|
|
|
European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 08-09-12
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] 2008, Année européenne du dialogue interculturel : la diversité
mise à l’honneur à Bruxelles
[02] Euro area and EU employment up by 0.2%
[03] La production industrielle en baisse de 0,3% dans la zone euro et dans
l'UE
[04] Environment: Substantial amendment of Dangerous Substances Directive
[05] Bulgaria and Haiti: EU provides assistance to the conflict-stricken
areas
[06] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express of 2008-09-12
Reference: MEX/08/0912
Date: 12/09/2008
EXME08 / 12.09
MIDDAY EXPRESS
News from the Communication Directorate General's midday briefing
Nouvelles du rendez-vous de midi de la Direction Générale Communicationb
12/09/08
[01] 2008, Année européenne du dialogue interculturel : la diversité
mise à l’honneur à Bruxelles
Les arts, la culture et la diversité seront mis à l’honneur lors du
Festival européen du dialogue interculturel que la Commission européenne
organise en collaboration avec le Centre artistique Flagey et qui se
tiendra à Bruxelles les 12 et 13 septembre 2008. Le commissaire européen Ã
l’éducation, à la formation, à la culture et à la jeunesse, M. Ján
Figel’, accueillera les ambassadeurs de l’Année européenne du
dialogue interculturel et le grand public pour deux journées de concerts,
d’ateliers, de projections de films et de débats. On peut citer au
nombre des participants la réalisatrice de cinéma et de télévision
Agnieszka Holland, le chef d’orchestre Jack Martin Händler, le cinéaste
Radu Mihăileanu, le journaliste, écrivain, historien et militant
politique Adam Michnik, le violiste et chef d’orchestre Jordi Savall, le
pianiste Fazil Say et la chanteuse de musique pop Marija Šerifović.
[02] Euro area and EU employment up by 0.2%
The number of persons employed in the euro area (EA15) rose by 0.2% (283
000 persons) in the second quarter of 2008 compared with the previous
quarter, according to national accounts estimates published by Eurostat. In
the same period, the number of persons employed in the EU27 also grew by
0.2% (401 000 persons). In the first quarter of 2008, growth rates were
+0.3% in both zones. These figures are seasonally adjusted. Compared with
the same quarter of the previous year, employment grew by 1.2% in the euro
area and by 1.3% in the EU27 in the second quarter of 2008, after +1.6% and
+1.5% respectively in the first quarter of 2008. Eurostat estimates that,
in the second quarter of 2008, 226.4 million men and women were employed in
the EU27, of which 146.0 million were in the euro area. These figures are
seasonally adjusted. These quarterly data on employment provide a picture
of labour input consistent with the output and income measures of national
accounts.
[03] La production industrielle en baisse de 0,3% dans la zone euro et dans
l'UE
La production industrielle corrigée des variations saisonnières a
diminué de 0,3% tant dans la zone euro (ZE15) que dans l'UE27 en juillet
2008 par rapport à juin 2008. En juin, la production avait reculé de 0,2%
dans les deux zones. En juillet 2008 par rapport à juillet 2007, la
production industrielle a baissé de 1,7% dans la zone euro et de 1,3% dans
l’UE27. Ces estimations sont publiées par Eurostat.
[04] Environment: Substantial amendment of Dangerous Substances Directive
More than 800 substances have been included in the latest amendment to the
Dangerous Substances Directive, which will be published in the Official
Journal on September 15. This is an important step forward in the
protection of human health and the environment as it includes nearly 290
substances that have been identified as causing cancer, genetic mutation,
or as having an effect on reproduction. The Directive has been amended for
the 30th time since 1967 to take into account technical progress in the
identification and classification of hazardous substances. Under the REACH
regulation on chemicals, substances classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic
or having reproductive toxic effects may need authorisation to be used or
placed on the market. The current classification and labelling system is
expected to be replaced by the Commission's proposed Regulation on the
Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures. The new
proposal incorporates the classification criteria and labelling rules
agreed at UN level, the so-called Globally Harmonised System of
Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). For further details see:
<a href="http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/dansub/home_en.htm">http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/dansub/home_en.htm
[05] Bulgaria and Haiti: EU provides assistance to the conflict-stricken
areas
The European Union has carried out a successful operation in assisting
Bulgaria to fight devastating forest fires in a mountainous area of the
national park “Rila” and in Sofia Region. High temperatures and
strong wind made fire extinguishing activities very difficult on the rugged
terrain inaccessible for ground fire fighting equipment. To win control
over the fires Bulgaria requested on 6 September EU assistance in the form
of aerial forest fire fighting means, through the Monitoring and
Information Centre (MIC) of the European Commission. France and Spain
promptly responded to this request by providing a total of five forest fire
fighting aircraft. With the help of these aircraft the fires have now been
brought under control. As a result of tropical storms Fay, Gustav, Hanna
and Ike hitting Haiti, the number of affected families has increased to 170,
000. The main problem at this stage is damage to the road infrastructure,
in particular bridges being weakened, damaged or entirely washed away.
Following a request for assistance of 8 September and in close consultation
with all key players involved in the response operations in Haiti, the MIC
decided to deploy an expert team to the site of disaster. The expert team
will provide a technical assessment of the logistical and infrastructure
needs and feasibility of making mobile bridges available from Europe. The
expert team composed of experts from France, Belgium, Italy, Germany,
Sweden and Austria, as well as a MIC liaison officer, is scheduled to
depart on Saturday for the initial period of 10 days.
[06] Autre matériel diffusé
• Memo on European Roma Summit (Brussels, 16 September 2008)
• Speech by Commissioner McCreevy 'Cross-border banking Groups
Supervision', Nice
• Speech by Commissioner McCreevy Cross-border Insurance Groups
Supervision, Nice
• Calendrier hebdomadaire du 15 au 21 septembre
• Top News from the European Commission
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
|
