Luxembourg Presidency news: http://www.eu2005.lu/en/presidence/index.html

EU/COMMISSION POLICY:

° EU faces problems with its future strategy following “Non” vote by France in its referendum on the European Constitution.  This was followed on 1^st June by a decided ‘Nee’ on behalf of Dutch voters in their national referendum on the Constitution.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

° Parliament criticises potential cuts to future EU research budget: MEP Giles Chichester, Chair of Parliament's Industry, Research & Energy  Committee, has written to Parliament President, Josep Borell, expressing "alarm and disappointment" at the cuts to the EU research budget now being proposed by the Luxembourg Presidency for the financial perspective for 2007-2013.  The Luxembourg Presidency proposal would imply a 30% reduction for the EU 7th RTD Framework Programme budgetary resources compared to the European Commission’s April proposal. EU heads of state and government aim to reach agreement on the financial perspective at their 16-17 June summit.

° Results of first ever survey of research and development personnel across all industrial sectors in Europe: the survey has revealed that most participants predict little change in their companies' R&D investment levels over the next five years, and perhaps even a slight decrease. Regarding mobility, 70 per cent of respondents would be willing to move abroad than to another location in the same country (66 per cent), provided it is their company that suggests the move. Preferred locations for international assignments are EU15 countries, followed by Switzerland and Norway, then USA, Canada and Australia.  Most respondents said they would be willing to work for an early-stage venture, but were far less inclined to create a start-up themselves, due to financial risks involved and their lack of administrative skills.  The report adds: 'There is a certain lack of confidence with regards to attracting venture capital or credits'.  Around 80 per cent of industrial researchers say that knowledge of a foreign language is indispensable in their work, and personal contact with researchers in the public sector (particularly universities) is seen as a particular benefit to industrial researchers and their companies.

° E.U. and Russian Federation collaboration: A further step has been taken towards creating a 'Common space of research and education'.  A roadmap has set out a list of actions foreseen to increase collaboration and consultation in research.  

° Plans for a European polar agency on the way: Paving the way for this is the European Commission.  It is providing 2.5 million euro over the next four years to the European Polar Consortium which is a coordination action funded under the ERA-NET priority. It comprises 25 partners from 19 countries, including the Russian Federation and Greenland's Home Rule. The consortium aims to deepen cooperation and levels of integration while bringing together Europe's assets in terms of vessels, aircrafts, infrastructures and human capital.

° CORDIS launches new homepage to make R&D information more accessible.  Cordis is the European Community's information space devoted to European research and development (R&D) and innovation activities. The new page represents a move towards greater standardisation and has been fully implemented in XHTML. A new text-only version, or site-map, is also available. Users can find help in navigating CORDIS through the 'Discover CORDIS' menu, including all CORDIS help, guidance and search facilities. The CORDIS homepage in English remains: http://www.cordis.lu/en/home.html CORDIS can also be accessed using: http://www.cordis.lu

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY:  

° The European Commission plans to boost its policy of preserving and exploiting Europe's written and audiovisual heritage. It will issue a communication by July outlining the stakes involved and identifying the obstacles to using written and audiovisual archives in the EU.  At the same time it will produce a proposal for a Recommendation to enlist all the public players concerned and facilitate public-private partnerships in the task of digitising our heritage.

EDUCATION:

° Conference on Bologna Process: 45 Ministers and the European Commission agreed on the Bergen communiqué. Commissioner Ján Figel’ stated: “These two days in Bergen have demonstrated … the strength of the Bologna Process as a voluntary process, led by the governments, who are responsible for organising their education and training systems, but implemented and co-organised by the higher education sector: institutions, students and staff.  … We must encourage the take-up of bachelor degrees, and ensure that employers (including, as the communiqué says, the public service) understand the value they represent, and provide the appropriate jobs. The Bergen Communiqué is available at http://www.bologna-bergen2005.no/ez.

THE ENVIRONMENT:  

° Green Week 2005 - 31st May to 3rd June in the week leading up to World Environment Day on 5 June. http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/greenweek/index_en.htm

° EU Bathing Water: Quality is generally good, but one in ten freshwater beaches does not meet EU standards: The report covers 19,965 bathing areas in the EU 25, with complete results for 21 Member States.  96.7% of coastal sites met the standards, compliance was also rather good in the new Member states, in particular Cyprus (86%) and Slovenia (89.5%).  Compliance at inland bathing sites such as lakes and rivers has worsened, with one in ten not up to standard.  The percentage of inland bathing sites meeting the standards dropped from 92.3% in 2003 to 89.4%. In the new Member States the compliance rate was 46 %.   http://www.europa.eu.int/water/water-bathing/index_en.html.

° Revised Draft of the Proposed Directive on the Protection of Groundwater Against Pollution: Following the meeting of the Environment Working Party on 29th April 2005, the Presidency prepared a revised draft of the proposal, reflecting delegations' comments and suggestions Full text of Document 8612/05  For an outcome of the European Parliament's second reading in May please access the following hyper-links  Full text of Document 8724/05  Suite of documents 8724/05

° Commission paves the way for renewal of EU Sustainable Development Strategy – in May it adopted a draft Declaration on Guiding Principles for Sustainable Development and an accompanying Commission Communication which sets out the European Union’s long standing commitment to sustainable development as a key principle of all its policies and actions.

° Switzerland to take part in European Environment Agency: The European Parliamentary report relating to the Agreement is to be found on: A6-0088/2005

° Arctic leaders urge further action on climate change:  A group of indigenous leaders has been touring Europe to raise awareness on the impacts that warmer temperatures have on the people from the Arctic regions. Rising temperatures affect plants, animals and therefore food and hunting conditions. The melting of the permafrost is also a threat to houses and infrastructure built upon it according to Chief Gary Harrison from Alaska, who represents the Arctic Athabaskan Council, one of the groups attending a meeting in Denmark.For more information on The Arctic Indigenous People: http://www.arcticpeoples.org Relevant EEA Reports: http://reports.eea.eu.int/climate_report _2_2004/en http://reports.eea.eu.int/environmental_ issue_report_2004_38/en      Background:

° European Commission publishes report on the progress of pilot studies on waste statistics: This relates to Article 4(3) and Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2002 on waste statistics Full Text

° Environmental cases: Italy has failed to transpose EU directive on pollutants discharged into air by large combustion plants (Directive 2001/80/CE): judgement (C-99/04) Full text of this Judgment

U.K. disputes national allocation plan for greenhouse gas emission allowances - Case Filing T-143/05 Official Journal publication of the filing.   

Case against Italy for failing to introduce trading scheme for greenhouse gas allowances - Case Filing C-122/05: Commission v Italy (OJ link) Official Journal publication of the filing The time-limit for complying with Directive 2003/87/EC and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC expired on 31 December 2003.   Case against Italy for failing to transpose law on hazardous waste and landfills - Case Filing C-135/05: Court's notice for the OJ Italy has been ordered to pay costs for failing to fulfil its obligations under Articles 4, 8 and 9 of Council Directive 75/442/EEC (1) on waste, as amended by Directive 91/156/EEC, (2) under Article 2(1) of Council Directive 91/689/EEC (3) on hazardous waste and Article 14(a), (b) and (c) of Council Directive 1999/31/EC (4) on the landfill of waste.

Netherlands has been ordered to pay costs for failing to introduce water policy (Directive 2000/60/EC) fully - Case Filing C-147/05: Court notice for the OJ The period for implementing the directive in national law expired on 22 December 2003.

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

For rulings by the European Court of Justice see http://curia.eu.int/en/content/juris/index.htm

ENERGY:

° Revised Draft Directive on Energy End-Use Efficiency and Energy Services  The following version of the draft Directive includes amendments following Energy Working Party meetings on 24^th May 2005

TRANSPORT:

° The trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) has been allocated some €15 million: These financing decisions constitute the last instalment of the total of €625 million available under the 2004 budget. The Commission adopted nine decisions granting aid to projects of common interest in the TEN-T totalling €14.818 million, around half of which is to set up a harmonised road traffic management system linking the five new Member States of Central Europe with the rest of Europe. http://europa.eu.int/comm/ten/transport/actions/index_en.htm

EU financial support to complete the TEN-T is aimed mainly at the 30 infrastructure projects declared to be of European interest by Parliament and Council on 29th April 2004 (Decision No 884/2004/EC).

Commission proposal for financial support (i.e. to allocate €20.690 billion to the trans-European network budget for 2007-2013) is outlined in a 2004 Communication: (COM/2004/475).

Loetschberg tunnel progress sees start of shift from Road to Rail in Alps: The 34km long tunnel, due for completion in 2007, runs from Germany to northern Italy.  It is the longest tunnel in the Alps and third-longest in the world. The Swiss rail tunnel project includes a second, parallel tunnel, due for completion in 2015. The second rail route, the Gotthard rail tunnel, will measure 60km - making it the longest in the world - and will cut the travel time from Zurich to Milan down to only two-and-a-half hours. The combined project cost has exceeded budget - it is around USD 13 billion.  The deaths of 11 construction workers to date have also raised safety questions.

Reference point: Energy and Transport DG   

INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCING:

° European Investment Bank  

° The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending EUR 40 million to the Russian Federation for the completion of the St Petersburg Flood Protection Barrier.  This is the EIB’s first sovereign loan to the Russian Federation, and its third loan for projects in Russia.  The project is co-financed by the EBRD and the Nordic Investment Bank as well as Russian Federation national budget funds. Support also comes from the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP).

° EIB has agreed loans of EUR 157 million for transport infrastructure and projects of SMEs and municipalities in Hungary.  This will include construction of the Budapest Ring Road M0, the rehabilitation of the railway line connecting Budapest with the border to Romania and for the financing of smaller projects mainly implemented by SME's and municipalities by means of EIB Global Loans extended to OTP Bank and MKB Bank.

° U.K.: The European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union’s long-term financing institution, is lending GBP 100 million (EUR 145m) for the extension of Docklands Light Railway. This project will provide a new transport link across the River Thames, connecting North Woolwich to Woolwich Arsenal in South London. The project will take the form of a Public Private Partnership (PPP).

° The EIB loan will co-finance the redevelopment of the Freeman Hospital and the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K., which is an Objective 2 Regional Development Area.  This PPP project is part of the UK government’s Private Finance Initiative.  Financing will come from a combination of GBP 238 million senior bonds and GBP 115 million-loan facility provided by EIB.

° The EIB is lending Euro 150 million to Lyons, France, for the modernisation of the drinking water supply system and of the Lyons area wastewater treatment system.   

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

° The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development  

° The EBRD held its Annual Meeting in Belgrade in May 2005.  Infrastructure discussions formed part of the event.  In a discussion between seven Mayors, most of the mayors said they consider public-private partnerships as the only way to meet their citizens’ and businesses’ infrastructure needs. Such partnerships can be structured in many different ways but involve the private sector building and/or maintaining public goods such as water systems. “Money is not the issue, good projects are the issue,” said Slavko Kojic, Zagreb’s treausurer. “Good projects will always find funding.”

(For more information on the EBRD, please see this month’s Annexe).

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

° Europe Direct information network replaces Info-Points Europe and the Carrefours, which previously served the information needs of people in the EU-15.  It offers a range of free publications, brochures and guides on: how the EU institutions work; the Treaties that underpin it; the laws which it makes and implements with national governments; its main common policies (on farming, fisheries, trade and competition);  schemes and programmes in other areas such as jobs, research, education, health, the environment and equal opportunities; funding opportunities for businesses and organisations + freephone access to the EUROPE DIRECT call centre on 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11;   Web and e-mail assistance are made available on http://europa.eu.int/europedirect/

° In May the currencies of Cyprus, Latvia and Malta were included in the Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II). They follow Estonia, Lithuania and Slovenia, which became members of ERM II on 28 June 2004, as well as Denmark, a long-standing member.  For more information http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/publications/european_economy/convergencereports2004_en.htm

The European Parliament held a plenary session on 9th – 12th May 2005 in Strasbourg.  A further plenary was held in Brussels on 25th-26th May.  

Highlights included:

* Working Time Directive (1st reading)

* Bathing Water Directive (2nd reading)

* Recognition of qualifications (2nd reading Directive)

The main issues being debated on the Working Time Directive were: The opt-out from the 48-hour week limit; The reference period for calculating the 48-hour average;  The definition of 'on-call' time;  Ensuring that workers who have more than one job are covered.

The Bathing Water Directive proposal relates to updating the 1976 Bathing Water Directive whose impact on coastal bathing waters is well known. MEPs discussed amendments to the proposal including:  Reducing the 2011 deadline for achieving "good" quality water status; deletion of a new category of "sufficient" quality;  whether to differentiate between coastal and inland waters; how to deal with emergencies such as floods, accidents;  what system of symbols to make available to the public to indicate water quality.

RECOGNITION OF QUALIFICATIONS:  There was a second reading on proposed changes to the rules on mutual recognition of professional diplomas whose aim is to make it easier for professionals to provide services in another EU Member State (affected sectors are listed in the annexes to the proposal). At committee stage MEPs adopted over 30 amendments and sought to give host countries greater powers to check qualifications before allowing individuals to practise. Amendments cover a range of issues, including: the role of professional bodies; the number of levels of training to be recognized; the type of documents to be provided for evidence of experience.

During its second May  plenary session, held in Brussels, highlights of the European Parliament agenda included:

* Food labelling - healthy food claims (1st reading);

* Money laundering directive (1st reading);

* Safety belts (2nd reading - package of legislation).

Some reports of interest include:

·    Report on the Council common position for adopting a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the management of bathing water quality and repealing Directive 76/160/EEC, Jules Maaten MEP (Ref: A6-0102/2005)

·    Report on the Council common position for adopting a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the recognition of professional qualifications (Ref: A6-0119/2005) Rapporteur: Stefano Zappala MEP

·    Report on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning measures to safeguard security of electricity supply and infrastructure investment, Rapporteur Giles Chichester MEP Ref: (COM(2003)0740) Doc.: A6-0099/2005

° Advantages for Real Estate and Construction Sector, Helsinki, 13^th - 16^th June 2005

The 11^th Joint CIB International symposium aims to put modern construction management and economics into a perspective of modern real estate and construction businesses and projects.  Topics of interest include the evolving sector, firms and their businesses, projects and processes, IT and construction processes, Foundations of our thinking and practice. The call for Papers will be available in October 2003.Symposium web-site: www.ril.fi/cib2005  Tentative registration: kaisa.venalainen@ril.fi

° Inaugural Building Exchange (BEX) to be held in Athens on June 13 to 15, 2005

The keynote address at this 2 ½ day event will be given by Reinhard Klein, Head of the European Commission Construction Unit in D.G. Enterprise. BEX offers senior directors and heads of projects from leading builders, engineering consultants, architectural practices and suppliers the opportunity to meet, exchange ideas and to do business. Information/Registration: http://www.b-e-x.com

° AECEF symposium " Civil Engineering in the next Decade", Helsinki on 15^th -17^th June 2005

The Association of European Civil Engineering Faculties is holding its Fifth International Symposium on the theme of civil engineering in the next decade  - focusing on strategies for education, research, innovation and practice.  Further information is available on the symposium web-site: http://www.hut.fi/Units/Bridge/AECEF/

° IABSE Symposium “Structures and Extreme Events”, Lisbon, 14^th-16th September 2005 

The International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering.  There is a March 15^th 2005 deadline for receipt of papers for the Symposium. Symposium themes will be: Natural disasters, man-made events (fire, explosions, impacts, etc.) and human errors (mismanagement, design mistakes, defective material, equipment malfunction, etc.) Contact: IABSE Lisbon 2005, Organising Committee, c/o LNEC, Ave. Brasil 101, 1700-066 Lisbon, Portugal | Tel: +351 21 844 3260| Fax: +351 21 844 3025 | Email: iabse.lisbon2005@lnec.pt | www.iabse.org/conferences/lisbon2005

° Communicating European Research 2005, International Conference, Brussels, 14-15 November 2005 the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research will host the second "Communicating European Research" conference. The event will focus on the manifold aspects of science communication and will provide a forum and meeting place for scientists, communication professionals and journalists. The conference will also take stock of the way towards the Seventh Framework Programme. The first announcement of the conference is now available.

Information on the Calls for Proposals for the Exhibition and Forum is now available.

° BETON 2006 Ready Mixed Concrete Congress, Istanbul, Turkey, April 2006

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