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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 01-05-14
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 14/05/2001
[01] Romano Prodi : "Determined to deliver"
Speaking today in Brussels at the inaugural ceremony of the Third United
Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, European Commission
President Romano Prodi declared that the cancer of poverty urgently needs
to be removed if Least Developed Countries are overcome the many challenges
they face. Recalling that the European Union is today one of the world's
largest donors of development aid, he stated : "It is in our power to
remove that cancer and it is our duty and responsibility to do so".
President Prodi set out the different measures already taken and being
taken to fight poverty by the EU in the areas of health, trade, debt and
development assistance. He called on the whole of the international
community to commit themselves to joint action to eradicate poverty.
President Prodi reiterated the EU's commitment to making a success of the
conference saying : "A Global Programme of Action for the next ten years is
needed, and this conference must produce one. But the EU will call the
conference a success only if the programme agreed here is implemeneted and
genuinely improves the lives of poor people. The EU for its part is
determined to deliver."
[02] Commission and USA sign cooperation agreements on energy research
Today, European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin and US Secretary of
State for Energy, Spencer Abraham, sign an Implementing Arrangement
covering scientific cooperation in the field of non-nuclear energy and a
Cooperation Agreement on nuclear fusion. The main fields of collaboration
envisaged in the former are fossil energies and coping with climate change,
new energy sources such as hydrogen and solar energy and energy efficiency.
They represent major issues of mutual interest with a strong bearing on the
security of energy supply, industrial competitiveness and sustainable
development. Both the US and the EU run substantial energy research
programmes and are therefore interested in developing these areas together
and in learning from each other's experience. Collaboration is likely to
involve developing joint standards, sharing unique R&D facilities,
workshops, exchanging and networking experts, conducting joint technology
foresight studies, and coordinating research projects. The agreements cover
two of 15 fields mentioned in an EU-US Cooperation Agreement signed in
October 1998.
[03] Commission clears acquisition of Systematics by Electronic Data
Systems
The European Commission has cleared the acquisition of German information
technologies (IT) services company Systematics AG by US informatics and
consultancy company Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS).
[04] Commission clears acquisition by Industri Kapital of the chemical
business of Perstorp Ab, subject to commitments
The European Commission has approved the proposed acquisition by Industri
Kapital Group of the chemical operations of Swedish company Perstorp AB,
subject to the divestiture of Industri Kapital's phenolic resins operation
in Meerbeeck (Germany) and Perstorp's resins and merchant formaldehyde
businesses in Perstorp (Sweden). Without those commitments, the transaction
would have given rise to competition concerns in the markets for gas
compound formaldehyde and two types of formaldehyde based resins.
[05] Commission welcomes Council backing for its fight against killer
diseases
The European Commission today welcomed the ringing endorsement given by EU
Member States to its action plan for fighting communicable diseases. Member
states meeting in the General Affairs Council backed the Commission's 5-
year plan for fighting HIV / AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis which was
unveiled on 21st February. The action plan reaffirms the EU's commitment to
fight the major communicable diseases on all possible fronts, notably trade,
development assistance and research. Welcoming today's backing from the
Council, Commission President Romano Prodi said : "The full backing of
Member States is particularly timely and welcome, coming as it does on the
opening day of the United Nations Least Developed Conference. I
congratulate the EU Member States on this timely decision and I call on all
our partners to join the EU in implementing this plan."
[06] Croatia : Stabilisation and Association Agreement negotiations with
Croatia concluded
( ! embargo 1.30 pm !) European Commissioner for External Relations Chris
Patten and the Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula today initialled the
Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) between the European
Communities and the Republic of Croatia. After a process of negotiations
for a SAA which lasted less than six months, the third and the last round
of SAA negotiations between the Croatian and the European Commission
negotiators was held on 11 May 2001. The Agreement will be initialled
during a special ceremony on the 14 May 2001 on the margins of the General
Affairs Council in Brussels.
[07] EU to establish diplomatic relations with Democratic People's Republic
of Korea
The European Commission, in consultation with the Member States of the
European Union, has decided to establish diplomatic relations between the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the European Communities. It is
hoped that this will facilitate the European Union's efforts in support of
reconciliation in the Korean Peninsula, and in particular in support of
economic reform and easing of the acute food and health problems.
[08] Table ronde à Cannes sur les nouveaux instruments de soutien de l'UE à
l'audiovisuel
Viviane Reding, membre de la Commission européenne responsable pour la
Culture et l'Audiovisuel, et Philippe Maystadt, Président de la Banque
Européenne d'Investissement, ont invité le 17 mai prochain à Cannes, à
l'occasion du marché annuel du film et du festival, des banquiers et des
professionnels de l'industrie audiovisuelle à une table ronde sur le
financement du cinéma européen. L'objectif de cette rencontre est de
présenter aux financiers et aux opérateurs de nouveaux instruments de
soutien au cinéma européen complémentaires au programme Media Plus.
[09] Les films soutenus par Media à Cannes en 2001 et le bilan de Media 2
(1996-2000)
Doté de 400 millions d'euros, le programme Media Plus (2001-2005) de
l'Union européenne soutient l'industrie cinématographique européenne aux
stades du développement des films puis de leur distribution et de leur
promotion. Il a pour objectifs de contribuer à l'amélioration de la
compétitivité de l'industrie cinématographique européenne et de promouvoir
la circulation des films européens.
[10] Franz Fischler : "It is time for Austria to think genuinely European"
"Austria as a small State can only profit from the membership in the
European Union. Economically speaking, it has already profited. I hope that
Austrians will also fully discover the political benefits of EU-membership.
Our years of EU-apprenticeship are over. It is time that Austria starts to
think genuinely European", said Franz Fischler, European Commissioner for
Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries in his opening speech on
'Austria in the EU' at the University of Innsbruck. Mr Fischler stressed
that Austria's accession to the EU has had "clearly positive" results from
both an economic and political point of view. According to Commissioner
Fischler, since joining the Union five years ago, Austria has achieved a
higher growth rate in GDP, an overall productivity increase of 1% per year,
increased competitiveness which has drawn in substantial foreign investment
and substantial progress in the regional development, especially in the
Burgenland. He urged Austria to build up alliances together with other
countries in Europe, particularly with its neighbours and the CEECs.
[11] Fusions approuvées selon la procédure simplifiée
- Bertelsmann AG (DE) / RTL Group SA (LU) - Dow Chemical Company (US) /
Ascot, plc (UK)
[12] Autre matériel diffusé
Speech by Pascal Lamy on Trade and sustainability at the Rio+10 Conference
(10/05)
Discours de M. Lamy : "La mise en oeuvre des principes directeurs de l'OCDE
sur les entreprises multinationales" (10/05)
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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