The Week in Europe 01-09/04/01

EU news in brief

Commission underlines the importance of pan-European corridors

Loyola de Palacio, vice-president in charge of transport and energy, signed on 6 April a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of Corridor X, connecting Salzburg, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Beograd, Nis, Skopje and Thessaloniki.

She underlined the great importance of these pan-European Corridors, which aim to vertebrate the European continent by defining main axles of multimodal transports.

"The definition of main routes through Europe is a major realisation for the future of Europe as it allows the concentration of investments on priority axes: it will increase opportunities to cross borders and develop economies but is also a contribution to European integration" she said. "These corridors bridge the gap between populations and neighbouring countries: they are also a direct contribution to the pan-European integration and give a new start to the development of the Balkan region" she added. The signature of the MoU will allow the starting of serious and concrete efforts by the countries involved for the development of Corridor X, which were delayed for at least two years due to conflicts in the area.

The European Commission considers that its development may be a very good example of a large scale regional cooperation since, apart from the Commission, eight countries are involved, namely two Member States, Austria and Greece, three candidate countries, Slovenia, Hungary and Bulgaria and three countries of the Balkans, Croatia, Former Republic of Yugoslavia and Former Yuslav Republic Of Macedonia.

Peru Presidential and congressional elections - EU observation

Presidential and Parliamentary elections will take place on 8 April, with a possible second round to be held about one month later. At the invitation of the government of Peru, the EU is observing these elections with a mission of 16 specialists and long-term observers. This will be supplemented by a further team of 32 short-term observers and 12 MEPs. The mission is led by Eva Zetterberg, Deputy Speaker of the Swedish Parliament.

On the road to Europe: First Stabilisation and Association Agreement signed on 9 April 2001 with former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

After a process of negotiations which lasted just over two years a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) between the EU and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was signed in Luxembourg on 9 April 2001 during a special ceremony on the margins of the General Affairs Council. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) is the first country with which negotiations on a Stabilisation and Association Agreements have been successfully concluded and an Agreement has been formally signed. Croatia is the only other country of the region with which the EU has so far opened negotiations on an SAA.

The Stabilisation and Association Agreement with FYROM is divided into sections and focuses on the following main elements:

-The establishment of an association between the European Community and its Member States on one side and FYROM on the other within a transitional period of a maximum of ten years.

-The respect of international peace and stability, the development of good neighbourly relations, democratic principles and human rights, minority rights, international law principles and the rule of law.

-The commitment by FYROM to approximate its legislation to that of the EC, notably in key areas of the internal market;

EU and Japan sign trade facilitation agreement

The EU and Japan signed, on 4 April in Brussels, a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) intended to reduce the cost of certifying products for conformity with the two parties' technical regulations. The products covered are in four specific areas: pharmaceuticals, chemicals, telecommunication equipment and electrical equipment. The agreement could cover trade worth an estimated Euro 21.4 billion a year, and mean annual savings for exporters of up to Euro 400 million. The MRA will require formal ratification by the EU Council of Ministers and the Japanese Parliament, which is expected to be completed before the summer, allowing the MRA to come into force in the autumn. Welcoming the signature, EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said "I'm glad we have finally managed to conclude negotiations on an agreement which will contribute significantly to facilitating trade between the EU and Japan"

Visit of Commissioner Patten to Zagreb and Tirana

External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten visited Zagreb on 4th April and Tirana on 5th April. In Zagreb, Commissioner Patten participated in a session of the Croatian Government discussing "EU-Croatia relations". This special point focused on the ongoing negotiations for a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) between Croatia and the EU. In Tirana the Commissioner focused on the progress made by Albania in the framework of the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) and also participated in the opening of the second meeting of the EU- Albania High Level Steering Group (HLSG).

The visit to Zagreb demonstrated EU support for Croatia at a time when the government is facing tough decisions over the implementation of the SAA. There has been a substantial improvement in EU Croatia relations following the elections in Croatia just over a year ago. The main elements of the SAA focus on the implementation of the four freedoms, and moves to implement community compatible legislation. All these changes are being underpinned by EC financial assistance. The visit emphasised both main aspects of the agreement: association with the EU and stabilisation in the region via regional co-operation. In this area Croatia has an important role to play as a stabilising element in the region.

GoDigital Kicks off in Brussels, 6 April 2001

A half-day event on 6 April launched the European Commission's GoDigital initiative and informed all stakeholders about the EU support for e-business take-up by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The Commission will seek the full support and active participation of Member States, regional authorities, the business community and other information multipliers, with a view to exploiting synergies between the GoDigital implementation plan and existing initiatives at national, regional and local levels.

Participants included Enterprise and Information Society Commissioner Liikanen, Commission staff and about 250 participants from European industry associations, chambers of commerce, regional organisations and other European information multipliers.

What is GoDigital?

The GoDigital initiative aims to encourage SMEs to use the Internet in their business. It is a co-ordinated effort to ensure the overall consistency of various policies and actions to help SMEs go digital at European, national, regional and local levels, and to learn from practical experience with diverse strategies and support mechanisms. A Commission communication on the GoDigital initiative, which is part of the European Commission's wider eEurope initiative, was issued in mid-March 2001 (see IP/01/361). For further details, please visit the GoDigital website:

http://europa.eu.int/ISPO/ecommerce/godigital/Welcome.html

To learn more about eEurope:

http://europe.eu.int/comm/information_society/eeurope/

EU will fight to save Kyoto agreement

The European Union troika represented by Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström, Swedish Environment Minister Kjell Larsson and Marc Pallemaerts from the Belgian State Secretary's Office for Energy and Sustainable Development expressed concern and disappointment over the US Administration's withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol following talks 3 April in Washington. The troika underlined that the Kyoto Protocol remains the framework for international efforts to combat climate change and that the EU remains committed to ratifying the Kyoto protocol by 2002. The EU representatives warned that climate change is already happening and that it is a serious threat to the future of mankind. The troika also underlined that one country cannot declare dead an international process that deals with a major global issue. The EU still hopes to have the US involved in the Kyoto Protocol as soon as possible but is prepared to go forward without the US if necessary.

Commissioner Margot Wallström said: "In all countries, climate change will be on top of the political agenda for a long time to come. By choosing not to be part of the process the United States will miss this opportunity. It will not only lose influence over the process, it will not be able to participate in international emissions trading".

The troika continued to Russia, Iran, China and Japan to meet with some of the major stakeholders in the Kyoto process. Iran is the chairman of the "G77" group of the developing countries and Japan is a member of the Umbrella group. The troika discussed the US position and how the negotiations should go forward. The objective of the visit was to see where they stood and to find allies in the fight against global warming.

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