Top News from the European Commission 23rd January— 12th February 2006

AGENDA/06/3

Brussels, 20th January 2006

Background Notes from the Spokesperson’s group FAO journalists

The European Commission reserves the right to make changes

Information :

Tuesday 24th January at 1500 : French deputies will receive José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, in the first visit of an incumbent to the National Assembly in Paris.

The news:

Transparency International Brussels, the Commission and the European Anti-fraud office will join forces to organise a discussion on ways to protect EU financial interests through debarment systems. Debarment systems exclude companies having committed fraud in the past from receiving EU funds and contracts in the future. They aim to increase transparency and accountability in distributing EU funds. The seminar will bring together some 40 experts from the EU institutions, international organizations, Member States and the private sector. The seminar intends to exchange best practices and views on an optimal debarment system that could be developed at EU level, in order to better fight fraud, corruption and protect EU financial interests.

The event: On Monday, 23rd of January, the seminar will be opened at 1000 by Vice-President Siim Kallas, Commissioner in charge of Anti-fraud, and Miklos Marschall, European Director of Transparency international. Vice-President Kallas’ opening speech will be made available. A workshop will take place in the Borschette Centre, rue froissart 36, in Brussels, room 3D.

The sources:

OLAF:

Øhttp://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/index_en.html

Transparency international:

Øhttp://www.transparency.org/global_priorities/public_contracting/projects_public_contracting

The contacts: Valerie Rampi +32 2 296 6367; Allessandro Buttice (OLAF spokesman) +32 2 296 5425

The news:

The Commission has held a survey on the expectations of citizens in the field of energy policy. The conclusions of this eurobarometer survey have revealed that Europeans want a European-wide energy policy. Energy security is a leading priority for the Commission. In 2000, the EU consumed more than 15% of the world’s energy. Alongside the United States, it is the world’s largest consumer of energy. Primary demand for energy has increased by 10% between 1990 and 2000. An increase of 1% per annum could rise to 2% as growth in the new Member States is as much as 6% per annum. Crude oil is our leading source of energy, accounting for 38% of supply in 2001. The EU’s dependency on external energy sources stands at 50% and could increase to 70% by 2030. The security issues surrounding an external supply will become more marked as fossil fuel supplies are exhausted and their price increases. Faced with these challenges, the EU must prepare a strategic energy policy. Europe’s energy concerns are too often glossed over, underestimated or absent from public debate. This is why the Commission has decided to act by launching a debate with the publication of a Green Paper for the development of a real European Energy Policy. The Green Paper will examine the current challenges of energy policy and study the different means of overcoming them. It will be published next March and submitted to the European Council.

The event: Press conference at 1215 with Andris Piebalgs, Commissioner for Energy, at the Berlaymont in Brussels. [Graphic in PDF & Word format]Broadcast live on EbS

The sources:

European Commission :

Øhttp://ec.europa.eu/energy/index_en.html

Energy and transport report 2000-2004:

Øhttp://ec.europa.eu/dgs/energy_transport/doc/dg_tren_bilan_2000_2004_en.pdf

Green Paper : Towards a European strategy for the security of energy supply :

Øhttp://ec.europa.eu/energy_transport/en/lpi_lv_en1.html

Green paper on Energy Efficiency :

Øhttp://ec.europa.eu/energy/efficiency/doc/2005_06_green_paper_book_en.pdf ØMEMO/05/456 ; MEMO/05/476 ØIP/05/774

The contacts: Ferran Tarradellas Espuny+32 2 296 62 93; MariIyn Carruthers +32 2 299 9451

The news:

As the next concrete step of the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs, the Commission will table its first annual progress report assessing the 25 national reform programmes (NRPs) submitted by Member States in the Autumn. The report will evaluate Member States' commitments and plans to implement the renewed strategy for economic growth and job creation and in particular, its adequacy to address the main challenges and weaknesses in each economy. The assessment will encompass macroeconomic stability, structural market reforms and employment policies. The Integrated Guidelines will serve as the useful reference against which to assess the adequacy and appropriateness of the national Programmes. The annual report sets the agenda for the Spring meeting of the European Council.

The event: Press conference with Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, at 12.15pm at the Berlaymont in Brussels.

Monday 23th of January: after the Midday briefing : technical briefing, off-the-record, on the first annual progress report on the new Partnership for Growth and Jobs - revised Lisbon Strategy. The technical briefing, which will be given by Commission officials from the Secretariat General, DG Enterprise, DG Economic and Monetary Affairs and DG Employment and Social Affairs. It will provide background information and materials on the overall design and the working methods of the revised strategy, the new evaluation process, criteria used for the assessments of the National Reform Programmes, best practices examples and the "Lisbon track record" so far established on the Community level. Live on Europe-by-Satellite.

The sources:

European Commission website :

http://ec.europa.eu/growthandjobs/index_en.htm

On the previous Spring reports:

http://ec.europa.eu/growthandjobs/reports/index_en.htm

Key documents concerning the Lisbon strategy:

http://ec.europa.eu/growthandjobs/key/index_en.htm ØIP/05/1491

The contacts: Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen +32 2 295 3070, Gregor Kreuzhuber + 32 2 296 6565, Amelia Torres +32 2 295 4629 , Katharina von Schnurbein + 32 2 298 1408

The news:

The Commission will reveal its contribution to the Informal Foreign Ministers meeting on the Western Balkans organised by the Austrian Presidency in Salzburg in March 2006. The EU has given a clear European perspective to the whole region of the Western Balkans in 2003 at the Thessaloniki Summit. The Commission's contribution will take stock of the developments since then and give priorities for next steps in the EU policy towards the region. The objective is to reconfirm the European perspective of the Western Balkans and to further develop our policy towards the region.

The event : Press conference at 1300 with Olli Rehn, Commissioner for Enlargement, at the Berlaymont in Brussels. Live on EbS.

The sources : ØMEMO/05/410 ØMEMO/05/411 ØIP/05/1391 ØIP/05/1392 ØSPEECH/05/770

European Commission sites: Enlargement:

http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/index_en.html

On candidate countries and potential candidate countries :

http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/candidate.htm#pc

On 2006 status reports :

http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/report_2005/index.htm

The Contacts: Kristina Nagy +32 298 86 63, Patricia O'Connor + 32 2 299 05 01

The news:

Presentation of the results of the budget execution in 2005 which reflect the improved capacity of the 25 Member States to absorb regional funding. Specific attention is given to the EU-10 for the first year after accession. The evaluation shows how Member States have committed themselves to implement cohesion policy global objectives paving the way for the achievement of the Lisbon agenda for growth and jobs. Of the 254 regions composing Europe, 70 (representing 124 million inhabitants) are below 75% of GDP per capita. The enlargement in 2004 to 10 new Member States resulted in the inclusion of less developed regions in the EU. Over 92% of the population of the new Member States live in regions with a GDP per capita under 75% of the EU-25 average and 61% live in areas below 50% of that average. The state of play for the next financial perspectives period as far as cohesion policy is concerned will also be presented.

The event: Press conference at 1215 with Danuta Hübner, Commissioner Responsible for Regional Policy, at the Berlaymont in Brussels. Live on EbS.

The sources: Øhttp://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.htm Øhttp://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/official/repor_en.htm ØIP/05/55 ØIP/05/516

The contacts: Ana-Paula Laissy : + 32 2 295 32 58, Constantina Avraam : +32 2 295 96 67

The news:

President José Manuel Barroso will attend the “Sound of Europe” conference in Salzburg on 27th and 28th January. The conference will be hosted by the Austrian presidency on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s birth. The conference will be an opportunity to open debate on the identity and values of Europe. Over the two days, a number of heads of government, political leaders, representatives of the European institutions, young people and personalities from the arts and sciences will be present. President Barroso and Vice-President Wallström will also participate in a public discussion entitled “Europe: our hopes and aims.”

The event: The conference will take place on 27th and 28th January at the Conference Centre of the city of Salzburg, Austria. President Barroso will be accompanied by Commissioners Margot Wallström, Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Jan Figel. EbS will be on-site for video and photo broadcasts.

The sources:

Austrian presidency site:

www.eu2006.at

The contacts: Johannes Laitenberger +32 2 296.57.45 ; Ewa Haczyk +32 2 298.76.80

The news:

The College of Commissioners will adopt the White Paper on Communication on 1st February. The goal of the White Paper is to establish a European communications policy, designed to play a prominent role in the European governmental system and to bridge the gap between the EU and its citizens. Its launch during the EU reflection period will introduce a new concept of politics in Europe. The White Paper aims to help move Europe away from an approach centred on the institutions, and towards a focus on Europe’s citizens. The White Paper will launch an extensive consultation process to determine the common values and principles which will guide communications policy. It will also suggest themes to be dealt with alongside the other Community institutions and interested parties. Themes for discussion include : the transfer of power to the citizens, working alongside the media and with new technology, and better understanding of public opinion.

The event: Press conference at 1215 with Margot Wallstrom, Vice-President of the Commission and Commissioner for Communications Strategy, at the Berlaymont in Brussels. Broadcast live on EbS.

The sources: ØSPEECH/05/701

The contacts: Mikolaj Dowgielewicz 0032 2 29 50 051 ; Mona Lund +32 2 295 0051

The news:

Each year, the Member States submit to the Commission a revised version of their multi-annual programmes for stability – in the case of euro-zone states – and convergence – for non-euro zone states. These revisions detail the necessary measures to maintain or reach a balanced or surplus budgetary position in the medium term. The aim of the stability and growth pact is to prevent a country from sliding towards excessive deficit. The Commission will evaluate these programmes in three stages, the first having already taken place on January 11th 2006. This February 1st, those concerned (subject to change) are: the stability programmes of Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg, and the convergence programmes of Estonia, Lithuania and Slovenia.

The event: Press conference with Joaquín Almunia, Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, at the Berlaymont in Brussels, after the midday briefing. Broadcast live on EbS.

The sources:

Previous evaluations of the Commission on stability and convergence programmes :

http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/about/activities/sgp/ca_en.htm

The examination of stability and convergence programmes :

http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/about/activities/sgp/scp_en.htm

Excessive Deficit Procedure :

http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/about/activities/sgp/edp_en.htm

The contacts: Amelia Torres +32 2 295 4629; Marisa Gonzalez +32 2 295 1925

The news:

For years, the Commission has been promoting the use of biofuels in order to spread the use of renewable energies and meet its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol . The Commission will publish a communication on the perspectives on biofuels in Europe in order to promote their development and use. The principle challenges are: the potential for biofuel production in the EU, in developing third-countries and the role of the Common Agricultural Policy, particularly with relation to “rural development.” The share of biofuels in European consumption was estimated at 1% in 2004. 1,743,500 tons of biofuel – such as biodiesel and bioethanol –were produced in the European Union in 2003, nearly 26.1% more than in 2002. The EU is the world leader in biodiesel of which Germany is its main producer. Spain is the main bioethanol producer. The communication will assess the current situation of biofuel consumption and production of the EU and compare this with the biofuel targets for 2010 : a share of biofuels in European energy consumption at 5,75%. The Communication aims to evaluate the current biofuel situation and its production in the EU. It will compare figures with 2010 objectives which call for 5.75% of energy needs to provided by biofuels.

The event: Press release after Commission adoption. Release of an infoclip tbc.

The sources: ØIP/05/1546 ØIP/04/681 ØSPEECH/05/620 ØSPEECH/05/665 ØSPEECH/05/155

European Commission website on agriculture and environment :

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/envir/index_en.htm

European Commission website on bioenergy and biofuels :

http://ec.europa.eu/energy/res/sectors/bioenergy_en.htm EBS Images: "Biofuels" (mediathèque number: I-037445)

The contacts: Michael Mann +32 498 9 99780, Johan Reyniers +32 498 9 56728

The news:

The European Commission will adopt the working document on the Inter-institutional Agreement (IIA) among The European Parliament, Council and the Commission following December Summit conclusions on the Financial Perspective for 2007-13 period. Commission will also propose a breakdown of expenditures for EU policies following this agreement. Heads of EU states and governments decided last December that for next 7 years commitment appropriations for EU expenditure should not exceed EUR 862,4 bln, which represents less than 1,05% of the Union GNI. That is a 13,3% cut comparing to the initial Commission proposal (EUR 994,3 bln or 1,21% of EU GNI). The European Council decided only big lines of breakdowns: competitiveness (heading 1a), cohesion (1b), natural resources (2); Citizenship, freedom, security and justice (3), EU as a global partner (4), Administrative Expenditure (5). The cuts are not evenly spread in all areas and now they have to be concretely translated into all EU policies and programs. The Commission’s working Paper will be an essential tool for the negotiations of IIA between EU institutions that are formally starting now with the first Trilogue (Council-Parliament-Commission) on the 23rd of January. It is up to Austrian Presidency to lead these negotiations. Commission will do the utmost to facilitate an agreement. European Parliament adopted on the 18th of January a resolution in which the agreement reached in the Council is rejected “in its current form”. In the same time Parliament declared its willingness “to enter into constructive negotiations with the Council” recalling its negotiating position from the 8 June 2005”, that is “a financial framework amounting to EUR 974,837 bln”, or 1.18% of GNI. In 1999 it took less than 3 months to secure the IIA with the Parliament after the agreement at the European Council level. The same pace of work is needed now in order to finalize on time the legal bases (more than 40 legal acts) needed for EU spending to be effectively executed from the 1st of January 2007.

The event: Adoption of working document by the European Commission.

The sources:

European Commission:

Øhttp://ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/president/pdf/statement_20051217_en.pdf http://ec.europa.eu/financial_perspective/pdf/FP_post_summit_12_2005.pdf http://ec.europa.eu/budget/documents/multiannual_framework_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/financial_perspective/documents_why_perspectives/index_en.htm Øhttp://ec.europa.eu/budget/other_main/glossary_en.htm#F

European Council :

Øhttp://consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/misc/87677.pdf

European Parliament :

http://europarl.europa.eu/omk/sipade3?TYPE-DOC=MOTION&REF=B6-2006-0049&MODE=SIP&L=EN&LSTDOC=N

The contacts: Robert Soltyk +32 2 296 1619; Mikolaj Dowgielewicz: +32 2 2950 051

The news:

The Commission will present its first report on the current state of play of transitional arrangements on the free movement of labour from new Member States. Free movement of persons is one of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by Community law and includes the right to live and work in another Member State. However, during the transitional two years following the accession of the new Member States in May 2004, access to the labour markets of the old Member States is subject to restrictions. Under transitional arrangements, national measures restricting free movement of labour were imposed by 12 of the former EU15 Member States (all except Ireland, Sweden and the UK) on the eight new Eastern and Central European EU Member States in May 2004. Three new Member States (Hungary, Poland and Slovenia) imposed reciprocal restrictions on labour flows in the opposite direction. The restrictions, which were set for an initial two years, are to be reviewed before Member States decide on whether to apply them for a further three years from May 2006. The Commission’s report will not give recommendations to individual Member States. It will instead analyse the situation of sectors such as the building industry or service industries with skills bottlenecks. The application of restrictive measures during the transitional period may have had detrimental side-effects harming the functioning of the labour market (undeclared work, bogus self-employed work, dishonest subcontracting etc.) These effects may have led to a perception of social dumping, depriving workers of their rights and means of integration.

The event: Press conference at 1215 with Vladimir Spidla, Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, at the Berlaymont in Brussels.

The sources:

European Commission :

Øhttp://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/free_movement/docs_en.htm Øhttp://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/free_movement/index_en.htm ØIP/05/1153 ØMEMO/05/325 ØSPEECH/05/518

The contacts: Katharina von Schnürbein + 32 2 298 1408; Constantina Avraam + 32 2 295 96 67