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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 03-01-01

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] Commission clears acquisition of Intertrust by Sony and Philips
  • [02] La Commission autorise EADS à prendre le contrôle exclusif d'Astrium
  • [03] Commission approves joint venture between the German companies Brenntag and Biesterfeld in the area of the distribution of commodity chemicals
  • [04] Commission deepens probe into German Toll Collect venture between Daimler Chrysler and Deutsche Telekom
  • [05] La Commission renvoie l'opération entre Electrabel et IEH aux autorités belges de la concurrence
  • [06] La Commission autorise le rachat, par Accor, d'une participation de contrôle dans le groupe hôtelier allemand Dorint
  • [07] Commission launches consultation on a European Order for Payment Procedure and on Measures to Simplify and Speed up Small Claims Litigation
  • [08] Commission clears creation of dairy product joint ventures by Nestlé and the Fonterra Cooperative Group
  • [09] Chris Patten responds to attack on aid workers in Afghanistan
  • [10] European Commission to assist African Union in mediation in Central African Republic
  • [11] Endorsement of International Accounting Standards
  • [12] Internal Market: EU needs to step up economic reform to reach its competitiveness objectives Midday Express 23/12/2002 TXT: FR ENPDF:DOC:Midday Express 23/12/2002

  • [01] Commission clears acquisition of Intertrust by Sony and Philips

    The European Commission has granted regulatory approval to the proposed operation by which Sony Corp. and Dutch company Koninklijke Philips Electronics will acquire joint control of Intertrust, a US company which developed patented technology in the area of digital rights management (DRM).

    [02] La Commission autorise EADS à prendre le contrôle exclusif d'Astrium

    La Commission européenne a autorisé l'entreprise européenne d'aérospatiale et de défense EADS à acquérir la participation de BAE Systems au capital d'Astrium, un fournisseur européen de systèmes spatiaux créé en 2000. Le passage d'un contrôle conjoint à un contrôle exclusif ne modifiera pas de manière significative la structure actuelle de la concurrence sur le marché.

    [03] Commission approves joint venture between the German companies Brenntag and Biesterfeld in the area of the distribution of commodity chemicals

    The European Commission has scrutinised and exempted a joint venture notified under the Merger Regulation between the German chemical distributors Brenntag AG (Brenntag) and Wilhelm E.H. Biesterfeld GmbH (Biesterfeld). The joint venture will be active in the area of the distribution of commodity chemicals in various EU Member States. Following its examination of the proposal, the Commission has concluded that it does not give rise to any competition concerns.

    [04] Commission deepens probe into German Toll Collect venture between Daimler Chrysler and Deutsche Telekom

    The European Commission has decided to undertake an in-depth investigation into a proposed joint venture between Daimler Chrysler AG and Deutsche Telekom AG which will operate a toll-collecting system for heavy lorries on German motorways. The Commission at the current stage has concerns that the transaction might have an adverse impact on competition in the emerging telematics services market in Germany

    [05] La Commission renvoie l'opération entre Electrabel et IEH aux autorités belges de la concurrence

    La Commission européenne a accédé à la demande du Ministère belge de l'Economie du renvoi de l'ensemble de l'opération de concentration consécutive à l'accord entre l'Intercommunale d'Electricité du Hainaut (IEH) et Electrabel sur la fourniture d'électricité aux clients éligibles

    [06] La Commission autorise le rachat, par Accor, d'une participation de contrôle dans le groupe hôtelier allemand Dorint

    La Commission européenne a autorisé l'acquisition, par le groupe hôtelier français Accor SA, d'une participation de contrôle dans le groupe hôtelier allemand Dorint. L'acquisition renforcera la position du principal groupe hôtelier européen en Allemagne, mais ce dernier y aura toujours affaire à une concurrence suffisante.

    [07] Commission launches consultation on a European Order for Payment Procedure and on Measures to Simplify and Speed up Small Claims Litigation

    The European Commission adopted a Green Paper to launch a consultation on possible measures to be taken at Community level to create a European order for payment procedure, that is to say a specific speedy and cost-efficient procedure for claims that are presumed to remain uncontested available throughout all Member States. The consultation also concerns measures to simplify and speed up small claims litigation, an area in which it is particularly essential to streamline proceedings and to limit their costs in order to prevent the pursuit of these claims from becoming economically unreasonable. This initiative is part of the work of the European Union to create a genuine European area of Justice.

    [08] Commission clears creation of dairy product joint ventures by Nestlé and the Fonterra Cooperative Group

    The Commission cleared the acquisition of joint control by Nestlé S.A. ("Nestlé", Switzerland) and Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd. ("Fonterra", New Zealand) of a number of newly created joint ventures active in manufacturing, packaging, branding, marketing, selling and distributing chilled products and liquid milks, the sourcing of raw milk and the production of whole milk powder. As the joint venture companies will be active only in South and Central America, the Caribbean and in the NAFTA countries, the proposed operation will not have any direct effect in the EEA. In addition, as the parties' activities in the EEA only overlap to a small extent, no adverse effects on competition in the EEA can be expected either. The operation, notified on 22 November, was examined and approved under the simplified merger review procedure)

    [09] Chris Patten responds to attack on aid workers in Afghanistan

    An aid worker was killed and two injured in a suicide attack near the German ISAF military hospital on the outskirts of Kabul this week. The aid workers, from the french media NGO, AINA, were waiting for a delivery of medicine for one of their staff members when a lone assailant approached the entrance to the hospital compound and threw two hand grenades at the three aid workers. The assailant was killed in the attack when a grenade attached to his belt exploded.

    [10] European Commission to assist African Union in mediation in Central African Republic

    The European Commission is contributing urgent support to the mediation efforts of the African Union in Central African Republic (CAR). It has made available a grant of Euro 400.000 funded under the Commission's special "Rapid Reaction Mechanism" towards the costs of an AU Special Envoy and the setting-up of an AU liaison office in Bangui for a period of six months.

    [11] Endorsement of International Accounting Standards

    Following the entry into force on 11th September 2002 of the Regulation on International Accounting Standards (adopted in June 2002 see IP/02/827), the next step towards the application of IAS by listed companies in the EU from 2005 onwards is the endorsement of those IAS already in existence. This was envisaged to occur before the end of 2002 and must be based on high quality translations. Such translations will, however, only be available early in 2003. The IAS Regulation is a key measure in the Financial Services Action Plan, on which significant progress has been made in the last few weeks (see IP/02/1785).

    [12] Internal Market: EU needs to step up economic reform to reach its competitiveness objectives

    The European Commission's latest report on the functioning of product and capital markets provides additional evidence that the Internal Market has delivered significant benefits for Europeans, not least lower prices for many consumer products. But there is still much untapped potential for gains in several areas of the economy, especially services (in particular financial services) and public procurement. The EU can still meet the objective set by the Lisbon European Council in 2000 of becoming the most competitive economy in the world by 2010. But there must be no further delays to the adoption of legislative proposals and Member States must significantly improve their performance in implementing EU law on time. Simpler and better regulation at all levels is also required. The report warns that unless the EU delivers further rapid economic reform the US economy may outperform the European economy during the downturn just as it did during the late 1990s expansion. The report is the fifth in a series of annual progress reports prepared at the request of the Cardiff European Council in 1998 and will be submitted to the March 2003 European Council. The report aims primarily to assess recent developments and highlight priority areas for further action. It will be followed in early January 2003 by a Commission analysis of overall progress since internal EU frontiers were dismantled a decade ago. That analysis will include a new economic impact assessment.

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


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