The Week in Europe 20-26/01/01

31.01.2001 | Euroskop

EU news in brief

Environment strategy maps out key areas for EU action

The priorities for EU environmental policy are set out in an action programme for the next decade, proposed by the Commission on 24 January. It stresses the importance of involving individuals and business in innovative ways. It also proposes better implementation of existing environmental laws and the continued integration of 'green' considerations into other policy areas. Environment 2010: Our Future, Our Choice concentrates on four main areas. In climate change, the focus is the 8% emission reduction target for greenhouse gases for 2008-2012. Further-reaching cuts are also needed - in the order of 20-40% by 2020, given scientists' estimate of 70% in the longer term. Completion of the Natura habitat network and sectoral biodiversity plans form the cornerstone of the second theme, nature conservation, along with the protection of landscapes, the marine environment and soils. Third comes the impact of pollution on human health, for which the programme advocates a more holistic approach and action on chemicals, water and air quality and noise. The fourth theme is sustainable use of resources, particularly waste and improved resource efficiency. The strategy also considers EU enlargement and the international dimension, working with stakeholders and the need for a sound scientific basis. This sixth Environment Action Programme was drawn up after a review of the preceding strategy and extensive consultation. Details at http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/newprg/index.htm

[Background text: IP/01/102]

· The Commission is pursuing legal action against six countries for not implementing the Directive on integrated pollution control. [Background text: IP/01/78]

Drink-drive limit to cut deaths

A drink-drive limit of 0.5mg/ml blood alcohol is being recommended for EU countries, with a lower limit for inexperienced drivers. The proposal seeks to cut the number of casualties in drink-driving cases, which kill 10,000 people a year - a quarter of road deaths - in the EU. Only four countries have a legal blood alcohol limit above 0.5mg/ml: the UK, Ireland, Italy and Luxembourg, at 0.8mg/ml. A tougher limit of 0.2mg/ml should apply to learner drivers, those who have had a licence less than two years, and drivers of large goods vehicles and buses, the Commission believes. Its draft Recommendation is also planned to advocate random breath-testing and more effective enforcement. A 1998 proposal setting a blood alcohol limit of 0.5mg/ml was not adopted by the Council of Ministers because of concerns about subsidiarity. The Commission believes a Recommendation is the best course of action at present. [Background text: IP/01/70]

Rescue plan for North Sea cod

A conservation strategy to help cod stocks recover in the North Sea was agreed by the EU and Norway on 24 January. The emergency measures include a temporary ban on fisheries likely to catch cod in a controlled area where the fish spawn. This will allow the maximum number of fish to survive from this year's reproductive stock. As cod live near the sea floor, pelagic fisheries (directed at mid-water species) will be allowed to continue in this area. The Council asked the Commission in December to put in place conservation measures, responding to warnings from scientists that stocks in the North Sea were in severe danger of collapse. The Commission consulted experts, government officials and representatives of fishermen before holding talks with Norway, which co-manages North Sea cod stocks. Under the common strategy they agreed, Norway will establish measures in its waters, too. Officials from both parties will meet again on 2 February to discuss technical and control measures, such as special permits, reporting requirements and observers. The emergency package will expire after six months. In the meantime, the Commission will propose longer-term measures to help the recovery of cod in the North Sea. [Background text: MEMO/01/17]

Experts fly out to Galapagos

The EU is sending three experts to help deal with the oil spill and resulting pollution around the Galapagos Islands. The action was taken in response to a request from the Ecuadorian authorities, said Commissioner Margot Wallström on 24 January. The experts from the UK, Spain and Italy are specialists in operational, technical and biodiversity aspects of marine pollution. Their role will be to help local officials assess the best way of minimising the impact of the pollution and promoting the recovery of the affected areas of the Galapagos. This mission is the first major action under a framework for cooperation in marine pollution agreed in December. [Background text: IP/01/104]

'Bank rules to reflect business'

EU bank capital rules, out for consultation soon, should reflect the needs of business in Europe, Commissioner Frits Bolkestein said on 23 January. The legislation, which governs the amount of capital banks must have to cover their risks, will also reflect changes to the international framework. These have been proposed by the Basle Committee on banking supervision (of the Bank for International Settlements). The Commission's proposals will aim to take account of the different needs of global players and local institutions; align capital charges more closely to underlying economic risk; and encourage prudent risk assessment and management. The framework must ensure that European banks can respond quickly to market changes, and safeguard consistency and proper supervision. The Commission will launch the second round of consultations soon, focusing on areas where the plans differ from those of the Basle Committee. It will ask for comments by 31 May. The aim is then to publish proposals in the autumn, with implementation in 2004. Eight EU countries have been involved in drawing up the Basle rules. [Background text: IP/01/83

Patten promotes Indian links

Commissioner Chris Patten will visit India on 25-29 January to strengthen EU relations and follow up the first EU-India summit held last June. He will attend Indian Republic Day celebrations on 26 January, and meet external affairs minister Jaswant Singh, home minister L. K. Advani and trade and industry minister Murasoli Maran. Other engagements include addressing a conference at the Jawaharlal Nehru University and talking with trade and business representatives. Patten will also announce a decision to commit 200m euro in support for primary education in India. High-level talks will take forward the strategic partnership that the EU and India are developing, as well as preparing their second summit, which is planned for the autumn. [Background text: MEMO/00/16]

ECOFIN Council

The key economic aims of the Swedish Presidency were outlined at the first ECOFIN Council of the year on 19 January. The priorities include increased employment, improving the internal market by dealing with harmful tax competition, an integrated financial market in the EU, and dialogue with candidate states. Ministers also discussed derogations to excise duty rates for certain mineral oils, which expired on 31 December, a report on public finances, and Sweden's updated convergence programme.

General Affairs Council

The Council on 22-23 January condemned the assassination of President Laurent Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It also welcomed UN plans to revive the peace process in the area. The meeting reviewed developments in the Balkans and the Middle East, and in security and defence policy. Conclusions on EU-China dialogue on human rights were adopted. The Presidency announced that the Nice Treaty would be signed on 26 February.

Toxics targeted for phase-out

Eleven hazardous chemicals would be phased out, under a list of priority substances proposed by the Commission on 18 January. All emissions to water would end within 20 years for mercury, cadmium and other substances, such as tributyl tin, an antifoulant. A further 11 chemicals are earmarked for review to determine whether to classify them, too, as hazardous by 2003. Another 10 on the list are not known to build up in the ecosystem. All 32 priority chemicals listed would be subject to water quality standards and emission controls, to be proposed under a Directive that came into force in December. [Background text: IP/01/69]

Closer EU-UN relations is a theme of the visit of Commission President Romano Prodi to Geneva on 24-25 January, when he is meeting the heads of UN organisations. These discussions will also feed into a related paper the Commission is preparing. [Background text: IP/01/95]

Enlargement news

Competing For Attention

European Competition Commissioner Mario Monti threw another challenge down to the EU candidates this week, to add to all the other tasks they face this year. Unless you clean up your act on competition, he more or less said, there is no way you can expect to close the negotiations on competition. The EU's timetable foresees detailed negotiations with the leading candidates in the second half of this year. But before that can happen, Monti insists, the candidates will have to not only get EU-compatible competition rules onto their statute books and implement them, but also to produce a record of efficient implementation. Over the next six months, in other words, the first wave candidates have to amass a body of evidence of how many cases their competition authorities have judged, what fines were imposed, how many state aids were prohibited... Furthermore, Monti also issued something like a cease-and-desist order on giving illicit tax breaks to attract investors. If candidates don't comply - and the Commission will be watching closely over the next few months - then they can say goodbye to any closure of the competition chapter, with all the consequent delays for progress towards accession. And that is just one of the sectors that the candidates are facing final talks on over the next eighteen months. Plenty more Commissioners may be readying themselves to pitch into the discussion too, to draw attention to their own particular sectoral responsibilities in the upcoming negotiations.

In the so-called Luxembourg six, Monti said: "Regrettably, state aid is still not satisfactory". There is a gap between legislation and enforcement which is "a cause for concern". Cyprus is currently the worst performer, while Hungary can be considered the best. As for the Czech Republic, there is an emerging record of enforcement on the basis of the state aid law that came into force in 2000, but the record is inadequate in key areas, such as banking, and the Commission has indications that important tax breaks as fiscal incentives are "probably" in breach of EU state aid rules.

Polish Prime Minister Refuses To Abandon Hopes

Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek breezed through Brussels on January 18 with a long wish-list and a visage that remained determinedly confident about his country's plans to be a full EU member state by 2003, and to complete negotiations by the end of 2001. Only towards the end of his round of visits - at a meeting with Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, who will be in the EU Presidency chair in the second half of this year, did Buzek concede that negotiations might not be concluded until a little later -but still right at the beginning of 2002, he indicated.

The official Polish line is that its own preparations will not be slowed down by the fact that Poland faces a general election in 2001 (an election which - it is widely expected - Buzek will lose). And since internal member state affairs - notably German and French elections in 2002 - would inevitably complicate the negotiations, Buzek conceded, there was all the more reason to go fast: "That's why we want to complete negotiations in 2001", he said.

Kaliningrad Gets Attention At Last

The Russian region of Kaliningrad, on the Baltic Sea coast, has at last received its first serious EU attention, in response to growing concerns within some EU member states, the candidate countries that neighbour it, and in Russia itself. The European Commission adopted on January 17 a Communication on "The EU and the region of Kaliningrad" as a step towards wider debate on the future of the enclave - which used to be the base of the Soviet Baltic Fleet, and which will be surrounded by EU member states after the current round of enlargement is completed.

The paper suggests measures to improve border management and facilitate border-crossing procedures, and initiatives in the transport and energy sectors.

Verheugens New Year Message on Enlargement

Günter Verheugen, the European Commissioner for Enlargement, chose a complicated railway metaphor in his just-delivered new year message about enlargement. His basic message, however, was that nearly everything so far has gone right, and nearly everything should go well over the coming months, to allow a satisfactory arrival at the destination. But leading candidate countries are still left wondering how soon the EU will agree common positions on the tough subjects still to be resolved - and they are concerned that even if the Commission sticks to the outline timetable, there seems scant possibility of finalising negotiations so as to allow accession from the end of 2002. Other candidates, with still further to go in preparations and negotiations, are also still seeking some clearer idea of when they might expect to finish negotiations, and when and how the EU might be prepared to let them in - in ones and twos, or in a bunch that could keep some of them waiting. Verheugen airily dismisses talk of dates now: he says Nice has answered all those questions by fixing "a window of opportunity" between 2002 and 2004. But some of the candidates feel they are not getting the answers they now have a right to expect, and are starting to fear that they and the Commission are on parallel rather than converging tracks.

Full text of the speech you can find at http://www.evropska-unie.cz/, in the What's New section, under the title "The enlargement process after Nice - speech by Günter Verheugen".