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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 01-10-12
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
Midday Express 12/10/2001
[01] Court of Auditors' report on the management of the Common Foreign and
Security Policy (CFSP)
The European Court of Auditors published yesterday a report on the
management of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The European
Commission's response is published in an annex to the report. The report
covers the period 1997-1999 and follows the Court's opinion No 1/97 on the
same subject. The Court recognises that notable improvements have been
accomplished in recent years. According to the Court, unclear arrangements
for the implementation of CFSP complicate day-to-day management. The Court
recommends therefore to adopt clear operational principles with the regard
to the Commission's role in the implementation of the CFSP. External
Relations Commissioner Chris Patten welcomed the overall positive opinion
and declared that : "The Court's recommendations encourage the Commission
to pursue its reform of the management of external programmes. We will
shortly issue a communication on how to streamline the financing of CFSP in
order to make it more operational and effective, particularly in crisis
situations."
[02] Court of Auditors' report on Tacis Cross Border Cooperation Programme
The European Court of Auditors has adopted a report on the Tacis Cross
Border Cooperation Programme. The Court recognises the political importance
of the programme as it deals with those regions that are due to become the
new eastern border of the European Union. The Court points at some
shortcomings in the programme's coordination with other instruments, i.e.
Interreg.
[03] La Commission met l'accent sur l'environnement et les normes à
l'occasion de la journée mondiale de la normalisation
Les membres de l'organisation internationale de la mondialisation
célébreront le 14 octobre la Journée mondiale de la normalisation, dont le
thème sera cette année "l'environnement et les normes: une association plus
étroite". La recherche de l'amélioration de l'environnement par
l'intermédiaire des normes est également une priorité majeure pour l'Union
européenne. Cette journée est un moyen de rendre hommage aux efforts de
coopération des experts du monde entier qui élaborent des spécifications
techniques pour la production de biens et services et la gestion des
processus. La Commission souhaite assumer un rôle de chef de file dans ce
domaine important.
[04] Trafficking in persons : Anna Diamantopoulou and Joschka Fischer speak
out in Berlin
Anna Diamantopoulou, European Commissioner for Employment and Social
Affairs, will speak at the conference 'Europe against trafficking in
persons' to be held in at the Auswärtiges Amt in Berlin from next Monday 15
October. Amongst the other speakers will be German minister for Foreign
Affairs Joschka Fischer and German minister for Family, Senior Citizens,
Women and Youth, Christine Bergmann. The conference, organised by the
German ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with the OSCE, will focus
on the countries of destination western Europe and will discuss in
particular victim protection, east-west cooperation and migration policies
within the EU.
[05] Philippe Busquin speaks at conference on new satellite capacity for
global monitoring of the environment and security (GMES)
At a Belgian presidency conference next Monday, 15th October, European
Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin will present the Commission's
initiative for building a new satellite-based capacity to monitor the
environment and gather security-relevant information. The aim of the
conference is to present the GMES concept and to discuss an action plan
proposed jointly by the Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA). The
conference's conclusions will feed into the EU Research (30 October) and
Environment Councils (29 October) as well as to the ESA Council (14+15
November). GMES is an initiative to federate earth observation satellite
systems and capacities in order to deliver new and/or better information
services in support of policies such environment, agriculture, civil
protection, humanitarian relief or external relations. The Commission
launched the initiative in 1998 jointly with European and national Space
Agencies. Recently, other nations such as Russia have expressed an interest
in participating. A press conference will take place on 15th October at
18h30, Palais des Congrès, 3, Coudenberg, Brussels.
[06] Discussion en ligne avec Pascal Lamy : créer des opportunités pour
tous grâce à un nouveau cycle de négociations commerciales
Un débat en ligne aura lieu avec Pascal Lamy, Commissaire européen chargé
du commerce, le mardi 16 octobre, de 18 heures à 20 heures (heure d'Europe
centrale) sur les perspectives d'un nouveau cycle de négociations
commerciales.
[07] Dopage, spécificité du sport, économie sociale et sport handicapé au
programme du 10ème forum européen du sport (17-18/10)
A l'invitation de Viviane Reding, Commissaire européenne à l'Education, à
la Culture et aux Sports, des responsables des principales organisations
sportives en Europe et des représentants des Etats membres de l'Union
européenne et des pays candidats se réuniront les 17 et 18 octobre
prochains à Bruxelles pour le 10ème forum européen du sport. Le forum sera
ouvert par Viviane Reding, Bert Anciaux, ministre de la Culture, de la
Jeunesse et des Sports de la Communauté flamande de Belgique et par Jacques
Rogge, président du Comité international olympique.
[08] Commission services publish study on reform of tax and benefit systems
in the Union
A research paper published today by the Directorate-General for Economic
and Financial Affairs of the European Commission concludes that while
Member States have started to ease the tax burden on labour, progress on
reforms has been unequal between tax and benefit systems : the emphasis has
clearly been on the tax side while benefit reforms have mostly been
relatively minor, and without adequate attention to the interaction between
tax and benefit schemes. In view of the goal of full employment, to which
the Union and the Member States are committed, it has become more urgent to
speed up reforms of tax and benefit systems in order to increase labour
supply and reduce structural unemployment. Further reforms aimed at making
work pay should take a more comprehensive approach, including a review of
the interaction between tax and benefit systems and their joint incentives
to work. In general, further efforts are needed to reduce the overall
generosity of benefit schemes, including eligibility rules, and to
strengthen their interaction with active labour market policies in order to
enhance the efficiency of active policies. This strategy could help to move
people from benefit dependency to work, while preserving an adequate level
of social protection for those in need. The full paper can be found on the
DG ECFIN web-site : http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/document/ecopap/ecp160en.htm
[09] Mergers approved under the simplified procedure
- 3i Group (FI) / Eqvitec Teknologia Rahasto I (FI) / Vahinkovakuutusosakeyhtiö
Pohjola (FI) / Kestkinäinen Henkivakuutusyhtiö Suomi (FI) / Ion Blast Oy
(FI) - 3i Group (FI)/OKO Bank Group (FI)/Uniglass Engineering Oy (FI)
[10] Autre matériel diffusé
Note sur la préparation du Conseil Télécommunications
Note sur la préparation du Conseil Ecofin
Labelling of compound feedingstuffs agreed in conciliation: clear
percentages on label
Calendrier du 14 au 20 octobre
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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