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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 04-10-29
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Accès aux médicaments : la Commission propose d'autoriser
l'exportation de médicaments génériques vers les pays pauvres
[02] VAT : Commission proposes One-Stop-Shop and other measures to simplify
VAT obligations
[03] Company law : Commission proposes to simplify the formation,
maintenance and alteration of companies' capital
[04] Commission clears the acquisition of two manufacturers of printing
inks by CVC
[05] Commission clears Cargill acquisition of Brazilian pork and poultry
producer
[06] Commission approves Flextronics' acquisition of Nortel manufacturing
activities
[07] La Commission autorise Wendel à acquérir le contrôle exclusif de
Bureau Veritas
[08] Commission clears acquisition of Honsel by US investment firm
Ripplewood
[09] Commission clears T-Mobile acquisition of Polish mobile phone operator
Polska Telefonica
[10] Commission clears Slovak Telekom's acquisition of EuroTel Bratislava
[11] Enregistrement de deux dénominations de produits agricoles
[12] October 2004 : improvement of economic sentiment in both the EU and
the euro area
[13] October 2004 : the euro area Business Climate Indicator remained
almost steady
[14] Estimation rapide - Octobre 2004 : l'inflation de la zone euro
estimée à 2,5%
[15] Commission to strengthen its efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS,
malaria and Tuberculosis
[16] La Commission soumet à un panel d'experts les résultats d'analyse
obtenus par une équipe française sur une chèvre atteinte d'une EST
[17] EU and the Republic of Korea agree terms for bilateral competition
dialogue
[18] Autre matériel diffusé
Midday Express of 2004-10-29
Reference: MEX/04/1029
Date: 29/10/2004
EXME04 / 29.10
MIDDAY EXPRESS
News from the Press and Communication Directorate General's midday briefing
Nouvelles du rendez-vous de midi de la Direction Général Presse etb
Communication
29/10/04
[01] Accès aux médicaments : la Commission propose d'autoriser
l'exportation de médicaments génériques vers les pays pauvres
La Commission européenne a proposé un règlement visant à permettre aux
fabricants de médicaments génériques de produire des médicaments
brevetés en vue de l'exportation vers les "pays dans le besoin" ne
possédant pas de capacités de production suffisantes. Le règlement met
en œuvre dans l'UE une décision de l'OMC du 30 août 2003 (voir
IP/03/1189) en vertu de laquelle les autorités nationales peuvent octroyer
des "licences obligatoires" pour cette production si certaines conditions
sont réunies. L'une des exigences est que le pays de destination notifie Ã
l'OMC sa demande du médicament couvert par la licence. Le projet de
règlement n'impose aucune autre restriction quant aux médicaments et aux
maladies couvertes. Pour contribuer à assurer que les médicaments
parviennent aux patients qui en ont besoin et protéger les titulaires des
brevets, les autorités douanières sont invitées à éviter la
réimportation vers l'UE des médicaments produits dans le cadre du
système.
[02] VAT : Commission proposes One-Stop-Shop and other measures to simplify
VAT obligations
The European Commission has presented a proposal to simplify current Value
Added Tax (VAT) compliance obligations to help cross-border traders who
supply goods and services to other EU Member States. In particular the
proposal would provide for a "one-stop-shop" system whereby a trader could
fulfil all his VAT obligations for EU-wide activities in the Member State
in which he is established. This system would allow traders to use a single
VAT number for all supplies made throughout the EU and to make VAT
declarations to a single electronic portal that would then be submitted
automatically to the different Member States to which the trader supplies
goods or services. The proposal also contains five other simplification
measures. Studies including the Commission's European Tax Survey (see
IP/04/1091) have demonstrated that VAT obligations are at present extremely
burdensome and costly for cross-border activity. It takes into account
opinions expressed during a public consultation held earlier this year (see
IP/04/654).
[03] Company law : Commission proposes to simplify the formation,
maintenance and alteration of companies' capital
The European Commission has presented a proposal for a Directive to make it
easier for public limited liability companies to take certain measures
affecting the size, structure and ownership of their capital. The proposal
would amend the parts of the 1976 Second Company Law Directive covering the
formation, maintenance and alteration of capital. This proposal is part of
the Commission’s Action Plan on Company Law and Corporate Governance,
announced in May 2003 (see IP/03/716 and MEMO/03/112) and will be submitted
for adoption under the 'co-decision' procedure to the EU's Council of
Ministers and the European Parliament.
[04] Commission clears the acquisition of two manufacturers of printing
inks by CVC
The European Commission has cleared the proposed acquisition by the
European private equity firm CVC of both the printing inks and pigment
manufacturing interests of the German company BASF and of the Dutch company
ANI Printing Inks BV. The investigation has shown that the proposed
transactions, which will involve the combination of the acquired businesses,
will not significantly impede effective competition in the European Union.
[05] Commission clears Cargill acquisition of Brazilian pork and poultry
producer
The European Commission has cleared, under the European Union's Merger
Regulation, the proposed acquisition of the Brazilian pork and poultry
producer Seara Alimentos, S.A. by Cargill Inc. of the United States.
Although it has an impact in Europe, the acquisition poses no serious
competition concerns.
[06] Commission approves Flextronics' acquisition of Nortel manufacturing
activities
The European Commission has authorised the acquisition by Flextronics of
some of Nortel's manufacturing assets, employees and related supply chain
activities as well as some assets and employees relating to hardware and
software design for optical networking products ("the target business").
The parties have also entered a four years outsourcing agreement according
to which Nortel will source all of its manufacturing requirements from
Flextronics.
[07] La Commission autorise Wendel à acquérir le contrôle exclusif de
Bureau Veritas
La Commission européenne a autorisé la société holding française
Wendel à acquérir le contrôle exclusif de Bureau Veritas, entreprise
française d'inspection, de contrôle et de certification. Wendel détenait
déjà , conjointement avec la société familiale Poincaré Investissements,
le contrôle conjoint de Bureau Veritas. La Commission a examiné la
cession à Wendel de la participation de Poincaré Investissements dans
Bureau Veritas et en a conclu que l'opération ne soulève pas de
problèmes de concurrence.
[08] Commission clears acquisition of Honsel by US investment firm
Ripplewood
The European Commission has granted clearance, under the Merger Regulation,
to a proposed concentration by which US fund managing company Ripplewood
Investments L.L.C. acquires control of the whole of The Honsel Group.
Honsel is a Luxembourg-based group of companies active in the light-metal
(aluminium and magnesium) processing industry and mainly focused in the
manufacturing of components for the automotive and engineering industries.
(The transaction, which was notified on 30 September 2004, was examined
under a simplified procedure for unproblematic cases).
[09] Commission clears T-Mobile acquisition of Polish mobile phone operator
Polska Telefonica
The European Commission has granted clearance, under the Merger Regulation,
to a proposed concentration by which T-Mobile International AG, a wholly-
owned subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom group, acquires sole control over
Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa. (The operation, which was notified on 24
September 2004, was examined under a simplified procedure for unproblematic
cases)
[10] Commission clears Slovak Telekom's acquisition of EuroTel Bratislava
The European Commission has granted clearance, under the Merger Regulation,
to a proposed concentration by which Slovak Telekom a.s., a subsidiary of
Deutsche Telekom AG, acquires sole control over the Slovak mobile network
operator EuroTel Bratislava a.s. (The operation, which was notified on 27Â
September 2004, was examined under a simplified procedure for unproblematic
cases).
[11] Enregistrement de deux dénominations de produits agricoles
La Commission européenne a ajouté deux dénominations de produits
agricoles et alimentaires à la liste des appellations d'origine protégées
(AOP) et indications géographiques protégées (IGP). Il s'agit des
produits "Terre Tarentine" et "Cartoceto" (deux huiles d'olive italiennes -
AOP). Les deux dénominations s'ajoutent à la liste d'environ 650 produits
déjà protégés en vertu de la législation sur la protection des
indications géographiques, des appellations d'origine et des spécialités
traditionnelles. Des renseignements sur les produits de qualité ainsi que
la liste des dénominations protégées sont disponibles sur l'internet Ã
l'adresse: <a href="http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/foodqual/quali1_fr.htm">http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/foodqual/quali1_fr.htm
[12] October 2004 : improvement of economic sentiment in both the EU and
the euro area
The economic sentiment indicator (ESI) for the EU rose in October by 0.6
points, reaching a level of 104.5. In the euro area, economic sentiment
also improved although by a more moderate 0.3 points ; the indicator
reached 101.3.
[13] October 2004 : the euro area Business Climate Indicator remained
almost steady
Following the general improvement since mid-2003, the Business Climate
Indicator for the euro area remained almost steady during the last 3
months. In October, it increased by 0.05 points reaching a value of 0.54.
The slight improvement of the BCI was mainly driven by increases in the
assessment made by managers in the industry sector on questions concerning
total and export order books, as well as by the improvement on question
related to stocks of finished products. These developments have more than
offset the small decrease recorded on opinions about production trend in
the recent past. In the meantime, production expectations remained
unchanged.
[14] Estimation rapide - Octobre 2004 : l'inflation de la zone euro
estimée à 2,5%
Selon une estimation rapide publiée aujourd'hui par Eurostat, le taux
d'inflation annuel de la zone euro s'établirait à 2,5% en octobre 2004. En
septembre 2004, le taux était de 2,1%.
[15] Commission to strengthen its efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS,
malaria and Tuberculosis
The European Commission has adopted a comprehensive policy framework to
strengthen its efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS, Malaria and
Tuberculosis. The strategy confirms poverty reduction as the overall focus
of its efforts. For the first time it also proposes to address these three
diseases in the context of human rights and human security. Furthermore it
proposes a coherent response to the three diseases across all of its
external relations. The Commission has allocated over €1,1 billion to
fight the three diseases from 2003-2006.
[16] La Commission soumet à un panel d'experts les résultats d'analyse
obtenus par une équipe française sur une chèvre atteinte d'une EST
A la suite de la découverte, dans le cerveau d'une chèvre, par un groupe
de chercheurs français d'une infection suspecte d'EST que les tests ne
permettent pas de distinguer de l'ESB, la Commission européenne a soumis
les données fournies par les autorités françaises au laboratoire de
référence communautaire pour les EST situé à Weybridge (Grande-Bretagne),
qui les fera évaluer par un panel d'experts. Les EST sont des
encéphalopathies spongiformes transmissibles, telles que l'ESB chez les
bovins et la tremblante chez les ovins et les caprins. Le panel d'experts
procédera, dans un délai de deux semaines environ, à l'évaluation des
données scientifiques pour déterminer si cette chèvre était
effectivement atteinte d'ESB. Cet incident isolé ne présente aucun risque
pour la santé publique étant donné que la chèvre infectée et son
troupeau ne sont pas entrés dans la chaîne alimentaire humaine ou
animale.
[17] EU and the Republic of Korea agree terms for bilateral competition
dialogue
European Competition Commissioner Mario Monti and Chairman of the Korean
Fair Trade Commission on 28 October signed a Memorandum of Understanding on
a structured dialogue on competition between the European Union and Korea.
This dialogue will help foster the interests of both European and Korean
companies when doing business in each other's territory.
[18] Autre matériel diffusé
Discours du Président Prodi à la signature du Traité constitutionnel
(Rome)
Calendrier du 3 au 6 novembre 2004
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
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