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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 06-04-03
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Creating a single market for EU defence industry : Commission opens
consultation
[02] Nouveau règlement de l'UE sur l'itinérance internationale en
téléphonie mobile : la Commission ouvre la phase finale des consultations
[03] Recruitment from the 10 new Member States : state of play and way
forward
[04] Geographical indications registration opened for direct applications &
objections from groups and individuals in third countries
[05] Le Réseau européen de la concurrence ouvre un site web à point
d’accès unique
[06] Commission clears acquisition of TBIH by Wiener Städtische
[07] Commission clears joint venture between Sony and NEC in optical disk
drive markets
[08] La Commission ouvre une enquête approfondie sur l'acquisition du
contrôle conjoint du Néerlandais EMO-EKOM par son concurrent belge Sea-
Invest, une entreprise de manutention de fret
[09] ITER project on track - top management team identified
[10] A dissemination policy at the service of EU citizens : one million
user sessions and 300,000 publications downloaded per month
Midday Express of 2006-04-03
Reference: MEX/06/0403
Date: 03/04/2006
EXME06 / 3.4
MIDDAY EXPRESS
News from the Press and Communication Directorate General's midday briefing
Nouvelles du rendez-vous de midi de la Direction Générale Presse etb
Communication
03/04/06
[01] Creating a single market for EU defence industry : Commission opens
consultation
Creating a more open "European Defence Equipment Market" (EDEM) between
Member States is the theme of a public consultation launched by the
European Commission today. So far, the circulation of defence-related
products in the internal market is restricted by varying national
administrative procedures in the Member-States. A Commission initiative to
reduce these obstacles to intra-community trade in defence products
contributes to making European defence industries economically more
efficient and technologically more competitive. It enables Member States to
meet military needs under proper security conditions and at lower cost.
Today's public consultation seeks the views from stakeholders, experts and
all other interested how to lift intra EU borders for the circulation of
such products.
[02] Nouveau règlement de l'UE sur l'itinérance internationale en
téléphonie mobile : la Commission ouvre la phase finale des consultations
Comme elle l'a annoncée le 28 mars, la Commission européenne ouvre
aujourd'hui la seconde et dernière phase de consultations sur un
règlement européen visant à réduire le prix des services d'itinérance
internationale. Ce nouveau règlement communautaire, qui devrait introduire
le principe du "tarif du pays d'origine" pour l'utilisation du téléphone
portable à l'étranger, pourrait entrer en vigueur d'ici l'été 2007 si le
Parlement européen et le Conseil de ministres pouvaient parvenir d'ici lÃ
à un accord sur un texte final.
[03] Recruitment from the 10 new Member States : state of play and way
forward
(! embargo 04/04, 12h00 !) Ahead of the second anniversary of the
enlargement to the 10 new Member States, the report submitted by Vice-
President Siim Kallas to the College on the recruitment of EUR-10 nationals
in the Commission provides a snap-shot of the progress achieved compared to
last year. Overall recruitment results are so far excellent with 1,627
citizens recruited on January 15th 2006. At middle management level,
progress is satisfactory given the fact that the list of laureates was made
available quite late in 2005. For senior management positions, the
Commission is confident that it will succeed in recruiting at least one
Director-General or Deputy Director-General per Member State by mid-2007.
Significant challenges still remain in recruitment efforts and in
competition planning for all levels.
[04] Geographical indications registration opened for direct applications &
objections from groups and individuals in third countries
The European Commission has today made available on the internet a guide
and forms to enable direct applications to register Geographical
Indications by producer groups in third countries. Using the link EUROPA -
Agriculture and food - Quality policy, producers in third countries are
able to download a straightforward guide to submitting applications for
registration of geographical indications and designations of origin,
together with the necessary forms. In addition, individuals and groups in
third countries may lodge objections to proposed registrations directly to
the Commission. The link above also provides the necessary forms. 3Â April
2006 also marks the expiry of the reasonable period of time agreed by the
EC with the WTO to allow applications and statements of objection to be
sent directly to the EC. The possibility for the Commission to receive
direct applications was brought in by Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006
of 20 March 2006 which came into force on 31 March 2006. Under that
regulation, groups and individuals in third countries have the right to
address applications and statements of objection directly to the
Commission. The forms made available today on the internet are not legally-
binding, but may be used by applicants and objectors if they wish and are
designed to facilitate submission of applications and statements of
objection. It also continues to be possible for persons in third countries
to submit registration applications and objections via their national
authorities.
[05] Le Réseau européen de la concurrence ouvre un site web à point
d’accès unique
Le Réseau européen de la concurrence (REC) - qui rassemble la Commission
européenne et les autorités nationales de concurrence de l'UE - vient
d'ouvrir un site web qui fournit aux entreprises, Ã leurs conseils et aux
citoyens des informations sur l'application du droit de la concurrence, des
rapports annuels et des documents explicatifs sur le Réseau. Le site web
du REC constituera notamment un point d'accès unique aux communiqués de
presse en provenance de toutes les autorités nationales de concurrence et
de la Commission.
[06] Commission clears acquisition of TBIH by Wiener Städtische
The European Commission has granted clearance under the EU Merger
Regulation to the acquisition of joint control of TBIH Financial Services
Group N.V. (TBIH) of the Netherlands by Wiener Städtische Allgemeine
Versicherung AG (Wiener Städtische) of Austria. After the transaction,
TBIH will be jointly controlled by Wiener Städtische, Kardan N.V of the
Netherlands, MidOcean Partners (MidOcean) of the US and Englefield Capital
LLP (Englefield) of the UK. Wiener Städtische is active in insurance
services and other related activities. Kardan, MidOcean and Englefield are
all investment groups. TBIH is active in insurance services, pension funds
and lending/leasing/asset management in central and eastern European
states. The operation was examined under the simplified merger review
procedure.
[07] Commission clears joint venture between Sony and NEC in optical disk
drive markets
The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the
creation of a joint venture between the two Japanese companies Sony and NEC
for the development, design and marketing of optical data-storage disk
drives. The Commission concluded that the transaction would not
significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area or
any substantial part of it. Sony and NEC plan to create a joint venture in
the sector of optical data-storage disk drives (ODD), which includes CD-
and DVD-drives with read and write functions, primarily for computers. Both
parent companies will transfer their ODD-businesses to the joint venture
and subsequently terminate their own activities in this market.
[08] La Commission ouvre une enquête approfondie sur l'acquisition du
contrôle conjoint du Néerlandais EMO-EKOM par son concurrent belge Sea-
Invest, une entreprise de manutention de fret
La Commission européenne a ouvert une enquête approfondie, conformément
au règlement CE sur les concentrations, concernant l'acquisition du
contrôle conjoint d'EMO-EKOM par Sea-Invest. Les deux entreprises opèrent
dans la manutention de fret et proposent essentiellement des services de
chargement, de déchargement et de stockage du minerai de fer et du
charbon. L'enquête initiale menée par la Commission sur ce marché
révèle que l'opération envisagée soulève des problèmes de concurrence
sur le marché des services de terminaux pour le charbon et le minerai de
fer dans les ports d'Anvers, de Rotterdam et d'Amsterdam, y compris la
Zélande (zone ARA). Une décision d'ouvrir une enquête approfondie ne
préjuge pas du résultat final de l'enquête. La Commission dispose Ã
présent d'un délai de 90 jours ouvrables (jusqu'au 18 août 2006) pour
prendre une décision finale sur la question de savoir si l'opération de
concentration entraverait ou non de manière significative une concurrence
effective dans l'Espace Economique Européen ou une partie substantielle de
celui-ci.
[09] ITER project on track - top management team identified
At a meeting in Tokyo on 1 April, the chief ITER negotiators from the seven
international parties (European Union, India, Japan, Korea, China, Russia
and USA), identified the top management team that will manage this major
international fusion energy research project. The representatives of the
seven parties also endorsed the results of the negotiations on the
international agreement that will govern the project, which will now be
passed to ministerial level for its initialling on 24 May in Brussels.
[10] A dissemination policy at the service of EU citizens : one million
user sessions and 300,000 publications downloaded per month
Since 1 October 2004, Eurostat has made all its data and publications
available free of charge on the Internet. This significant change enabled
Eurostat to fully play its role as a public service institution, by giving
free access to economic and social information on the euro-zone, the EU and
the 25 Member States. More than 300 million data, from many different
domains, are available online, varying from consumer prices, through
poverty and environmental indicators, to detailed external trade data by
product. The implementation of the free dissemination policy has produced
very successful results in 2005, both in terms of number of users and
products downloaded. The number of user sessions reached nearly one million
per month. There was a six-fold increase in data downloaded; a four-fold
increase in access to the pre-defined tables; and a four-fold increase in
the number of publications downloaded to 300 000 per month. Work is
continuing to further improve the functionality and user-friendliness of
the site. On 30 March 2006, the European Information Association, a
professional organisation for librarians and information professionals who
work with EU information worldwide, presented Eurostat with the 2005 Award
for European Information Sources for its website, in recognition of the
steps that Eurostat has taken to make statistical data widely and freely
available through the site.
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
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