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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 00-01-31
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 31/01/2000b
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Romano Prodi and Poul Nielson meet Mary Robinson, the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights
[02] Ciel unique: la conférence européenne de l'aviation civile apporte son
soutien à l'initiative de la Commission
[03] Margot Wallström comments on Biosafety agreement in Montreal
[04] La zone euro affiche un excédent commercial de 4,0 milliards d'euros
en novembre 99 - excédent de 6,8 milliards d'euros en octobre
[05] Signature of the Equasis Agreement for a unique database on Maritime
Safety
[06] Internet chat with Margot Wallström, Commissioner for the Environment
[07] EU consorts on follow-up to Beijing Platform (February 3-4)
[01] Romano Prodi and Poul Nielson meet Mary Robinson, the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights
Mrs Mary Robinson, the United Nations Commissioner for Human rights, will
be visiting Brussels tomorrow (Tuesday 1st February). The High Commissioner
will hold meetings with President Prodi and the European Commissioner for
Development and Humanitarian Aid, Mr Poul Nielson. The issues due to be
discussed include EU-UN relations and cooperation, the High Commissioner's
Annual Appeal for 2000 and the forthcoming session of the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights in Geneva.
[02] Ciel unique: la conférence européenne de l'aviation civile apporte son
soutien à l'initiative de la Commission
Lors de sa réunion tenue à Bruxelles le 28 janvier 2000, la conférence
européenne de l'aviation civile, qui réunit les ministres des Transports de
38 pays européens, a déclaré "accueillir favorablement la décision de la
Commission européenne de créer un groupe de haut niveau chargé d'examiner
la réforme du système de gestion de la circulation aérienne en Europe".
[03] Margot Wallström comments on Biosafety agreement in Montreal
"This is a historical moment and a breakthrough for international
agreements on trade and the environment. Together we have faced up to our
political responsibilities towards the environment and concluded a credible
Protocol to the Convention on Biodiversity. The international community has
shown that it takes the concerns of citizens seriously and ensured the
right to take well-founded decisions based on the precautionary principle
in order to protect the environment", the European Commissioner for
Environment, Margot Wallström, said after the conclusion of the Biosafety
Protocol.
[04] La zone euro affiche un excédent commercial de 4,0 milliards d'euros
en novembre 99 - excédent de 6,8 milliards d'euros en octobre
(! embargo 12h !) Les premières estimations de novembre 1999 pour la zone
euro montrent un excédent avec le reste du monde de 4,0 milliards d'euros ;
en novembre 1998, l'excédent était de 7,2 milliards. L'excédent révisé
s'élevait en octobre 1999 à 6,8 milliards, par rapport aux 6,3 milliards
d'octobre 1998. L'excédent total des dix premiers mois de 1999 est de 49,0
milliards, comparé aux 67,8 milliards pour la même période en 1998. Les
premières estimations du solde des échanges extra-UE15 pour novembre 1999
donnent un déficit de 2,6 milliard d'euros, alors qu'en novembre 1998, il y
avait un excédent de 1,6 milliard. En octobre, le solde (chiffre révisé)
était en déficit de 0,3 milliard d'euros. En octobre 1998, on enregistrait
un excédent de 1,0 milliard. Pour les dix premiers mois de 1999, le solde
est déficitaire de 10,0 milliards, comparé à un excédent de 14,5 milliards
en 1998. Ces chiffres sont publiés aujourd'hui par Eurostat, l'Office
statistique des Communautés européennes à Luxembourg.
[05] Signature of the Equasis Agreement for a unique database on Maritime
Safety
On 28 January 2000, the maritime administrations of France, United Kingdom,
Spain, Singapore, the US Coast Guard and the European Commission signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the setting up of the Equasis
information system. The maritime administration of Japan has expressed its
intention to join the signatories, but has not yet finalised its internal
procedures for doing so. Equasis will be a unique database collecting
safety-related information on the world's merchant fleet from both public
and private sources and making it easily accessible on the Internet. The
launch of the database is planned for May 2000. The Internet address of
Equasis will be www.equasis.org
[06] Internet chat with Margot Wallström, Commissioner for the Environment
On 3 February 2000 between 6pm and 8pm (CET) European Commissioner for
Environment, Margot Wallström, invites all Europe's citizens to participate
in an internet chat on the kind of environment we want for Europe. The chat
is an opportunity to exchange views with the Commissioner, ask questions,
put suggestions and share hopes and worries. Contributions may be made in
the eleven official languages. The address for the chat and instructions on
how to participate is : http://europa.eu.int/chatwallstrom/index.htm
[07] EU consorts on follow-up to Beijing Platform (February 3-4)
Five years after the launch of the Beijing Platform for action on gender
equality, a major two-day conference starts next Thursday to test Europe's
headway in following it up. The conference, in Brussels, will also
coordinate the European Union's position for the Beijing+5 review at the
special session of the UN General Assembly this June and is part of the
Union's long-standing commitment to gender equality and human rights.
European Commissioner for Social Affairs, Anna Diamantopoulou, recently
made clear the Commission's determination to make full use of the new
powers conferred by the Amsterdam Treaty to remedy inequalities between the
sexes. The conference will involve a broad spectrum of representatives
including : the Member States of the EU and EEA, the former, current and
future Council presidencies, the European Parliament's Committee on Women's
Rights and Equal Opportunities, NGOs, the social partners, academics and
representatives of all EU candidate countries. All areas of the Beijing
platform will be discussed : human rights of women, women's participation
in politics, society and economy, gender mainstreaming and gender in
development cooperation. A round table discussion on "The way forward
beyond Beijing+5" will close the gathering.
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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