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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 00-03-30
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 Service Presse et Communicationb
30/03/2000
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[I] Résultats de la Commission du 29 mars 2000 - Outcome of Commission
meeting of 29 March 2000
[01] Data protection : Commission endorses "safe harbor" arrangement with
US
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[02] Décision des pays membres de l'OPEP d'augmentation des quotas de
production : la Commission continue à suivre avec intérêt l'évolution des
prix pétroliers
[03] EU backing against violence to women and children
[04] Commission clears the acquisition by Citigroup (US) of part of
Schroders (UK)
[05] La Commission autorise l'entreprise commune entre Shell et BASF sous
réserve de certains engagements
[06] Commission authorises Preussag's acquisition of Hebel
[07] Electronic commerce : Commission launches "e-confidence" on-line forum
to promote alternative dispute resolution
[08] Chris Patten visits Middle East
[09] Franz Fischler : "EU prepares for tough WTO negotiations"
[10] Frits Bolkestein : "Commission's pension proposals will aim to make
pension funds affordable and secure"
[I] Résultats de la Commission du 29 mars 2000 - Outcome of Commission
meeting of 29 March 2000
(voir aussi see also ME of 28/3)
[01] Data protection : Commission endorses "safe harbor" arrangement with
US
The European Commission has given Internal Market Commissioner Frits
Bolkestein the go-ahead to seek the support of EU Member States for
accepting the United States' proposed "safe harbor" arrangement as
providing adequate protection for personal data transferred from the EU to
"safe harbor" participants. Under the EU's data protection Directive,
Member States must ensure personal data transferred to non-EU countries is
"adequately" protected. The same Directive provides that the Commission may
make a positive finding when the protection offered by a particular country
meets this adequacy requirement. Following two years of discussion, the US
is now ready to put in place an arrangement which the Commission considers
to offer "adequate" protection. Before adopting a formal decision to this
effect, the Commission must seek the support of a qualified majority of
Member States. It must also consult their data protection commissioners and
the European Parliament. Once adopted the decision will be binding on all
Member States and so constitute a strong guarantee against the interruption
of data flows from the EU to "safe harbor" particpants in the US. Approval
procedures will take some time, but the arrangement should be finalised by
the summer and operational in the autumn.
[II] Other news - Autres nouvelles
[02] Décision des pays membres de l'OPEP d'augmentation des quotas de
production : la Commission continue à suivre avec intérêt l'évolution des
prix pétroliers
La Commission européenne a pris note de la décision des pays membres de
l'OPEP d'augmenter les quotas de production, lors de leur Conférence qui
s'est déroulée à Vienne, les 27 et 28 mars 2000, et considère que la
décision annoncée constitue un premier pas dans la recherche d'un équilibre
raisonnable entre les intérêts des pays producteurs et consommateurs de
pétrole. Elle n'apporte cependant pas une réponse déterminante aux soucis
des pays producteurs et consommateurs en faveur d'une meilleure stabilité
des prix.
[03] EU backing against violence to women and children
The Daphne programme, a euro 20 million action EU programme to fight
violence against women and children, is ready to receive applications for
the year 2000. Euro 5 million is ready to be spent each year under the
programme from 2000 to 2003. Daphne projects cover trafficking and sexual
exploitation, all forms of domestic violence and abuse as well as violence
in schools and violence towards minority groups and migrants.
[04] Commission clears the acquisition by Citigroup (US) of part of
Schroders (UK)
The European Commission has approved the acquisition of part of Schroders
plc by Citigroup Inc. through its subsidiary Salomon Smith Barney Holdings
Inc. (SSBH). The operation mainly concerns the markets for investment
banking activities and in particular : merger and acquisitions advisory
services, securities underwriting and other financial services. However,
given the minimum overlaps in the product areas concerned and the companies
limited market shares, the operation does not raise competition concerns.
[05] La Commission autorise l'entreprise commune entre Shell et BASF sous
réserve de certains engagements
La Commission européenne a approuvé le projet d'entreprise commune entre la
société néerlandaise Shell Petroleum N.V. et la société allemande BASF
Aktiengesellschaft, sous réserve d'un certain nombre d'engagements
contractés par les parties. L'entreprise commune regroupera toutes les
participations de Shell et de BASF au niveau mondial dans les domaines du
polypropylène et du polyéthylène. Afin de mettre fin aux problèmes recensés
par la Commission, les parties céderont des usines d'une capacité de
production d'au moins 600kT pour les résines de polypropylène et d'au moins
130kT pour les composés de polypropylène. Les activités liées à la
technologie de Novolen pour le polypropylène seront elles aussi cédées et
l'entreprise commune accordera sous licence ses droits de brevets relatifs
au catalyseur métallocène à tous les tiers intéressés ou conclura des
accords visant à ne pas faire valoir lesdits droits à leur égard s'ils
obtiennent ailleurs la technologie sous licence. Cet ensemble complexe
d'engagements destinés à dissiper les craintes au cours de l'enquête de la
phase1 n'a pu être accepté qu'en raison de la volonté des parties
notifiantes de coopérer à tous les stades de l'enquête.
[06] Commission authorises Preussag's acquisition of Hebel
The European Commission has approved the operation by which the German
company Preussag acquires the construction company Hebel AG, also German.
Hebel produces and sells gas concrete products that are used mainly as wall
building materials. This is the only overlapping area between the parties.
Preussag is active in this area via its subsidiary Felswerke GmbH. The
combined marked share of the parties does not, however, reach a two digit
figure. The concentration will therefore have no effects on the European
market. The Commission has thus considered the concentration to be
compatible with the Common Market.
[07] Electronic commerce : Commission launches "e-confidence" on-line forum
to promote alternative dispute resolution
The European Commission has proposed to set up an on-line "e-confidence
forum" for the exchange of information, knowledge and experience in the
field of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). The aim of the on-line forum
would be to assist in co-ordination between different initiatives to
promote rapid and effective redress mechanisms to resolve, at low cost and
without legal procedures, potential problems encountered by businesses and
consumers when buying goods or services on the Internet (particularly from
other countries). The on-line forum was endorsed by participants at a
recent ADR Workshop organised by the Commission in Brussels and is the
latest in a series of Commission initiatives to promote ADR schemes. The
European Commission's eEurope Initiative, announced by President Romano
Prodi at the Helsinki Summit last December, and discussed at the
extraordinary Lisbon European Council last week, identified the rapid
deployment of ADR schemes as an essential element in creating consumer
confidence in electronic commerce.
[08] Chris Patten visits Middle East
European Commissioner for External Relations Chris Patten will travel to
the Middle East from 1 April-7 April. He will visit Egypt, West Bank-Gaza
Strip, Jordan, Israel, Syria and Lebanon. This is Mr Patten's first visit
to the region as Commissioner. The visit will underline the strong
commitment of the European Union to lasting peace there. It will stress the
importance of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership (Barcelona Process). The
Commission's role in the region is a major one, as the EU is the biggest
provider of non-military assistance and the most important trading and
investment partner. It also plays an active part in advancing the Middle
East Peace Process.
[09] Franz Fischler : "EU prepares for tough WTO negotiations"
European Commissioner for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural development,
Franz Fischler, has reinforced the European Union's substantial interest in
ensuring the success of a new round of trade negotiations concerning both
traditional trade and new non-trade issues. "Multifunctionality,
sustainability and competitiveness are the key elements of the European
Model of Agriculture", he underlined at a Conference in Dublin Castle
today. In Geneva WTO Members have recently reassumed negotiations on
agricultural trade liberalisation. "The EU has continued to express its
general preference for a comprehensive negotiation round with a time-bound
framework. Concerning the traditional agricultural trade issues, the EU is
prepared for tough negotiations on the blue box, the category of domestic
support the direct payments fall into. But without ruling out some updating,
I think that a major review of the domestic support categories is neither
necessary nor desirable", Mr Fischler stated.
[10] Frits Bolkestein : "Commission's pension proposals will aim to make
pension funds affordable and secure"
European Commissioner for Internal Market, Frits Bolkstein, said the
Commission's upcoming pensions proposals would seek to build on the
determination expressed by all Member States at last week's Lisbon Council
to "eliminate barriers to investment in pension funds". He told a Brussels
conference that the proposals for pension reform, however, would be likely
to cover only work related, privately-funded occupational pension schemes.
"Public pension schemes remain fully in the remit of Member States. The
objective is not to harmonise in detail national supervisory arrangements.
It is simply to establish mutual recognition and confidence between Member
States. This will be difficult enough", he said. The twin aim of the
proposals must be to make pensions affordable and secure by creating a
prudential framework based on the protection of members' and beneficiaries'
rights, enhanced institutional performance, easier cross-border affiliation
and the liberalisation of asset management. Noting that British Petroleum
estimates the cost of managing separate pension funds in all Member States
at about euro 40 million a year the Commissioner added : "Our proposals
will underpin efficiency and security".
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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