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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 02-03-19
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Commission intends to close investigation into Spain/Gibraltar border
restrictions
[02] Insurance : Commission welcomes Council Common Position on proposed
Insurance Mediation Directive
[03] Commission clears joint control of Pretax by CapMan and 3iGroup
[04] Barcelona Summit : Commission takes steps towards improving Regulatory
Impact Assessment
[05] Euro-denominated bond issuance in February 2002
[06] Commission kicks off action plan for Global Monitoring of Environment
and Security
[07] Commission allocates €2.5 million in humanitarian aid for drought-
affected populations in Kenya
[08] Euromed Trade Ministers meet to take concrete steps for further
economic integration
[09] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express 19/03/2002
TXT: FR ENPDF:DOC:Midday Express 19/03/2002
[01] Commission intends to close investigation into Spain/Gibraltar border
restrictions
The European Commission intends to close its investigation regarding the
Gibraltar-Spanish frontier restrictions having found no evidence to legally
support claims that the checks carried out by the Spanish authorities on
travellers and on goods carried by travellers at the crossing point La
Linea are disproportionate and therefore incompatible with Community law.
[02] Insurance : Commission welcomes Council Common Position on proposed
Insurance Mediation Directive
The European Commission has welcomed the unanimous adoption by the Council
of a Common Position on the proposed Directive on insurance mediation, a
key element in improving the internal market in retail insurance services.
The Common Position preserves the main features of the Commission's
proposal presented in September 2000 (see IP/00/1048) and takes account of
amendments approved by the European Parliament in its first reading. The
proposal will now return to the Parliament for its second reading. Once
adopted, the proposed Directive, which is a priority measure under the
Financial Services Action Plan (see IP/00/556), will replace a 1977
Directive and thus become the only binding Community instrument for
insurance intermediaries.
[03] Commission clears joint control of Pretax by CapMan and 3iGroup
The European Commission has granted clearance under the Merger Regulation
to the acquisition of joint control of Finish company Pretax Oy,
specialised in financial administration services, by 3i Group plc (UK) and
CapMan Capital Management Oy (Finland), both venture capital companies.
(The operation was examined under the simplified merger review procedure)
[04] Barcelona Summit : Commission takes steps towards improving Regulatory
Impact Assessment
The final report on a business impact assessment (BIA) pilot project has
been posted on the European Commission's web pages today. This project,
launched in September 2000, has reviewed key elements of the existing BIA
system and current Commission practices, including the examination of
business impacts of a selected number of draft legislative proposals. The
lessons learned from the BIA Pilot Project will provide input to the
Commission's forthcoming proposal for a new, coherent impact assessment
system, incorporating social, environmental and economic impacts, including
business ones, which will be outlined in a Communication, expected before
the summer. The full BIA Pilot Project report is available at :
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/regulation/bia/ppbia_en.htm
[05] Euro-denominated bond issuance in February 2002
Total issuance volume fell by €20 billion to €130 billion, probably in
reaction to the unusually heavy issuance by sovereign borrowers in January.
The composition of issuance compared to January reflects a declining share
of the sovereign sector, leading to a smaller average issue size, a lower
share of AAA ratings, fewer fixed-coupon issues and a shortening in the
average maturity of issuance. Special factors continued to influence
Pfandbriefe issuance, which remained strong before expiry of the deadline
for access to the grandfathering clause in the draft EU Directive on the
Taxation of Savings on 28 February. The full document will be available at
13.00 hrs. at : http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/publications/bondmarkets_en.htm
[06] Commission kicks off action plan for Global Monitoring of Environment
and Security
Philippe Busquin, European Research Commissioner and responsible for space
policy, will open the first meeting of the GMES Steering Committee in
Brussels today. This meeting unites, for the first time, the users and
suppliers of GMES services and technologies. The steering committee will
assist in the implementation of the EU's Action Plan on Global Monitoring
of Environment and Security (GMES). The EU's goal is to develop by 2008 an
operational and autonomous European global monitoring capability for
environmental and security purposes. GMES is an initiative to federate
Europe's disparate activities in satellite observation and remote sensing,
in support of Community policies. Currently, space data for information on
environment and security is derived largely from experimental satellite
systems that are national or bilateral among Member States. GMES seeks to
better exploit Europe's existing and planned capabilities and
infrastructures and to develop mechanisms for collecting and distributing
data that help Europe realise its policy goals in various fields, such as
environment, development cooperation, civil protection and the fight
against fraud. Concrete applications include such activities as monitoring
the global environment, detecting natural catastrophes and managing mass
movements of refugees.
[07] Commission allocates €2.5 million in humanitarian aid for drought-
affected populations in Kenya
The European Commission, through its Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), which
comes under the responsibility of Commissioner Poul Nielson, is providing a
further €2.5 million to help people affected by drought in North and North-
East Kenya. In these regions, poor rains during 2001 meant that
agricultural production did not recover from the 1999-2000 drought, the
worst Kenya has experienced in three decades. The new decision, which
targets some 70,000 pastoralists, is part of a comprehensive and integrated
ECHO support programme already being implemented. The extra funds will
support a range of health/nutrition, livestock, and water/sanitation
activities. The aims are to alleviate immediate suffering and prepare
vulnerable communities for future droughts. The funding is being channelled
through partner NGOs and UN agencies. Since 1998, the Commission has
provided €10.645 million in humanitarian assistance to Kenya.
[08] Euromed Trade Ministers meet to take concrete steps for further
economic integration
Trade Ministers from the 27 countries participating in the Barcelona
Process will meet in Toledo on 19 March 2002, hosted by Spanish Vice Prime
Minister and Minister for Trade and Economy Mr Rato and chaired by Mr
Pascal Lamy, the European Commissioner, to discuss ways and means on how to
further strengthen the trade and economic cooperation between all partners
in the process. On the eve of the meeting Mr Lamy said : "This is an
important staging post in bringing us closer to our shared aim of creating
a fully-fledged economic space in encompassing all 27 Euromed partners".
[09] Autre matériel diffusé
Speech by Erkki Liikanen : "Helping Small and Medium Sized businesses to go
digital - European initiatives and future perspectives" at CeBIT Forum
(18/03, Hannover)
Background note on Commission's strategy to respond to the US decision to
impose protectionist duties on steel imports
Points d'intervention de Mme Reding au Conseil informel Culture /
Audiovisuel (18-19/03, Salamanque)
Note sur les résultats du Conseil Agriculture
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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