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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 00-06-13
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
13/06/2000
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Romano Prodi at the funeral of Hafez-al-Assad
[02] Commission clears the acquisition of Colonial plc by Winterthur Life
UK Holdings Ltd
[03] Commission welcomes Council agreement on a Directive on copyright in
the information society
[01] Romano Prodi at the funeral of Hafez-al-Assad
European Commission President Romano Prodi is attending the funeral of
Syrian President Hafez-al-Assad in Damascus. President Prodi left this
morning from Paris together with French President Jacques Chirac. This high-
level representation by the Commission and the incoming French Presidency
underlines the European Union's readiness to strengthen EU-Syria relations
further and to support reform efforts by President Assad's successor. It
also demonstrates the strong commitment of the European Union towards
stability and lasting peace in the Middle East.
[02] Commission clears the acquisition of Colonial plc by Winterthur Life
UK Holdings Ltd
The European Commission has approved the acquisition of UK based company
Colonial (UK) Plc by Winterthur Life (UK) Holdings, which is part of the
Credit Suisse Group, under the EU's merger control rules. The parties
overlap mainly in the provision of life assurance and pensions in the UK.
The acquisition did not give rise to any competition concerns.
[03] Commission welcomes Council agreement on a Directive on copyright in
the information society
The European Commission has welcomed the political agreement confirmed on 8
June within the framework of the Council of Ministers on a Directive on
Copyright and related rights in the information society. The proposed
Directive will stimulate creativity and innovation by ensuring that music,
films, videos and all materials protected by copyright are adequately
protected throughout the Internal Market. Throughout the legislative
process, the Commission has paid particular attention to safeguarding a
fair balance between all the rights and interests involved including
rightholders, network operators, consumers, consumer electronic industries
and the educational community. The Directive will make cross-border trade
in copyright-protected goods and services easier, with particular emphasis
on "new" Information Society products and services (both on-line and on off
line via CDs for example). Network operators will have the benefit of an
obligatory exception for technical copies on the net. There is an
exhaustive list of exceptions to copyright which Member States may maintain
provided that copyright holders receive fair compensation for particular
exceptions. The relationship of the exceptions with the legal protection of
anti-copying devices especially where legitimate users are concerned is
also clarified.
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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