EU POLICY

° The Presidency has been preparing for accession of 10 countries to the EU on 1st May 2004.  These are: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia.  Three further countries are candidates for accession: Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.

° At the same time, the Irish Presidency has been trying to find ways to restart stalled talks on a first constitution for the enlarged European Union.  A number of issues are outstanding, such as weighted voting, qualified majority voting (QMV), the issue of one Commissioner per member state, and the number of members in the European Parliament.  Outstanding budgetary and financial issues are also under consideration.

° In April EU Ministers and chief executives from 10 major multi-national communications companies held a communications summit with telecommunications Ministers from EU and accession States.  The conference was addressed by Minister Takahara from Japan, a former Communications Minister from Canda and the OECD’s Head of Telecoms Policy.

° In late April there was a meeting of Ministers from 31 countries in Europe with 3 EU Commissioners and leaders in industry, science and innovation.  This is a precursor to the May EU Competitiveness Council.  They examined Europe’s productivity performance and how this could be strengthened by greater innovativeness.  Competitiveness challenges highlighted by industry leaders included: excessive regulations (EU and national level) discouraging R&D investment; barriers to trade that stifle competition; lack of long-term finance and venture capital for private research investment; fragmentation and insufficient focus in European research effort; weak interface between European researchers and the market place; lack of adequate intellectual property protection in Europe; lack of reform with European university system to promote excellence and insufficient investment in skills and training.  Two key problems identified were excessive regulation and the resulting lack of sufficient competition in Europe and the environment for carrying out research in Europe.

Irish Presidency: http://www.eu2004.ie

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

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° Report of European High level Group (HLG) on Human Resources for Science and Technology (S&T) warns that Europe will  not achieve its target of recruiting an additional 500,000 more researchers by 2010 if no urgent action is taken. The EU is still lagging behind the US and Japan in terms of science, engineering and technology (SET) employment. The full report may be found on: http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/confe rences/2004/sciprof/index_en.html

° Innovative project to demonstrate feasibility of High Level Radioactive Waste Disposal in Geological Repositories : ESDRED (Engineering Studies and Demonstrations of Repository Designs) is an integrated project which aims to develop and test disposal technologies in underground research laboratories with a five-year program. The project contract was signed in March. Full text

° The Commission's Enterprise Directorate-General launches public consultation on new innovation action plan:  issues include the regulatory environment, the market in knowledge, and the financial and human resources that affect innovation.   The consultation is open until 31st May.  The Commission seeks comments from interested parties - administrations, industry, services, finance, research, education and civil society. http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/innovation/consultation/index.htm

° French government response large-scale protests by scientists over the past three months: the French Government has announced it will create 550 new research jobs in public institutions and 1,050 teaching post at universities.  The protest movement which started in January culminated in the mass resignation of 1455 directors and 2103 specialist team leaders on 9 March.  http://recherche-en-danger.apinc.org/

° DG Research launches new Research Information Centre on the web: the new InfoCentre provides improved access to hundreds of articles and stories from several sources, including RTD info, Research Headlines and Success Stories written about past EU-funded projects. All articles have been indexed under relevant themes and sub-themes to help visitors find information on a specific topic.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/research/i ndex_en.html
Item source:http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/headl ines/index_en.cfm

° Commission Staff Working Paper Second Implementation Report on "a Mobility Strategy for the European Research Area" : Please access hyper link for details: Full text of Document 8212/04    Suite of documents 8212/04

° Microsoft gets involved in EU Research: Microsoft officially opened its European Microsoft Innovation Centre (EMIC) in Germany on 26^th April – ths making the company eligible to participate in EU funded projects.  The EMIC Centre represents an effort to collaborate with European universities and business on projects geared towards basic science rather than development.  According to a company spokesman, Microsoft has one of the highest R&D budgets in the industry.  In 2004 it is investing nearly USD 7 billion (20% of revenue) in R&D.

INFORMATION and COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

° Commission consultation on IST work programme: The Commission launched a consultation process to run till 20^th April to review and update the information society technologies (IST) work programme for the period 2005 to 2006.   The work programme will define the content of calls for proposals and tenders under the IST priority of the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6).
http://www.cordis.lu/ist/workprogramme/w p0506-consultation.htm

° Universities team up with Google to make research papers more accessible: a pilot project to develop ‘super-archives’ will involve 17 universities around the world, including institutes in Italy and the UK.  The aim is to improve access to research papers using the Internet.  Information on: http://dbs.cordis.lu/cgi-bin/srchidadb?C ALLER=NHP_EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN= EN_RCN_ID:21885

° Commission publishes call for tenders for its Internet portal on eLearning (elearningeuropa.info):The contract aims to ensure the continuity of the elearningeuropa.info portal and to improve it with new features and upgraded tools. Further information:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/prog rammes/elearning/call_en.html Call details may be found on: http://ted.publications.eu.int/static/do ccur/en/en/58105-2004.htm

° Policy Forum on innovative use of Structure Funds: The Forum, held in Paris, was organised by IANIS, the innovative actions network for the information society.  It considered three regional examples for discussion on what has been learned from Innovative Actions.  Further information:   http://www.ianis.net/default.php?page=de tail_events&idevent=511

° An Economist Intelligence Unit report “Reaping the Benefits of ICT (Information and Communications Technology): ° Europe’s Productivity Challenge” warns that Europe’s Lisbon agenda aim of catching up with the US within a decade, is not happening. US average annual growth in GDP (gross domestic product) per capita 1995-2002 was 0.52 percentage points higher than in France, Germany and Italy.  The US’ effect use of ICT is held to account for 0.4 percentage points.  The US is closely followed by Sweden, Denmark, Finland, UK, Norway and the Netherlands.  The greatest barrier to maximising ICT benefits is senior management’s lack of understanding of ICT. http://graphics.eiu.com/files/ad_pdfs/MI CROSOFT_FINAL.pdf

EDUCATION, TRAINING & PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION:

° Liege conference debates role of universities: The conference, opened by EU Research Commissioner Philippe Busqin, aimed to form a vision of university-based research for the future. One of the key issues discussed was the issue of private sector funding.  Proposals for a European Research Council (ERC) were also discussed. http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/confe rences/2004/univ/index_en.html

° Swiss briefing on “How to Build a World Class University” At an April gathering in Brussels the President of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology spoke of 3 key factors: attracting the bet students, the best teachers and ensuring adequate financial resources – but also the importance of a clear mission, adequate autonomy an attractive location and branding.  The Director General of the Commission’s Education and Culture DG, Nikolaus van der Pas, considers principal requirements for excellence are mobility and quality assurance.  The Commission’s ‘Erasmus Mundus’ strategy to enable mobility was also highlighted.  The gathering is a precursor for a major international conference, organised by the European Commission, on the role of universities in Europe.  Further information: http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/prog rammes/mundus/index_en.html  and also
http://www.cordis.lu/era/universities.ht m

° Can entrepreneurship be taught?  A new expert report Education for Entrepreneurship    believes that teaching entrepreneurship will greatly improve Europe’s competitiveness in the long run.  However, education must be incorporated into an all-round policy strategy involving national and local authorities.

THE ENVIRONMENT:    

° European Economic and Social Committee opinions:-   (1) on the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on waste (codified version) COM(2003) 731 final
Full text of Opinion in MS Word file on ESC website  (2) on the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of groundwater against pollution COM(2003) 550 final - Full text of Opinion in MS Word. This opinion recommends that environmental policy on research required on new water technologies should be tied in with the 6th Research Programme to involve academic and company research departments in improved systems for the European aquatic environment. (3) on Realities and prospects for appropriate environmental technologies in the candidate countries Full text of Opinion. The opinion stated that establishment of skill centres for appropriate technologies in the candidate countries might be one way of starting to reduce this information shortfall and that part of available aid should be paid into a fund used to finance smaller measures: the Cohesion Fund does not provide assistance to project involving sums of less than Euro 10 million. The Committee recommended that it would be helpful if applicants provided information on why they opted to use a proposed technology and what alternatives had been rejected.

Further information: European Economic and Social Committee

° OECD Key Environmental Indicators:  The The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has published key environmental indicators – click here for Full text .  Please see also: http://www.oecd.org

° European Environment Agency published ‘Topic report No 4: Air pollution in Europe 1990-2000’

providing an overview and analysis of the air pollution situation in Europe in 2000 and the preceding decade. The report covers the 31 EEA member countries and Switzerland.  It is based on indicators for underlying driving forces, emissions, air quality, deposition of pollutants and effectiveness of policies and measures.   Click here to access Full text

° Environment & Sustainable Development - Comparison of EU Air Pollution Policies and Legislation with Other Countries : D G Enterprise has published a report in its Series: Series: Environmental measures and Enterprise Policy (Ref: Study 1 - Framework Contract ENTR/02/34 )  Please click here for Full text   General information on Enterprise DG web-site:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/ind ex_en.htm

° European Court is first Community institution to obtain the “Superdreckskëscht(r)” quality label for its exemplary waste management.  The waste management plan for the Luxembourg-based Court was put in place by the Court on 1st May 2003 as part of a joint action by the Ministry of the Environment and the Chamber of Trades (Chambre des Métiers).

°The European Environment Agency has emphasised the need for the EU accession countries to limit the impact of farming on the environment.  There is concern that following EU membership countries will increase use of fertilisers, pesticides and machinery to increase agricultural yields and the farming on less productive land will be abandoned – though the latter often hosts plentiful wildlife.  Full report available on: http://reports.eea.eu.int/environmental_ issue_report_2004_37

Environmental cases:

° Ten member states criticised regarding air pollution: France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Portugal and Sweden have been sent a second written warning for failing to comply with an EU law aimed at promoting the use of low sulphur petrol and diesel fuels.  First written warnings have been sent to the U.K., Luxembourg and Belgium for infringing an EU law aiming to protect the ozone layer.

° Germany  has been ordered to pay costs for failing to legislate national emission ceilings on some air pollutants - Case Filing C-57/04: Commission v Germany Official Journal publication of the filing ; Greece has been ordered to pay costs for failing to limit benzene and carbon monoxide in ambient air - Case Filing C-51/04: Commission v Greece Official Journal publication of the filing

° Sweden has been sent a final written warning for failing to clean urban waste water as it should under EU water protection law. This failure contributes to the over-enrichment of the Baltic Sea.  In another case, the Commission has sent Finland a final written warning for failing to clean urban wastewater. By failing to take all necessary measures to reduce excessive presence of nutrients in urban wastewater, it contributes to the over-enrichment of its seas, in particular, the Archipelago Sea and Gulf of Finland (part of the Bothnian Sea), as well as the Baltic Sea are adversely affected by excessive discharges of nitrogen.  Finland is also being referred to the European Court of Justice for inadequate protection of the flying squirrel, a species unique to Finland.

° France has been sent a first written warning requesting it to comply with a 2002 ruling of the European Court of Justice that France had not designated enough nature sites for the conservation and protection of wild birds i.e. as ‘special protection areas’ (SPAs) for this purpose. 2.1% of France’s territory is protected, the smallest network of protected areas in the EU. Greece is being referred to the European Court of Justice for failing to designate enough natural sites for the conservation and protection of wild birds

° The Commission is obliged to pay costs in two cases: 1. the European Court of Justice has judged that differences between Austria and EU’s lists of hazardous waste are not sufficient to amount to a Treaty infringement (Case Ref: C-194/01) and 2. the Commission case against Portugal for failing to make environmental assessment of building site (Case Ref: C-117/02) for a hotel complex has been dismissed.

See also: http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/droit_com/index_en.htm#infractions

ENERGY:  

° The EU Council of Ministers has adopted amendments to the Energy Tax Directive.  This will allow the new Member States temporarily to apply excise duty exemptions or lower rates of duty than EU-wide minimum rates normally required on all energy products and electricity. The transitional arrangements agreed are similar to those allowed to existing Member States. In particular, they are strictly limited in time - none will last longer than 2012. http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/whatsnew.htm

TRANSPORT:

The text is available for Directive 2004/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on minimum safety requirements for tunnels in the Trans-European Road Network and of Directive 2004/52/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on 29th April 2004 on the inter-operability of electronic road tolls systems in the Community.

INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCING:

° Structural Funds – Over Euro 8 billion allocated to successful programmes: The European Commission allocated an extra Euro 8.246 billion to European regional and social development programmes for 2000-2006.  This reserve fund (=4% of total Structural Funds for the existing 15 EU Member States) had been held back for allocating on the basis of existing performance.  Around 90% of Structural Funds programmes will receive a proportional additional allocation of funds based on results achieved.

Lending from EIB

° The European Investment Bank is providing a EUR 95 million loan to Slovakia to co-finance projects in combination with EU Cohesion and Structural Fund grant aid.  This will include local infrastructure projects covering construction and developing society infrastructure (e.g. rehabilitation of schools, healthcare facilities).  Environmental projects will include water and air protection and further development of waste management infrastructure. 

° An EIB loan of Euro 35 million is being granted to develop an international campus on the postgraduate university in Krems, Lower Austria. The project includes construction and extension of the Danube University Krems ("Donau Universität Krems"), construction of a new education facility of Krems’  technical university (Internationales Management Center Fachhochschule Krems) for approx. 1,500 students and construction of a new facility for the Austrian Centre for Film Studies (approx. 500 students). 

° An EIB loan of Euro 40 million has been granted to State Enterprise, Senate Properties, Helsinki to cover building, refurbishment and extension (as well as equipping/furnishing) some 100 building dedicated to higher education and research in Finland.  This is the 3rd tranche of a total Euro 300 million loan.  A further Euro 50 million is lent to City of Espoo to finance upgrading and refurbishing of educational facilities and building of new schools up to 2006.  A global loan of Euro 100 million has been granted to OKO bank to be used for financing smaller scale investments including local infrastructure in Finland.

° Further Information on European Investment Bank loans is to be found on http://www.eib.org

Lending from EBRD, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

° Information on EBRD activity is to be found on: http://www.ebrd.org

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