New in July: Danish Presidency commences

PRESIDENCY ACTIVITIES:

Denmark took over the EU Presidency on 1^st July in what has been cited as “the most challenging EU presidency in years”.  It is also considered that the Danes will have to put enlargement as the first, second and third of their priorities for their six month Presidency tenure.  The challenge Denmark faces is that of finalising enlargement talks in time for the European Council meeting on 12^th and 13^th December 2002.

Work began in July on the first reading for the 2003 budget proposed by the Commission.  Particular focus is placed on administrative costs in 2003; whilst in 2003 EU institutions are being prepared for enlargement, overall expenditure must remain within the budget framework set out in the Agenda 2000 Agreement adopted in Berlin in 1999.

At its meeting in Seville on 21-22 June 2002, the European Council decided to reduced the number of Council political areas or ‘constellations’ from 16 to 9.  The current areas are: General Affairs; Agriculture; Economy and Finance; Environment; Transport and Telecommunications; Employment and Social Policy; Fisheries; Industry and Energy; Justice, Home Affairs and Civil Protection; Internal Market, Consumer Affairs and Tourism; Research; Budget; Culture; Development; Education and Youth; Health.  This will be reflected in the Presidency web-site later in the year.  Presidency web-site details: www.eu2002.dk

Presidency News: In environmental terms a key theme for the Danish Presidency is the World Summit on Sustainable Developing taking place in Johannesburg from 26^th August to 4^th September 2002 – the follow up will be of high importance.  Denmark is working to achieve ratification of Kyoto Protocol by non-EU countries as well as EU and Member States.  It is expected that the Danish Presidency will be working towards a global deal which will contribute to progress on the economic, social and environmental dimensions of this policy.  To implement a Sustainable Development Strategy, environmental indicators will be assessed and revised, and work will continue into integrating environmental policy into other policies.  Denmark has put emissions trading high on its agenda and is also working on adoption of framework legislation to strengthen use and emission of substances hazardous to human health.  This builds on the earlier “White Paper on a Future Strategy for Chemicals” (COM(2001)88).  The Danish ambition of finalising the EU’s environmental liability regime is unlikely to reach fruition however as disagreement between Member States is still rife and the European Parliament’s process still in its early stages. (Information on the Economic and Social Committee’s view is set out below). 

Further information on the World Summit on Sustainable Development may be found on: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/wssd

In research terms, actions will reflect current European research policy areas: The European Research Area; Benchmarking; Framework programmes which should now contribute to increased integration and closer co-ordination of total European research.

NEWS ITEMS FROM THE EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS:

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT:

Research:  A report from the Institute of prospective studies suggests that too heavy a concentration of excellence in research funding could reduce diversity of both subjects covered and type of researchers working on projects.  “Space needs to be created for ambitions research... that does not fit inside the bounds of traditional disciplines and does not appear to fit conventional models of excellence” say the authors.  Further information may be obtained from IPTS Secretariat, JRC Sevilla, Edificio Expo WTC, c/Inca Garcilaso s/n, E-41093 SPAIN TEL: +34.95.4488297 FAX: +34.95.4488293 e-mail ipts_secr@jrc.es http://www.jrc.es

The European Commission has issued a guide which outlines opportunities in 6^th Framework Programme to support co-operation in identifying promising future trends in Europe’s science and technology.  Technology foresight may provide strategic information for decision-making and act as a tool to raise awareness and create consensus on the way ahead.  http://www.cordis.lu/rtd2002/foresight/home.html

EDUCATION:

The European Commission is encouraging an international exchange of students throughout the world through a new programme “Erasmus World” which will run from 2004-2008 with a budget of Euro 200 million.  The programme will include 250 European Masters programmes and thousands of student bursaries.

The ENVIRONMENT:

Soil protection programme: The Commission published a Communication « Towards a thematic strategy for soil protection” (Ref: COMM(2002)179 of 16 April 2002) The Council of Ministers has now published the conclusions it adopted on integrated soil protection on 25^th June 2002.  It has asked the Commission to bring forward the Thematic Strategy as soon as possible before July 2004.  A Commission Communication will be published in 2003.

The European Environment Agency has issued (31^st July 2002) the first results of a research project dedicated to measuring and assessing urban dynamics through the creation of a research project which measures and assesses urban dynamics through the creation of land use databases for 25 cities and urban areas within Europe.  The joint publication of the EEA and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre describes the MURBANDY/MOLAND (Monitoring Urban Dynamics/Monitoring Land Use Changes) project in an attempt to fill the gap in existing lack of reliable spatial data and to offer new points of view.    Dtabases have been produced for four dates over the past 50 years.  Summary outlines and full report may be obtained on: http://eea.europa.int    

Environmental liability: On 18^th July the European Economic and Social Committee adopted an opinion on Environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environment damage (Rapporteur: Mrs Sanchez Miguel, Workers, Spain).  It proposes a number of ideas on the proposal’s content such as suggesting that the Commission should consider the need to supplement international laws, since rules on environmental liability based on the existence of international treaties are not applies and as many sectoral treaties have either not entered into force or have not been ratified by the majority of EU Member States.  It also considered that the Commission should give more precise definitions of risks involved to enable insurance companies to write the necessary policies since repair of damage may be hindered by operator insolvency.  The report may be found on: http://www.esc.eu.int

The Support Fund of the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP) was launched in Brussels on 9th July at a Pledging Conference which raised Euro 110 million.  The Fund aims to tackle environmental and nuclear waste problems in Northern Europe and is considered an important step within the G8 Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction.  The NDEP Steering Group (EC, Russia, EBRD, Nordic Investment Bank, EIB and World Bank) has agreed on 12 priority projects with a total value of Euro 1.3 billion.  In subsequent press articles, Russia suggested that the package will have a negligible impact on levels of radioactive pollution.

Environment Minister of 13(Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey) Candidate countries met Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstroem and President of the Environment Council, Hans Christian Schmidt in Brussels on 12^th July.  A the meeting Ministers signed the “El Teide” Declaration, thus committing themselves to taking all necessary measures to halt bio-diversity loss by 2010 (http://europa.eu.int/comm./environment/nature/home.htm)  The meeting noted that the newly enlarged IMPEL network could help follow up on some of the results and it was noted that some candidate countries are not eligible for pre-accession assistance financed by ISPA (a disadvantaged that will need to be taken into account in implementing the programmes under the Structural Funds.

Ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and preparations for the Johannesburg World Summit were on the agenda as was preparatory work for inclusion of candidate countries in the 2003 EU “Synthesis Report” on actions to make Europe the world’s leading knowledge-based society.

Corporate Social Responsibility (‘CSR’) is a new EU strategy to promote business’ contribution to sustainable development.  An EU paper issued on 2^nd July called for the formation of a “European Multi-Stakeholder Environment” to exchange best practice, establish principles for codes of conduct and to seek consensus on objective evaluation methods and validation tools such as ‘social labels’.  The Commission will publish a report on the work of the European Multi-Stakeholder Forum in 2004.  The Commission Communication on the new Commission strategy on CSR can be found on the CSR home page: http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/soc-dial/csr/csr_index.htm

On 9^th July the European Parliament (EP) Environment Committee voted to raise the recycling targets set out in the European Commission’s proposals to revise targets set out in the 1994 Packaging Directive.  Proposals in recent years to amend the Commission’s Directive are consistently subjected to conflicting pressures from industry and environmental groups.  The EP Environment Committee proposes that the Directive be linked to the Sixth Environmental Action Programme and work on the Integrated Product Policy due to be presented by 1^st January 2005.

The European Commission aims to encourage business to engage in environmental agreements at Community level.  It has adopted a Communication on EU level environmental agreements which would include the possibility of agreements in areas in which the EU has not legislated or announced it wishes to legislate.  These actions reflect the Commission’s strategy set out in their recent “Action Plan on the Simplification and Improvement of the Regulatory Environment”.

Bathing Water Directive update: in an earlier Brussels Brief we advised that the Commission was expected to adopt a proposal for a revision of the Bathing Water Directive before August.  There has been no public indication so far for the delay, but we are aware that this Directive has been through a long period of gestation and previously attracted strong criticism over technical standards proposed.  We will keep readers informed as soon as news appears.

It is expected however that the Commission will produce a Proposal for a Groundwater Directive in the autumn of 2002.

On 4^th July Advocate General Alber issued an Opinion on the concept of waste and on the concept of recycling.  (Case Ref: C-444/00 The Queen on the application of Mayer Parry Recyling Ltd. V 1. Environment Agency, 2. Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions))  The conclusion reached was that “Packaging waste made of steel has not already been recycled within the meaning of Art. 3(7) of European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste when it has been rendered suitable for use as a feedstock but has been recycled only when it has been used by a steelmaker so as to produce ingots, sheets or coils of steel.”  http://curia.eu.int

In July the European Commission announced action against a number of Member States for non-compliance with Environmental Legislation. 1. Due to  non-compliance with E.I.A. Directive on a number of construction projects, UK, France, Italy and Austria now face infringement procedures from the European Commission. These include the motorway ring road round Tours, London’s urban development project at White City and a hazardous waste facility in Brescia.

2. Action against 9 Member States for non-compliance with EU laws on water quality legislation.  Breaches published on 2^nd July were: Portugal: Dangerous Substances Directive, Nitrates Directive, Drinking Water Directive; Spain: Drinking Water Directive, Bathing Water Directive and Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive; Italy: Nitrates Directive; Sweden: Nitrates Directive, Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive; France: Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive; Belgium: Dangerous Substances Directive and Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive; Luxembourg: Dangerous Substances Directive; Netherlands: Dangerous Substances Directive; Greece: Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive.

3. A further action has been noted against Austria which has been requested to comply with regulations on nitrates and water pollution.

4. The European Commission is pursuing infringement procedures against Italy, Ireland, UK (Gibraltar), Greece, Spain and Austria who have not correctly implemented certain EU laws on air quality.

5. The European Commission is pursuing infringement procedures against Italy, Greece and UK (Gibraltar) regarding noise pollution infringements cause by outdoor equipment e.g. concrete mixers, mobile and tower cranes, lawn-mowers etc.  6. The Commission has acted against 10 Member States (France, Finland, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy, UK, Portugal, Netherlands, Sweden) for non-implementation of the Wild Birds and Habitats Directive.

General details on application of Community law may be found on : http://europa.eu.int/comm./secretariat_general/sgb/droit_com/index_en.htm#infractions

ENERGY:

 The Council of Ministers has reviewed the proposal to adopt a multi-annual (2003-2006) programme “Intelligent Energy in Europe” The current Energy Framework Programme expires at the end of 2002.  The Council wish to see links with the Sixth Framework Programme, co-ordination with existing energy projects, evaluation of the current programmes.  Ministers in the Council did not agree on the total proposed budget (Euro 215 million for the entire period).  Many of the Council’s views are shared by the European Parliament whose rapporteur on the subject is UK MEP Eryl McNally.

On 29^th July the Presidency of the EU issued delegations with a new Presidency compromise text for the Proposed Directive on the energy performance of buildings.  The Presidency text was prepared with a view to reaching final agreement at their next meeting.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY:

eEurope : On 31^st July the Commission published a speech on Legislation and Regulation in the Transatlantic Framework Telecoms and Media given by Herbert Ungerer in Atlanta 17^th June.  He indicated that a common agenda for US and EU will be to recover from the dramatic Internet slump that has turned into a sharp slump for the telecoms sector which is now in deep crisis.  New issues will have to be faced as we move from traditional voice regulation to future issues such as regulation of cable, fibre and mobile.  The agenda for Europe will relate to telecom reform; broadband, which the European Commission wants to use as a growth machine to move Europe out of its telecom depression (e-Europe 2005 plan); and digital television which is proving a more difficult transition than foreseen.

Directive on privacy and electronic communications: The Commission has issued a Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector.

PUBLIC PROCUREMENT:

A contract notice for the implementation of e-Government services has been issued by the European Commission (D.G. Enterprise, Directorate D) and published in OJ No. S133 on Thursday 11 July 2002.  The contract notice appears in TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) and on the ‘ida’ (Interchange of Data between Administrations) web-site: http://europa.eu.int/ISPO/ida/jsps/index.jsp?/fuseAction=home  Also on the IDA  web-site at present is an interview with Philippe Lebaube, Head of Unit at the Commission’s Luxembourg-based Office for Official Publications.  Mr. Lebaube is the author of “Public Procurement on the Internet – what are the trends for the EC” which may be down-loaded from: http://forum.europa.eu.int/public/irc/opoce/eproc/library?/=Ipublic&vm-detailed&sb=Title    Mr Lebaube’s personal view, stated in the article, as that the main obstacles to setting up e-procurement infrastructures are: lack of agreed European standards for exchanging information relating to e-Procurement; prevalence of paper-based procedures, particularly in public bodies; the fact that e-Procurement tools cover only a part of the whole process; e-Procurement classification systems are difficult to use or not known; entry price for starting on an e-Procurement project is still too high, thus excluding smaller awarding authorities/tenderers; lack of harmonised directives for identifying public administrations; lack of agreed and harmonised authentication and security procedures.

Details of the Green Procurement Forum (featured in a supplement to our April Brussels Brief) may now be found on http://www.forum-europe.com  by clicking on “News” The report will be found by clicking on “13 June 2002” and the background document by clicking on “9 April 2002”.

TRANSPORT:

TEN project milestone nears completion: On 26^th July the Germany’s ‘Deutsche Bahn’ opened the new Euro 6 billion 175km. long stretch of high-speed rail connection between Cologne and Frankfurt, part of the Euro 24 billion high-speed rail connection between Paris, Brussels, Cologne/Frankfurt, Amsterdam, London (PBKAL).  The new infrastructure allows a maximum 300 km/h operational speed, reducing journey time between the two cities by 1 ½ hours.  The contributions to the PBKAL from the EU-transport TEN-budget line have reached a total of Euro 700 million since the early 1990s.  The next important milestone on this route will be the completion of the new section Louvain Liege on the Eastern branch of the Belgian part of the PBKAL project at the end of 2002.  More information: http://europa.eu.int/comm./energy_transport/en/lb_en.html

GENERAL:

The European Investment Bank has publicised its environmental funding which totalled Euro 9 billion in 2001.  Within the EU Euro 6 billion was made available in the form of individual loans (around 30% of overall individual lending within the EU).  A further Euro 2 billion was allocated for smaller-scale public environmental projects via global loans.  A key sector was the urban environment: urban public transport networks including the Athens, Barcelona and Lisbon tramways and the Copenhagen, Madrid, Valencia, Toulouse, Porto and Stockholm metros received Euro 1.7 billion.  Over Euro 1.2 billion was granted for urban renewal, in particular social housing projects in Finland, Sweden and the UK and renovation work in Venice.

Loans also covered water and sewerage schemes (Euro 946 million), improving air quality (Euro 846 million), energy saving (Euro 790 million) and energy substitution (Euro 723 million). Euro 143 million was allocated to projects for processing solid and hazardous waste and Euro 94 million to management of natural resources.

·         The European Investment Bank is co-financing the second Chair of Mediterranean Studies to apply to research and teaching in finance and development economics at the European University Institute of Fiesole (Florence).  The grant will be disbursed 2002-2005.  The first Mediterranean Chair (for Law and Political Science) was inaugurated in January 1999.

·         A euro 34 million contract was signed on 23^rd July for the reconstruction of the Sloboda (Liberty) bridge in Novi Sad, the largest of the bridges seriously damaged by NATO action in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) in 1999.  The project will be managed by the European Agency for Reconstruction which manages most EC-funded programmes in FRY. The bridge should open in 2004, and mark completion of the Danube Commission’s EC-funded programme of action to restore full navigation of the river Danube. Further details: Danube Clearance Project: http://www.dunacom.org and European Agency for the Reconstruction http://www.ear.eu.int

·         British and Italian scientists are working on an EU 5^th Framework Programme project TIDE to address Venice’s flooding problem.  The mapping project precedes a further engineering project ‘MOSES’, which begins the construction of a flood barrier designed to prevent further flooding.  In mid-July St. Mark’s Square, Venice, was flooded twice in one week.  It is predicted that sea levels could rise of 18 inches (45cm) this century.

·         European Commission Vice-President and Commissioner Neil Kinnock acknowledged that the European Commission will seek alternatives to moving back into its old Berlaymont headquarters if the price of the building’s renovation proves too costly.

·         In a bid to have its role taken more seriously, the President of the Committee of the Regions has announced he wishes its role to be strengthened.

·         A new system of selecting European Capitals of Culture will commence in 2005 whereby one Member State each year will host the European capital of culture (one city to be selected from a short list put forward by relevant Member State).  A list of Member States has been drawn up for 2005-2019: 2005 Ireland (Cork); 2006 Greece; 2007 Luxembourg; 2008 U.K. etc.  In 2002 capitals are Bruges and Salamanca, 2003 marks the turn of Graz, 2004 Lille and Genoa.

·         A EU funded project called “Parforce”

·         Woman and Science Statistics and Indicators are now published on http://europa.eu.int/comm./dgs/research/index_en.html

NEWS FROM THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT:

The July plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg was held on 1^st – 4^th July .  Subjects under debate included the implementation of the research framework programmes (EP Reports Ref: A5-0203/2002 and 0205/2002 on the EC Framework Programme and the EAEC Framework Programme by MEP Godelieve Quisthoudt-Rowohl) and financial matters (EP Reports Ref: A5-0247/2002 on the Conciliation procedure over the 2003 budget (MEP Goeran Faerm, A5-0246/2002), implementation of the 2002 budget (MEP Guido Podesta, A5-0248/2002 on draft amending budget no. 3/2002).  Wim Duisenberg, President of the European Central Bank presented the bank’s Annual Report on 2^nd July (EP report by MEP Piia-Noora Kauppi on the subject is Ref. A5-0220/2002). 

There was also a joint debate on bio-fuels and the Commission Communication on Corporate Social Responsibility was presented.  On 3^rd July the President-in-Office of the Council of Ministers gave a statement on the programme of the Danish Presidency.

• Spanish MEP Ana Palacio has quit her parliamentary role in July to become Spain’s new Foreign Affairs Minister.
• The Commission has been requested to put a simple and useful system in place to deal with report on implementation of directives on the environment.  Parliamentary rapporteur Caroline Jackson MEP has emphasised that the proposed new member states whose bureaucratic capacity is unknown, have concluded many ‘transition’ arrangements, allowing them to delay implementation of existing EU law,

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