Croatia: When will membership talks finally begin?

In the absence of a unanimous consensus where one was required, the EU Council of Ministers, meeting in Brussels on 16 March 2005, decided to postpone the accession talks with Croatia, which were due to start next day. This decision was reached in spite of the efforts undertaken by the Croatian Government to find general Ante Gotovina, who is wanted by the Hague International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTFY) and has been a fugitive since 2001. Failure to meet this request by the Tribunal – the only outstanding request out of 626 made by the ICTFY – led the Council to decide that talks could only begin “as soon as the Council has established that Croatia is cooperating fully with the ICTFY”.

The elected governments of the new republics originating from the former Yugoslavia should of course help to track down and prosecute any war criminals. And it may well be that Ante Gotovina enjoys some degree of protection in his country, where certain sections of the population consider him a hero (in 1995, he liberated an area of the national territory that had been occupied by the Serbs). But is there really a “democratic deficit” in Croatia, such as to justify making the start of negotiations conditional upon the arrest of the general? Should the Council not take into account the points in favour of Croatia (adoption of a law to protect minorities, strengthening of the freedom of the press, fulfilment of 625 requests made by the ICTFY, etc.), rather than leave the decision to the Tribunal and thus renounce its ability to exercise independent political judgement? Moreover, is there not a risk that the refusal to start the accession talks, or their indefinite postponement, will fuel scepticism among Croatians about the European construction process and give rise to a sense of rejection, just at the time when they have put the war behind them and are striving to take their place in the community of peaceful and democratic nations?

Be this as it may, a meeting of the “enlarged Troika” (the European Commission, the EU Luxembourg Presidency and the two incoming presidencies of the EU Council – namely the UK and Austria) will take place towards the end of April to assess the extent of Croatia’s cooperation with the ICTFY. According to Olli Rehn, the Commissioner responsible for enlargement, during the forthcoming meeting “we will explain to the Croatian decision-makers what is expected of them in terms of full cooperation with the Hague Tribunal.”

For more information, visit: http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/see/croatia/index.htm

 

News from the institutions

Commission strives to remove obstacles to implementation of REACH

As work on the proposed REACH regulation (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) gains momentum in the different European parliamentary committees, the Commission is doing its best to help remove all the problems that could make the new legislation impracticable. At any rate, it will not withdraw its proposal before the European Parliament reaches a decision following the first parliamentary reading in the autumn of 2005. In the course of a speech delivered on 4 April last, Stavros Dimas, the European Commissioner responsible for the Environment, said the Commission was well aware that small and medium-sized companies may find the REACH requirements particularly challenging since SMEs lack the administrative structures and sometimes also the skills to assess the risks associated with the substances they handle. This is why the Commission is working on developing guidance documents and computerised tools to assist in the implementation of REACH so as to ensure that all parts of industry can live up to 21 st-century safety standards. According to the commissioner, most of the amendments envisaged by the European Parliament fall into three main categories: amendments aimed at a higher level of protection of public health and the environment; amendments that aim to reduce the burden on industry; and amendments “that could be regarded neutral from the environmental and competitiveness perspectives”. The latter category includes calls for a strengthened role for the European Chemicals Agency, implementation of the “One Substance, One Registration” principle, and the different proposals to further limit animal testing. In his speech, the commissioner also welcomed the fact that both the European Parliament and the Council recognised the need for REACH in order to remedy the failure of “the current chemicals legislation…to provide the necessary level of protection for human health and the environment”. For further information, visit: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/chemicals/reach.htm

 Meeting the challenges of change

Faced with a future of increasingly tough global competition, the European Union needs effective policies to help people cope with economic changes, promote entrepreneurship in the sectors concerned and forestall the effects of restructuring. In this context, on 5 April 2005 the European Commission tabled a proposal to allocate up to €11.3 billion to assist people and regions affected by economic change, strengthen social dialogue, improve existing policies, and re-target as well as increase financial aid. More specifically, the Commission wishes to establish a “growth adjustment fund” of around €1 billion a year over the period 2007-2013 to provide support to the sectors affected by restructuring. Member States are to create a reserve of up to 1% of the “convergence” and 3% of the “competitiveness” budgets (respectively around €2.6 billion and €1.7 billion) to cope with unforeseen restructuring consequences. This fund will focus on key objectives such as increasing the adaptability of workers and enterprises, preventing unemployment and promoting partnerships. In the least prosperous regions, it will concentrate on promoting growth and job-creation as well as on dealing with structural adjustment. For more information, visit: http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/news/2005/apr/restructuring_fr.html

Agreement on Marco Polo II?

On 6 April 2005, the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) examined the proposed regulation on the “Marco Polo II” programme, which aims to shift freight off the EU’s road system towards more environmentally-friendly modes of transport . The objective of the Presidency is to ensure adoption of a partial set of general guidelines at the Transport Council of 21 April, pending the first reading by the European Parliament and, above all, the results of the negotiations on the 2007-2013 financial perspectives. Some key issues still have to be decided, such as the minimal cost of projects eligible under the programme. The Presidency is proposing a threshold of €2 million for “ catalyst actions”, €4 million for actions to promote sea shipping or “sea actions”, €500,000 for “ modal shift actions”, €1 million for “traffic-avoidance actions”, and €250,000 for “ common learning actions” . Several countries would like to see the threshold for sea actions lowered by half in order to enable SMEs to take part in the programme. The Presidency’s compromise aims to offset projected road traffic increases thanks to the programme by 31 December 2013, but several delegations consider that this target is linked to the 2007-2013 financial perspectives and therefore should be “put on ice” for a while. For more information, visit: http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/marcopolo/index_en.htm

 

News from the networks

AGE welcomes conclusions of Spring Summit

AGE, the European Older People’s Platform, which networks more than 21 million people across the EU and is committed to combating all forms of age-discrimination in all areas of life, has welcomed the conclusions of the Spring Summit and the strong commitment to keep the economic, social and environmental pillars within the Lisbon Strategy. The network has congratulated Prime Minister Juncker for achieving an agreement to put citizens’ concerns back on the Lisbon Agenda , given that “ what citizens want is a good job that allows them to reconcile work and family life, pension systems which are fair, adequate and sustainable social protection systems which will protect them from poverty, sickness and exclusion, services of general interest which meet their needs, and opportunities for all to take an active part in society .” However, the platform notes that the proposals do not provide much information on how either the EU or individual Member States will ensure that the global balance and synergy between the various elements is achieved. AGE hopes that the Summit’s positive messages will be translated into concrete commitments by national governments and EU institutions . For additional information, contact: AGE, Rue Froissart 111, 1040 Brussels, T: +32 2 280 14 70, F: +32 2 280 15 22, e-mail: info@age- platform.org, website: http://www.ag e-platform.org

 

Forthcoming events

21-24 April 2005, Budapest (HU)

“Les Rencontres”, the network of European local and regional authorities for cultural policy development , is organising a “European Forum for Emerging Authors” in Budapest from 21 to 24 April. The aim is to promote young talents in Europe through cooperation between cultural networks, independent publishers and local governments from all EU Member States. Registration fee: €200 for members of Les Rencontres and €300 for non-members. To find out more about the forum, contact: Les Rencontres , 8 villa d’Alésia, F-75014 Paris, T: +33 1 56 54 26 36, F: +33 1 45 38 70 13, info@lesrencontres.org, website: www.le srencontres.org

 2-3 May 2005, Trier (LU)

On 2-3 May, the Academy of European Law (ERA) will be holding a “seminar for practitioners” on two European directives adopted on the basis of Article 13 of the EC Treaty, which prohibits all forms of discrimination . In the course of this two-day event, participants will examine the role of NGOs in this area and how the directives have been transposed in Member States involved in the Community Action Programme to combat discrimination. This seminar, for which no registration fee is payable, is exclusively open to lawyers in law firms, lawyers of NGOs and trade unions as well as to labour inspectors . Simultaneous translation will be provided in English and French. For more information, contact: Sarah Jung, T: +49 651 937 37 34, F: +49 651 937 37 90, e-mail: sjung@era.int, website: ww w.era.int

26-27 May 2005, Brussels (BE)

The first European Conference on Innovation and e-Business, organised by the European Commission, will be held in Brussels on 26-27 May 2005. The conference will provide an opportunity for European policymakers, researchers and practitioners to discuss how e-business and innovation are linked. A central focus of the conference will be how to design policies that address e-business and innovation in a complementary manner, thus helping enterprises to restructure efficiently and move into new fields. Interpreting services will be provided from and into German, English, Spanish, French and Italian. The deadline for registration (free of charge) is 13 May 2005. For additional information, contact: European Commission, Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry, Communication and Information Unit, T: +32 2 2951409, F: +32 2 2991926, e-mail: entr-conferenc e-info@cec.eu.int, website: http://europa.eu.i nt/comm/enterprise

 

Publications

Eurofunding Guides

Welcomeurope’s “Eurofunding Guides” provide reliable practical information on EU funding opportunities, including 450 potential sources of finance. The guides explain the procedures to apply for EU funding and answer key questions such as: Which fund covers your kind of project? What projects are eligible? What amount can you obtain? Available in English and French. Price: €95. The welcomeurope.com website also provides an on-line assistance service. For additional information, contact: Lorraine de Bouchony, 42 rue Eugène Carrière, 75018 Paris, T : +33 1 42 54 60 64, F: +33 1 42 54 70 04, e-mail: lbouchony@welcomeurope.com, website: www.welcomeurope.com

The costs of not achieving Lisbon

In its “Occasional Papers” series, the European Commission Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs recently published a survey of the literature on the economic impact of Lisbon-type reforms. This survey shows that the type of measures envisaged in the Lisbon strategy would raise the European Union’s potential growth rate by 0.5-0.75 percentage points, bringing it closer to the 3% objective. Over a 10-year period, this would imply an increase in the GDP level of up to 7-8 % thereby helping deliver on the employment targets agreed at the European Council in March 2000. To read the f ull text of the survey: http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/publications/occasional_papers/occasionalpapers16_en.htm

ECDC website launched

 The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the new EU agency that has been created to help strengthen Europe’s defences against infectious diseases, such as influenza, SARS and HIV/AIDS, will become operational as of May 20. The ECDC has already launched its own website, containing job advertisements, information on its activities, event announcements, press releases, links to other websites, etc. Visit the site at: http://www.ecdc.eu.int.

 

 

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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.