Monitoring European Issues PRGN - October-November 2007

CONTENTS

- Institutions
- Competition
- Energy
- Transport
- Environment
- Telecommunications
- Health
- Trade
- EU/ Russia, China

EU SUMMIT: LEADERS STRIKE TREATY DEAL
European leaders on 18 October reached a deal on a new 'Reform Treaty'. Poland managed to include the Ioannina clause. This allows for a minority to delay key decisions taken by qualified majority in the Council. Several names are already being floated as possible candidates for the European Union's first-ever president - among them Tony Blair. On 13 December, the new EU Treaty will be formally signed by heads of state and governments in Lisbon.

EU ANTI-DUMPING REFORM CRITICISED
Trade commissioner Peter Mandelson's efforts to reform the EU's anti-dumping rules have been criticised by a number of European companies. They are concerned that the rule change will undermine European business and have called on Commission President José Manuel Barroso to fight their cause.

ANTITRUST: INTRODUCE SETTLEMENT PROCEDURE FOR CARTELS
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on a package designed to allow for settlements of cartel cases where the parties not only acknowledge their involvement in the cartel and their liability for it, but also agree to a faster and simplified procedure.

ANTITRUST: SKYTEAM AIRLINE ALLIANCE UNDER SCRUTINY
The Commission has invited comments from parties on commitments proposed by eight members of the SkyTeam airline alliance, Aeromexico, Alitalia, CSA Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, KLM, Korean Air, Northwest Airlines, and Air France. The Commission is concerned that the cooperation in passenger air transport services between these members may have negative effects for passengers on routes where the airlines enjoy a strong market position and where barriers to entry are significant.

MICROSOFT IN COMPLIANCE WITH EU RULING AFTER NINE YEARS
Microsoft has conceded defeat in the antitrust row that has split them and the Commission since 1998, accepting full compliance with the terms of a 2004 ruling allowing competitors access to information needed to build software compatible with its predominant Windows operating system. Microsoft will now make this information available, with licensing terms that allow every recipient of the resulting software to copy, modify and redistribute it in accordance with the open source business model.

ENERGY

BRUSSELS AND US DEAL WILL BRING HUGE EXPANSION IN BIO DIESEL
The EU and the US are expected early next month to agree international standards for trading bio fuels that could see a huge expansion in the global market for alternative sources of power.

EXPERTS TO LOCK HORNS OVER EU ENERGY MARKET REFORM
Brussels and Moscow have agreed to set up a group of experts to discuss the proposed reform of the EU energy market, including a highly-controversial set of restrictive measures on foreign energy bidders known as the 'Gazprom clause'.

TRANSPORT

AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT: STEP TOWARDS THE SINGLE EUROPEAN SKY
The European Commission adopted new rules for more interoperability between air traffic management (ATM) systems in Europe. This aims to set common technical and procedural rules and thereby remove barriers to the harmonised use of ATM systems.

EU ROW DELAYS PLANS TO CUT GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
A row among European governments has forced the EU to postpone ambitious plans for tackling climate change before a crucial UN conference on the issue in Bali in early December.

EU SEEKS TO SHIFT FREIGHT TO RAIL AND SHIPPING
The Commission has presented plans aimed at making freight transport in the EU more efficient. The Freight Transport Logistics Action Plan places a key focus on measures to facilitate the use of several transport modes in one trip - co-modality - by improving connections between the different modes, investing in modern trans-shipment hubs, establishing common standards on loading units and creating a single transport document for all carriage of goods.

MEPs BACK CUTS IN CARS' CO2 EMISSIONS
A report adopted by the European Parliament calls for legislation to cap average emissions from all new passenger cars at 125g CO2/km as of 2015. MEPs proposed that binding annual emissions targets be set with effect from 2011.

ENVIRONMENT

EU FINALISES PLANS FOR UN CLIMATE CONFERENCE IN BALI
On 30 October, EU environment ministers approved a resolution on climate change that confirms the Union's hopes that international climate talks in Bali from 3-14 December will lead to commitments from all developed countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2020, compared to 1990 levels.

EU STATES JOIN GLOBAL CARBON MARKET EMBRYO
A small number of European states have joined up with US and Canadian regional cap-and-trade initiatives to share information about emissions trading systems.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION TO TACKLE EUROPE'S BROADBAND DIVIDE
A package of proposals to reform the EU's telecommunication rules, due on 13 November 2007, will include measures to boost competition in Europe's broadband markets in order to increase the number of subscribers in new member states. According to a report published by the Commission on 15 October, the number of broadband lines in the EU increased by 28.7% between July 2006 and July 2007.

REGULATORS AND EU AGREE OVER SPLITTING TELECOM COMPANIES
Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding is determined to introduce functional separation as a "last-resort remedy" in telecoms liberalisation. She is also calling for the Commission's transformation into a European Regulatory Authority. On 13 November, the Commission will publish proposals for review of the telecoms regulatory package.

HEALTH

TOGETHER FOR HEALTH - A STRATEGIC APPROACH FOR THE EU, 2008-2013
The European Commission adopted a Health Strategy setting out the direction for Community Health action in the years to come. The white paper, "Together for Health - A Strategic Approach for the EU, 2008-2013" establishes a broad cross-policy framework to respond to a wide range of health challenges in a comprehensive and coherent way.

EU MINISTERS GIVE FINAL NOD TO CONTROVERSIAL GENE THERAPIES
EU environment ministers have given their final approval to the bloc's guidelines on the development of gene therapies, leaving it up to member states to decide whether to ban research on human embryonic cells on ethical grounds.

TRADE

EU SEEKS GLOBAL ANTI-COUNTERFEITING PACT
The Commission wants member states to give it a mandate to negotiate a new agreement with its major trading partners, aimed at raising the standard of global intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and tackling the rising and increasingly problematic trade in counterfeit goods.

BRUSSELS WINS FINAL SAY OVER CONTROVERSIAL GMO CORN
EU governments have failed to agree whether Austria may keep in place its ban on genetically modified corn - something considered illegal by the WTO. The EU bloc has to come to a decision by 21 November if it wants to escape sanctions from WTO.

EU / RUSSIA/CHINA

NO BREAKTHROUGHS IN EU-RUSSIA TALKS
High-level talks between the EU and Russia in Mafra, Portugal, on 26 October, failed to yield any progress on the most contentious issues in the relationship, including Russia's outrage at EU energy liberalisation plans and a political row over Russia's ban on imports of meat from Poland, which is blocking the conclusion of a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement.

EU TRADE CHIEF CALLS FOR AGGRESSIVE ACTION AGAINST CHINA
Admitting that dialogue and cooperation with Beijing have failed to secure concessions for Europe, the EU's top trade official has called for more aggressive action - in line with the US -to hit back at Beijing. In a document filled with criticism of what he terms the "Chinese juggernaut," Peter Mandelson, the European trade commissioner, said the EU should align policy more closely with Washington and be more ready to take cases against China to the World Trade Organization.

For full report contact Camilla Englund at Coast Communications.