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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 04-11-26
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Commission clears acquisition of Picard by BC Partners
[02] Panel of scientists require more data to evaluate suspected case of
BSE in a goat
[03] Le premier "Conseil Espace" ouvre la voie Ă un Programme spatial
européen
[04] Commission welcomes Council agreement on making cross-border mergers
easier
[05] EU funding opportunities for civil society in the ten new Member
States
[06] Fight against discrimination : strong demand for more EU actionA
vast majority of respondents (88%) responding to the Commission's Green
Paper consultation on 'Equality and non-discrimination in the European
Union' said that the EU should step up its efforts to combat discrimination
following enlargement. One of the Commission's first steps will be to issue
a Communication on anti-discrimination before the end of 2005.
[07] Euro-Mediterranean Foreign Ministers meet to prepare 10th Anniversary
of their partnership
[08] Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements : the Partnership is moving
forward
[09] MEDA : over €700 million in 2004 to support the EU's Mediterranean
partners
[10] EU and Comoros Islands sign fisheries partnership agreement
[11] Le SIDA dans l'UE : les cas de nouveaux diagnostics de SIDA ont
baissé en 2003 dans l'UE25 pour atteindre 6.441 ; mais tendance à la
hausse du nombre d'infections à VIH nouvellement déclaréesA
l'occasion de la Journée mondiale de la lutte contre le SIDA, le 1er
décembre, Eurostat publie aujourd'hui un rapport sur le SIDA dans l'UE
basé sur les données du Centre européen pour la surveillance
épidémiologique du SIDA – EuroHIV. Selon ce rapport, en 2003, 6.441 cas
nouvellement diagnostiqués de SIDA ont été déclarés dans l'UE25, soit
une baisse de 24% par rapport à 2002. Le nombre de cas n'a cessé de
diminuer depuis 1994, où plus de 25.000 nouveaux cas de SIDA avaient été
diagnostiqués. Cette réduction s'explique en grande partie par
l'utilisation accrue du traitement antirétroviral hautement actif depuis
le milieu des années 1990. Si le nombre de nouveaux diagnostics de SIDA
continue de baisser dans l'UE25, une tendance Ă la hausse peut ĂŞtre
observée en ce qui concerne le nombre d'infections à VIH nouvellement
déclarées.
[12] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express of 2004-11-26
Reference: MEX/04/1126
Date: 26/11/2004
EXME04 / 26.11
MIDDAY EXPRESS
News from the Press and Communication Directorate General's midday briefing
Nouvelles du rendez-vous de midi de la Direction Général Presse etb
Communication
26/11/04
[01] Commission clears acquisition of Picard by BC Partners
The European Commission has granted clearance under the EU Merger
Regulation to the acquisition of sole control of the French Company
Financière Fontainebleau SA which controls the undertakings Picard
Surgelés S.A, France and Picard I Surgelati SpA, Italy by BC Partners
Holdings Limited, based in Guernsey. BC Partners is a private equity fund
which focuses on pan-European investments. Fontainebleau is the holding
company of Picard and indirectly via another holding company of Picard I.
Picard is one of the leading retail distributors of frozen food (uncooked
and pre-prepared) in France with 562 stores throughout France. Picard I
operates the same business as Picard on the Italian market, where it has a
network of 46 stores.
[02] Panel of scientists require more data to evaluate suspected case of
BSE in a goat
On 25 November, a panel of scientists from the Community Reference
Laboratory (CRL) on TSEs concluded that the data available on a suspected
case of BSE in a goat was incomplete, preventing a definitive
interpretation at this time. After evaluating the scientific evidence, the
scientists recommended additional lines of investigation to be pursued.
They concluded that the necessary data is expected to be available within
approximately two months. The results are becoming available following a
series of confirmatory tests including testing on mice (a so-called "mouse
bioassay"), which takes approximately two years. The goat was slaughtered
in France in October 2002. The European Commission will update Member
States at a scheduled meeting of national experts on 30 November. Following
the findings by a research group in France of a suspected BSE infection in
a goat, the Commission immediately made the findings public on 28 October
2004 (see IP/04/1324). The supporting data were submitted on 5 November, as
foreseen by the EU procedure, by the French authorities to the CRL for TSEs
based in Weybridge (UK), for an evaluation by an expert panel. Although BSE
has until now never been found in a goat under natural conditions,
precautionary measures to protect consumers from this eventuality have been
applied in the EU for several years.
[03] Le premier "Conseil Espace" ouvre la voie Ă un Programme spatial
européen
Le tout premier "Conseil Espace" europĂ©en s'est tenu aujourd'hui Ă
Bruxelles. Cet événement, qui constitue une étape politique majeure pour
l'Europe spatiale, a offert aux Ministres représentant les 27 Etats
membres de l'UE et/ou de l'Agence spatiale européenne (ESA) la
possibilité de débattre ensemble, pour la première fois, de
l'élaboration d'un Programme spatial européen global et cohérent. Dans
le sillage du Traité établissant une Constitution pour l'Europe, qui a
été signé le 29 octobre par les chefs d'Etat ou de gouvernement de l'UE
et qui définit pour la première fois l' "espace" comme une compétence
partagée de l'Union, le "Conseil Espace" reconnaît l'importance des
activités spatiales pour une large gamme de politiques européennes.
[04] Commission welcomes Council agreement on making cross-border mergers
easier
The European Commission has welcomed the Council's agreement on its
political approach to the Directive on cross-border mergers, proposed by
the Commission in November 2003 (see IP/03/716 and MEMO/03/112). This key
measure responds to strong demand from businesses and will allow cross-
border mergers of limited liability companies in the European Union. Today
such mergers are impossible or very difficult and expensive. The Directive
will be particularly helpful for small and medium sized companies that want
to operate in more than one Member State, but not throughout Europe, and
thus cannot seek incorporation under the European Company Statute (see
IP/04/1195).
[05] EU funding opportunities for civil society in the ten new Member
States
The European Commission's Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and
Security has launched a call for proposals concerning preparatory action to
support civil society in the Member States which acceded to the European
Union on 1 May 2004 (Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,
Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia). NGOs in the other Member
States may participate but the project lead organisation must come from one
of the new Member States.
[06] Fight against discrimination : strong demand for more EU actionA
vast majority of respondents (88%) responding to the Commission's Green
Paper consultation on 'Equality and non-discrimination in the European
Union' said that the EU should step up its efforts to combat discrimination
following enlargement. One of the Commission's first steps will be to issue
a Communication on anti-discrimination before the end of 2005.
[07] Euro-Mediterranean Foreign Ministers meet to prepare 10th Anniversary
of their partnership
Euro-Mediterranean Ministers for Foreign Affairs will meet in The Hague on
29-30 November to launch a year of activities to commemorate the 10th
Anniversary of their Partnership, under the 'Barcelona Process'. The
meeting will focus on three themes : a review of the process and its future
direction; economic reforms and investment; and social-cultural aspects.
Ministers will welcome the conclusion of negotiations with Syria for an
Association Agreement with the EU, which completes the grid of agreements
with the EU's Mediterranean Partners. In addition, the meeting will provide
an opportunity for political debate on the Arab-Israeli conflict. The
Commission will be represented by Commissioner for External Relations and
European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner. 25 EU Member States,
the 10 Mediterranean Partners, plus Libya as observer, will attend the
meeting. EU Troika meetings with Israel, the Arab States and Palestine will
be held in the margins.
[08] Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements : the Partnership is moving
forward
An essential feature of the implementation of the Euro-Mediterranean
Partnership has been the negotiation of Association Agreements between the
European Union and nine of its Mediterranean Partners to replace the 1970s
Cooperation Agreements. With the conclusion of negotiations with Syria
(October 2004), the grid of Association Agreements with Mediterranean
Partners has been completed. Association Agreements are in force between
the EU and Tunisia (since 1998), Israel (2000), Morocco (2000), Jordan
(2002), Egypt (2004) and on an interim basis with the Palestinian Authority
(1997). Agreements were signed with Algeria in December 2001, and with
Lebanon in January 2002.
[09] MEDA : over €700 million in 2004 to support the EU's Mediterranean
partners
In 2004, the European Commission is providing, under the MEDA Programme,
€709 million for cooperation and external aid operations with its
Mediterranean partners. This assistance illustrates the EU's commitment to
support development in the region focused on reforms based on common
values. Algeria (€55 million), Egypt (€164.5 million), Jordan (€36.5
million), Lebanon (€19.5 million), Morocco (€156 million), Syria (€55
million), Tunisia (€24 million), and the West Bank and Gaza Strip
(€73.5 million) and the region as a whole (€125.5 million), are
benefiting from this new package that brings the MEDA assistance to the
region to over €6.156 billion in bilateral and regional cooperation
programmes since the Barcelona Process was launched in 1995.
[10] EU and Comoros Islands sign fisheries partnership agreement
The European Commission, on behalf of the European Union, and the Islamic
Republic of the Comoros Islands have initialled a Fisheries Partnership
Agreement which will replace their 1988 framework fisheries agreement. They
also initialled a new Protocol for a period of 6 years from 1 January 2005.
This Protocol, which concerns exclusively tuna, will provide fishing
opportunities for 57 vessels, down from 65 at present: 40 tuna seiners
(unchanged) and 17 long-liners (down from 25). The annual financial
compensation will amount to € 390,000 (up from €350,250), of which 60%
will go to measures to strengthen responsible fishing and sustainable
fisheries in Comoros waters. The licences paid by the ship owners concerned
will increase by 50% to €3,375 for seiners and €2,065 for long-liners.
The fishing possibilities and the technical measures have been agreed in
accordance with the measures in place under the Indian Ocean Tuna
Commission (IOTC) and the latest scientific advice. The EU is gradually
replacing its bilateral fisheries agreements with partnership agreements
which place greater emphasis on helping the partner country establish
responsible fisheries in their waters. Vessels operating under this
Protocol come from Spain, France and Italy.
[11] Le SIDA dans l'UE : les cas de nouveaux diagnostics de SIDA ont
baissé en 2003 dans l'UE25 pour atteindre 6.441 ; mais tendance à la
hausse du nombre d'infections à VIH nouvellement déclaréesA
l'occasion de la Journée mondiale de la lutte contre le SIDA, le 1er
décembre, Eurostat publie aujourd'hui un rapport sur le SIDA dans l'UE
basé sur les données du Centre européen pour la surveillance
épidémiologique du SIDA – EuroHIV. Selon ce rapport, en 2003, 6.441 cas
nouvellement diagnostiqués de SIDA ont été déclarés dans l'UE25, soit
une baisse de 24% par rapport à 2002. Le nombre de cas n'a cessé de
diminuer depuis 1994, où plus de 25.000 nouveaux cas de SIDA avaient été
diagnostiqués. Cette réduction s'explique en grande partie par
l'utilisation accrue du traitement antirétroviral hautement actif depuis
le milieu des années 1990. Si le nombre de nouveaux diagnostics de SIDA
continue de baisser dans l'UE25, une tendance Ă la hausse peut ĂŞtre
observée en ce qui concerne le nombre d'infections à VIH nouvellement
déclarées.
[12] Autre matériel diffusé
Speech by President Barroso : "Europe and Culture" at Berliner Konferenz
für europäische Kulturpolitik (Berlin)
Calendrier du 29 novembre au 4 décembre
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
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