European summit: a new springtime for the EU?

(25.03.2005) Meeting on 22 and 23 March 2005, the Heads of State or Government of the EU’s 25 Member States agreed on a number of key points with the twofold aim of reactivating the European economy and promoting ratification of the draft Constitutional Treaty.
Early in the meeting, the 25 approved – without any amendments – the report on the reform of the Stability and Growth Pact, which had been finalised by the finance ministers two days earlier. It is hoped that the reform, which somewhat relaxes the rules concerning public deficits (and has been met with reservations by the European Central Bank) will make it possible to shift the balance of the Stability Pact towards renewed economic growth by taking into account the general economic situation – as well as the specific situation in individual EU member countries – to a greater extent.
The reform will be accompanied by measures to give new impetus to the Lisbon Strategy by focusing on three objectives: turning knowledge and innovation into the mainspring of growth; ensuring that Europe is attractive for enterprises and workers alike; and gearing growth and employment to social cohesion. In its conclusions, the European Council also underlined that the financial perspective for 2007-2013 will have to provide the Union with adequate funds to carry through the Union’s policies in general, including the policies that contribute to the achievement of the Lisbon priorities.
As regards the draft “Services Directive”, currently under review within the framework of the co-decision procedure, the 25 Member States made a point of emphasising that the proposals will be based on two pillars: the opening up of the services market, on the one hand, and the preservation of the European social model, on the other. The directive will therefore remain in place, but its text will be amended.
Both the presidents of the European Council and the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker and José Manuel Barroso respectively, expressed satisfaction with the effectiveness of the debates and the results obtained. In particular, the Commission welcomed the adoption of the European Youth Pact as one of the instruments contributing to the achievement of the Lisbon objectives, and announced a communication on this subject.
The full text of the Council’s conclusions is available in 11 languages on RAPID (DOC/05/1). Euclide will review the Council’s decisions in more detail in forthcoming issues.

News from the institutions

Europe’s population is ageing

Figures in the Green Paper on Demographic Change, recently published by the Commission, show that by 2030 the EU will lack 20.8 million people of working age. The EU’s fertility rate fell to 1.48 in 2003, below the level needed to replace the population (2.1 children per woman). The paper shows that the EU’s population will fall from 469.5 million in 2025 to 468.7 million by 2030. These factors combined will result in the ageing of the European workforce: From 2005 to 2030 the 15-64 age group will decrease by 6.8%. To offset the loss of working-age people, we will need an employment rate of over 70%.

At the same time as birth rates fall, people will live longer and older people will enjoy better health. By 2030, the number of “older workers” (aged 55 to 64) will have risen by 24 million and the EU will have 34.7 million citizens aged over 80 (compared to 18.8 million today). Average life expectancy at 60 has risen five years since 1960 for women and nearly four years for men. By 2050, the number of people 80+ will have grown by 180%.

These demographic changes have major implications for our prosperity, living standards and relations between the generations as well as for the way businesses operate, how work is organised, urban planning, the design of flats, public transport, voting behaviour and the infrastructure of shopping possibilities in our cities. The new demographic trends partly result from constraints on families’ choices: late access to employment, job instability, expensive housing and lack of incentives (family benefits, parental leave, childcare, equal pay, etc.).

Many of the issues are the responsibility of the Member States but they concern the whole of the EU. The Commission wants to open a debate on how to tackle them and what role the Union should play. Contributions can be sent in electronic format or by post. On 11 July, in Brussels, a European Conference organised by the Commission will bring together experts, high-level policy makers and civil society representatives to discuss the follow-up to the Green Paper. For further information, visit:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/news/2005/mar/demog_gp_en.html

European Parliament advocates a specific fund for Natura 2000

At the June 2001 Gothenburg Summit, the EU’s Heads of State made a commitment to halting biodiversity loss in the EU by 2010. This commitment was reaffirmed at the June Summit in 2004 and forms part of the EU’s commitment to stem losses of global biodiversity. Significant progress has been made in establishing the Natura 2000 network of protected areas through the designation of more than 18,000 sites across the EU. When finalised, the network is expected to cover more than 15% of the EU’s territory with a significant marine component (currently 7.7 million hectares).
A well-designed and adequately financed Natura 2000 network would be instrumental in delivering the 2010 target. However, without adequate financial security, this target will be put at risk. More specifically, a well-managed Natura 2000 network should play an important role in the solution to two current public policy challenges: rural economic decline and the improvement in citizens’ quality of life. Properly managed Natura 2000 sites are mostly multifunctional in nature, helping to promote diversity in often economically remote areas through direct and indirect spending (It is estimated that 125,000 jobs are supported in the EU-15 in nature protection-related activities). Public benefits include high value ecological life support systems such as water purification and flood prevention. Evidence suggests that conservation efforts will help to preserve billions of euros of such assets.
The Commission’s Communication estimates that the Natura 2000 Network will cost €6.1 billion annually. In this context, the European Parliament has called on the Commission to adjust its proposal in respect of the Financial Instrument for the Environment (LIFE+) to include a dedicated biodiversity objective in order to provide funding for the management of Natura 2000 sites complementary to the rural development, structural and fisheries funds. In the event that no earmarked funds for Natura 2000 management are included, the EP has called on the Commission to make a proposal for a dedicated fund for this purpose, which should include a policy to provide information on, and raise public awareness of, nature conservation issues, with the aim of highlighting the development-related, economic and social benefits resulting from the implementation of the proposed measures. For further information, visit: http://www.europarl.eu.int/press/index_publi_en.htm

2005 designated “Year of the Mediterranean”

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Euro-Mediterranean Barcelona Process, it was decided to designate 2005 as the “Year of the Mediterranean”. The regional framework provided by the Barcelona Process is now complemented by the EU’s strategic partnership with the Mediterranean Region and the Middle East, adopted by the European Council in June 2004, as well as by the EU’s new Neighbourhood Policy. On 23 February last, addressing the European Parliament during his introductory contribution to a debate on Euro-Mediterranean relations, European Council President Nicolas Schmit hailed the creation of the Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for Dialogue Between Cultures and expressed the hope that its launch would help strengthen the visibility of the process. He stated that the Barcelona process should both support the resumption of the peace efforts in the Middle East and make the most of those efforts. Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Commissioner responsible for External Relations, also placed the Barcelona process in the context of a possible renewal of the Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking efforts and a political settlement in Lebanon. Furthermore, she announced a Commission communication which will include specific proposals aimed at bringing the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership closer to citizens, as well as initiatives in the areas of employment, gender equality, the free movement of citizens, migration rights and education.

News from the networks

SENSOR: a tool to assess the impact of land use policies

The new EU funded Integrated Project SENSOR IP, aims to provide regional policy makers in Europe with a tool to assess the impact on sustainability of different land use policies. The SENSOR IP project, funded under the 'global change and ecosystems' sub section of the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), brings together 33 partners from 15 countries under the coordination of the Leibniz Association's centre for agricultural land use and landscape research.
The project’s first task will be to translate policies such as the common agricultural policy (CAP), the water framework directive and rural policies into land use scenarios, which will be done using a series of macroeconomic models, as well as sector specific models for agriculture, tourism, forestry, natural protection and transport energy. SENSOR partners will also go to European regions directly to gather the input of stakeholders on how land use policies affect sustainability.
Following the data collection phase, the team will develop a sustainability impact assessment tool (SIAT) that regional authorities will be able to apply to future policies, as well as a data management system that will help to keep the models on which the SIAT is based fully updated. One major element of the project is a specific focus on the newer Member States, where the current domination of agricultural and rural land use is expected to change considerably.
One of the main challenges faced by the partners is to unravel and characterise the interrelations between the various sectoral issues that they wish to address. The success of this multidisciplinary interaction will rely on close interaction with the end users, in this case the policy makers who will use the impact assessment tool. The team hopes to have a prototype developed after 18 months, with a final product ready at the end of the project's four year lifetime. User feedback will be sought at every stage. For more information: http://www.sensor-ip.org

Funding opportunities

Developing telework in France

The French Government has launched – via DATAR (“Délégation à l’aménagement du territoire et à l’action régionale” – Department for town and country planning and regional action) – a call for projects to help create a minimum of 1,000 telework jobs in 100 “telecentres” by 2007. The call is addressed primarily to regional and local authorities who wish to set up or develop a telecentre on their territory, as well as being addressed to associations, companies and government departments that are planning to set up a telecentre for their own needs (on condition that the telecentre is open to other companies and to teleworkers in general). Covering the entire French national territory, the call primarily concerns projects located in rural redevelopment areas, excluding the inner districts of conurbations with more than 200,000 inhabitants. The criteria for project selection are the following: prospects for the creation and expansion of a telecentre; coherence with the development strategy of the relevant areas; effectiveness of the means to be deployed to manage and market the project; and realistic sustainability of the project in the long term. DATAR will be assigning €3 million to the initiative over a three-year period. This call for proposals will remain open until 2007 and will be staggered over the period in question through successive announcements published on the call’s website. The first selection procedure will concern projects submitted by 31 March 2005, with a view to marketing the telecentres in June 2005. Applications should be submitted in electronic format to the following Internet address: TIC@datar.gouv.fr and must also be submitted in hard copy to: Appel à projets télécentres, Datar, 1 av Charles Floquet, 75007 Paris. For further information, visit: http://www.datar.gouv.en/TIC

Disseminating Europe’s employment strategy

The Commission has launched an open call for projects contributing to dissemination of the European employment strategy (budget line 04.021500). Deadlines: 30 April 2005, 15 September 2005. Call VP/2005/011, http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/calls/2005/vp_2005_011/tender_en.htm

Evaluating Europe’s employment strategy

The Commission has launched an open call for projects contributing to the evaluation of the European employment strategy (budget line 04.021500). Deadlines: 30 April 2005 (objective a), 31 May 2005 (objective b) . Call VP/2005/010, http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/calls/2005/vp_2005_010/tender_en.htm

ERASMUS MUNDUS

The Directorate-General for Education and Culture has published a call for proposals under the Erasmus Mundus Community Action programme for the enhancement of quality in higher education and the promotion of intercultural understanding through cooperation with third countries (academic year 2006/2007). Actions 1 (Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses) and 3 (Partnerships) are open to higher education institutions; Action 2 (Scholarships) is open to third-country graduate students and scholars; and Action 4 (enhancing the attractiveness of higher education) is open to eligible establishments. Deadlines: 31 May 2005 for Actions 1 and 4, and 31 October 2005 for Action 3. The closing dates for the submission of applications under Action 2 (Scholarships) will be fixed by the relevant Erasmus Mundus Masters consortium. Erasmus Mundus Masters consortia must bear in mind that they will have to send their selection proposals to the Commission by 28 February 2006. Call EAC/04/05, http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/mundus/call06_en.htm

Forthcoming events

28-29 April 2005, Barcelona (ES)

The European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) and its Antenna, the European Centre for the Regions (EIPA-ECR), will organise on 28-29 April in Barcelona a conference entitled “Mid-Term Review of the Lisbon Strategy and Process: The Need for Regional and Local Players to Step up Their Involvement”.
The aim of the conference, which will present the regional and local actors’ points of view, is to deepen understanding about the challenges and the updated policy objectives and governance mechanisms for delivering the Lisbon strategy. The conference will therefore be focused around a dynamic mixture of both policy-based inputs and interesting cases studies. The event is addressed to representatives of and politicians responsible for regional and local authorities in the enlarged Europe, senior civil servants from sub-national public administrations dealing with the policies and instruments related to the Lisbon strategy, as well as members of the Committee of the Regions (COR), the Economic and Social Committee (ECOSOC), the European Parliament (EP) and people from the academic (universities, think-tanks etc.) and private (chamber and trade associations) sectors.
The seminar will be translated into English, Spanish and Catalan, though the exact number of languages for which interpretation is provided will depend on the number of participants requiring the language(s) concerned. The participation fee is € 650 (payment before 28 April is a condition for participation) and includes participation, documentation, 1 lunch, 1 dinner, coffee breaks, a walking tour or a visit to Barcelona Activa and a certificate of attendance. Complete the registration form before 20th April at: http://www.eipa.nl/default.htm. For further information: Ms. Caroline Layous, T: +34 93 567 2418, F: +34 93 567 2399.

17 May 2005, Brussels (BE)

Over the last four years an increasing number of regions and non governmental organisations have come together to protect biodiversity, traditional and organic agriculture from the risks of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). They are also developing a joint strategy that not only safeguards but also effectively promotes the position of organic and traditional farming in future European agriculture policy. One of the first results of this cooperation is the conference “Safeguarding Sustainable European Agriculture”, which will be organised on the 17th May by members of the European Parliament, representatives from European regions, the European Commission and the “Friends of Europe” Association, in collaboration with High-Austria and Tuscany. These two are amongst twenty five European regions that have signed the “GMO free zones letter” and will for the first time explore together the possible content of an EU wide legislative “coexistence” framework. This term describes rules that tell farmers how they should separate traditional, organic and genetically modified (GM) crops to avoid contamination. Currently such coexistence rules only exist in some of the EU's member states, resulting in less protection for farmers, consumers and the environment in most of the EU. The event is free of charge and open to political delegates from the Member States and their regions, to representatives of EU institutions, relevant NGOs, scientists and industry representatives. For more information: http://www.gmofree-conference.org

15-16 June 2005, Luxembourg (LU)

Within the context of the implementation of the Charter for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises aimed at improving the small business environment throughout Europe, the Luxembourg Presidency and the Enterprise & Industry Directorate-General of the European Commission are organising an annual Conference to stimulate the exchange of good practices between Member States. This event, which is free of charge, will focus on the 5th Annual report on the implementation of the Charter, presented by the Commission on 15 February 2005. The registration form is available on: http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/events/events.htm. Deadline for registration: 13 May 2005. For additional information, contact: European Commission, DG Enterprise, Unit E1, B-1049 Brussels. T: +32 2 29 63161, F: +32 2 29 66278 or E-mail: entr-conference-entrepreneurship@cec.eu.int

Publications

Sustainable development in figures

On the occasion of the European Council meeting of 22 and 23 March 2005, which covered, among other topics, the revision of the sustainable development strategy adopted by the European Union in Gothenburg in 2001, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, is making available to all users on its website the sustainable development indicators recently adopted by the European Commission. Around 120 indicators cover Europe as a whole as well as the EU Member States, the Candidate Countries and the members of the European Economic Area (EEE). The indicators reflect the various priorities adopted in Gothenburg (climate change, public health, management of natural resources, transport, ageing society, social exclusion and poverty) and subsequently in Barcelona in 2002 (global partnership for sustainable development), as well as the commitments which the EU made at the Johannesburg summit on sustainable development, again in 2002 (patterns of production and consumption, good governance). To discover the sustainable development indicators (available in EN/FR/DE), visit: http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat/sustainabledevelopment

Improving the competitiveness of forest-based industries

The Commission has carried out an external evaluation of the 1999 Communication on the “The State of the Competitiveness of the EU Forest-Based and Related Industries” to examine the Communication’s current relevance for Forest-based industries (F-BI). The report advises that the F-BI sector in Europe today faces many of the same challenges it faced six years ago, and suggests that the sector needs a new initiative focused on improving competitiveness. The Communication marked an important development of EU policy for F-BI, the main benefits of which were increased visibility for forest-based industries and more policy dialogue between the sector and the Commission. However the report recommends that a new F-BI policy initiative should concentrate on competitiveness issues, have more sectoral focus and throw more weight behind implementation of the actions recommended by the Communication. The evaluation provided valuable recommendations regarding key priority issues: a reduction of the regulatory burden, promotion of wood products, more research and development, improving co-ordination between the EU and Member States, and tackling the industry’s sometimes negative image. For more information and access to the report: http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/index_en.htm

The European Commission at work

The Commission has opened a new website in 11 languages to explain to the public how the Commission’s work is organised. “The European Commission at work” highlights the significant efforts undertaken by the Commission to improve the quality of the planning and organisation of its work. The “Basic Facts” section of the site will answer visitors’ initial questions about the Commission, including those they might have regarding its role in the legislative process, its structure and other areas of its competence. A special “site diagram” guides users through the three basic stages involved in the organisation of the Commission’s work: 1) “Strategy”, including the Commission’s aims and priorities, five-year and annual strategic objectives and its Work Programme; 2) “Day to day”, where visitors can find out more about the Commission’s weekly collegiate meetings, its daily support to the press, forward programming, public consultations on issues of general interest and institutional matters, etc.; and 3) “Outcome”, which provides an overview of results, recently adopted proposals, the implementation of measures by Member States and public opinion trends. To discover “The European Commission at work”, go to: http://europa.eu.int/comm/atwork/index_en.htm

 

Partnerships

Chinese twins

The EU-China Environmental Management Cooperation Programme (EMCP) is looking for local authorities who are interested in establishing practical partnerships and exchanges with one of the following seven Chinese cities: Jiang'an District of Wuhan Municipality (Hubei Province), Jinnan City (Shandong Province), Jinniu District of Chengdu Municipality (Sichuan Province), Nanyang City (Henan Province), Huairou District of Beijing Municipality, Hailin City (Heilongjiang Province) and Yangcheng County (Shanxi Province). The objective of the programme is to develop and improve environmental management in China and to strengthen contacts and exchanges between China and the European Union, in order to promote sustainable development. The projects include urban renewal, air quality management systems, sustainable community management, integrated watershed management, ecological land use and city planning, sustainable tourism in mountain and forest ranges and sustainable development planning. Interested authorities can contact Rosalie Callway, LGIB,
e-mail rosalie.callway@lgib.gov.uk

 

 

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Responsible at Law: William Van Dingenen - Editor in Chief: Isabelle Mirambet - Editors: Monique Braem, Stephen Gardner, Wendy Jones, Eirini Nikolaïdou, Verónica Catediano.