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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 06-04-19
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Internal Market: Commission acts to ensure 19 Member States implement
EU laws
[02] Qualifications professionnelles: procédures d’infraction contre
l’Espagne, la France et la Grèce
[03] Freedom to provide services and freedom of establishment: infringement
proceedings against France and the Netherlands
[04] Marché intérieur: procédures d'infraction l'encontre de l'Italie,
de la Finlande, de la France, de Chypre et de la République tchèque;
classement d'une procédure d'infraction l'encontre de la Grèce
[05] Clearing and settlement: Commission expert group examines EU fiscal
compliance barriers to cross border securities trading
[06] European Union deploys Election Observation Mission to Fiji for May
2006 Legislative Elections
[07] Commission clears acquisition of Center Parcs Group by Blackstone
[08] Commission clears acquisition of Costanera by Autostrade and SIAS
Midday Express of 2006-04-19
Reference: MEX/06/0419
Date: 19/04/2006
EXME06 / 19.4
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
19/04/06
[01] Internal Market: Commission acts to ensure 19 Member States implement
EU laws
The European Commission has decided to pursue infringement procedures
against 19 Member States for failure to implement in national law one or
more of eight different Internal Market Directives. The Commission has
decided to refer the following Member States to the European Court of
Justice over non-communication of national measures implementing certain
Directives: Germany, Greece, France, Malta, Spain and Portugal regarding
the Insurance Mediation Directive; Latvia and the Netherlands regarding a
Directive on supplementary supervision of financial conglomerates; Spain
regarding implementing provisions for the Market Abuse Directive; Sweden
regarding a Directive on the recognition of professional qualifications;
and Luxembourg regarding a Directive on accounting rules. The Commission
has also decided to formally request Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic,
Finland, France, Italy, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and the United
Kingdom to complete their implementation of a Directive on occupational
pensions, and Belgium and Italy to complete their implementation of the
Prospectus Directive. These requests take the form of “reasoned
opinions”, the second stage of the infringement procedure laid down in
Article 226 of the EC Treaty. If there is no satisfactory reply within two
months, the Commission may refer the matter to the European Court of
Justice. Finally, the Commission has decided, under Article 228 of the EC
Treaty, to send a further “reasoned opinion” to Spain, requesting it to
comply immediately with a previous judgment of the Court on its non-
implementation of the 2001 Copyright Directive. If Spain does not comply,
the Commission can ultimately ask the Court to impose daily fines..
[02] Qualifications professionnelles: procédures d’infraction contre
l’Espagne, la France et la Grèce
La Commission européenne a engagé une procédure contre l’Espagne, la
France et la Grèce pour mettre fin aux infractions au droit communautaire
dans le domaine des qualifications professionnelles. La Commission va
saisir la Cour de Justice des Communautés européennes contre l’Espagne
face au refus de cette dernière de reconnaître les qualifications
italiennes d’ingénierie. La Commission a également pris la décision
d’adresser une mise en demeure fondée sur l’article 228 du traité CE
la France pour que celle-ci fournisse toutes les informations concernant
l’exécution d’un arrêt rendu par la Cour européenne lui imposant
d’appliquer les règles communautaires sur la reconnaissance des
diplômes des éducateurs spécialisés. Enfin, la Commission a décidé
d’adresser la Grèce un nouvel avis motivé basé sur l’article 228
du traité CE pour que celle-ci exécute sans délai l’arrêt rendu en
2004 par la Cour sur la reconnaissance des diplômes en architecture. Si la
Grèce n’obtempère pas, la Commission peut demander la Cour
d’imposer des jours amendes.
[03] Freedom to provide services and freedom of establishment: infringement
proceedings against France and the Netherlands
The European Commission has taken action to put an end to obstacles to the
freedom of establishment and to the free movement of services in France and
the Netherlands. The Commission has formally requested France to modify its
legislation requiring chief architects of historical monuments to be of
French nationality. The request takes the form of a “reasoned opinion”,
the second stage of the infringement procedure laid down in Article 226 of
the EC Treaty. If there is no satisfactory reply within two months, the
Commission may refer the matter to the European Court of Justice. The
Commission has also decided, under Article 228 of the EC Treaty, to send
further reasoned opinions requesting the Netherlands to comply immediately
with a 2004 Court judgement on the provision of private security services,
and requesting France to comply immediately with a 2004 Court judgement
requiring it to amend its legislation on medical laboratories. If France or
the Netherlands does not comply, the Commission can ask the Court to impose
daily fines. Finally, the Commission has decided to close a case against
France concerning restrictions on television channels established in other
Member States.
[04] Marché intérieur: procédures d'infraction l'encontre de l'Italie,
de la Finlande, de la France, de Chypre et de la République tchèque;
classement d'une procédure d'infraction l'encontre de la Grèce
La Commission européenne a décidé d'entamer des procédures d'infraction
l'encontre de six États membres pour garantir l’application correcte
des règles du marché intérieur. Dans le domaine des assurances, la
Commission a décidé d'adresser un nouvel avis motivé l'Italie pour
qu'elle modifie sa législation imposant tous les assureurs agréés pour
l'assurance responsabilité civile pour les véhicules moteur de proposer
une assurance pour toutes les catégories d'assurés dans l'ensemble des
régions italiennes. La Commission a également adressé la Finlande une
demande formelle de modification de ses règles relatives aux vignettes
autocollantes de transfert et aux assurances de transfert. Ces demandes
prennent la forme d’«avis motivés», qui constituent la seconde étape
de la procédure d’infraction prévue l’article 226 du
traité CE. En l’absence de réponse satisfaisante dans un délai de deux
mois, la Commission pourra saisir la Cour de justice. De plus, la
Commission a décidé de classer une procédure l'encontre de la Grèce
concernant les règles grecques imposant l'ensemble des entreprises
proposant des services d'assurance de véhicules automobiles en Grèce
l'obligation d'être membre de l'association nationale grecque des
assureurs. Dans le domaine des marchés publics, la Commission a décidé,
au titre de l’article 228 du traité CE, d’adresser la France une
lettre de mise en demeure lui demandant des informations complètes sur son
exécution d’un arrêt de la Cour de justice concernant la loi française
sur les services de conseil dans le cadre de grands projets de
construction. Enfin, dans le domaine du droit des sociétés, la Commission
a demandé Chypre et la République tchèque de lui faire parvenir
leurs observations quant la mise en œuvre de certaines directives de
l'UE. Ces demandes prennent la forme de lettres de mise en demeure, qui
constituent la première étape de la procédure d’infraction prévue
l’article 226 du traité CE. En l'absence d'une réponse satisfaisante
dans les deux mois, la Commission pourra décider d'adresser une demande
formelle de modification de la législation, sous la forme d'un avis
motivé.
[05] Clearing and settlement: Commission expert group examines EU fiscal
compliance barriers to cross border securities trading
The European Commission’s Clearing and Settlement Fiscal Compliance
expert group (“FISCO”) has issued a Fact Finding Study examining EU
Member States' fiscal compliance procedures for clearing and settlement of
cross-border securities transactions. The Study analyses how these
procedures hinder the functioning of capital markets and increase the cost
of cross-border settlement, particularly in relation to withholding and
transaction taxes. The FISCO group will issue a further report proposing
solutions by early 2007.
[06] European Union deploys Election Observation Mission to Fiji for May
2006 Legislative Elections
Following an invitation from Government of Republic of Fiji Islands, the
European Commission has deployed an EU Election Observation Mission (EOM)
for the legislative elections scheduled to take place between 6-13 May. The
EU EOM is lead by István Szent-Iványi, Member of the European Parliament.
This is the first EU EOM deployed to a country of the Pacific region.
[07] Commission clears acquisition of Center Parcs Group by Blackstone
The European Commission has granted clearance under the EU Merger
Regulation to the acquisition of sole control of Center Parcs UK Group PLC
(Center Parcs UK) by the Blackstone Group (Blackstone) of the US. Center
Parcs UK owns and operates four residential holiday villages and one spa in
the UK. Blackstone is a private merchant banking firm active mainly in
financial advisory services, private equity investing and property
investment. Blackstone controls Legoland (four non-residential theme parks
worldwide, including one in the UK), Merlin (four non-residential visitor
attractions) and two five star luxury hotels in London. The operation was
examined under the simplified merger review procedure.
[08] Commission clears acquisition of Costanera by Autostrade and SIAS
The European Commission has granted clearance under the EU Merger
Regulation to the acquisition of joint control of Sociedad Concesionaria
Costanera Norte S.A. (Costanera) of Chile by Autostrade S.p.A. (Autostrade)
of Italy and SIAS S.p.A. (SIAS) also of Italy. Autostrade and SIAS are
active in the management and construction of motorways. Costanera manages
the urban motorway in Chile. The operation was examined under the
simplified merger review procedure.
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
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