasonable to assume that the milk has
additional dioxin contamination associated with the incident and therefore
additional analyses for dioxins should then be carried out to determine
whether further action is necessary. The SCF which studied the question
together with a group of external experts stressed that these conclusions
only apply to the current contamination event identified in Belgium. The
report will shortly be available on the internet under the following
address : http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scf/outcome_en.html
[02] Commission clears the acquisition of Freemans by Otto Versand
The European Commission has approved the acquisition of the British non-
food home shopping company Freemans plc by German-based non-food home
shopping company Otto Versand, which in the UK already owns Grattan plc,
another home shopping company. The merger will neither create nor
strengthen a dominant position given the two companies' market share and
competitive pressures. The Commission has therefore decided to approve the
take-over.
[03] Premier sommet UE-Amérique latine/Caraïbes
Le premier sommet qui réunira les chefs d'Etat et de gouvernement de
l'Union européenne ainsi que des pays d'Amérique latine et des Caraïbes,
les 28 et 29 juin à Rio de Janeiro, marquera la fondation d'un nouveau
partenariat stratégique qui permettra d'approfondir la compréhension
mutuelle dans les domaines politique, économique et culturel. Une
déclaration politique et un plan d'action conjointe seront souscrits à la
fin de la réunion par les dirigeants des 48 pays participants.
[04] Premier rapport sur les fonds de pension européens
En matière de prévoyance vieillesse par le biais de fonds de pension
complémentaire autonomes, les Suisses arrivent en tête d'une liste de pays
européens publiée aujourd'hui. Au total, ils ont versé à ces fonds 21.132
millions d'euros de cotisations en 1997. Viennent ensuite le Royaume-Uni
(19.400 millions) et l'Allemagne (15.639 millions). Ces chiffres figurent
dans un rapport - une "première" d'Eurostat, l'Office statistique des
Communautés européennes à Luxembourg - fournissant des détails sur des
fonds de pension dans plusieurs pays disposant de données. Les fonds de
pension autonomes sont définis comme des fonds liés à l'emploi offrant aux
bénéficiaires des prestations de pension complémentaire venant s'ajouter à
celles du régime public obligatoire. Leur importance est variable : par
exemple, en Suisse, les membres actifs de ces fonds dépassent 44% de la
population et en Islande, plus de 51%. Ailleurs, ils sont beaucoup moins
nombreux. En Espagne, ils représentent environ 6% de la population
cotisante, en Italie 1,6% et en Autriche près de 2% ; au Danemark, ils
constituent un infime pourcentage de 0,27%. A remarquer que ces fonds
n'existent pas actuellement en France, ni en Finlande.
[05] Commission may make recommendations to individual Member States on
employment performance
The 1999 National Action Plans (NAP's) on employment have now been
submitted to the European Commission by all Member States. The Commission
is working intensively to evaluate the NAP's and will present the results
in the draft Joint Employment Report in early September. Commenting on this
exercise Social Affairs Commissioner Padraig Flynn said : "Particular
attention will be paid this year to following up weaknesses we identified
in last year's draft Joint Employment Report. For example : - Have
countries such as Greece, Italy and the Netherlands taken fully on board
the preventive approach to youth and long-term employment ? - Has the
regional and local dimension of the NAP's been strengthened in countries
such as the UK and Germany ? - Has the jobs potential of the services
sector been given the attention it deserves, especially in countries such
as Italy, France and Germany which have been lagging behind ? - Have
countries such as Belgium and Finland increased the availability of active
labour market measures as opposed to passive income supports ?". Mr Flynn
pointed out that the Amsterdam Treaty makes provision in Article 128 for
the Commission to address recommendations to individual Member States. He
said : "This is an important feature of the new Employment Title and it is
designed to strengthen and give practical effect to the European Union-
level dimension. Following the entry into force on 1 May of the new Treaty,
the Commission is now obliged to make such recommendations where this is
deemed appropriate and useful." (NB: The NAP's can be consulted on the
internet, DG V site on the Europa Server - http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg05/empl&esf/naps99/naps_en.htm)
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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