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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 03-02-19

Midday Express: News from the EU Commission Spokesman's Briefings Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>


CONTENTS / CONTENU

  • [01] La Commission propose des règles sur le statut et le financement des partis politiques européens
  • [02] La Commission adopte un Livre vert concernant les garanties procédurales accordées aux suspects et aux personnes mises en cause dans les procédures pénales dans l'UE
  • [03] La Commission évalue l'actualisation 2002 du programme de stabilité du Luxembourg pour la période 2001-2005
  • [04] Commission assesses the updated stability programme of Portugal
  • [05] Commission issues its opinion on the reform of the ECB's Governing Council
  • [06] La Commission sur la bonne voie pour assumer des responsabilités accrues au lendemain de l'élargissement
  • [07] Commission adopts favourable opinion on the accession of ten candidate countries
  • [08] CAP reform : Commission proposes to simplify agricultural State aid regime
  • [09] Commission investigates aid in favour of Herlitz, a German manufacturer of stationary
  • [10] La Commission ordonne la récupération de l'aide en faveur de Hilados y Tejidos Puigneró
  • [11] Commission approves proposed aid in favour of Leipa Georg Leinfelder
  • [12] Commission approves Belgian combined transport aid scheme
  • [13] Commission clears UK grant for long distance bus services to old and reduced mobility persons
  • [14] Commission will investigate aid to the coal industry granted by the region of Castilla-Leon
  • [15] Commission authorizes aid granted by Spain to the Hunosa coalmining company
  • [16] Commission reopens procedure against Spanish coal mining company González y Díez S.A.
  • [17] La Commission autorise des aides en faveur de l'industrie houillère espagnole
  • [II] Other news - Autres nouvelles

  • [18] Travelling with pets : simplified EU system approved
  • [19] Qualifications professionnelles : la Commission poursuit des procédures d'infraction contre la Grèce, le Portugal et la France
  • [20] Multilingualism in the Commission : a long-standing tradition and an asset to the European Union
  • [21] First estimates for 2002 : euro-zone external trade surplus €102.3 billion in 2002 ; €6.1 billion surplus for EU15
  • [22] Uganda : Commission grants €2 million in humanitarian aid
  • [23] Autre matériel diffusé Midday Express 19/02/2003 TXT: FR ENPDF:DOC:Midday Express 19/02/2003[I] Résultats de la Commission de ce jour - Outcome of today's Commission meeting

  • [01] La Commission propose des règles sur le statut et le financement des partis politiques européens

    La Commission européenne a adopté une proposition de règlement sur le statut et le financement des partis politiques européens qui fixe des règles minimales en matière de reconnaissance et de gestion transparente des partis politiques au niveau européen. Les partis politiques européens sont des acteurs clés dans le débat démocratique sur l'Union européenne et dans l'expression de la volonté des citoyens de l'UE. Le texte proposé améliorera le contrôle démocratique et la transparence dans l'UE. Les exigences applicables au financement ne sont liées à aucune condition politique, ce qui signifie que les partis "eurosceptiques" pourront accéder au financement comme tout autre parti aussi longtemps qu'ils respectent les principes de liberté, de démocratie, des droits de l'homme et de l'état de droit. Le traité de Nice, entré en vigueur au début du mois, précise qu'il y a lieu de fixer des règles applicables aux partis politiques au niveau européen, notamment pour leur financement. Nice a modifié le processus de décision sur cette question au Conseil avec le passage du vote à l'unanimité au vote à la majorité qualifiée et a attribué au Parlement européen un pouvoir de codécision.

    [02] La Commission adopte un Livre vert concernant les garanties procédurales accordées aux suspects et aux personnes mises en cause dans les procédures pénales dans l'UE

    La Commission européenne a adopté un "Livre vert concernant les garanties procédurales accordées aux suspects et aux personnes mises en cause dans les procédures pénales dans l'Union européenne" et a décidé de le transmettre au Conseil, au Parlement et au Comité économique et social. Cette initiative fait partie des travaux de l'UE visant à créer un véritable espace européen de justice. "Il importe que les autorités judiciaires de chaque Etat membre aient confiance dans les systèmes juridiques des autres Etats membres : la confiance dans les garanties procédurales et dans l'équité des procédures renforce cette confiance", a déclaré M. António Vitorino, membre de la Commission chargé de la justice et des affaires intérieures, qui a ajouté : "établir des normes minimales communes constitue le meilleur moyen de garantir une protection homogène des droits individuels dans l'ensemble de l'Union".

    [03] La Commission évalue l'actualisation 2002 du programme de stabilité du Luxembourg pour la période 2001-2005

    La Commission européenne a adopté une recommandation relative à un avis du Conseil sur l'actualisation 2002 du programme de stabilité du Luxembourg, présentée le 17 décembre 2002 pour la période 2001-2005. Cette dernière mise à jour s'appuie, pour la période concernée, sur un scénario macroéconomique conforme aux prévisions actuelles de la Commission, avec une croissance du PIB réel de 0,5% en 2002, qui devrait se redresser progressivement pour s'établir aux alentours de 3% en 2005. Le solde budgétaire des administrations publiques s'est très fortement dégradé sous l'effet du net ralentissement de l'activité économique à partir de 2001, passant d'un excédent de 6,1% du PIB en 2001 à un déficit de 0,3% du PIB en 2002. Selon l'actualisation de 2002, le solde budgétaire des administrations publiques devrait rester légèrement déficitaire en 2003 et 2004 avant de revenir à une position proche de l'équilibre en 2005. Le solde budgétaire sous-jacent devrait pour sa part rester positif sur l'ensemble de la période couverte par le programme. Entre 2002 et 2005, le ratio de la dette publique devrait diminuer progressivement pour s'établir à environ 3% du PIB, partant du niveau déjà bas de 5% environ du PIB. Le Luxembourg continue de satisfaire aux exigences du pacte de stabilité et de croissance. Toutefois, une limitation des dépenses pourrait s'avérer nécessaire pour conserver une position budgétaire saine à moyen terme, si la croissance économique devait se ralentir fortement par rapport aux périodes précédentes. L'actualisation 2002 du programme de stabilité est partiellement conforme aux grandes orientations des politiques économiques pour 2002. Sur la base de la recommandation de la Commission, le Conseil devrait rendre un avis sur le programme de stabilité actualisé du Luxembourg le 7 mars 2003.

    [04] Commission assesses the updated stability programme of Portugal

    The European Commission has adopted a recommendation for a Council opinion on the 2002 update of the Portugues stability programme, which was submitted on 17 January 2003 and covers the period 2003-2006. Portugal's stability programme update estimates the general government deficit for 2002 at 2.8% of GDP and projects a gradual improvement in the budgetary situation to a position close-to-balance by the end of the period. The underlying macroeconomic scenario for 2003 assumes a small acceleration in the pace of growth, followed by a stronger recovery in the 2004-2006 period, leading to a growth rate slightly above potential at the end of the period. Overall, the pace of economic growth appears plausible, although there is the risk that economic growth in 2003 might turnout weaker than foreseen, while for the 2004-2006 period the growth pattern is relying heavily on the gradual strengthening of domestic demand. The budgetary consolidation effort envisaged is markedly front-loaded to 2003, and projects an improvement in the underlying balance by more than ½% of GDP per year, taking the underlying deficit to a situation close to balance by 2005, thereby complying which the objectives of the SGP. The debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to remain below the 60% of GDP reference value, and to recede by a cumulative 6 percentage points between 2003 and 2006. The consolidation strategy adopted in the programme update rests mainly on the restraint of government expenditure, to be achieved partly by tighter control of the public sector wage bill, and partly by the exonerating effects of a comprehensive programme of structural reform. The economic and budgetary policies presented in the updated programme are broadly consistent with the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines. On the basis of the Commission recommendation, the Council is expected to adopt an opinion on the updated Portuguese stability programme on 19 February.

    [05] Commission issues its opinion on the reform of the ECB's Governing Council

    The European Commission has adopted its opinion on the ECB's Recommendation on an amendment of the voting modalities in its Governing Council in view of enlargement. The Commission considers that the proposed model constitutes an important step towards securing the continued efficiency of decision-making within the ECB in the perspective of enlargement. The Commission recognises that the legal base of the ECB's Recommendation (Art. 10.6 ECB, the so-called "enabling clause") imposes important constraints and limitations, which prevented the ECB from considering more comprehensive reform of its governance structure. Such reforms could however be considered in the framework of the Convention and of the upcoming IGC. Regarding the classification of countries into groups, the Commission remains consistent with its Opinion on the reform of the voting rights of the EU institutions issued on 26 January 2000 in preparation of the Treaty of Nice : the "population" criterion is particularly relevant along with the "GDP criterion". Moreover, in the Commission's view the ECB proposal could benefit from a further clarification in respect to the rotation frequency and the sequence of attribution of the voting rights within each group.

    [06] La Commission sur la bonne voie pour assumer des responsabilités accrues au lendemain de l'élargissement

    La Commission européenne a fixé ses objectifs de recrutement de fonctionnaires des dix nouveaux Etats membres à compter de mai 2004. Il s'agit de la dernière étape du processus permanent et approfondi de sa préparation à l'élargissement. Les objectifs en matière de recrutement s'appuient sur des critères objectifs visant à garantir une stratégie équitable et transparente. Les préparatifs d'ensemble ont concerné et continuent de concerner notamment les domaines suivants : une politique du personnel de la Commission lui permettant de procéder aux recrutements supplémentaires nécessaires pour faire face à ses responsabilités accrues tout en respectant strictement les limites du titre V de la perspective financière (coûts administratifs) ; la réorganisation des services linguistiques en vue de garantir efficacement la fourniture de prestations multilingues de grande qualité ; et la modernisation des procédures de la Commission afin de répondre à la charge de travail supplémentaire, en particulier dans le domaine de la gestion financière.

    [07] Commission adopts favourable opinion on the accession of ten candidate countries

    The European Commission has adopted a favourable opinion on the accession to the Union of ten applicant countries : the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia. Taken in accordance with Article 49 of the Treaty, the decision follows the successful conclusion of the accession negotiations at the European Council meeting in Copenhagen on 13 December 2002 and the finalisation of the Treaty of Accession in the first half of February 2003.

    [08] CAP reform : Commission proposes to simplify agricultural State aid regime

    A simplified administration and efficient supervision of agricultural State aids without weakening European Commission monitoring - this win-win situation is the objective of a draft Commission regulation adopted today. Once in force, the new regulation will allow Member States to grant various types of agricultural State aid without having to seek the Commission's prior clearance. This block exemption will speed up the implementation of new agricultural State aids. This, in turn, will facilitate national programmes aiming at the improvement of environmental, animal welfare and hygiene standards in the agriculture sector. For example, for on-farm investments which do not lead to increases in production capacity, Member States could take over up to 55% of the related costs. For investments destined to improve animal welfare or the environment, aid of up to 75% could be granted. Up to €100,000 over three years could be granted for measures to encourage the production and marketing of quality products. The same amount could be granted for technical support measures like farm consultancy or the participation in trade fairs. The necessary counterpart to the lifting of the prior authorisation procedure is high quality subsequent reporting by Member States, allowing the Commission to check whether the conditions of the regulation have been fulfilled. The Commission can start an investigation in any case if there are complaints about alleged abuse of the new procedure. The regulation will not soften the State aid rule in substance and, in particular, will not allow State aid in areas considered incompatible with the Internal Market. The proposal should therefore in no way be misunderstood as a "re-nationalisation" of aid to farmers. The same agricultural State aid rules will continue to apply throughout the EU. Following consultation of Member States and stakeholders, the Commission plans to implement this regulation from January 2004.

    [09] Commission investigates aid in favour of Herlitz, a German manufacturer of stationary

    The European Commission has initiated the formal investigation procedure accompanied by a an information injunction with respect to various aid measures, including a loan of some €1 million in favour of Herlitz PBS AG, which Germany notified as rescue aid. The Commission doubts that the alleged rescue aid is compatible with the Community Guidelines on State aid for rescue and restructuring of firms in difficulty. In addition, it is not clear who the real beneficiary of the aid is. Moreover, the Commission has doubts concerning other aid measures, such as a settlement agreement involving waivers of debts by public creditors, an old interest-free loan and its recent waiver. These could constitute State aid and, together with the loan, threaten to seriously distort competition in the common market.

    [10] La Commission ordonne la récupération de l'aide en faveur de Hilados y Tejidos Puigneró

    La Commission européenne a constaté aujourd'hui dans une décision que l'Espagne n'avait pas récupéré des dettes fiscales et de sécurité sociale de l'entreprise Hilados y Tejidos Puigneró S.A. Cette omission constitue une aide d'Etat en faveur de la société. En 2000, ces dettes s'élevaient à 104 millions d'€. La société avait également bénéficié de différents prêts et garanties de prêts accordés par l'Institut des finances catalan. L'Espagne doit maintenant récupérer l'aide auprès du bénéficiaire.

    [11] Commission approves proposed aid in favour of Leipa Georg Leinfelder

    The European Commission has no objections that Germany grants aid of €92 million in the form of direct grants and a loan guarantee to the undertaking Leipa Georg Leinfelder. This aid is destined to finance the construction of new sites for the production of graphic paper. The project will be located in the East German region of Brandenburg. The aid will help to create some 360 jobs. For this project the Commission authorises a maximum allowable aid intensity of 26.25%. The maximum allowable aid ceiling for Brandenburg is 35%.

    [12] Commission approves Belgian combined transport aid scheme

    The European Commission has authorised the decision of the Flemish Regional Government to provide aid for investment in combined transport, which intends to reduce road congestion.

    [13] Commission clears UK grant for long distance bus services to old and reduced mobility persons

    The European Commission has decided not to raise any objections to the grant (£ 12million - €18.7 million - annually), which the UK Government will give long distance bus operators as a compensation for offering half- fare concessions to older and disabled passengers.

    [14] Commission will investigate aid to the coal industry granted by the region of Castilla-Leon

    The European Commission has decided to start an investigation of the subsidies amounting to €18 million which the Autonomous Community of Castilla-Leon has granted to private coal mining companies in 2001 and 2002. The Commission has doubts whether the aid is compatible with the proper functioning of the internal market and will investigate the risk of an unlawful cumulation between aid granted by the Spanish central government and aid granted by the region of Castilla-Leon.

    [15] Commission authorizes aid granted by Spain to the Hunosa coalmining company

    The European Commission has decided to not raise any objections to the subsidies amounting to €1,6 billion which Spain granted in the years 1999 and 2001 to the coalmining company of Hulleras del Norte S.A. (Hunosa). The aid, which is compatible with the internal market, was granted to cover exceptional costs having arisen from the restructuring of the coal industry.

    [16] Commission reopens procedure against Spanish coal mining company González y Díez S.A.

    The European Commission has decided to reopen the procedure against the Spanish coal mining company González y Díez S.A. in order to replace a decision taken on 2 July 2002 and adopt a new decision with the new procedural rules that apply after the expiry of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) Treaty on 23 July 2002. In the decision that is going to be replaced, the Commission ordered Spain to take all the necessary measures in order to recover the aid regarding the years 1998 and 2000 and did not authorise an aid for the year 2001. The Commission considers that the new procedural rules offer better opportunities to guarantee the rights of Member States, the concerned company and third parties.

    [17] La Commission autorise des aides en faveur de l'industrie houillère espagnole

    L'industrie houillère espagnole pourra bénéficier d'aides d'Etat, à concurrence de 425.013.213 € pour la période allant du 24 juillet 2002 au 31 décembre 2002 et une aide complémentaire à concurrence de 11.286.002 € pour l'année 2001 et la période allant du 1er janvier 2002 au 23 juillet 2002.

    [II] Other news - Autres nouvelles

    [18] Travelling with pets : simplified EU system approved

    Agreement was reached yesterday in the conciliation committee between the European Parliament and Council on a new system that will pave the way for pet owners to travel more easily within the European Union with their domestic pets. Parliament and Council are expected to give their formal approval shortly, which will allow the Regulation to enter into force.

    [19] Qualifications professionnelles : la Commission poursuit des procédures d'infraction contre la Grèce, le Portugal et la France

    La Commission européenne a décidé de traduire la Grèce devant la Cour de justice pour la mauvaise transposition en droit national et pour la mauvaise application de la directive 89/48/CEE sur la reconnaissance des diplômes d'enseignement supérieur qui sanctionnent des formations professionnelles d'une durée minimale de trois ans. Le Portugal sera traduit devant la Cour au sujet de la législation qui réglemente la profession d'« odontologista ». La Commission a également demandé formellement à la France d'appliquer l'arrêt de la Cour de justice du 10 mai 2001 (affaire C-285/2000) selon lequel la France doit transposer dans sa législation nationale, en ce qui concerne la profession de psychologue, la directive 89/48/CEE. La demande de la Commission revêt la forme d'un avis motivé. En l'absence d'une réponse satisfaisante de la part des autorités françaises dans les deux mois suivant la réception de l'avis motivé, la Commission peut saisir la Cour et demander l'imposition d'une astreinte financière.

    [20] Multilingualism in the Commission : a long-standing tradition and an asset to the European Union

    The EU has eleven official languages : Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. The principle that all the EU's official languages are equal is enshrined in law in the following documents : the Treaty establishing the European Community states that every citizen of the Union may write to the European institutions in one of the official languages and have an answer in the same language ; the first ever Regulation adopted by what was then the European Economic Community, in 1958, stipulates that all documents of general application shall be drafted in all the official languages.

    [21] First estimates for 2002 : euro-zone external trade surplus €102.3 billion in 2002 ; €6.1 billion surplus for EU15

    According to Eurostat, the first estimate for euro-zone trade with the rest of the world in December 2002 was a €7.4 billion surplus, against +8.5 billion in December 2001. The revised November 2002 balance was +9.6 billion, compared with +6.4 billion in November 2001.The first estimate for December 2002 extra-EU15 trade was a €2.0 billion surplus, compared with +2.6 billion in December 2001. In 2002, euro-zone trade recorded a surplus of 102.3 billion, compared with +49.5 billion in 2001. The EU15 recorded a surplus estimated at 6.1 billion in 2002, against a deficit of 42.7 billion in 2001. For the first time, this news release includes a new annex relative to Acceding Countries to the European Union.

    [22] Uganda : Commission grants €2 million in humanitarian aid

    The European Commission has allocated €2 million in humanitarian aid to help tackle the needs of vulnerable people affected by conflict and drought in Northern Uganda. This decision is primarily targeted at facilitating access to health services and safe drinking water, and improving the sanitation situation of vulnerable populations. The funds will be channelled through the Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), which comes under the responsibility of Commissioner Poul Nielson. The humanitarian situation in Northern Uganda has been deteriorating for several years, largely due to the high level of insecurity, which has brought the economy to a virtual standstill and forced some 800,000 people to leave their homes. Cattle raiding in North Eastern Uganda is an additional cause of displacement. The Northern part of the country has also been facing prolonged dry spells, which have led to a drop in production of major staples, such as millet and sorghum. This decision will fund programmes which address the serious humanitarian problems faced by Northern Uganda health and nutrition, water and sanitation, as well as shelter and food security. The main group targeted by this decision will be internally displaced people (IDPs). These problems are largely going unnoticed by the international community, making Northern Uganda a forgotten crisis. ECHO has disbursed more than €5 million to victims of the crisis Northern Uganda since 2000.

    [23] Autre matériel diffusé

    Note sur la préparation du Conseil Agriculture

    Note sur les résultats du Conseil Ecofin aspects fiscalité et services financiers

    Discours de M. Lamy : "Une approche européenne des relations commerciales transatlantiques" devant l'assemblée parlementaire de l'OTAN (18/02)

    Speech by David Byrne : "Health, Nutrition and Labelling" to the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection Committee of the European Parliament (! embargo 5.30 pm !)


    From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
    © ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996


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