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ENERGY:  

° Commission proposes to reinforce the transparency of planned investments in nuclear installations with a view to enhance inter alia safety and security  The package of measures put forward will not only introduce a common approach to the safety and security of nuclear installations but also greater transparency.  The Commission has already examined 240 investment projects for which it has checked both their merits and compatibility with the Treaty. The draft Council regulation now proposed would ensure stricter control by the Commission of all relevant security and safety rules and notably those proposed in the 6th December 2002 package of nuclear measures http://europa.eu.int/comm/energy/nuclear/index_en.html http://http://europa.eu.int/comm/energy/nuclear/index_en.html

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY:  

° First call for proposals under the information society technologies (IST) section of FP6 - overview of requests The Commission’s first call generated requests for over 7.5 billion euro of EU funding, seven times the amount available for the call.  73 per cent of proposals fell short of the Commission's evaluation criteria.  The funding requested by the 27 per cent of consortia that did fulfil the necessary requirements still amounted to over 2.3 billion euro. The Commission has now begun discussions with 220 of the 375 consortia that made the grade in order to begin allocating the 1.07 billion euro available under the first call.  Of the 1,396 proposals received: over a third related to the new instruments: 325 (23 per cent) to integrated projects; 161 (12 per cent) to networks of excellence. The largest proportion of proposals i.e. 727 (52 per cent), related to the smaller scale specific targeted research projects. 87 countries were involved in the first call, For further information on IST calls http://fp6.cordis.lu/fp6/calls_activity. cfm?ID_ACTIVITY=124

TRANSPORT:

° ‘Ecopoints’ - Parliament rejected Council’s common position on a transitional transit system for heavy goods vehicles travelling through Austria for 2004 MEPs take the view that the system of ecopoints is the wrong solution to solve the Alpine environment problem.  They believe the system should only apply to transit traffic through the Austrian Alps and not Austria as a whole, as the Council wants.  MEPs take the view that the ecopoint system restricts free movement of goods by regulating the traffic volume.  According to the case law of the Court of Justice, such a situation was only justifiable when a major general interest was involved.  A solution for the Alps should be sought in a wider context: e.g. use of intermodal transport and also short-sea shipping.

° European Commission approves directive introducing a Europe-wide system of tolls for trailer trucks: Transport companies will thus have to shoulder a greater share of highway management costs, which will also be spread out more equally between different countries.  Passenger coaches will be exempt from the toll, which will only be applied to commercial vehicles using European highways running north-south and east-west.  These connections are at the centre of the growth and development plan launched by the Italian government and the European Commission.  Individual member states will calculate their own toll rates on the basis of various costs, including construction, maintenance, and management of environmental pollution, accidents not covered by insurance and particularly heavy traffic.

° Expert Group on Accidents in the Transport Sector: An expert group has been set up to advise the Commission on the need to improve existing legislation, and, where necessary, to propose new initiatives for all modes of transport, including transport of energy (oil and gas pipelines), but excluding occupational health and safety aspects. Commission Decision published in the OJ L 144 of 12/06/2003, p. 10.

° Progress on Railway Safety Directive and on establishing a European Railway Agency: A ‘common position’ adopted by the Council on 25th June 2003 has now been published with a view to adoption of the Directive on safety on the Community’s railways; this amends Council Directive 95/18/EC on licensing of railway undertakings and Directive 2001’14/EC on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and levying of charges for railway infrastructure use and safety certification.  (Web-site: http://register.consilium.eu.int).  A text has also been finalised with a view to adoption of a European Regulation establishing a European Railways Agency.

° Road Safety - coach safety: The European Parliament has called on the Commission to present a legislative proposal on the obligation for coach passengers to wear seat belts, and, more generally, on appropriate coach construction as soon as possible. MEPs ask the Commission to present proposal to facilitate exchanges in best practice between Member States regarding areas such as railway level crossings at major roads, and more generally, concerning suitable road conditions and appropriate road design.  MEPs also urged Member States to accelerate transposition of provisions of the directive on speed limitation devices (2002/285/CE) into national law as a further measure to increase road safety.

° Paris reintroduces the tram: Work has begun on the Tramway de Marechaux Sud project, the first new tramway to be built in central Paris for over 60 years.  It is estimated that the controversial project, which involved chopping down some 75 trees on a city avenue, should take up to 28 million passengers when the service opens in 2006:http://www.mairie13.paris.fr/mairie13/jsp/Portail.jsp?id_article=3371&id_rubrique=615

° Germany introduces new road toll system: Germany has notified the Commission of its intention to introduce a new system applicable to heavy good vehicles on German motorways.  The Commission will verify that the system is compatible with Community law (in particular Directive 1999/62/EC of 17.06.99).

° Opening up rail freight to competition: The Council of Ministers has agreed on the date of 1 January 2006 to open up international freight services to competition, but has disagreed with Parliament in opting for 1 January 2008 for opening up domestic freight services.  (Ref: Proposal for a Directive …amending Council Directive 91/440/EEC).  The Council has introduced a provision stating that no later than 1 January 2007, the Commission should put forward a report on the implementation and impact of opening up the rail market.

° Breach in Motorway tender: The Commission has decided to send Italy a reasoned opinion on the award procedures applied for the construction and management of the Valtrompia and the "Pedemontana Veneta Ovest" motorways. The competent authority in Italy for granting of national-level motorway concessions (ANAS - a body governed by public law) awarded a concession for the construction and management of the motorways in question by means of a direct agreement without prior competition at Community level. 

In the course of July the European Commission brought or continued infringement proceedings against Ireland, Italy, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Belgium for various contracts considered by Brussels to breach EU internal market laws on public contracts.

° Commission proposal on transport infrastructure charging policy: A Proposal adopted by the Commission on 23rd July on alignment of the national systems of tolls and of user charges for infrastructure use on common principles (COM(2003)488)  proposal for a directive gives Member States the possibility of varying tolls according to a number of factors: Distance travelled; place: (i.e. urban/ rural areas, population density, seasonal conditions etc); infrastructure type and speed; vehicle characteristics.  The proposal for a directive envisages requiring Member States to vary tolls on different roads in the network from July 2008.  When Europe’s Galileo system is  taken into service in a few years’ time, it is envisaged it will help Member States to introduce charging scales that are sufficiently sophisticated to price transport operations according to time and place and so better reflect their costs at the point of use. http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/infr -charging/charging_en.html

INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCING

° The European Investment Bank has expressed its support to Italian EU presidency calls for investment in EU transport and research to boost growth.  EIB President, Philippe Maystad, announced that €50 billion in direct loans has already been agreed.  Draft plans to combine public and private funding with EIB funds to boost EU growth by means of investment in trans-European transport networks and research & development projects should be presented to Europe’s finance ministers in November.

European Investment Bank lending:

-          A Euro 131 million loan is being granted to Romania for rehabilitation and furnishing of about 1 400 pre-university schools all over the country.   The project marks the second phase of a rehabilitation programme of pre-university schools in Romania.  The first phase, co-financed by the World Bank and the Council of Europe Development Bank was launched in 1997 and covered 1,200 schools,

-          The EIB is granting a USD 45 million long-term loan in support of the educational component of the "Plan for Social and Economic Transformation" (PSET) of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, due to be implemented between July 2003 and July 2008.

-          The EIB has signed the first EUR 100 million tranche of a total EUR 200 million loan to support the Municipality of Rome's investment in urban regeneration.  This will include construction of 160 new schools (including 140 classrooms for pre-school education) and 800 extensions and rehabilitation of 340 existing buildings;

-          The European Investment Bank is contributing a loan of EUR 300 million towards financing construction of Spain’s Radial 3 and Radial 5 motorways and the western section of the M-50 Madrid ring road.

° The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

-          EBRD projects.

-          The EBRD is lending Russia USD 290 million to build key sections of major new roads in St. Petersburg and Far East Russia.  The official borrower is the Russian Federation, the project will be implemented by the State Road Administration, Rosavtodor which is responsible for construction of the two roads, the St. Petersburg by-pass and the 2,165km Chita-Khavarovsk road in the Russian Far East.   In September 2002 the EBRD lent Russia USD 229 million to finance construction of other sections of these roads which will allow heavy traffic to avoid the centre of St Peterburg and create the first all-weather road links to the Russian Far East.

-          Further Information: http://www.ebrd.org

° Soil CIRCA: Library and Discussion Forum, the electronic soil library, has been on-line since end of June 2003. Visit the CIRCA http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/soil/index.htm#6 site for full detail on the development of the EU Soil Policy and the activities and contribution of dedicated groups and other stakeholders. (click in the link "Soil CIRCA", then click in the LIBRARY tab)

° The Sapir report, commissioned by Commission President Romano Prodi in 2002 has now been published: Brussels was urged to relax the rules governing the single currency, scrap the CAP and regional funds and spend almost half its €100bn budget on research, education and infrastructure. Commission President Romano Prodi, who commissioned the report, has refused to comment on the findings

Reports of potential interest to professional civil engineers and to the construction sector:

Key at present for the construction sector are those relating to public procurement:

• Report on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council regulation relating to the protection of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users in the event of a collision with a motor vehicle (amending Directive 70/156/EC) Rapporteur: Herman VERMEER MEP Doc. Ref: A5-0223/2003
• Report on the Council common position for adopting a European Parliament and Council regulation on the granting of Community financial assistance to improve the environmental performance of the freight transport system (“Marco Polo programme”).  Rapporteur:  Philip Charles Bradbourn MEP  Doc. Ref.: A5-0220/2003

° FP6 proposal writing and consortium agreements, Cambridge, U.K., 12th and 16th September

The workshops on proposal writing will explain how to present a proposal to the Commission to meet evaluation criteria and Commission objectives.  The workshop on consortium agreements will provide a detailed overview of the Commission’s model contract, including an introduction to the framework for decision-making and describing options for dealing with intellectual property and financial management.

Further information from: Sue Greig, Singleimage  TEL: +44 1480 497712

FP6 information day on 'sustainable development, global change and ecosystems', Paris, France, 18th September

The information day on priority six 'sustainable development, global change and ecosystems' of FP6 aims to discuss the areas covered in the calls for proposals currently open for this thematic priority. It will also provide a more general overview of the funding opportunities and new instruments for FP6, as well as steps involved in the project proposal and evaluation procedures. Further information available from: http://www.ademe.fr/pcrd/6PCRD/Formation .htm

° Conference on the role of science in policy-making, Brussels, 16th October 2003

The conference is aimed at environment and health stakeholders, environmental journalists, policy makers and science communicators. Subject will include: science in environment and health policy debates, state of communication between scientists and non-specialists, role of scientists in society, media and decision-making, evolving nature of environmental debates. http://www.greenfactsfoundation.org/conference/index.htm

° Steel Structures and Bridges 2003, Prague, 17th - 20th September 2003  

The 20th Czech and Slovak National Conference will look at newly built structures and bridges; production, erection, quality, needs, standards; design, theoretical and experimental research; diagnostics, maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, corrosion protection and fire design.  Call for papers to 15th June 2003. Information from: http://www.fsv.cvut.cz/OK2003  e-mail: studnicka@fsv.cvut.cz

° Eighth International Conference on environmental science and technology, Lemnos, Greece, 8th-10th September 2003

The conference will present research results and technical developments relating to a wide range of environmental problems including water resource management, solid waste management and recycling, liquid waste treatment, life-cycle management). The conference is organised by the global network of environmental science and technology (GNEST) and the department of environmental studies at the University of the Aegean http://www.gnest.org/cest/8CEST_draft_program.pdf

° Training course on administrative and contractual aspects of FP6, Rome, 18th and 19th September

The Italian agency for the promotion of research (APRE) is organising a training course on administrative and contractual aspects of the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6).  The course’s objective is to guide potential project proposers through the different administrative, accountancy and financial phases of project management.  Specifically it will help them prepare draft budgets and compile negotiation and inventory forms.  The course is open to universities, public institutions, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and research centres. Further information: http://www.apre.it/serviziapre/forma/cor so.asp?id=17

° “Construction research in an enlarged European Union”, Warsaw, Poland, 6th and 7th November

This workshop event aims to generate collaborative partnerships between researchers from Member States and Associated States in the field of construction research. The programme includes keynote presentations by representatives from the European Commission, Member States and Associated States, as well as industry leaders and experts in the field of construction research.

The event is being organised by the  E-Core thematic network, funded under the Fifth Framework Programme's Growth Programme. http://www.e-core.org/frames/index_works hops_oct03.html

° Integrated Lifetime Engineering of Buildings and Civil Infrastructures, Kuopio, Finland, 1st to 3rd   December 2003

Symposium themes will be: 1. Ownership planning and management of investments, 2. Integrated life-cycle design, 3. Lifetime management systems  4.  Integration and design of management processes, 5.   Data for life-time design and management, 6. Norms, standards and guidelines, 7. Best practices in applying life-cycle design and management.  Registration and further information may be obtained from http://www.ril.fi/ILCDES2003 or by e-mail to kaisa.venalainen@ril.fi