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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 04-02-04
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Enlargement and the EU budget : Commission proposes expenditure for
the ten new Member States
[02] Commission to recover €143.18 million of CAP expenditure from the
Member States
[03] Marchés publics : la Commission agit pour faire appliquer le droit
européen en France et en Italie
[04] Foreign lecturers : Commission asks Court of Justice to impose fine on
Italy in lettori case
[05] Flash estimate - January 2004 : Euro-zone inflation estimated at 2.0%
[06] Avian influenza : EU experts in Vietnam help investigating threat to
human health
[07] EU signs Fisheries Agreement with the Solomon Islands
[08] Development Policy : Commission takes steps to further improve
delivery of aid to Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP)
[09] Equal opportunities in the Olympics : Anna Diamantopoulou meets Anne-
Marie Lizin
[10] Appointment of Mr Karlsson has chair of the Commission's Financial
Irregularities Panel
[11] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express 04/02/2004
TXT: FR ENPDF:DOC:Midday Express 04/02/2004
[01] Enlargement and the EU budget : Commission proposes expenditure for
the ten new Member States
Expenditure for the ten new Member States, around €11.8 billion in
commitments, is to be entered into the EU budget to make it ready for 1
May. The European Commission has adopted the proposal for amending the 2004
Budget as adopted in December with these figures, for which political
agreement has already been reached. For 25 Member States, the budget stands
at less than 1% of EU Gross National Income (GNI). These figures will
obviously have to rise in the coming years to take account of the new
funding challenges the EU faces. Budget Commissioner Michaele Schreyer
stated : "With this move the budget is ready for enlargement. The year 2004
will see the phasing in of all expenditures agreed and the opening on equal
grounds of all EU programmes for our 75 million new citizens."
[02] Commission to recover €143.18 million of CAP expenditure from the
Member States
A total of €143,18 million of EU farm money misspent by Member States is to
be claimed back, following a decision adopted by the European Commission.
The money is to be recovered because of inadequate control procedures or
non-compliance with EU rules on agricultural expenditure. While Member
States are responsible for paying out and checking virtually all
expenditure under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the Commission is
required to ensure that Member States have made correct use of the funds.
[03] Marchés publics : la Commission agit pour faire appliquer le droit
européen en France et en Italie
La Commission européenne a décidé de saisir la Cour européenne de justice
contre la France pour non-conformité de son code des marchés publics avec
les directives "marchés publics" et avec le Traité CE. La Commission a
également décidé de demander formellement aux autorités françaises de
rendre compatible avec le droit européen une disposition du code français
de l'urbanisme. Cette disposition permet l'attribution de conventions
d'aménagement sans publicité ni mise en concurrence. Par ailleurs, la
Commission demandera formellement à l'Italie de mettre fin à sa pratique
d'attribution directe sans concurrence à une entreprise italienne des
marchés d'hélicoptères destinés à être utilisés par certains services
policiers et de sécurité publique. Les demandes de la Commission prendront
la forme d'avis motivés, deuxième étape de la procédure d'infraction prévue
à l'article 226 du traité CE. En l'absence de réponse satisfaisante à ces
"avis motivés", la Commission pourra saisir la Cour.
[04] Foreign lecturers : Commission asks Court of Justice to impose fine on
Italy in lettori case
The European Commission has taken a decision to ask the Court of Justice to
impose a €309.750 per day fine on Italy for non execution of a judgement
relating to the discriminatory treatment of former foreign language
lecturers in several Italian universities. In its judgement of 26 June 2001,
the Court declared that as Italy had not recognised the acquired rights of
foreign language assistants who had become associates and mother-tongue
linguistic experts, although granting such recognition to all national
workers, Italy had failed to fulfil treaty requirements relating to non-
discrimination on the grounds of nationality. On 14 January 2004 Italy
adopted a "Decreto Legge", which aligns the former status of lettori with
the national category of "ricercatori a tempo definito". The Commission
believes that this decree does not fully implement the Court's judgement.
The Commission has therefore decided to request that a daily fine of
309.750 be fixed, to be payable until a decree is adopted which fully
implements the Court judgement.
[05] Flash estimate - January 2004 : Euro-zone inflation estimated at 2.0%
Euro-zone annual inflation is expected to be 2.0% in January 2004 according
to a flash estimate issued today by Eurostat. It was 2.0% in December 2003.
[06] Avian influenza : EU experts in Vietnam help investigating threat to
human health
Two EU public health experts have arrived in Vietnam to join a World Health
Organisation (WHO) team working to contain the avian influenza outbreak in
Asia. They join an EU animal health expert sent to Vietnam last week to
assist in efforts to eradicate the disease from the country's poultry farms
(see MEX/04/0129). Avian influenza is highly contagious among chickens and
other birds but is usually difficult for humans to catch. However, the
number of human death from the current epidemic in Asia has risen to
thirteen and the WHO has declared containing the disease to be a public
health priority. The three EU experts in Vietnam have been sent in response
to calls for international assistance from the WHO, the UN Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health
(OIE). The EU public health experts are helping the Vietnamese authorities
protect people against the virus, while the animal health expert is helping
eradicate the disease from the country's poultry farms.
[07] EU signs Fisheries Agreement with the Solomon Islands
The EU and the Solomon Islands have initialled a new bilateral Fisheries
Agreement for an initial period of three years. This Agreement, which will
be applicable as from 1st January 2005, provides fishing possibilities
exclusively for tuna for EU vessels fishing in the waters of the Solomon
Islands. It also establishes a partnership between the two parties with a
view to defining a fisheries policy in the Solomon Islands and identifying
the appropriate means to implement it. 30 % of the EU financial
contribution which will amount at €400,000 per year, will be allocated to
the implementation of a mutually agreed action programme aiming to enhance
responsible fishing in the country's waters. The state of fisheries
resources in the Solomon Islands' fishing zone will be jointly monitored on
the basis of scientific advice. Fishing opportunities granted to EU vessels
could be adapted in the light of such advice and of the limitations
established by the Palau Arrangement which aims to coordinate management
measures for the purse seine fishery in the Western Pacific area.
[08] Development Policy : Commission takes steps to further improve
delivery of aid to Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP)
The European Commission has adopted a number of proposals to improve the EU-
ACP Partnership Agreement that was signed in Cotonou in June 2000. The
proposals are made ahead of negotiations between EU and ACP on a planned
revision of the Cotonou agreement to start in May 2004. The main objective
of the proposals is to further improve the conditions for an efficient
delivery of EC development assistance to ACP countries. Proposals include :
(i) increasing flexibility in the allocation of resources to better adapt
to new needs and to allow better responsiveness to international
initiatives and conflicts ; (ii) redefining and decentralising management
of development aid funds in ACP countries in order to simplify
implementation and strengthen local ownership ; (iii) promoting wider
regional integration between ACP and non-ACP countries by facilitating
cooperation with their regional organisations and by extending the scope of
un-tied aid to non-ACP developing countries. The latter should also further
boost the effectiveness of aid.
[09] Equal opportunities in the Olympics : Anna Diamantopoulou meets Anne-
Marie Lizin
European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs Anna Diamantopoulou
yesterday met with Belgian senator Anne-Marie Lizin, who is on the Atlanta-
Sydney-Athens+ Committee. This body seeks to ensure that all nations
competing in the Olympics fully respect the terms of the Olympic Charter
which decrees that all forms of discrimination, including on grounds of sex,
are incompatible with membership of the Olympic Movement. Ms Diamantopoulou
was very supportive of the work being done by the Committee and undertook
to write on this subject to the President of the Greek Olympic Committee,
hosts of the Olympic Games in 2004. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, there
were 35 nations who had no female participants in their Olympic team. That
number is now 8, after confirmation by Libya on 27 January that they would
include female athletes. The eight countries are : Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,
Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, UAE, Virgin Islands and Botswana.
[10] Appointment of Mr Karlsson has chair of the Commission's Financial
Irregularities Panel
Vice-President of the European Commission Neil Kinnock has appointed Mr Jan
O. Karlsson, former President of the European Court of Auditors, as
chairman of the new Financial Irregularities Panel (FIP), with effect as of
1 February 2004. The FIP is an advisory body, created in the context of the
Reform, providing the Commission with expertise on potential financial
irregularities. It does not carry out investigations. The Panel is a
permanent body which convenes on a case-by-case basis, its three members
other than the chair, are senior officials with training and/or experience
in financial matters.
[11] Autre matériel diffusé
Trade implications of EU enlargement : facts and figures
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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