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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 08-12-15
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] EU Globalisation Fund pays €35 million to help redundant textile
workers in Italy
[02] European emergency number 112 now works in all EU Member States
[03] European social partners report back on agreement to cut stress at
work
[04] Public procurement: updated lists of Contracting Authorities give
better access to public contracts for businesses
[05] Culture: the first Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Seminar on Cultural
Diversity 15-16 December 2008
[06] La Commission prend des mesures pour accroître la sécurité des
patients en Europe
[07] Commission launches a public consultation on the future of Europe's
workforce for health
[08] Half a billion inhabitants in the EU27 on 1 January 2009
[09] European Prize for Literature — First group of winners in 2009 will
come from 12 countries
[10] Commission clears acquisition of DCS by Santander and LASG
[11] Commission clears acquisition of CAN Salud by Caja Navarra and Aegon
[12] Commissioner MCcreevy welcomes proposals to reform reinsurance rules
in the United States
[13] Climate change: Commission endorses Poznań declaration on reducing
emissions from deforestation
[14] State aid: Commission approves modifications to German financial
rescue scheme
[15] Climate change: Commission welcomes outcome of Poznań conference
[16] The European Integrated Maritime Policy is on good track
[17] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express of 2008-12-15
Reference: MEX/08/1215
Date: 15/12/2008
EXME08 / 15.12
MIDDAY EXPRESS
News from the Communication Directorate General's midday briefing
Nouvelles du rendez-vous de midi de la Direction Générale Communicationb
15/12/08
[01] EU Globalisation Fund pays €35 million to help redundant textile
workers in Italy
The European Commission has made four payments to Italy from the European
Globalisation adjustment Fund (EGF). The total of € 35.16 million will
help almost 6 000 workers in the textile sector back into employment. These
workers were made redundant in mainly small businesses located in Sardinia,
Piedmont, Lombardy and Tuscany. The redundancies follow the general shift
of clothing and accessories production in the European Union towards lower-
cost non-EU countries. The payment follows approval by the Budgetary
Authority (the European Parliament and the Council) on 19 November.
[02] European emergency number 112 now works in all EU Member States
People can now reach emergency services from anywhere in the EU, simply by
dialling 112, the single European emergency number. Now that 112 can be
called from any phone in Bulgaria, it has achieved complete availability
just before the Christmas period when thousands of people travel between EU
Member States to visit family, hit the slopes or look for winter sun. It
also crowns the combined efforts of the European Commission and EU Member
States to make 112 fully available everywhere so that Europeans will always
have a lifeline in the EU.
[03] European social partners report back on agreement to cut stress at
work
Today representatives of employers and workers at EU-level presented a
report on how they have implemented their framework agreement on work-
related stress. Stress is a serious work- related health problem and
considered the primary cause of lost working days in Europe. The objective
of the agreement is for workers and employers to work together at better
identifying, preventing and managing stress.
[04] Public procurement: updated lists of Contracting Authorities give
better access to public contracts for businesses
The European Commission has updated the lists of Contracting Authorities
and utilities that have to follow EU public procurement rules. The lists
will give citizens and businesses the opportunity to identify which public
authorities in the EU have to submit their public contracts to EU-wide
tender procedures. As well as improving accountability and transparency in
this area, the updated lists are intended to offer more opportunities for
business to participate in public contracts. Total public procurement in
the EU – i.e. the purchases of goods, services and public works by
governments and public utilities - is estimated at about 17% of the
Union’s GDP or €1900 billion in 2006. EU public procurement rules apply
to purchases by public authorities and utilities falling above certain
thresholds.
[05] Culture: the first Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Seminar on Cultural
Diversity 15-16 December 2008
The European Commission and the Vietnamese authorities are jointly
organising an ASEM Seminar "Preserving and promoting the diversity of
cultural expressions: sharing Asian and European experiences", which takes
place in Hanoi, Vietnam on 15-16 December 2008. The aim of this event is to
gather reflections on how to preserve and promote the diversity of cultural
expressions, while sharing the rich Asian and European experiences in this
field.
[06] La Commission prend des mesures pour accroître la sécurité des
patients en Europe
Chaque année, dans l’Union européenne (UE), de 8 % à 12 % des patients
hospitalisés subissent un préjudice causé par les soins de santé qui
leur sont dispensés, notamment par des infections associées aux soins de
santé (IAS). Ce préjudice est, dans une large mesure, évitable. La
Commission va adopter aujourd’hui une communication et une proposition de
recommandation du Conseil détaillant les actions que les États membres
peuvent engager – seuls, collectivement ou de concert avec la Commission
– afin d’améliorer la sécurité des patients.
[07] Commission launches a public consultation on the future of Europe's
workforce for health
The European Commission adopted a green paper on the EU workforce for
health. This marks the beginning of a consultation period which aims to
identify common responses to the many challenges facing the health
workforce in Europe. In an ageing Europe, with growing healthcare costs and
rising expectations from both citizens and patients, a high quality health
workforce is crucial for successful health systems. The health workforce
plays an important role in the EU economy accounting for about 10% of all
jobs. In addition, 70% of EU healthcare budgets are allocated to salaries
and employment related issues.
[08] Half a billion inhabitants in the EU27 on 1 January 2009
According to the first demographic estimates for 2008, published by
Eurostat, the EU27 will have a population of 499.7 million on 1 January
2009. The population of the new euro area, including Slovakia, will be
328.6 million on 1 January 2009. In the EU27 the population grew by 4.4 per
1000 inhabitants in 2008, due to natural population growth of +1.1‰ and
net migration of +3.3‰. In total, the EU27 population is estimated to
have increased by 2.2 million in 2008.
[09] European Prize for Literature — First group of winners in 2009 will
come from 12 countries
The first group of winners of the European Prize for Literature, which will
be awarded for the first time in 2009, will come from 12 countries: Austria,
Croatia, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Poland,
Portugal, Slovakia and Sweden. Over the next three years, each of the 34
countries participating in the EU's Culture Programme, the EU's flagship
funding programme in the area of culture, will have their respective
winner. The new European Prize for Literature is financed through the EU's
Culture Programme, and aims to award emerging talents in the field of
contemporary literature (fiction). The selection of the countries, and
later of the winners, is done by a Consortium composed of the European
Booksellers Federation (EBF), the European Writers' Council (EWC) and the
Federation of European Publishers (FEP). This Consortium was appointed by
the European Commission to organise the prize following an open Call for
Proposals. Press release announcing the results of the Call for Proposals:
<a href="http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/1856&type=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en">http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/1856&type=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
The prize: <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/culture/our-programmes-and-
actions/doc627_en.htm">http://ec.europa.eu/culture/our-programmes-and-
actions/doc627_en.htm The Culture programme: <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/culture/index_en.htm">http://ec.europa.eu/culture/index_en.htm
[10] Commission clears acquisition of DCS by Santander and LASG
The European Commission has granted clearance under the EU Merger
Regulation to the acquisition of joint control of Diners Club Spain (DCS)
of Spain by Banco Santander, SA (Santander) of Spain and Lufthansa AirPlus
Servicekarten GmbH (LASG) of Germany, controlled by the Lufthansa Group.
Santander is active in the banking and financial sectors, operating mainly
in Spain, the UK and some other European countries, as well as in Latin
America. LASG is active in the sector of payment cards for business related
expenses. DCS operates payment cards and provides related services and
operations, mainly in Spain. The operation was examined under the
simplified merger review procedure.
[11] Commission clears acquisition of CAN Salud by Caja Navarra and Aegon
The European Commission has granted clearance under the EU Merger
Regulation to the acquisition of joint control of CAN Soluciones de Salud,
S.A.U. (CAN Salud) of Spain by Aegon Spanje of Spain and Caja de Ahorros y
del Monte de Piedad de Navarra, SA (Caja Navarra), also of Spain. Aegon
Spanje produces and distributes insurance and pension products in Spain.
Caja Navarra carries out credit and finance operations in Spain. CAN Salud
sells non-life insurance products in Spain. The operation was examined
under the simplified merger review procedure.
[12] Commissioner MCcreevy welcomes proposals to reform reinsurance rules
in the United States
The European Commission welcomes the adoption of a proposal for a new
framework for the regulation of reinsurance in the United States by the
National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) (See <a
href="http://www.naic.org/Releases/2008_docs/reinsurance_reform.htm">http://www.naic.org/Releases/2008_docs/reinsurance_reform.htm).
These proposals represent a significant step forward after many years of
discussion. In particular, the new framework once implemented should result
in modifications to the 100 percent collateral requirements currently
applied to foreign reinsurers, which it is estimated cost more than $500
million a year. The European Commission believes it is now vital that all
parties work to ensure that these proposals are implemented quickly and
consistently throughout the United States in order to level up the playing
field between domestic and foreign reinsurers, increase capacity in the US
reinsurance market and lower costs for consumers and businesses purchasing
insurance in the United States.
Rediffusion
[13] Climate change: Commission endorses Poznań declaration on reducing
emissions from deforestation
At the UN climate change conference in Poznań, Poland, European
Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas endorsed a joint ministerial
declaration launched today by like-minded countries to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions from deforestation. The statement commits a number of
developed and key tropical developing countries to take early action to
reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation – a process
known as REDD – in the developing world.
[14] State aid: Commission approves modifications to German financial
rescue scheme
The European Commission has approved, under EC Treaty state aid rules,
modifications to the German rescue package for financial institutions,
initially approved by the Commission on 27 October 2008 (see IP/08/1589).
The amendments concern mainly the remuneration of recapitalisation measures,
in line with the Commission's Communication on recapitalisation (see
IP/08/1901). Although basic remuneration rates may, in certain cases, be
below the rates foreseen in the initial package, the price for the state
participation increases in proportion to its duration, so as to incite
beneficiaries to pay back the state support as soon as market conditions
permit it. This will ensure the proportionality of the amended measures and
contribute to the adequacy of the whole scheme to remedy a serious
disturbance in the German economy. The Commission therefore concluded that
the German rescue package, as amended, was compatible with Article 87.3.b
of the EC Treaty.
[15] Climate change: Commission welcomes outcome of Poznań conference
The European Commission welcomes the results of the UN climate change
conference which ended today in Poznań, Poland. The conference kept on
track the international process to conclude a new global climate agreement
at the end of next year in Copenhagen. It took a series of decisions
including work programmes for 2009 which will accelerate the negotiations.
Parties also reached a solution to make operational the Kyoto Protocol’s
Adaptation Fund for developing countries. The climate and energy package
agreed at the Brussels summit on Friday attracted considerable attention at
the conference.
[16] The European Integrated Maritime Policy is on good track
The European Commission is pleased that the conclusions of the Council,
which were also presented to Heads of State and Government at the European
Council in 11 and 12 December, (ref: 16503/1/08) recognise the progress
made by the Commission in implementing the EU Integrated Maritime Policy
throughout this year, notably on key issues such as governance,
surveillance, and research. The Council equally recognised the work done so
far on maritime spatial planning and offshore renewable energy, as well as
the work towards developing specific strategies for different maritime
basins, i.e. for the regions of the Baltic Sea and the Arctic. The Council
acknowledged the work of Member States towards implementation of this new
EU policy and called for reinforcement of synergies, coherence and the
added value of sectoral action by integrating it into a comprehensive
vision for seas and coastal areas. The Council emphasised that it is in the
interest of the Member States to continue their cooperation on all sea-
related policies. The Commission also welcomes that the Council encouraged
the forthcoming presidencies to continue discussions on the promotion of an
integrated maritime policy between the Commission and Member States with
the help of their High-Level Focal Points. More specifically, the Council
invited the Member States to promote best practices in maritime governance
and urged them to step up cooperation, coherence, coordination and
interoperability in the area of maritime surveillance. It complimented the
commitment of the Commission and the European agencies to improve Europe's
maritime surveillance capabilities and invited the agencies to pursue their
cooperation in this field. On research, the Council stressed the importance
of developing knowledge and observation networks in sea-related domains,
and requested the Member States to continue to cooperate in the research
field. More information: The Integrated Maritime Policy for the EU Action
Plan: <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/subpage_mpa_en.html">http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/subpage_mpa_en.html
[17] Autre matériel diffusé
• Memo Questions and Answers on patient safety, including the prevention
and control of healthcare associated infections
• Speech by Commissioner Hübner 'Laying the foundations for development
of Poland', Warsaw – in Polish only
• Speech by Commissioner Vassiliou 'Healthy Habits for a Healthy Society',
Brussels
• Speech by Commissioner Borg 'The Union for the Mediterranean and the
Integrated Maritime Policy: Working Together for the Mediterranean',
Valletta
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
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