Difference between revisions of "Talk:European Centre for Public Affairs"

Revision as of 07:44, 6 February 2007

Some press coverage of the ECPA:

1 of 18 DOCUMENTS

LOAD-DATE: June 23, 2006

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Magazine

JOURNAL-CODE: PRW

2 of 18 DOCUMENTS

US Fed News

May 17, 2006 Wednesday 4:50 AM EST

GARMISCH CENTER SUPPORTS ANTI-DRUG TRAFFICKING CAMPAIGN

BYLINE: US Fed News

LENGTH: 564 words

DATELINE: DUSHANBE, Tajikistan

The U.S. Department of Defense's European Command issued the following press release:
By Anne Fugate
George C. Marshall European Center for Public Affairs
Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmonov issued a call to arms to the international community here May 15, 2006. Rahmonov urged nations to act together in combating drug trafficking in his address to about 50 representatives from 10 nations attending the first in-region conference of the Central and South Asia Counter-Narcotics Security Working Group.
The three-day event is co-sponsored by the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, U.S. Central Command, and the Committee on State Border Protection of the Republic of Tajikistan. This meeting is a follow-up to the group's inaugural meeting conducted in November 2005 at the center in Gar-misch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
"Drug trafficking is not merely the problem of Tajikistan, Afghanistan or other Central and South Asia countries," Rahmonov said. "This is a global threat very similar to international terrorism. The drugs are flow-ing through Europe and other countries. None of us can independently win the struggle against this problem. We need the cooperation of all countries."
Rahmonov stated how the international community has helped develop his country's capacity to counter drug trafficking.
"A prime example is the cooperation with the United Nations and other countries in the development of Tajikistan's Drug Control Agency. Today the agency is the key link in the development and implementation of the state's policy in the field of countering drugs," Rahmonov said. He also noted that Tajikistan's ability to counter drug trafficking serves the entire international community.
In the last decade, Tajikistan has seized more than 60 tons of illegal drugs, 30 tons of which was her-oin. This figure, according to Rahmonov, means that the confiscated drugs did not reach millions of people all over the world and several billion dollars did not end up in the hands of criminals.
U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and a panel member in the morning's second session, underscored that the dan-gers of drug trafficking are not limited by borders.
"[Drug trafficking] creates domestic markets for drugs, both in producing countries and along transit routes. There has never been a transit country that has not also experienced a rise in drug consumption within its own borders," Patterson said. She also cited the loss of legitimate economic opportunities, the rise of organized crime and increased demand on health care systems.
"Drug trafficking injects corruption into a society that is extremely difficult to root out, and can do so sur-prisingly quickly," she said.
Rahmonov challenged representatives to engage fully in the efforts to improve the mechanisms of re-gional cooperation against drug trafficking.
"You are here not to cite examples or figures, but to discuss how we will mitigate the problem of drug aggression in the region. The discussion of practical aspects of our interactions at this moment will become a pledge for our future."
Participants will present the results from the deliberations of the working group's capacity-building sub-group and visit a Tajik-Afghan border checkpoint as a model for border control cooperation.

LOAD-DATE: June 27, 2006

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire

3 of 18 DOCUMENTS

The Sprout

March 15, 2006

Media subsidies debate: Those who live in glass houses should shut the f---

SECTION: Pg. 27

LENGTH: 1805 words

DATELINE: Belgium

Publishers who complain about EU subsidies going to the their rivals need to check their own backyard thoroughly, before launching into their pathetic harangue, writes Martin Jay There's much talk at the moment of the role of the media, and subsidies shelled out to EU-friendly or-gans in Brussels. For many, an intensely boring subject, but the role of the European Commission and how it goes about using taxpayers' money to pump out puffed up 'news' about itself, or at the very worst, propa-ganda, is an important one: without the puff, would the EU, in reality, operate at all? But as any wise hack will tell you, very, very few magazines or newspapers, survive without some form of 'subsidy' - traditionally advertising. More increasingly though, in Brussels certainly, it is advertising which does not sell a product, but a political message aimed at steering regulators towards an agenda, which keeps many publications afloat. Who is the arbiter though over such 'subsidies'? Who defines what is ethical - or at least acceptable - over what is patently unacceptable in a democratic 'state'? Presently, no such organisation exists, although many argue it should be the International Federation of Journalists, (IFJ). Perhaps the problem also lies in the fact that the EU is not a 'state' (yet) and can not, therefore, be governed as such. And so, bereft of any real regulator, the media governs itself and hopes some of the more outlandish scams do not get spotted by a weary readership. But if the somnolent citizens of Europe were to know the true extent of the subsidies, they might stir. Then, and only then, could some kind of action take place. Yet how could that really take place? There aren't the mechanisms installed, (certainly not by the IFJ which takes a small subsidy from the EU coffers, incidentally). We journalists and publishers would have to present a concrete story, relevant to the breakfast tables of, say, Britain, with a caste-iron case, profession-ally put, endorsed, substantiated and verified. And here is the crux of the problem. The truth, like in most battles, is the first rifle volunteer to bite the gritty soil. Recently, the free EU news-paper 'EUReporter' published as a cover 'news' story a 2000 odd word rant about EU money being pumped into media outlets in Brussels. It itemised, without any real evidence, a list of news organisations which it claimed are funded, directly or otherwise, from the EU budget. The article failed however to have any impact whatsoever, but served as a perfect example of everything which is fundamentally flawed about the EU: hy-pocrisy. Sadly, its proprietor is probably heading towards a nervous breakdown as the verse was nothing more than a seething, angry and rather sad blither of sour grapes. Chris White is a funny, likeable guy. But as a former press officer of the UK Tories, he also knows how to spin a tale and make a news story look vaguely real. But this diatribe was anything but real, in fact, merely an end-of-career nuclear tantrum charged with bitterness and a deep refusal to accept his own failure as a publisher of a free rag which very few peo-ple actually read. Almost without failure, there is either a hidden agenda to what he writes, or a shocking, comical story to everyone he attacks for taking EU subsidies. But he does at least throw the spotlight on the very subject which is at the heart of the argument: if you accept that most Brussels media needs an EU subsidy, do you ban them (and therefore have no media), or accept them and allow those who cannot get an EU bung, to become a puppet to private sector backers? EUObserver This is the problem with Chris White's arguments. Pure sour grapes. Let's tackle the first one on his hit list: EUObserver. A website which offers news and comment, partly backed by a political group (INDEM) and further subsidised by part-time parliamentary workers (who receive salaries from the parliament as assis-tants). Our man is positively frothing at the mouth over this news organisation. He has even stated that his own newspaper will no longer take any campaign advertisements from Ukip, which signs the cheques for EUObs. What a hypocrite White is! Firstly, he has openly told friends that he would also like to have the same privileges that EUObs enjoys; and secondly, who does he think he is kidding by trying to distance him-self from INDEM/Ukip money? The few Tory MEPs who prop up his paper by small donations, and who see White as their lacky? Oh yes, it's widely known that Tory MEPs (former colleagues of White's) have helped ol' Chris out. And these Tories hate Ukip, thus obliging White to attack the small party - laughable in itself as White gives Ukip so much coverage in the same edition of the paper. And do these Tories believe White when he pretends to distance himself from the INDEM/Ukip slush fund? They must be fools is they do. One wonders if they know that White took Nigel Farage to lunch just recently and invited him to become a non-executive director of his company. Perhaps Farage's refusal - and thus block on White ever getting any INDEM money - has prompted this particular spasm of sour grapes? European Voice White's paper is quite right to attack the Voice for gaining a critical subsidy from the European Commis-sion - a privilege to distribute copies through the Commission's internal mailing system which consequently gives it a distinct advantage with advertisers. Bravo! But the mention of 'money' in the article is confusing. Where is the evidence that Voice receives dosh from the EU? Or is it that White is just angry again and has got confused. Incensed with jealousy and spite, his memory is playing tricks, it seems. Perhaps he has for-gotten the meetings he had with the Voice's editor 2 years ago, where he openly offered to sell his own pa-per to the Economist's EU weekly? He was promptly told to fuck off, which possibly upset him. And still up-sets him now as he sees the Voice clean up advertising. Just a small detail missing from the article. Lobby groups and PR outfits And then there is the all out assault on lobby outfits which receive EU money for EC projects. Wherever these organisations - like Hill & Knowlton or Burson-Marstellar - are involved in media operations, they are attacked by White's dismal paper on the basis of unethical journalism. Interesting concept. Perhap's White's 'journalist' who wrote the piece should have mentioned that a great deal of EU Reporter is funded by adver-tising - through thinly veiled advertorials - which are paid for, yes you've guessed it, by public affair/PR firms run by friends of White's. In the very edition where this diatribe is published is a full page 'article' by Tom Spencer who runs a lobby-cum-training institute called the European Centre for Public Affairs. The deal is 'publish my rant across an entire page and I'll pay for a quarter page ad' - made all the more unethical by the lack of 'advertorial' written above Spencer's article, so the humble reader is unaware that it is an advertiser posing as a journalist or writer. The same goes for the sugar industry - which funds a PR outfit run by David Zimmerman, another friend and advertiser; the same goes for 'articles' written by PA consultants for oil firms - which Chris charges 4500 euro each to publish. Let's turn to page 13. Oh, a commentary by Peter Gerwin-ski, the head of a German small firms software lobby, which, er, previously paid for pages and pages of ad-verting last year. And it just goes on. White has done everything he can to turn his 'newspaper' into a public affairs/PR journal where articles are paid for, per column inch and usually are tied to advertising deals - the very slur he chucks so pathetically at the European Voice and PA firms in Brussels. Not really very ethical. The European Parliament He even slams the parliament for its association with the 'ethics' of INDEM money and EUObserver. But wait. Doesn't White receive a substantial subsidy from this very institution? Indeed, he is allowed a privilege in the building which rival papers would pay scores of thousands of pounds to gain: he is allowed - against parliament rules - to distribute his arse-wipe journal, dumped on table tops and in key areas like the cafes. The parliament only allows this privilege for its own employees. Perhaps if White is so keen for parliament boss Julian Priestley to clean up, he should start by being firmer on this rule? This is a subsidy, after all, is it not? And clearly the parliament is breaking their own rules to assist and support White. What would happen to White's advertising revenue if he were not allowed to distribute in the parliament? The ethics of the company which publishes EUReporter And then we come to White's company, well, his many companies over the years which have owned a series of varied titles of the one free newspaper which trades today as EUReporter. Who actually owns it? The press room is buzzing of late by rumours that another PR firm, Quadrant Media, (yes, an advertiser) has bought a stake in it - all denied by White, of course. Quadrant are no doubt hoping to cash in on a lucrative contract from the European parliament, to host web-based news reports - another EU subsidy. But why is EUReporter running examples at the moment of these TV reports on their site? Is there a connection? And why did White move the company which owns EUReporter to Ireland recently? Was it linked to a former em-ployee - a trainee journalist - contacting the UK social security investigators, urging them to probe White's operation? And let's hope that no one examines back issues of EUReporter, as we wouldn't want the scores of journalists' by-lines to be checked to see if these names actually exist. As real people. Heaven forbid that articles were published and paid for by lobby groups, and dressed up as news stories. That would be too unethical! It is regrettable that The Sprout has to expose such inaccuracies in White's newspaper. But there is a real need to get the 'transparency of the press' debate going in Brussels if there is to be any free press in the EU at all. Unfortunately this particular strain of hypocrisy, from a man who is overcome with bitterness and jealousy, keeps the subject from ever seeing the light of day - as it feeds the adversaries of a free press with the suitable fodder to dismiss the subject outright. Instead of putting so much energy into crying like an over-grown baby about others who business plans appear to be sound, White should spend more time improving the dismal publication which he laughingly calls a 'newspaper' and 'independent'. Instead, he lampoons him-self like a sick child who relishes the grief that he is not feeding from the Brussels trough - whether it be EU coffers, or private sector loot. Is there really such a great difference?

LOAD-DATE: August 17, 2006

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Magazine

4 of 18 DOCUMENTS

European Report

February 16, 2005

EUROPEAN CONFERENCES

SECTION: No. 2937

LENGTH: 2280 words

FEBRUARY
*The Constitutional Treaty: A Good Deal for Citizens: Discussion on the European Constitution, featured in the European Citizen Action Service's seminar on February 16 from 11.00 am to 12.30 pm at the Resi-dence Palace, rue de la Loi 155, 1040 Brussels. For more information, contact ECAS: t.venables@ecas.org
*The State of Public Affairs 2005: 4th ECPA Annual Conference: Putting the EU Puzzle Together? Con-ference organised by the European Centre for Public Affairs, held on February 17 at the Dorint Hotel in Brussels, Boulevard Charlemagne 11-19. To register: www.publicaffairs.ac or for further information: Ron Kingham, tel: 00 44 870 444 2760 or e-mail: conferences@publicaffairs.ac
*Business Consequences of the European Emissions Trading Scheme: Meeting to be held on February 16 at the European Parliament in Brussels by CEPS (Centre for European Policy Studies) on the CO2 quota system, attended by Jos Delbeke, Director of Air Quality, DG Environment, European Commission. For more information: Isabelle Tenaerts, tel: 00 32 2 229 39 56 or e-mai: isabelle.tenaerts@ceps.be
*50 questions and answers about the new constitution: Seminar to be held on February 16 by ECAS (European Citizen Action Service), attended by former Competition Commissioner, Mario Monti. For more information: Nathalie Calmejane, tel: 00 32 2 512 01 13 or e-mail: Nathalie.calmejane@ecas.org 
*The spiritual contribution of religions to the EU - the example of Judaism: Annual conference to be held on February 16 by ISMAPP, the higher institute of public policy management. Information: ISMAPP, tel: 00 32 2 343 9094 or ismapp.europe@ismapp.com
*Energy security: a European perspective: Briefing to be held on February 17 in Brussels by the Euro-pean Policy Centre, attended by Lord Browne of Madingley, Group Chief Executive of BP plc. Information: EPC, tel: 00 32 2 231 03 40 or e-mail: info@theepc.be
*RFID: a revolution in traceability: Conference to be held on February 23 by Technofutur3 (IT centre for the Belgian region of Wallonia) on radio frequency identification (RFID), used in logistics, access to buildings, agrofood, etc. Information: Franck.Tiennebrunne@technofutur3.be
*Brussels Energy Round Table (BERT) in cooperation with Benelux Association for Energy Economics (BAEE): Half-day Seminar on the report of London Economics on the Structure and functioning of the Bel-gium Electricity Market. Held on February 24 from 12h30 to 17h30 in Brussels. For registration, P. Vander Meiren: 015/20.48.57 or e-mail Pieter.vandermeiren@versateladsl.be
*FP6 Financial Management: Understanding the General Principals: One-day briefing on February 24 in Brussels covering: how to build a budget, EU financial regulations, eligible costs, audit matters, subcontract-ing, etc. For more information: Berkley Associates, 4 rue de la Presse, 1000 Brussels, tel: 00 32 2 219 05 32 or berkleyassociates@skynet.be
*Pension, Labor Markets and Family Responsibilities- Designing a New Social Security Architecture: In-ternational training seminar to be held on February 24-25 in Brussels, organised by the European Training Centre for Social Affairs and Public Health (EIPA-CEFASS). For more information: Davide Minelli, EIPA-CEFASS, Via San Vittore, 18, I-20123, Milan , Italy. Tel: 00 39 02 4390 861, e-mail: d.minelli@eipa-it.com
*EFCA Forum 2005: European Federation of Engineering Consultancy Associations Forum to be held on February 24 to debate new EU policy options, their impact on EU budget allocations and the effects of the engineering consultancy market. For more information: http:/ /forum2005.efca.be
*Dialogue between Peoples and Cultures: The Artists and the Cultural Actors: Jean Monnet Action con-ference organised within the BRXLBRAVO arts weekend February 25-26, in perspective of the European year for intercultural dialogue in 2008. The conference will be held at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, in Brussels. For more information, e-mail: Mme Belen Bernaldo de Quiros at Belen.Bernaldo-De-Quiros@cec.eu.int
*How to provide the EU with competitive transport infrastructures: Conference to be held on February 28 by the Association Espace Europe Equipement (E3) attended by Transport Commission Jacques Barrot. For more information: Alain Jaffre, E3 Secretary General, e-mail: secretariate3@cobaty-international.org
*Creativity and market access: the role of training, development and marketing in European film distribu-tion: Seminar to be held on February 27-March 1 in Luxembourg, attended by Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media. Information: Veronique Rouee, tel: 00 32 2 289 26 00 or kea.general@kernnet.com
MARCH
*State of the world 2005: redefining global security: Presentation by the World Wildlife Fund of a World-watch Institute report, to be held on March 1 in Brussels. Information: Claudio Delpero, tel: 00 32 2 740 0925 or e-mail: cdelpero@wwfepo.org
*World Sustainable Energy Days 2005: The largest annual conference on energy efficiency and renew-ables in Europe, to be held on March 2-4 in Wels (Austria). Technological developments in the biomass field as well as sustainable energy strategies from different European states will be on the agenda.
*2nd World Summit of Cities and Local Governments on the Information Society: Launching event in Brussels on March 4 at the Committee of the Regions, room BEL 51 (5th floor), rue Belliard 101. For infor-mation and confirmation: Delegation du Pays Basque a Bruxelles: 02/285 45 10 or e-mail: bruselas@ei-gv.es
*District heating in transition economies: reducing costs, improving competitiveness: Seminar to be held on March 9 in Leipzig (Germany) by Euroheat & Power and AGFW. Information: tel: 00 32 2 740 21 10 or e-mail: dusan.jakovljevic@euroheat.org
*1st ECOPROFIT International Conference: To be held on March 9-11 in Graz (Austria), by the Interna-tional Training Centre of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) based in Freiburg (Germany). Delegates will discuss public private partnerships for sustainable development. For more information: Kirsten Wolfrath, tel: 00 49 761 368 9220 or ecoprofit.event@iclei.org
*COGEN - clean, clever, competitive: Conference organised by the European Association for the Pro-motion of Cogeneration (COGEN), to be held on March 10 and 11 in Brussels at the Renaissance Hotel, 19, rue du Parnasse, 1050 Brussels. For more information: tel: 00 32 2 772 50 44 or e-mail: info@cogen.org
*European Security of Electricity Supply: Conference organised by the Union for the Coordination of Transmission of Electricity (UCTE) to be held on March 15 in Brussels, in the presence of Energy Commis-sioner, Andris Piebalgs. For more information: http:/ /www.ucte.org
*Second annual meeting of the European hydrogen and fuel cell technology platform: Held on March 17-18 in the European Commission Charlemagne Building (Brussels). Information: secretariat@HFPeurope.org
*The European Year of People with Disabilities: the day after Benefits and facilities for disabled people in EU: seminar to be held on March 17-18 in Ludwigsburg (Germany) by the European Training Centre for Social Affairs and Public Health. For more information: Davide Minelli, EIPA-CEFASS, tel: 00 39 2 4390 861 or e-mail: d.minelli@eipa-it.com
*The Spring Energy Lunch of the Brussels Energy Round Table (BERT):Christopher Jones, Dep. Chef De Cabinet to Energy Commissioner Mr A. Piebalgs will present EU Energy Program over next few years at the Hotel Jolly, place du Sablon in Brussels at 12.15 pm on March 18. Registration with BERT's Executive Director P. Vander Meiren, tel: 015/20.48.57 or e-mail: pieter.vandermeiren@versateladsl.be
*51st ECCA annual congress: To be held on March 21-23 in Budapest by the European cable commu-nications association, attended by national government and EU officials, heads of industry and national regu-lators. Information: ECCA, tel: 00 44 207017 4888 or e-mail: info@eccacongress.com
*Paving the way toward better regulation: the vital role of impact assessment:Policy Round Table to be held on March 31 by Eurelectric, the Union of the Electricity Industry. For more information: Eurelectric: 00 32 2 515 1000
APRIL
*12th CEPT Conference 'European Electronic Communications Regulatory Forum': The conference will be held at Barcelo Hotel Sants in Barcelona on April 13-14 and will cover topics within the fields of both radio and non-radio electronic communications. For detailed information (program, registration, hotel information): www.cept.org, or contact Pia Hammer Bloch at bloch@ero.dk
*Does Business need Partnerships?: Conference to be held on April 14 and 15 in Aalborg (Denmark) as part of the 4th international Euro Sustainability conference, debating how to develop partnerships between businesses, NGOs, local communities and consumers. For more information: Madame Else Herfort: tel: 00 45 9935 5555 or e-mail: ehe@akkc.dk
*State Aid Procedures and Enforcement: Workshop to be held on April 14-15 in Maastricht (the Nether-lands), organised by the European Institute of Public Administration. The aim is to examine the application of recent Regulations by Member States, and how state aid procedures can be simplified and modernised in light of EU enlargement. For more information: Danielle Brouwer, tel: 00 31 433296 or e-mail: d.brouwer@eipa-nl
*International Summit on the Infrastructure's Financing: organised by ASECAP (Association europeenne des concessionaires d'autoroutes et d'ouvrages a peage) and IBTTA (International Bridge, Tunnel and Turn-pike Association), held in Nice April 17-19. For further information, please visit www.asecap.com or www.ibtta.org
*Identiplast 2005: Fifth conference on the recycling and recovery of plastics to be held on April 18-19 in Brussels by PlasticsEurope. Information: Hanane Taii, e-mail: hanane.taidi@plasticseurope.org, fax:00 32 2 675 40 02
*Developing European Wholesale power markets: Seminar and workshop to be held on April 18-19 in Brussels by Eurelectric, the union of the electricity industry. On the agenda: market liberalisation and energy competition. Information: Eurelectric, tel: 00 32 2 515 1062 or www.eurelectric.org
*Third annual Brussels climate change conference: To be held on April 19-20 by CEPS, the centre for European policy studies. Information: Isabelle Tenaerts, tel: 00 32 2 229 3956
* AgriBusiness Forum 2005. Organised by the European Marketing Research Center (EMRC), this will gather policy makers and businessmen from around the world from Wednesday April 20 until Friday April 22 at Brussels's Conrad Hotel. It will feature the European Commission's EuropeAid Director General Koos Richelle, Nigerian Special Presidential Advisor Chief Audu Ogbeh, as well as other key players in investment and privatization in emerging markets. For more information, visit click on www.emrc.be or email sophie.charre@emrc.be or call + 32 2 626 15 13
*Anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing efforts in the EU: recent developments: 3rd seminar in a series to be held on April 21-22 by the European Institute for Public Administration in Maastricht (Nether-lands). For more information: Adriana Alvarez, tel: 00 31 43 3296 226 or www.eipa.nl
*Advanced Competition Law: 12th annual conference organised by IBC Conferences, to be held on April 27-28 at the Carlton Tower Hotel (London). For more information: Matthew Longman: fax: 00 44 20 701 750 90 or tel IBC: 00 44 1932 893 852 or e-mail cust.serv@informa.com
MAY
*4th ACI EUROPE Airport Security Summit: Conference to be held on May 9-11 at the Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. Topics include security regulations, protecting our airports, next generation technologies, biometrics and cargo security. For more information about this event and to book your delegate place: Kate Watts, ACI Europe Conference Unit, tel: 00 44 1737 226 768 or www.aci-europe.org
*Second annual preparing for REACH conference:To be held on May 24-25 in Brussels by Agra Europe to assess the impact of the REACH draft directive (proposed system for the registration, evaluation and au-thorisation of chemicals) on several industries. Information: Katrina Ray: www.agra-net.com
JUNE
*Power for Europe: can we shape the future?: Annual convention to be held on June 13-14 in Vienna (Austria) by Eurelectric. Information:Emily O'Leary, tel: 00 32 2 515 1062 or e-mail: eoleary@eurelectric.org
*Landscapes for urban, suburban and peri-urban areas: 3rd workshop of the European Landscape Con-vention: Meeting to be held on June 16-17 in Cork (Ireland) by the Council of Europe. For more information: Catherine Roth, tel: 00 33 3 88 41 2250 or e-mail: Catherine.roth@coe.int
JULY
*IGBF 2: 2nd International Forum on biotechnology, to be held on July 1-3 in Athens (Greece) by Eu-ropabio, the European Bio-industry lobby. For more information: http:/ /www.igbf.gr
OCTOBER
*European Transport Conference: 3rd Congress organised by the Association of European Transport, to be held on October 3-5 in Strasbourg. For more information: Sally Scarlett, AET, 1 Vernon Mews, Vernon street, London W14 ORL, UK. Tel: 00 44 20 7348 1978 or e-mail: info@aetransport.org
NOVEMBER
*Second phase of the world summit on the information society: Conference to be held on November 16-18 in Tunis, backed by the UN, the International Telecommunication Union, the Tunisian government, etc. On the agenda: the digital divide between the north and south of the planet. Information: www.smsitunis2005.org or Agence PRP in Brussels, Mr Lechat: tel: 00 32 2 762 0485

LOAD-DATE: February 16, 2005

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

5 of 18 DOCUMENTS

Financial Times (London, England)

June 19, 2004 Saturday London Edition 2

Let EU electorate choose the Commission president

BYLINE: By TOM SPENCER

SECTION: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; Pg. 14

LENGTH: 366 words

From Mr Tom Spencer. Sir, The opaque and undignified inter-governmental fight over the nomination of the next European Commission president is the flip side of the slap in the face delivered to ruling parties in last week's Euro-pean election. Both seem designed to confirm the electorate's darkest fears that voting changes nothing and closed-door deals prevail. A transparent solution could be to let the people of Europe choose the president of the Commission with the vote that they cast in European parliamentary elections. Next time, candidates for the president's job should have to declare themselves by January 1 2009. US-style primaries could then be held in all 25 countries. I suggest starting with the five smallest countries (Malta, Luxembourg, Estonia, Cyprus and Slovenia) for a visually satisfying echo of New Hampshire. The five biggest countries (Germany, UK, France, Italy and Spain) would hold their party primaries on the last weekend of March. From the beginning of April, the campaign would be focused around the policies and per-sonalities of the six or so party-endorsed individuals aspiring to lead the next Commission. The impact would be positive. The electorate could judge both the individuals and their policies. Issues could be debated over a six-month period, rather than crammed into six days. The political groups in the European parliament, and their transnational political parties, would have to define themselves and their alliances before, rather than after, the elections. National political leaders would have to invest real, rather than token, effort into the campaign, but could thereafter concentrate on choosing the new president of the Council. If the current system remains unreformed, we must resign ourselves to European elections in which the voters alternate between damaging apathy and euro-sceptic anger. The problem is not the much talked-about absence of a European "demos"; rather it is the weakness of the current arrangements by which the democratic will of the people of Europe is supposed to manifest itself. Tom Spencer, Executive Director, European Centre for Public Affairs, School of Management, Univer-sity of Surrey (MEP 1979-84 and 1989-99)

LOAD-DATE: June 18, 2004

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

DOCUMENT-TYPE: Letters

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper

6 of 18 DOCUMENTS

PR Week

April 23, 2004

ECPA TO EDUCATE ON CHANGES TO EU

BYLINE: By Richard Cann

SECTION: PUBLIC AFFAIRS, Pg. 10

LENGTH: 116 words

The European Centre for Public Affairs (ECPA) is gearing up for a year of change in the EU with a series of conferences to educate PA practitioners. 
ECPA executive director Tom Spencer said the conferences would help practitioners understand the impact of changes such as the introduction of new member states and an agreement on the Constitutional Treaty.
The first conference, 'Dealing With the New Brussels X', takes place in Brussels from 26 to 28 April. Speakers include DG Enlargement deputy head of cabinet Christian Danielsson, and EP Environment head of the secretariat Francis Jacobs.
Further programmes include 'EU Process After Enlargement' in Brussels on 27 May.

LOAD-DATE: April 26, 2004

LANGUAGE: English

PUB-TYPE: Magazine

7 of 18 DOCUMENTS

Canadian Corporate Newswire

November 19, 2003 Wednesday

Transport Canada: Change in Status of Parc Downsview Park

LENGTH: 1614 words

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--Transport Minister and Minister responsible for Parc Downsview Park Inc David Collenette today announced that Parc Downsview Park (PDP) Inc. is now reporting directly to Parliament. Downsview Park is a unique urban park and recreational green space created from the remaining lands of the former Canadian Forces Base Toronto. It is operated by Parc Downsview Park Inc. which is mandated to manage and develop part of the Downsview lands as an urban recreational greenspace to be held in trust and perpetuity for the enjoyment of future generations. "By making Parc Downsview Park Inc. an agent Crown corporation, the Government of Canada is further enhancing the accountability of PDP. Furthermore, PDP will now report directly to Parliament through the Minister of Transport, its designated minister," said Mr. Collenette. "The change in agent status will also pro-vide PDP with increased financial flexibility, enabling it to complete the full development of the park in the shortest time frame," he added. The corporation is still expected to be self-financing, to develop Downsview Park using the revenues from leasing or selling its commercial lands, to retain at least half of the Downsview site as parkland, and to accommodate a continuing military presence on the site. The park, located in Toronto's North York commu-nity, will be more than half the size of the Downsview Lands. The change in status ensures that PDP conducts its business in accordance with Part X of the Financial Administration Act. In particular, each PDP director will be appointed by the appropriate Minister, with the approval of the governor-in-council. Parc Downsview Park Inc. has a twelve-member board of directors. The change in status necessitated the re-affirmation of the current board of directors by order-in-council, and two new members have also been appointed. "I am pleased that the current board of directors, chaired by Dr. David Bell, has agreed to continue to serve in the same capacity," said Mr. Collenette. "In addition, I am happy Mr. Bailey and Dr. Kerbel have agreed to accept positions on the board, and I know their experience will complement the skills of the exist-ing board of directors." "With close to 600 acres of land, Downsview Park represents one of the largest urban redevelopment opportunities in Canada," said Mr. Collenette. "I wish the board well as they undertake their important work which will benefit all residents of Toronto. The Government of Canada is following through on its 1994 Budget commitment to develop and manage the Downsview Lands, while ensuring that it be held in perpetuity and in trust primarily as a unique urban recreational green space for the enjoyment of future generations. Transport Canada is online at http://www.tc.gc.ca. Subscribe to news releases and speeches at http://www.tc.gc.ca/listserv/, and keep up-to-date on the latest from Transport Canada. BACKGROUNDER PARC DOWNSVIEW PARK INC. BOARD OF DIRECTORS John S. Bailey is a new appointment to the board of Parc Downsview Park Inc. He was appointed chair-man and chief executive officer of Famous Players in 2000 and served in that position until he retired in March 2003. He also served as President from 1997, chief operating officer from December 1995 and execu-tive vice president from 1992. Prior to joining Famous Players, Mr. Bailey was senior vice-president of finan-cial planning for Paramount Picture Corporation. Mr. Bailey has contributed his expertise to the National Film Board, the Canadian Film Centre and the Toronto International Film Festival. Dr. David V.J. Bell currently serves as professor in Environmental Studies and the Director of the York University Centre for Applied Sustainability. Dr. Bell, a political scientist, received his undergraduate degree from York University in 1965, then his Ph.D from Harvard University in 1969. He has served on the Environ-mental Task Force of the City of Toronto, as a member of the Toronto Sustainability Task Force and the To-ronto Sustainability Round Table. A consultant and advisor to governments at the local, provincial and na-tional level in Canada and to the Government of Jamaica, Dr. Bell has also authored many papers on sus-tainability. Douglas Birkenshaw currently serves as a Senior Associate with Bregman & Hamann Architects in To-ronto and has worked at a number of architectural firms in Canada and abroad. Mr. Birkenshaw has been involved in many projects, including the Renaissance ROM project in Toronto, the Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems at the University of British Columbia, the Integrated Learning Centre at Queen's University, and the expansion of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. He has lectured at many universities, written numerous research publications and holds Bachelor Degrees in Architecture and Envi-ronmental Studies. Rina Camarra is currently part of the management of Mastro's restaurant and operates a consultancy business for restaurants in the areas of marketing, promotion and operations. Ms. Camarra is a long-time member of the Italian Chamber of Commerce and is an active member of the Business Improvement Asso-ciation involved in the revitalization of the Wilson Avenue Business areas. She was a member of the Com-munity Advisory Panel involved with the planning and development of the Downsview Lands and has had involvement with a number of local charities. Elizabeth Dowdeswell has pursued a career in the public service which has spanned provincial, federal and international borders. Currently she serves as President of the newly-created Nuclear Waste Manage-ment Organization; a Visiting Professor in Global Health, Genomics and Ethics at the University of Toronto; a Commissioner of the Commission on Globalization; and an associate fellow of the European Centre for Public Affairs. Ms. Dowdeswell is a past Assistant Deputy Minister of Environment Canada, former Under Secretary-General of the United Nations and former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program. She holds a Master's Degree in Behavioral Sciences from Utah State University and numerous honourary doctorates. Dr. Jeffrey Gordon Kerbel is a new appointment to the board of directors of Parc Donswiew Parc Inc. He currently serves as the president and chief executive officer of Brampton Brick Limited. Dr. Kerbel holds a degree in veterinary medicine from the University of Guelph and also attended Cornell University. He has served as the chairman of the board of directors of Brampton Brick Limited and director of Richvale York. Dr. Kerbel was awarded Brampton Business Person of the Year in 1992. Reginald W. Lewis holds a Certified General Accountant designation, a diploma in Engineering and is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries and Administrators. He has previously served as chairman of Defence Construction Limited, chairman of TEDCO and as a board member of CN Tower Lim-ited. He has a long and distinguished military service record with the British Army and then the Canadian Army Active Reserves, in which he was appointed as Chief of Reserves (Major General) in 1985, and Hon-ourary Colonel, Royal Regiment of Canada in 1991. Mr. Lewis, a member of the Order of Canada (1986), and has been actively involved in numerous community and military clubs and associations. John W. McCool holds an Advanced Management Programme degree from Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. He has served as President of the Bank of Montreal realty Corporation and is the past President and CEO of the Rostland Corporation, a private real estate development company. Now retired, he works as a volunteer for a number of charitable organizations. Thomas H.B. Symons was educated at the University of Toronto and at Oxford and Harvard Universities. He is a professor and writer in the field of Canadian Studies, contemporary intellectual and rural issues, and international academic and cultural relations. He has served as vice-president of the Social Sciences sand Humanities Research Council of Canada, and as a special advisor to the Secretary of State on post-secondary education and human rights. He is the author of numerous studies and articles dealing with edu-cation, public affairs, heritage preservation, human rights, and international relations. In 1998, Professor Sy-mons received the Governor General's International Award for Canadian Studies. Mr. Symons is a past President of Trent University and a Companion of the Order of Canada. Toni Varone received his bachelor of arts degree from York University, and also attained a bachelor of commerce from the University of Windsor. He is currently completing a bachelor of administrative studies from York University. He is currently president of Varone Group Inc., a group of companies involved in the hospitality, home building and property ownership industries. He is a past chairman of Villa Charities Inc. and Columbus Centre, as well as a past director of the Northwestern General Hospital. Mr. Varone is currently a director of Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation, which is an internationally recognized academic health centre affiliated with the University of Toronto. This news release may be made available in alternative formats for persons with visual disabilities. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Office of the Minister, Ottawa Amy Butcher Director of Communications (613) 991-0700

LOAD-DATE: November 19, 2003

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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IPS-Inter Press Service

June 23, 2003, Monday

EU-U.S.: IRAQ IS HIGH ON U.S.-EU SUMMIT AGENDA

BYLINE: By Stefania Bianchi

LENGTH: 965 words

DATELINE: BRUSSELS, Jun. 23

Transatlantic relations in general and the post-war reconstruction of Iraq in particular will take center stage when top European Union officials confer with President George Bush in Washington on Wednesday. The EU delegation will be headed by Commission President Romano Prodi and President-in-office of the European Council, Greek Prime Minister Constantine Simitis. It will include Javier Solana, High Representative for the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy, and Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy. The summit meeting is being held months after relations between the EU and U.S. were strained be-cause of the refusal of France and Germany - two of the most influential members of the 15-nation union - to support the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. It takes place days after the EU leaders gathered in Thessaloniki, Greece, on June 19-20 and endorsed a draft constitution for the union whose membership will expand from current 15 to 25 next year. A significant element of Europe's first draft constitution that is set to be ratified by all 25 members of the enlarged EU in June 2004 is the union's security and defence strategy. The strategy, to be adopted in December, commits the EU to facing up to its "responsibilities, guarantee-ing a secure Europe and a better world." "To this end, the union will contribute relentlessly to strengthening and reshaping the institutions of global governance, regional cooperation and expanding the reach of international law," according to the Greek Presidency conclusions. "We will support conflict prevention, promote justice, sustainable development, help secure peace and defend stability in our region and globally," the EU pledges in the document. Media reports said Washington was taking the union's security doctrine seriously. "The analysis is good. It will be meaningful when it is applied," a U.S. diplomat told the Financial Times. The EU, on its part, looks forward "to continue discussions with the U.S. on proposals for strengthening relations including ideas that could emerge from the elaboration of the European security strategy," said the document emerging from the Thessaloniki summit. Whereas the U.S. invasion of Iraq caused a rift within the EU, the message emerging from their summit in Greece was rather distinct. The document prepared by the Greek Presidency said the European leaders looked forward to "an im-portant United Nations contribution to the process leading to the formation, as soon as possible, of a repre-sentative Iraqi government, in which the UN can use its unique capacity and experience in post-conflict na-tion building." Jonathan Faull, Director General of the European Commission's Justice and Home Affairs department, told IPS: "The EU and the U.S. must stand side by side to build and improve bilateral agreements and to im-prove the humanitarian situation there." This view was supported by independent experts at a conference last week in Brussels. Pat Cox, President of the European Parliament, said: "We need a healthy transatlantic relationship - Iraq has shown us that. Although we have differences - the U.S. over-estimates and the EU under-estimates - these differences may be worth having and can help the process." Going a step farther, Sascha Mueller-Kraenner, Director for Europe of the Heinrich Boell Foundation, said that the EU must use the reconstruction of Iraq to demonstrate its power on a global scale. He said: "The post-war reconstruction of Iraq and the surrounding region will provide a test case for Europe's ability to project its interests and to provide assistance via the United Nations." "Europe's commitment to help the Iraqi people and to transform the region into a more democratic place must go beyond the provision of humanitarian aid. On the other hand, Europe should not subsidise a U.S.-led military administration," he continued. Mueller-Kraenner's remarks were significant as the Heinrich Boell Foundation is close to Germany's Green Party, whose eminent leader is Germany's Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. The conference, hosted by the Commission on Globalization, said the U.S.-led invasion had dramatically transformed the geo-political landscape. The Commission is a think tank examining the nature and character of globalization. It has approximately 30 co-chairs and several hundred commissioners drawn from top international business and political institu-tions. Against the changed backdrop, Mueller-Kraenner pleaded for redefining the transatlantic security rela-tionship. "This redefinition should not involve the mere duplication of Europe's post-war security dependency on the U.S.; Europe should ask itself how its own security interests can be guaranteed by a new governance structure in which Europe has a decisive say," he said. Tom Spencer, Executive Director of the European Center for Public Affairs, one of the commissioners of the Commission on Globalization, said the differences between the U.S. and the EU run much deeper than the war in Iraq. "The rough water in the Atlantic is not caused by anything that the Europeans initiated or any inherent defect in Atlantic institutional structures," he said. "Rather it is caused by a change in U.S. self-perception that fundamentally alters the nature of the game. The arguments of recent months have in reality been not about Iraq, but about the exercise of global power." Spencer added: "With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Europe is understandably less important strate-gically to the Americans. The balance of American interest in European integration has clearly shifted, with the European Union now seen as a global competitor to America at all levels other than the military."

LOAD-DATE: June 24, 2003

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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Canada NewsWire

December 19, 2002, Thursday

New Board Members Appointed For Parc Downsview Park Inc.

SECTION: FINANCIAL NEWS

LENGTH: 1525 words

DATELINE: TORONTO, Dec. 19

Canada Lands Company Limited (CLCL) today announced that it has appointed five new members to the board of its Parc Downsview Park Inc. (PDP) subsidiary. The PDP board oversees the development and ongoing management of Downsview Park on the former Canadian Forces Base Toronto lands in Toronto.

   "I would like to thank the outgoing Chairman, Gordon Farquharson, and all

other departing board members for their hard work and dedication in bringing Downsview Park well along the path towards becoming one of Canada's premier urban recreational greenspaces," said Marc Rochon, CLCL Chairman. "I would also like to congratulate David Bell, the new Chairman, and welcome all incoming board members onto what promises to be an excellent board."

   In addition to the new Chairman, David Bell, the members remaining on the

board include Rina Camarra, Reginald Lewis, Gino Matrundola, Betty Steinhauer and Toni Varone. The new members joining the board are Douglas Birkenshaw, Elizabeth Dowdeswell, John McCool, Kathy Milsom and Thomas Symons. Brief biographical notes for the members of the new board are attached to this news release.

   PDP was incorporated in 1998 to oversee the development and ongoing

management of Downsview Park on the former Canadian Forces Base Toronto lands in Toronto. The park is being developed as a unique urban recreational greenspace, to be held in perpetuity for the enjoyment of future generations.

   CLCL is a non-agent federal Crown corporation reactivated in 1995 to

create financial and community value from properties no longer required by the Government of Canada. The company is self-financing and implements innovative property solutions to enhance the quality of life in communities where it operates.

                       Members Of The New PDP Board
   David V. J. Bell (Chair) is the Director of the York University Centre

for Applied Sustainability, which inherited the resources and equipment of the Ontario Round Table on Environment and Economy (ORTEE), of which he was also a member. Dr. Bell is presently a professor and former Dean in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University, and is a member of the core faculty of the Sustainable Enterprise Academy of the Schulich School of Business. He has taught courses in Sustainable Development, Environmental Politics, Political Linguistics, and Canadian Political Culture. The author of numerous publications, he holds a PhD in Political Science from Harvard University.

   Douglas Birkenshaw is a Senior Associate with Bregman & Hamann Architects

in Toronto and has worked at a number of architectural firms in Canada and abroad. Projects that Mr. Birkenshaw has been involved with include: the Renaissance ROM project in Toronto, the Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems at the University of British Columbia, the Integrated Learning Centre at Queen's University, and the expansion of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. He has lectured at many universities, written numerous research publications and holds Bachelor Degrees in Architecture and Environmental Studies.

   Rina Camarra is currently part of the management of Mastro's Restaurant

and operates a consultancy business for restaurants in the areas of marketing, promotion and operations. Ms. Camarra is a long-time member of the Italian Chamber of Commerce and is an active member of the Business Improvement Association involved in the revitalization of the Wilson Avenue Business area. She has also been a member of the Community Advisory Panel involved with the planning and development of the Downsview lands for the past two years, and has had involvement with a number of local charities.

   Elizabeth Dowdeswell's eclectic public service career has spanned

provincial, federal and international borders and has transcended traditional disciplinary lines. She is a Visiting Professor in Global Health, Genomics and Ethics at the University of Toronto, a Commissioner of the Commission on Globalization and an associate fellow of the European Centre for Public Affairs. Ms. Dowdeswell is a past Under Secretary General of the United Nations and former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program. She holds a Master's Degree in Behavioral Sciences from Utah State University.

   Reginald W. Lewis has been Chairman of Defence Construction Limited since

1996 and was previously Chairman of TEDCO and a board member of CN Tower Limited. He has a long and distinguished military service record with the British Army and then the Canadian Army Active Reserves, which culminated in his appointment as Chief of Reserves (Major General) in 1985, and his appointment as Honorary Colonel, Royal Regiment of Canada in 1991. Mr. Lewis is a Certified General Accountant, a member of the Order of Canada (1986) and has been actively involved in numerous community and military clubs and associations.

   Gino Matrundola has had an extensive career in professional real estate

and is currently President, Chairman and CEO of Titanus Inc. Realtor and Telast Enterprises Inc. Land Holdings. He has served on numerous committees for the Toronto Real Estate Board, the York Region Real Estate Board, the Ontario Real Estate Association, the Canadian Real Estate Association and the International Real Estate Federation. In 1987, Dr. Matrundola was elected and served a term as Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Willowdale. He holds a PhD (Honoris Causa) in International Relations and Diplomacy from the American Graduate School of International relations and Diplomacy, Paris France.

   John McCool is the past President and CEO of the Rostland Corporation, a

private real estate development company, and formerly President of BMO Realty. Now retired, he works as a volunteer for a number of charitable organizations including the Salvation Army and has provided pro bono services for various community associations and homeowners on zoning matters. Mr. McCool holds an Advanced Management Programme Degree from Harvard University's Graduate School of Business Administration.

   Kathy Milsom is President and CEO of Canada Lands Company Limited and its

core real estate subsidiary Canada Lands Company CLC Limited. Most recently, Ms. Milsom was President of VESTAR Facility Management (formerly Rose Facility Management) where, within three years, she guided the organization from start-up to prominence in the highly competitive facilities management outsourcing market. Previously, as Director, Vertical Markets with Johnson Controls World Services Inc., an international facility management services company, she had responsibility for the company's five vertical markets in North America. Ms. Milsom is a professional engineer.

   Betty Steinhauer has been active in the not-for-profit field, both as a

volunteer and as a consultant, since she founded and became Executive Director of North York's Community Outreach in Education (CORE) in 1978. Her consultancy firm, Betty Steinhauer & Associates Ltd., has assisted a number of non-profit clients with fundraising strategies since it was created in 1984. Ms. Steinhauer has been a member of the boards of numerous community organizations including the Agora Foundation - Laidlaw Foundation, the Family Service Association of Metropolitan Toronto, the North York Business Association, and the North York Volunteer Centre. She is currently working to create The People Bridge Charitable Foundation.

   Thomas H.B. Symons is a professor and writer in the field of Canadian

Studies, contemporary intellectual and rural issues, and international academic and cultural relations. He is the author of To Know Ourselves, the report of the admission on Canadian Studies, and of numerous studies and articles dealing with education, public affairs, heritage preservation, human rights, and international relations. Educated at the University of Toronto and at Oxford and Harvard Universities, Mr. Symons is a past President of Trent University and a member of the Order of Canada.

   Toni Varone is currently Chairman of Villa Charities Inc. and Columbus

Centre Inc. and is a former Director of the Northwestern General Hospital Board. His work experience includes the active management of Montecassino Hospitality Group Inc., VGI Properties Limited and Urban Renaissance Homes Ltd. Mr. Varone has a B.A. from York University, attended the B.Com program at The University of Windsor, and is currently completing a B.A.S. degree from York University. VIEW ADDITIONAL COMPANY-SPECIFIC INFORMATION: http://www.newswire.ca/cgi-bin/inquiry.cgi?OKEY=93390

CONTACT: Please contact: Gordon McIvor, Vice President Public and Government Affairs, Canada Lands Company Limited, 1-888-252-5263, gmcivor(at)clc.ca

LOAD-DATE: December 20, 2002

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

DISTRIBUTION: Attention Business Editors

10 of 18 DOCUMENTS

European Report

November 13, 2002

EU/CANADA: SEMINAR TO TRAIN DIPLOMATS IN EUROPEAN MATTERS

SECTION: No. 2727

LENGTH: 300 words

From November 3-8, EIS-ECPAB (European Centre for Public Affairs Brussels, part of Europe Infor-mation Service) and the EPC (European Policy Centre) organised in collaboration with the Canadian Gov-ernment and the Canadian Mission to the European Union, a week's seminar for a group of 30 Canadian diplomats being posted to Europe this year. Participants came from 15 EU and enlargement country capitals as well as from Ottawa, and included several Heads of Mission. 
The seminar programme, entitled "Thinking Europe, Working Together", broadly covered the EU institu-tions and actors, current EU priorities, and the future of Europe - as seen by the EU institutions and Member States and by observers from the media and centres of research. A series of specialist modules covered, amongst others, the following themes: EU external relations; trade and development; justice and home af-fairs; and research and development co-operation.
Canada's Ambassador to the European Union, Jeremy Kinsman, said: "It is essential to our goal of building a more dynamic partnership with the European Union that we understand the dynamics and direc-tions of the Union's political and economic decision-making. The course will enable Canada to work better with our European partners." Some 60 speakers, among them senior EU and Canadian officials and execu-tives from major corporations, as well as civil society organisations and think tanks, addressed the partici-pants throughout the week.
The organisers were pleased that the pilot programme enabled them to bring the EU's institutional and conceptual labyrinth closer to Canadian diplomats working in Ottawa and around Europe.
Contacts: Lucyna Gutman-Grauer, EIS-ECPAB Tel: (+32) 2/737 7710
Marie-Laure Tortel, The EPC Tel: (+32) 2/286 9375

LOAD-DATE: November 12, 2002

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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Financial Times (London,England)

October 25, 2002 Friday USA Edition 2

EU does not need a chief executive

BYLINE: By TOM SPENCER

SECTION: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ; Pg. 12

LENGTH: 403 words

From Mr Tom Spencer. Sir, A move away from the system of six-month presidencies in the European Council of Ministers is in-evitable with enlargement, but it is wrong to present the issue as a choice between intergovernmentalism and the community method ("EU nears endgame in creation of a president", October 11).

    As always, the result of the current debate will contain elements of both. More important, any out-come will, and should, lead to a substantial increase in the power of the Council secretariat. In the unlikely event of the European Union adopting the Franco-British proposal for a president of the European Council with a five-year term, no one anticipates Europe's administrative business being solely in the hands of British or Spanish civil servants under a Blair or Aznar regime. Any such president would have to rely on the inter-national skills of an enhanced Council secretariat rather than their own national civil servants.

The advantage of increased visibility for such a president is in any case illusory. The experiment with a high representative should have warned us of the dangers of awarding titles implying a degree of unity that does not yet exist. The last thing we need in a dangerous world is two presidents in Brussels, glaring at each other for five years from grand buildings, divided by hectares of contested turf. It would be far wiser to opt for a variety of the "team presidency" now doing the rounds in Brussels. A five-nation, 2 1/2-year presidency, sequenced with the five-year term of parliament, would share out all the portfolios except the chairmanship of the European Council, Coreper (the committee of permanent represen-tatives) and the General Affairs and External Relations Council. These bodies alone would continue to re-volve their chairmanship on the existing six-month basis. The reality would be co-ordination by the Council secretariat, but the principle of the equality of states would be maintained. Recent history should be our guide. Prime ministers may enjoy appointing one of their own as president of the Commission but, as Jacques Santer and Romano Prodi can confirm, they do not support them once chosen. Europe does not need a CEO - either as a chief executive officer or as a career enhancement op-portunity for retired national leaders. Tom Spencer, Executive Director, European Centre for Public Affairs, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, UK

LOAD-DATE: October 24, 2002

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper

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Canada NewsWire

October 24, 2002, Thursday

Elizabeth Dowdeswell to Lead Study of Approaches to Manage Used Nuclear Fuel

SECTION: FINANCIAL NEWS

LENGTH: 1220 words

DATELINE: OTTAWA, Oct. 24

Elizabeth Dowdeswell has been appointed President of the newly-created Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) which will investigate long-term approaches for managing Canada's used nuclear fuel.

   Ms. Dowdeswell's appointment was announced today by Richard Dicerni,

Executive Vice President of Ontario Power Generation who is also Chair of the Board of Directors of the NWMO. "The Board is delighted that Ms. Dowdeswell has agreed to accept this challenge," said Mr. Dicerni. "She is a highly qualified executive with a truly impressive breadth of experience."

   The Nuclear Waste Management Organization has been established under the

Nuclear Fuel Waste Act (NFWA). Its members are Ontario Power Generation, Hydro Quebec and New Brunswick Power, Canadian companies that produce used nuclear fuel as a byproduct of electricity generation. The NFWA requires the NWMO to complete a study of approaches within three years, and put forward a recommended plan to the federal government for the long-term management of used nuclear fuel. As President, Ms. Dowdeswell will oversee an extensive public consultation process and a thorough study of long-term waste management approaches.

   Ms. Dowdeswell has held a number of senior posts within government, and

has been active in a broad range of environment-related programs, including a leading role in global efforts to negotiate the treaty on climate change in 1992. Ms. Dowdeswell was former Under Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program.

   "Science and technology have improved our quality of life and enriched

our society immensely. But such progress also has its challenges," said Ms. Dowdeswell. "Managing used nuclear fuel is a public policy matter which will require ingenuity, transparency and a meaningful engagement of citizens as we work to find solutions," she said.

   "Ms. Dowdeswell's record of championing sustainable development and

promoting environmental protection in Canada and at the United Nations uniquely qualify her to head up this important new organization," added Mr. Dicerni. "The Board is confident that she will ensure this study has full transparency and complete public policy debate."

                               BACKGROUNDER 
              The Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Organization
   October 24, 2002
   OTTAWA - The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) has been

established under the Nuclear Fuel Waste Act (NWFA) to investigate approaches for managing Canada's used nuclear fuel. The NWFA results from the Government of Canada's response to the Nuclear Fuel Waste Management and Disposal Concept Environmental Assessment Panel, which was chaired by Mr. Blair Seaborn and reported in March, 1998.

   The Government of Canada introduced Bill C-27 for First Reading on April

25, 2001. Following House and Senate Committee reviews, the legislation received Royal Assent on June 13, 2002.

   The Nuclear Fuel Waste Act requires electricity generating companies

which produce used nuclear fuel to:

   - establish a waste management organization to provide recommendations on 
     the long-term management of used nuclear fuel to the Government of 
     Canada and, 
   - establish segregated trust funds to finance the long term management of 
     the used fuel.
   The NWFA also requires the NWMO to: 
   - establish an Advisory Council whose comments on the waste management 
     organization's study and reports will be made public.
   Among the first activities for the organization will be a study of long-

term management approaches for used nuclear fuel, including the design of an innovative and wide-ranging program of public consultation.

   Within three years of the legislation coming into force, the NWMO is to

submit to the Minister of Natural Resources proposed approaches for the management of used nuclear fuel, along with comments of the Advisory Council, and a recommended approach.

   The legislation authorizes the Governor in Council to decide on the

approach. The government's choice will then be implemented by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, subject to all of the necessary regulatory approvals.

   October 24, 2002
                           Elizabeth Dowdeswell
   OTTAWA - Elizabeth Dowdeswell has had an extensive career in government,

education and international affairs. From 1993 to 1998 she served as Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program, where she led the agency's transformation into a modern organization, developing programs in state-of-the- environment assessment and reporting, environmental law, and tackling new issues of trade and globalization.

   Before joining the United Nations, Ms. Dowdeswell was the Assistant

Deputy Minister of Environment Canada from 1989 to 1992, responsible for the national weather and atmospheric agency. In that capacity she played a leading role in global efforts to negotiate the treaty on climate change adopted at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. She was also Canada's permanent representative to the World Meteorological Organization; principal delegate to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; and Canadian Chair of the Great Lakes Water Quality Board.

   Ms. Dowdeswell has worked as a management consultant to the Government of

Canada and led a number of public inquiries into issues such as Canada's unemployment benefits program, water policy and meteorological services. She has served as a member on numerous Canadian and international boards, advisory panels and commissions.

   Early in her career, Ms. Dowdeswell served as Deputy Minister of Culture

and Youth for the Province of Saskatchewan, directing a major public review of cultural policy and developing heritage legislation. Before that, she was a human rights ombudsman and educational consultant with the Department of Education, a university lecturer and a high school teacher.

   More recently, Ms. Dowdeswell's professional activities have included:

management consulting; Visiting Professor in Global Health, Genomics and Ethics at the University of Toronto; Commissioner of the Commission on Globalization; and Associate Fellow of the European Centre for Public Affairs.

   Ms. Dowdeswell is the author of numerous publications in both popular

press and professional journals. She holds a Master of Science degree in behavioral sciences from Utah State University, a Bachelor of Science degree in home economics and a teaching certificate from the University of Saskatchewan. She is the recipient of nine honorary degrees including six Doctor of Law degrees from various universities, a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax and the Memorial Gold Medal awarded by Charles University in Prague. VIEW ADDITIONAL COMPANY-SPECIFIC INFORMATION: http://www.newswire.ca/cgi-bin/inquiry.cgi?OKEY=24166

CONTACT: Media Contact: Michael Krizanc, (416) 592-3701

LOAD-DATE: October 25, 2002

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

DISTRIBUTION: Attention Business Editors

13 of 18 DOCUMENTS

PR Week

July 12, 2002

P&G'S JONNAERT BECOMES ECPA CHAIR

BYLINE: By STEVEN WILSON-BEALES

SECTION: STOP PRESS, Pg. 4

LENGTH: 251 words

Procter & Gamble director of corporate external relations Erik Jonnaert has been appointed chairman of European Centre for Public Affairs (ECPA).
The ECPA was set up in 1986 to 'record, analyse and improve the conduct of public affairs' in European Union institutions. 
Based at Surrey University, the body conducts research programmes and training each year for PA practitioners, civil servants, and managers and staff of NGOs.
Brussels-based Jonnaert set up P&G's European PA office in the Belgiuan capital ten years ago and became deputy chairman of the ECPA in 2000.
ECPA faces issues such as the implications for governments and businesses of the EU's planned east-wards enlargement; the increasing take-up across the EU of corporate social responsibility initiatives; and changes to the EU's regulatory framework.
He said: 'It's important to continue the research we have built up over the years. It's also important to ensure that research carried out is relevant to current business needs. There's always a danger that re-search can become insular, so it's crucial that it can add real value to companies.'
He added: 'There is an increasing demand for companies to make themselves more transparent to gov-ernments and vice versa.'
Jonnaert replaced former chairman Henry Stenson - Ericsson vice-president of corporate comms - in the chairman's role two weeks ago. In accordance with the ECPA's rotation system, Stenson becomes deputy chairman of the management board.

LOAD-DATE: July 12, 2002

LANGUAGE: English

PUB-TYPE: Magazine

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Financial Times (London,England)

November 9, 2001 Friday London Edition 1

Anti-globalisation warriors shift their ground: The appetite for mass confrontations at international conferences has diminished. Alan Beattie reports

BYLINE: By ALAN BEATTIE

SECTION: INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY ; Pg. 10

LENGTH: 832 words

Since September 11 the appetite for anti-capitalist demonstrations seems to have shrunk: neither the World Trade Organisation meeting in Doha, Qatar, starting today nor the G20 meeting in Ottawa next week are expected to produce protests on the scale originally planned. But for those willing to recast and direct their criticism in a different way, the potential for change may be at its strongest for a decade. Tom Spencer, director of the European Centre for Public Affairs think-tank, sums up the challenge for those continuing to seek radical reform: "Are we talking about anti-capitalism, anti- globalisation or anti-Americanism? It didn't matter before September 11; now it does."

    He was speaking at a recent conference in Budapest on globalisation, hosted by George Soros, the billionaire financier, and attended by academics, campaigners and policymakers.

What emerged from the conference was that continuing to conflate Mr Spencer's three critiques was to risk strong opposition. Both pro-and anti-liberalisation speakers attracted general opprobrium for appearing to do so. Walden Bello, Bangkok-based director of the campaign group Focus on the Global South - which op-poses wholesale trade and economic liberalisation - attracted strong criticism when arguing that a similar critique was applicable both to the Washington economic model of liberalisation and to capricious US foreign policy. He insisted that the public in poor countries routinely conflated anti-globalisation and anti-Americanism. "In the third world you saw a real ambivalence about the September 11 acts," he said. "Across Asia one of the biggest-selling items has been Osama bin Laden T-shirts. He is now emerging as a rebel figure running circles round a bully." David Hartridge, special adviser to Mike Moore, the WTO's director-general, played the September 11 card from the other side of the table: "We should be aware of elevating an atrocity into the status of an argu-ment," he said. "Anger validates nothing." Such comments drew strong reaction from several participants, who said being anti-liberalisation did not equal being anti-American. One such was Susan George, born in the US but naturalised French, vice- president of the Paris-based campaign organisation Attac. Ms George said Attac's relatively specific agenda of controls and taxes on the free movement of capital were now even more relevant. "One of Attac's demands has been a clampdown on tax havens," she said. "Up to September 11, every-one said this was impossible. Then George Bush suddenly said that tax havens were harbouring terrorists, and it became perfectly possible." Ms George does not believe the US government has been converted to her analysis of the underlying causes of terrorism. Though distancing herself from Mr Bello's understanding of sympathy for the terrorist acts, she still regarded the US response with horror. "As the saying has it: do not do what you want to do; do what your enemy would least like you to do," she said. "That would be to start a genuine plan against the poverty and environmental crises which beset the planet. What they most want us to do is more or less what we are doing; bombing civilians and creating a reaction in the Muslim world." She said she doubted governments had been shocked out of their complacency to the same extent as by the second world war, after which the United Nations was created and the US rebuilt Europe with the Marshall Plan. But there was, she said, at least a chance. Indeed, the possibility of a genuine shift in the willingness to contemplate new ideas has been evident. Blue-sky ideas including global carbon taxes to raise billions for development - floated recently by a blue-ribbon commission chaired by another Budapest conference participant, former Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo - seem a little less like fantasy and more like a basis for serious debate. But it is not clear that the loose alliance of radical anti-capitalist organisations, which first leapt to global prominence at the 1999 WTO meetings in Seattle, is well suited to put the case for change. The irony of the situation is that much of what its members call for is more regulation - of capital move-ments, of corporations, and of labour markets. So the interventionist instincts that generally accompany large-scale military conflict, as well as activist responses to the global economic slowdown, may serve them well. But some supporters recognise their tactics may not be appropriate. Changes in state policy require a more systematic engagement with the state. More likely agents of change may be established non-governmental organisations such as the aid agencies which have acquired strong advocacy and lobbying wings. G.M Tamas, a Hungarian philosophy academic, told the conference: "The Seattle movement is a revolu-tionary theatre with reformist aims. It does not want to turn into a set of elected politicians. But we are having a war in which voluntarism is not in vogue."

LOAD-DATE: November 8, 2001

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper

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The Times Higher Education Supplement

October 26, 2001

Don's Diary

BYLINE: Phil Harris

SECTION: OPINION; No.1510; Pg.13

LENGTH: 497 words

Week one
I fly to Dublin for the annual Political Marketing Conference of the Academy of Marketing at the Dublin City University Business School. We find out that the Californian referendum business has a turnover of more than $ 500 million (Pounds 352 million) a year. I wonder what the total spend in the euro campaign will be?
The next day I take part in the Today Show on Radio Telefis Eireann with professors Bruce Newman of Chicago and Nicholas O'Shaughnessy of Keele on United States elections and the decline of the Tory Party.
Week two Returning from a Chartered Institute of Marketing Council meeting via Edinburgh Airport on the afternoon of September 11, I watch on television scenes of carnage in New York and Washington. That night Steve Morrison, CEO of Granada Media, speaks at our Cobden lecture on communication in the digital age.
I arrive in Brighton for the Political Science Association Conference on the general election. Philip Gould, Tony Blair's pollster, presents how the master plan worked. It is generally agreed that the Liberal De-mocrats are improving because they focus on voter needs. The Tories do not show up because of the immi-nent reshuffle after the election of Iain Duncan Smith.
Week three I now know that all key colleagues and friends in New York and Washington are OK. The fresh-faced new undergraduates arrive. I spend time working on a special US edition of the Journal of Public Affairs with John Mahon of Maine.
Week four I am in Bournemouth for Charles Kennedy's speech on the war against terror and its impact on civic society. Colours and lighting in the conference hall reflect the subdued mood of the delegates.
I fly to Brussels for the launch of the JPA in Europe, sponsored by the European Centre for Public Af-fairs. We reflect on those in the public affairs industry who have lost their lives.
Week five I make it to Brighton in time for Tony Blair's inspired keynote speech. Delegates and others look fearful for the outbreak of war. Police officers are everywhere, many with body armour and semi-automatic weapons. The best stand is that of the Royal National Institute for the Blind, which has Rodin's Thinker outlining how one can enable the disabled. The scale of the exhibition, however, does give the con-ference the air of a large trade show.
Week six
Another train, this time to Blackpool to see IDS in action, only to find half the directorate of the BBC in one carriage. The Winter Gardens seems very empty. The backdrop of the conference is blue with a bright candelabra-lit podium, making everybody seem very old. I notice an anxious Michael Ancram, looking for journalists to talk to in the tiny press area. Anti and pro-euro campaigns are highly visible in the exhibition. Security appears a little excessive.
Phil Harris is chairman of the Academy of Marketing and a reader in marketing and public affairs at The Business School, Manchester Metropolitan University.

LOAD-DATE: October 27, 2001

LANGUAGE: English

PUB-TYPE: Magazine

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The Guardian (London)

February 19, 2000

Your place at the heart of Europe

BYLINE: Ian Wylie

SECTION: Guardian Rise Pages; Pg. 8

LENGTH: 477 words

The European Commission's Action Jean Monnet project is organising a one-day fair next weekend in Brussels to bring together students interested in EU integration programmes and the universities which offer them.
Action Jean Monnet, set up in 1990, is aimed at promoting knowledge on European integration by pro-viding start-up subsidies for new courses, chairs and modules. In the last decade, some 491 Jean Monnet chairs have been established and more than 1300 new courses have been created. 
Around 250 000 students each year are now benefiting from these Jean Monnet courses in EU member States as well as in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Exhibitors at next weekend's event will include the University of Birmingham, University of North Lon-don, University of Amsterdam, University of Portsmouth, Centre International de Formation Europe, Univer-sity of Limerick, Queen's University of Belfast, John Hopkins University, European Centre for Public Affairs Brussels, University of Loughborough, Universite Catholique de Louvain, University of Central Lancashire, University of Essex, University of Reading, University of Gent, University of Essex, University of Florence, University of Strasbourg, University of Exeter, University of Bristol, Katholic Universitiet Leuven, University of Catania and the University of Leeds.
The fair is supported by The Guardian and the University Association for Contemporary European Stud-ies in London. It is also sponsored by European Voice, a weekly magazine which reports on events inside the EU institutions.
'This is a unique opportunity for academics, students and young professionals to find out exactly which courses are available in the EU, to meet the programme directors and to decide which courses would be most appropriate for them,' says Adrian Scally, responsible for project development at European Voice. 'We have every intention of making this a regular event to ensure that all interested parties have an ideal oppor-tunity to sample what is on offer academically to prepare them for a career in EU-related professions."
Jacqueline Lastenouse of the Action Jean Monnet Project Unit says: 'We are extremely excited to have this golden opportunity not only to attract potential students to our courses, but to raise awareness of our funding project among other universities and academic institutions who are interested in developing EU stud-ies programmes."
The fair will take place on Saturday February 26 from 10am to 6pm at the Dorint Hotel. 11-19 Blv. Char-lemagne, B-1000, Brussels. The hotel is centrally located and within walking distance to EU institutions such as the Council of Ministers, and European Parliament.
Admission to the fair is free. For more details, see the European Voice magazine website at http: /www.european-voice.com/event/ Ian Wylie

LOAD-DATE: February 18, 2000

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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European Report

October 30, 1999

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

SECTION: No. 2447

LENGTH: 522 words

Main activities during the week beginning November 1
* Weekly meeting of the Commission: Wednesday November 3 in Brussels. The main items likely to fea-ture on the agenda include:
- 1999 report on more effective legislation
- Proposal on the fight against discrimination in employment: Communication on anti-discrimination measures, Directive creating a general framework for equal treatment in the work place and in the job mar-ket, Directive on the principle of equal treatment whatever race or ethnic origin, Council Decision establishing a programme of action against discrimination.
- Information on the introduction of Euro coins and notes
- Post-LomC EU/ACP negotiations and proposal for a financial envelope for the European Development Fund (orientation debate)
* Official visit of Guenter Verheugen to Slovakia, November 1 and 2
* Official visit of Chris Patten to Bosnia-Herzegovina, November 1 and 2
* Pascal Lamy participates in conference of trade ministers from candidate countries on adhesion to WTO dossiers in preparation for the Seattle Conference (Budapest)
* Viviane Reding, and the Finnish Sports Minister Mrs Suvi Linden, meets Juan Antonio Samaranch, President of the International Olympic Committee (Lausanne)
* Mr Patten participates in the EU/Algeria Ministerial Troika (Algiers) (November 4)
* Franz Fischler in Santiago de Compostela (Spain) November 4 and 5. Participation in various meeting on fisheries (November 4) and the third annual PESCA Conference (November 5)
*Visits to the Commission: November 1: Michaele Schreyer meets German Environment Minister Juer-gen Trittin; November 3 Anna de Palacio meets Bernard Meyer and JosC Esteban Perez, President, the Secretary General of CESA (Committee of European Shipbuilders' Associations), Manfred Seeger and David Williams from the IFIEC (International Federation of Industrial Energy Consumer), and George Jacobs, President of UNICE; November 4 Romano Prodi meets the Vice-President of the Dominican Republic, Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal, Neil Kinnock and Mario Monti meet the German Secretary of State and chief of the Federal Chancellor, Frank-Walter Steinmeier; Mrs Palacio meets the Austrian Transport, Caspar Einem; Poul Nielson and Chris Patten meet the Palestinian minister of planning and international cooperation Na-beel Shaath; Mrs Reding meets the Bavarian Science, Research and Culture Minister Hans Zehetmaier, Mrs Palacio meets Fraser Goodwin, Secretary General of the NGO Transport & Environment; Mr Nielson meets Peter Piot, Director General of UNAIDS; November 5 Official visit of Mr Lamy to Japan - meeting with Mem-bers of the Government, participation in a symposium with the Japanese Press; speech by Mrs Reding: "Bringing learning to life" in a debate organised by the ECPA (European Centre for Public Affairs); Messrs Monti and Bolkestein meet the Lord Mayor of London, Lord Levene, Mr Monti meets the Austrian Secretary of State for Art, European Affairs and Sport, Peter Wittmann; Philippe Busquin meets the Portuguese Minis-ter of Science and Technology, Mr JosC Mariano Gago (Lisbon)

LOAD-DATE: November 2, 1999

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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MAIL ON SUNDAY

August 15, 1999

Charlie's single aim; BLACK DOG

SECTION: Pg. 27

LENGTH: 645 words

BAD news for Sarah Gurling, the girlfriend of newly-elected Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy.
Dog can reveal the attractive 29-year-old PR girl is in danger of being signed up to an exclusive new club at Westminster.
Cruel wags are calling it Peggys' Club, because all the members suffer from Perpetual Girlfriend Syn-drome.
Honourable members include Gordon Brown's Sarah Macaulay and before wiser counsel prevailed Wil-liam Hague's Ffion.
Dog can reveal tongues are wagging at Westminster over the 18-month romance between cherubic Charles and Sarah.
Fresh from his leadership triumph, Kennedy is preparing to whisk her off for a Bahamas holiday, fuelling speculation that wedding bells can't be far off.
Friends predict that, with the leadership under his belt, Kennedy, almost 40, will soon announce his en-gagement to Sarah, an adviser with lottery firm Camelot. But Kennedy is infamous for breaking hearts. Spite-ful gossips recall that earlier rumours of impending nuptials have all come to nothing.
Sarah's friends hope she won't be just another one of 'Charlie's Angels', who seem to get so close but never make it to the altar.
Advisers have told Kennedy a formal engagement to Sarah would allay his image as a Parliamentary playboy and be seen as a sign of growing political maturity.
But I can reveal that Kennedy has told confidantes he has no intention of going down on bended knee in the Caribbean. His message to friends has been blunt: 'We have no plans to wed. Sarah is a very busy pro-fessional person and I have been very busy of late.' Our advice to the two Sarahs is keep pegging away.
DISGRACED Euro MP Tom Spencer has bounced back from the scandal surrounding his bizarre pri-vate life. The 'happily married' senior Conservative, who had to give up his safe Euro seat after details of his long-term homosexual dalliances were revealed, has been given a new job.
He is to be temporary executive director of the European Centre for Public Affairs at Oxford Univer-sity's Templeton College, which was founded to promote religious and spiritual lifestyles.
Darling of the people
WHILE Tony Blair is off in Italy acting like some feted monarch, Dog is heartened to find that the Cabinet has at least one man of the people in its ranks.
My spies recently spotted Social Security Secretary Alistair Darling enjoying a plebeian day out with his family at Disneyland, Florida.
Unlike his boss, Presbyterian Darling eschewed any special treatment, much preferring to join the queue for the big dipper like everyone else.
I HEAR Junior Minister Angela Eagle is turning the air blue at the Environment Department. Civil ser-vants have been taken aback by the Anglo-Saxon richness of language used by the former Formby High School girl.
WHEN the Blairs attend the Palio horse race in Siena, much derided for its brutality, in the crowd will be Charlie Whelan, former spin-doctor to Gordon Brown, who is reporting on the event for a small circulation newspaper.
DOG sympathises with the Earl of Glasgow, who gave the following reason for failing to turn up for a House of Lords debate: 'I've got the bank on my back. The country park wasn't ready for the tourists and we didn't meet our target.
HIGHFLYING Cabinet Office Minister Lord Falconer has been wowing colleagues with his knowledge of pop music. Dog can reveal the reason. 'Charlie' Falconer's brother-in-law used to be Stevie Wonder's man-ager.
Alastair's burning desire
FORMER Tory chief whip Alastair Goodlad has been regaling the political salons of Sydney with an hi-larious story since Tony Blair appointed him to be our High Commissioner in Australia.
He met his wife Cecilia at a party when her hair caught fire and he dashed to the rescue to put it out. The ever-witty Aussies have nicknamed him 'Bushfire Goodlad'.

LOAD-DATE: August 16, 1999

LANGUAGE: English

PUB-TYPE: Paper

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The Independent (London)

June 2, 1999, Wednesday

THE VOTE FOR EUROPE: MEPS WIN BONUSES IN PERKS 'CUTBACK'

BYLINE: Fran Abrams Westminster Correspondent

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 8

LENGTH: 729 words

EURO MPs will collect bonuses of up to pounds 200 per week under new rules designed to crack down on waste, The Independent has learnt.
The travel allowances, designed to slow down the European "gravy train", replace a flat-rate fee with a reimbursement of the actual fare. MEPs will also be able to claim a generous "distance allowance" and mile-age to and from airports.
In many cases, the new arrangements will actually cost the European Union more because they remove an incentive for members to travel cheaply and keep part of the payment.
It was estimated that MEPs pocketed up to pounds 800 per month under the old system - almost exactly the same as those who are living farthest from Brussels will keep under the new rules. The new allowances will take effect after next week's Euro elections.
The claims revelation comes as the Conservatives press for a wholesale clean -up of the European Par-liament. They want a committee like the one headed by Lord Neill of Bladen in London to oversee the run-ning of the parliament and European Commission, and a commissioner who can penalise MEPs if they fail to register commercial interests.
MEPs are not penalised if they fail to register their interests fully, and constituents must visit Brussels or Strasbourg if they wish to discover their members' outside earnings. Despite this, many members do register directorships and consultancies.
Ken Collins, Labour member for Strathclyde East, lists advisory posts with the public service sector un-ion Unison and with Jeremy Kane International, which is run by a director of a lobbying company called European Public Policy Advisers. Tom Spencer, former leader of the Conservative group in Brussels, re-ceives lecture fees from the European Centre for Public Affairs, of which his wife, Elizabeth, is also a di-rector. Mrs Spencer is director of Jeremy Kane International and European Public Policy Advisers.
Some MEPs benefit, too, from being members of more than one legislature. Three MEPs - the DUP leader Ian Paisley, the SDLP leader John Hume and the Conservative MP Anne McIntosh - have Westmin-ster seats and are entitled to receive an extra pounds 15,669, one-third of their European salary, on top of their pounds 47,008 UK salary. Mr Hume and Mr Paisley have also been elected to the Northern Ireland As-sembly, and are entitled to another pounds 9,600, or one-third of its interim salary of pounds 29,000. If the new assembly gets up and running that payment will probably increase to a further third of pounds 47,008, making a total of pounds 78,346.
The number of MEPs who are members of their national parliaments is dwindling, however. In 1979, one-fifth of members held two seats, but the number has dropped to just 25, or 3.8 per cent. There are now seven Italians, five Irish, five Danes, four French and one Luxembourg MEP in addition to the three UK MEPs.
David Heathcoat-Amory, shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Conservative MP for Wells, said it was time standards in the European Parliament were overhauled. He said: "No one is going to take them seriously until they sort our their rules and bring them in line with common sense."
Strasbourg's New Gravy Train
t In addition to their air fares, members will claim a minimum of pounds 28.56 in mileage, plus a distance allowance of pounds 71.40 if their round trip is less than 1,000km and pounds 171.36 if it is 1,000-1,500 km.
t An MEP travelling to Brussels from Manchester, Cardiff or London will claim pounds 99.96 per week on top of the air fare. An MEP travelling from Edinburgh or Belfast will claim pounds 199.92.
t Under the old system, an MEP travelling from Edinburgh claimed pounds 573.20 for a round trip. Now he or she will claim a BA fare of pounds 586.30 plus distance and mileage allowances of pounds 199.92, making a total of pounds 786.22.
t Allowances cover meals, accommodation and taxi fares en route. MEPs have free passes for airport parking and are assured of an in-flight meal and drinks.
t MEPs receive a "general expenditure" annual allowance of pounds 28,392, subsistence allowance of pounds 167.79 per day and a pounds 83.89 accommodation allowance when travelling to meetings outside the EU.
t Fare quoted in the rules is "YY economy class". BA says this equates to its Euro-budget business class fare.

LOAD-DATE: June 2, 1999

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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The Scotsman

May 29, 1997, Thursday

European lobbyists are forced to conform

BYLINE: Francine Cunningham

SECTION: Pg. 28

LENGTH: 1072 words

A GROUP of dedicated students meets in a classroom close to the concrete jungle of European institu-tions in Brussels. This is no ordinary evening class, but a programme designed to train lobbyists in the art of schmoozing, stroking and subtly influencing decision makers in the European Union.
Here, Euro executives learn the art of "coalition building" and developing "the methodology of a lobbying campaign".
They undergo multiple choice tests on their knowledge of EU bodies or examine a case study on the banana trade regime.
Each student is introduced to a "godfather", a senior consultant who will act as his or her guide through the labyrinthine maze of European institutions.
At the end of this programme, run by the European Centre for Public Affairs, a Brussels think-tank, every successful participant is awarded a certificate.
Billions of pounds are at stake in EU legislation, state aid and competition rulings. An estimated 10,000 lobbyists now work in Brussels, often employed by multinational companies trying to shape decisions which profoundly affect their businesses. As the ranks of lobbyists have grown, so have calls for them to be con-trolled. A new code of conduct which comes into effect today will tighten up the rules of the game.
Brussels lobbyists can be shy of their profession, preferring to call themselves "public affairs practitio-ners." They range from pressure groups such as the US National Rifle Association to the major German car manufacturers and multinational corporations.
Then there are all the trade union groups, non-governmental organisations, law firms and the regional governments vying for attention. Every conceivable sector is represented, from the EU mayonnaise and con-diment sauce committee to the International Confederation of Beet Growers.
The European Parliament based in Strasbourg and Brussels is a prime target for lobbyists. They will now have to obey a clear set of rules or risk being refused access to the institution.
It took eight years of internal wrangling before the parliament finally adopted an eight-point code drafted by British Labour MEP, Glyn Ford. "It is important to realise that this is not a voluntary code of conduct, it is compulsory. Any lobbyist who does not sign up to it will not get a pass," said Mr Ford.
Under the new system, players will have to declare whom they represent and agree to abide by the new standards.
They must not obtain information dishonestly or sell parliamentary papers. They have to refrain from of-fering gifts to MEPs and must declare any help they provide them.
Lobbyists also have to get approval from MEPs if they want to offer work to their assistants. This is aimed at assistants who sometimes combine "consultancy" work with other duties.
However, the parliament failed to back two of Mr Ford's toughest proposals. There was insufficient sup-port for his plan which would have forced lobbyists to provide a detailed report each year of their efforts to influence decision-making.
The new code has been welcomed by leading Brussels-based consultancies, who are just as keen to keep out the cowboys. Members of SEAP, the Society of European Affairs Practitioners, already have their own guidelines.
"We fulfil a valuable function which should be performed to the highest standards of professionalism," says Lyn Trytsman-Gray of the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment. "We are seeking to take part in public policy process and try to influence that through lobbying and communication."
In her eyes, the relationship between EU institutions and the lobbyist is one of mutual dependence. "EU officials need industry to formulate their work," says Ms Trytsman-Gray.
Sessions at the European Parliament in Strasbourg are prime hunting grounds for lobbyists. MEPs are regularly buttonholed on the way to the voting chamber.
Lobbyists try to influence legislation early, when it is being drafted by civil servants at the European Commission in Brussels. They also work on the Council of Ministers, the final decision-making body where lobbyists exert pressure through national governments.
The secrecy of the EU's decision-making process, especially in the Council of Ministers, is a bone of contention for many lobbyists. "Citizens knocking on the door of European institutions should find the door open," says Rodolphe de Looz-Corswarem of the European Confederation of Breweries.
It is one of the strange quirks of the new rules, that lobbyists are obliged to make sure that MEPs regis-ter any gifts or trips given to them. This gives the impression that MEPs cannot be trusted to do this them-selves.
Catherine Stewart, a consultant with multinational clients, says: "The European Parliament must enforce its own sanctions, if it feels members do not abide by the rules." The term "gifts" has even been taken out of the code of conduct and replaced with the more ambiguous "benefits in cash or kind." Thus, teddy bears or commemorative mugs are unlikely to fall foul of the rules.
Lobbyists claim that they rarely give gifts, but admit to inviting MEPs and officials for meals and paid trips to see farms or industries. "There aren't very many jollies nowadays," remarks Ms Stewart.
Governments may prove more generous with their favours than commercial companies. Many Euro-MPs came in for fierce criticism last year for accepting junkets to Turkey, at a time when the Turkish govern-ment was trying to persuade the EU to sign a customs agreement.
The new rules may help to bring the army of professional lobbyists into line, but it does nothing to re-strict the activities of MEPs who sometimes moonlight consultants for big business. A German MEP, Elmar Brok, for example, is quite open about his role as vice-president of European Affairs for the media giant Bertlesmann. He claims this does not interfere with his parliamentary duties.
Ms Stewart says: "Some MEPs use their parliamentary privilege to act as consultants.
The European Parliament has to decide whether that is acceptable." In Brussels, the atmosphere is of-ten frenzied as lobbyists with conflicting interests try to get to the official or MEP with the most clout.
Under the new rules, lobbyists will have to temper persistence with politeness.
But there will be no end to the ear-bending and arm-twisting.

LOAD-DATE: May 29, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUB-TYPE: PAPER

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The Times

April 18, 1996, Thursday

Like cows to the slaughter

BYLINE: Robin Pedler

SECTION: Features

LENGTH: 809 words

Robin Pedler on the great BSE public relations blunder.

When John Major was interviewed after the Turin summit about the mad cow crisis, he said: Lessons will have to be learnt in dealing with future health scares. But the Government should already have been aware that there are well-established principles for crisis containment developed by companies. In attempt-ing to deal with the BSE scare, the Government ignored them. These are the points it ought to have under-stood and acted upon: 1. Put someone clearly in charge. An individual must be clearly identified and seen to be taking the nec-essary action. Most people expect it to be the head (chairman or prime minister) but it does not have to be. He or she must then co-ordinate the action and control the communication, internal and external. Internal communication is just as important. If members of an organisation are confused or under-informed, all kinds of rumours and speculation will emerge. Two contrasting examples from the oil industry illustrate the importance of someone being seen to be in charge. When the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground off Alaska, no one senior in Exxon spoke up for a week. When the chairman finally did so, it was too late. Yet when the Piper Alpha rig blew up, Dr Armand Hammer, Occidental's chief, flew straight to Scotland, said all the right things and gave the impression that the company was in control. The Government ignored this principle in two important respects. First, it was not made clear whether Mr Dorrell, the Health Secretary, or Mr Hogg, the Agriculture Minister, was in charge. Secondly, Mr Dorrell made it clear that he was not in charge but merely reflecting the views of the scientists. This made him look reactive and also broke rule 2. 2. Your scientific advice may be good, but by itself it won't convince the public. In the Brent Spar case, Shell had the advice of its own scientists and those of the British Government on its side. Two of them even wrote to the journal Nature at the height of the crisis to confirm their view that deep-sea disposal was the least environmentally damaging option. None of this did Shell any good. Greenpeace had made Brent Spar into a symbol. Mr Dorrell chose an even less valuable support group. Opinion surveys in the environmental area show that Government scientists are particularly lowly rated as sources of information. Two thirds of respondents rate them as unreliable. A majority would rather believe single-issue groups, friends or neighbours. 3. Take action early and exceed what is expected by a clear margin. If you fail to do this, you will eventu-ally be forced into a U-turn, destroying any belief you may have engendered that you really are in charge. If you decide on taking unpleasant action too late, what might earlier have convinced people will appear to be just another example of the organisation being driven by events. A successful example of taking the hit early was provided by Perrier. When some of its bottled water was said to have been contaminated with benzene in 1990, the company opted for a total worldwide product re-call. Thereafter it quickly recovered market share and pricing. The advantage of taking the early hit is that it kills off a scare's news value. While the media have the impression that there is more to come, they will keep digging and publishing. The Government has been amazingly slow to learn this lesson.

As late as Friday, March 29, Douglas Hogg, interviewed on his way to Brussels after a policy of limited slaughter had been decided upon, said: We have done anything scientists required. It may be that more will have to be done to restore public confidence.

He will almost certainly have to say that again. 4. Admit mistakes, don't blame others. Admitting that a mistake has been made, when it obviously has, does not enhance the impression of crisis. Rather it suggests that the person in charge knows what has gone wrong and can probably fix it. There is also plenty of evidence that some contrition can be very effec-tive in winning public opinion to your side.

When Exxon finally spoke up about the Exxon Valdez disaster, it was not to apologise but to blame the tanker captain for being drunk. It lost even more public sympathy. The owners of the Braer, on the other hand, maintained public sympathy by admitting their mistakes.

In the case of Government's handling of the BSE crisis everybody else is to blame, the scare is whipped up by the Labour Party, the Europeans are ganging up against Britain. This approach only serves to diminish the chance that anyone will be regarded as being in charge. The author is Director of the European Centre for Public Affairs at Templeton College, Oxford.

LOAD-DATE: April 19, 1996

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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PR Week

March 29, 1996

PR Europe: Brussels - ECPA to woo post-graduates

LENGTH: 82 words

The Oxford-based European Centre for Public Affairs has joined forces with the Europe Information Service, publisher of European Report, to launch what it claims is the first post-graduate qualification for pub-lic affairs professionals. Robin Pedler, director of ECPA and director of studies for its new Brussels training centre, said the launch would answer concerns among some EU institutions that there were few guarantees of professionalism among public affairs practitioners.

LOAD-DATE: September 22, 2000

LANGUAGE: English

PUB-TYPE: Magazine

11 of 26 DOCUMENTS

Financial Times (London,England)

November 14, 1995, Tuesday

Exceptional resistance?

BYLINE: From Mr ROBIN PEDLER

SECTION: Letters to the Editor; Pg. 22

LENGTH: 165 words

Sir, Paul Abrahams' well documented article 'Bitter memories of the resistance' (November 11/12) is convincing, for the countries he covers.
While, however, he ranges from Brittany to the steppes of Russia and to Greece for his material, he omits all mention of Yugoslavia. 
Throughout the disastrous developments of the last four years in that region, it has repeatedly been stated that Tito's partisans were effective, that they tied down a number of German divisions - some esti-mates go as high as seven - and that they liberated their country with little outside assistance.
At a moment when governments are considering the deployment of 60,000 Nato ground troops in the region, it would be highly relevant to consider whether the received wisdom about the effectiveness of Serb-led partisans is correct or whether it, too, is due for historical revision.
Robin Pedler,
director,
European Centre for Public Affairs,
Templeton College,
Oxford OX1 5NY

LOAD-DATE: November 14, 1995

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

12 of 26 DOCUMENTS

PR Newswire Europe

January 12, 1995

THE WEEK IN EUROPE: JOBS AID PROGRAMMES FOR UK APPROVED

SECTION: GENERAL AND CITY NEWS

LENGTH: 1747 words

The following look at events in the European Community in the past and coming week and a diary of upcoming events was issued today by the London office of the European Communities Commission:
Fifteen-member Union.
On 1 January, France took over the presidency of an enlarged European Union which increased from 12 to 15 members with the accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden. The EU's area is increased by more than a third, to 3,235,000 sq km, and the population by 6.2%, from 348,676,000 to 370,452,000. Total GDP rises by about 7%, GDP per head by about 1%.
Qualified majority voting.
The General Affairs Council agreed to modifications in the way the Council operates. The total of Council votes is 87, the majority needed in the rare use of simple majority voting is now 44, the qualified ma-jority is 62, the blocking minority is 26 votes.
Other changes.
Other adaptations to the Treaty provisions following Norway's vote against membership are automatic. The Union of 15 has 20 Commissioners. The rotation of the Council presidency is modified. The new alloca-tion of European Parliament seats to Member States is: Germany 99, France 87, Italy 87, UK 87, Spain 64, Netherlands 31, Belgium 25, Greece 25, Portugal 25, Sweden 22, Austria 21, Denmark 16, Finland 16, Ire-land 15, Luxembourg 6 (total 626).
Commission approval hearings.
The European Parliament has been examining the members of the new Commission prior to next week's voting on confirmation of the appointment of the College as a whole. Committees of the Parliament questioned the nominees and Klaus Haensch, President of the Parliament, summarised their views which included a number of criticisms as to individual nominees and the division of responsibilities. The party groups will meet to consider their attitudes and the confirmation vote will take place on 18 January.
Jobs aid programmes for UK.
The Commission has approved Operational Programmes for aid for Member States from the European Social Fund (ESF) and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), under the "Employment and Devel-opment of Human Resources" initiative for 1994-99. They include programmes for Northern Ireland and for the rest of the UK, for projects under the Employment-NOW, Employment-HORIZON and Employment-YOUTHSTART initiatives.
For Northern Ireland 11,901,000 ECU is provided from the ESF and ERDF: 2.9m ECU for Employ-ment-NOW, for further integration of women into vocational training, employment and business creation - 5.85m ECU for Employment-HORIZON, to improve job prospects for disabled and disadvantaged people - 2,675,000 ECU for Employment-YOUTHSTART, aimed at better job opportunities for the under-20s - and 475,000 ECU for technical assistance.
For Great Britain 134.6m ECU is provided by the ESF, to which national and private funding will be added to make 296,758,000 ECU. Of the ESF funds Employment-NOW receives 34,199,000 ECU, Employ-ment-HORIZON 67,338,000, and Employment-YOUTHSTART 27,667,000, while 5,396,000 ECU is ear-marked for technical assistance.

Fishing rules for Spain and Portugal.

The Fisheries Council, at a resumed session on 22 December, agreed rules governing access by Spanish and Portuguese fishing vessels to waters of other EU Member States, in order to integrate Spain and Portugal into the Common Fisheries Policy. From 1 January 1996 they will remain excluded from the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel, as well as the North Sea - the "Irish Box" will remain a special control area with Spanish fishing restricted in the portion lying west of Scotland. Spain is allowed to fish in the Celtic Sea (south of the Irish Republic). The Council had already agreed on Total Allowable Catches and quotas for 1995.
Schengen states' free movement deadline.
The signatories of the Schengen Convention - all the EU Member States except for the UK, Ireland, Denmark and the three new members - have agreed that the Convention will be applied in full and all identity checks on borders between them abolished on 26 March 1995. The Schengen Convention is separate from the moves towards full abolition of internal border controls among all EU Member States.
EU-Russia relations: Chechnia protest and aid.
The EU and Russia initialled an interim agreement in Moscow on 29 December, covering in particular the trade provisions of the proposed Partnership Agreement which was signed at the Corfu European Coun-cil last June but still awaits ratification. However, signing of this interim agreement, to operate pending ratifi-cation of the Corfu agreement, has been deferred. The Commission has decided to consult Member States before recommending signature, because of the Russian military operations in Chechnia.
Speaking last week at the European Parliament hearings on the new Commission, the Commissioner-designate in charge of relations with Central and Eastern Europe, Hans van den Broek, confirmed the Com-mission's view: that the movement for Chechen independence is illegal, but the methods used to preserve Russia's integrity should respect human rights and democracy, and the methods in fact used by Russia, es-pecially attacks on civilians, must be condemned. Also last week, the Commission granted 310,000 ECU from European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) funds for medicine and shelter for victims of the fighting in Chechnia, to be administered by the International Red Cross.
Joint Declaration with Mercosur.
The Council and the Commission signed on 22 December a Solemn Joint Declaration with the Member States of Mercosur, the grouping of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The Declaration expresses agreement on the ultimate aim of a political and economic inter-regional association, aiming at trade liberali-sation and closer political cooperation between the four Latin American states and Europe. The parties hope to conclude negotiations for an inter-regional framework agreement this year.
Drinking water Directive.
The Commission last week adopted proposals for changes to Directive 80/778 on drinking water qual-ity. The outgoing Commissioner for the Environment said that besides the primary aim of ensuring EU citi-zens' health, the proposed changes responded to the principle of subsidiarity. The number of parameters to be observed by all Member States in drinking water quality control is thus reduced from 67 to 48 (including 13 new ones), to which national governments can add if they wish. The proposed changes are based on sci-entific research: for example, the reduction in the maximum permissible lead content from 50 to 10 micro-grammes per litre.

Energy Green Paper. The Commission approved on Wednesday a Green Paper on energy policy, intended to contribute to debate on whether a greater Community role in this sector is needed. It was drawn up with the Intergovern-mental Conference in mind and in response to concerns over the increasing dependence of the EU on non-EU energy sources, the relatively high costs of energy in Europe due to lack of competition, and the fact that carbon dioxide emissions have levelled only because of economic factors. The document proposes several changes in policy for discussion: greater coordination on energy policy, a global approach, clarification of Community responsibilities, possibly more pollution controls. The Paper does not propose detailed solutions or decisions at this stage.

Second-hand goods, art and antiques.
A uniform system of VAT calculation for trade in second-hand goods took effect in the EU on 1 January 1995, with the coming into force of the 7th VAT Directive. From now on commercial transactions will carry VAT levied on the profit margin, while transactions between individuals will not be liable to VAT. Second-hand cars are now defined as those more than six months old or with more than 6,000 km mileage (twice the previous lower limits). Trade in art and antiques is also now subject to a uniform system of VAT calculation under the 7th VAT Directive. It is similar to the system for second-hand goods, but there are provisions for auctions and some other special provisions. The UK, which has allowed duty-free imports of works of art since before 1973, is allowed during the transitional VAT period, up to 30 June 1999 at the latest, to charge a reduced rate of 2.5%.
Africa mercy flights extended.
Relief flights to bring help to refugees and displaced people in Somalia, Southern Sudan and Rwanda, started by a Commission decision of 12 April 1994, are to be continued until the beginning of March 1995. The Commission allocated last Friday a million ECU under Article 254 of the Fourth Lome Convention for the continued airlift, which uses nine aircraft. Last month the Commission agreed to a further allocation of 50m ECU for aid to victims of the Rwanda and Burundi crises, within those countries and in neighbouring ones.
Asylum in Europe
Volume II of this study by the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), complementing Asy-lum in Europe - an Introduction (Volume I), is subtitled Review of Refugee and Asylum Laws and Procedures in Selected European Countries. Obtainable from ECRE, 3-9 Broadway, London SW8 1SJ, tel. 0171-582 9928. Price pounds sterling 6.75 Volume I, pounds sterling 12 Volume II, pounds sterling 15 both together.
ITEA '95.
The closing date for applications for the Information Technology European Awards for 1995 has been postponed from 15 January to 30 April 1995. Details on application procedure from Helle Bonnet, Euro-CASE, 16 rue Mazarine, 75006 Paris, France.
Forthcoming Events.
The European Centre for Public Affairs is holding a Seminar on "Public Affairs in the New Union: Players and Rules" on 19 and 20 January 1995 at the Faculty Club at Louvain, Belgium. Contact Adrienne Pratt, Templeton College, Oxford OX1 5NY. Tel. 0865-735422, fax 0865-736374.
Diary Dates.
Ecofin Council 16 January Brussels
General Affairs Council 23-24 January Brussels
Agriculture Council 23-24 January Brussels
European Parliament 16-20 January Strasbourg
EcoSoc 24-26 January Brussels

Our next briefing will take place on Thursday, January 19, at 1130hrs.
Contact: Peter Dixon, CEC, 071-973 1992

LOAD-DATE: January 12, 1995

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

Origin Universal News Services Limited, 1995

13 of 26 DOCUMENTS

Financial Times (London,England)

December 30, 1994, Friday

Need to achieve a better balance in social policy in Europe and the UK

BYLINE: From Mr ROBIN PEDLER

SECTION: Letters to the Editor; Pg. 12

LENGTH: 118 words

Sir, Peter Cooke's thoughtful letter was published in the same issue in which you featured a report, enti-tled 'Germany 'ahead of UK on labour costs' ', detailing the Confederation of British Industry's concerns that Germany's unit labour costs are reducing at the same time as the UK's are again beginning to increase.
It would seem that the current policy of resisting the legal protection of employee rights is no guarantee of maintaining comparatively low unit labour costs, even when the comparison is with Germany, the Euro-pean country where those rights are most entrenched.
Robin Pedler,
executive director,
European Centre for Public Affairs,
Templeton College,
Oxford OX1 5NY

LOAD-DATE: January 1, 1995

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

14 of 26 DOCUMENTS

PR Week

September 23, 1994

How to lobby the EU

LENGTH: 72 words

Lobbying the European Union (Dartmouth Publishing Company pounds 37.50), the first book on lobby-ing the EU since the Maastricht Treaty, was published last week. Editors Robin Pedler, director of the Euro-pean Centre for Public Affairs, and Rinus van Schendelen of Rotterdam University have collated case his-tories from ten commercial and four non-commercial lobbying campaigns, in a bid to analyse different ap-proaches.

LOAD-DATE: September 22, 2000

LANGUAGE: English

PUB-TYPE: Magazine

15 of 26 DOCUMENTS

M2 PRESSWIRE

January 31, 1994

THE WEEK IN EUROPE WE 120195

LENGTH: 1605 words

Fifteen-member Union. On 1 January, France took over the presidency of an enlarged European Union which increased from 12 to 15 members with the accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden. The EU's area is increased by more than a third, to 3,235,000 sq km, and the population by 6.2%, from 348,676,000 to 370,452,000. Total GDP rises by about 7%, GDP per head by about 1%.
Qualified majority voting The General Affairs Council agreed to modifications in the way the Council op-erates. The total of Council votes is 87, the majority needed in the rare use of simple majority voting is now 44, the qualified majority is 62; the blocking minority is 26 votes.
Other changes. Other adaptations to the Treaty provisions following Norway's vote against membership are automatic. The Union of 15 has 20 Commissioners. The rotation of the Council presidency is modified. The new allocation of European Parliament seats to Member States is: Germany 99, France 87, Italy 87, UK 87, Spain 64, Netherlands 3 1, Belgium 25, Greece 25, Portugal 25, Sweden 22, Austria 21, Denmark 16, Finland 16, Ireland 15, Luxembourg 6 (total 626).
Commission approval hearing The European Parliament has been examining the members of the new Commission prior to next week's voting on confirmation of the appointment of the College as a whole. Com-mittees of the Parliament questioned the nominees and Klaus Haensch, President of the Parliament, sum-marised their views which included a number of criticisms as to individual nominees and the division of re-sponsibilities. 'Re party groups will meet to consider their attitudes and the confirmation vote will take place on 18 January.
Jobs aid programmes for UK. The Commission has approved Operational Programmes for aid for Mem-ber States from the European Social Fund (ESF) and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), under the "Employment and Development of Human Resources" initiative for 1994-99. They include programmes for Northern Ireland and for the rest of the UK, for projects under the Employment-NOW, Employment-HORIZON and Employment-YOUTHSTART initiatives. For Northern Ireland 11,901,000 ECU is provided from the ESF and ERDF: 2.9m ECU for Employment- NOW, for further integration of women into vocational training, employment and business creation; 5.85m ECU for Employment-HORIZON, to improve job pros-pects for disabled and disadvantaged people; 2,675,000 ECU for Employment-YOUTHSTART, aimed at bet-ter job opportunities for the under-20s; and 475,000 ECU for technical assistance. For Great Britain 134.6m ECU is provided by the ESF, to which national and private funding will be added to make 296,758,000 ECU. Of the ESF funds Employment-NOW receives 34,199,000 ECU, Employment-HORIZON 67,338,000, and Employment-YOUTHSTART 27,667,000, while 5,396,000 ECU is earmarked for technical assistance.
Fishing rules for Spain and Portugal. The Fisheries Council, at a resumed session on 22 December, agreed rules governing access by Spanish and Portuguese fishing vessels to waters of other EU Member States, in order to integrate Spain and Portugal into the Common Fisheries Policy. From I January 1996 they will remain excluded from the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel, as well as the North Sea; the Irish Box" will remain a special control area with Spanish fishing restricted in the portion lying west of Scotland. Spain is allowed to fish in the Celtic Sea (south of the Irish Republic). The Council had already agreed on Total Al-lowable Catches and quotas for 1995.
Schengen states' free movement deadline. The signatories of the Schengen Convention -- all the EU Member States except for the UK, Ireland, Denmark and the three new members--have agreed that the Con-vention will be applied in full and all identity checks on borders between them abolished on 26 March 1995. The Schengen Convention is separate from the moves towards full abolition of internal border controls among all EU Member States.
EU-Russia relations: Chechnia protest and aid. lie EU and Russia initialled an interim agreement in Moscow on 29 December, covering in. particular the trade provisions of the proposed Partnership Agreement which was signed at the Corfu European Council last June but still awaits ratification. However, signing of this interim agreement, to operate pending ratification of the Corfu agreement, has been deferred. The Commission has decided to consult Member States before recommending signature, because of the Russian military operations in Chechnia. Speaking last week at the European Parliament hearings on the new Com-mission, the Commissioner-designate in charge of relations with Central and Eastern Europe, Hans van den Brock, confirmed the Commission's view: that the movement for Chechen independence is illegal, but the methods used to preserve Russias integrity should respect human rights and democracy, and the methods in fact used by Russia, especially attacks on civilians, must be condemned. Also last week, the Commission granted 310,000 ECU from European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) funds for medicine and shel-ter for victims of the fighting in Chechnia, to be administered by the International Red Cross.
Joint Declaration with Mercosur. The Council and the Commission signed on 22 December a Solemn Joint Declaration with the Member States of Mercosur, the grouping of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uru-guay. The Declaration expresses agreement on the ultimate aim of a political and economic inter-regional association, aiming at trade liberalisation and closer political cooperation between the four Latin American states and Europe. The parties hope to conclude negotiations for an inter-regional framework agreement this year.
Drinking, water Directive. The Commission last week adopted proposals for changes to Directive 80/778 on drinking water quality. The outgoing Commissioner for the Environment said that besides the primary aim of ensuring EU citizens' health, the proposed changes responded to the principle of subsidiarity. The number of parameters to be observed by all Member States in drinking water quality control is thus reduced from 67 to 48 (Including 13 new ones), to which national governments can add if they wish. The proposed changes are based on scientific research: for example, the reduction in the maximum permissible lead content from 50 to 10 microgrammes per litre.
Energy Green Paper. The Commission approved on Wednesday a Green Paper on energy policy, in-tended to contribute to debate on whether a greater Community role in this sector is needed. It was drawn up with the Intergovernmental Conference in mind and in response to concerns over the increasing dependence of the EU on non-EU energy sources, the relatively high costs of energy in Europe due to lack of competition, and the fact that carbon dioxide. emissions have levelled only because of economic factors. The document proposes several changes in policy for discussion: greater coordination on energy policy, a global approach, clarification of Community responsibilities, possibly more pollution controls. The Paper does not propose de-tailed solutions or decisions at this stage.
Second-hand goods, art and antiques. A uniform system of VAT calculation for trade in second-hand goods took effect in the EU on 1 January 1995, with the coming into force of the 7th VAT Directive. From now on commercial transactions will carry VAT levied on the profit margin, while transactions between indi-viduals will not be liable to VAT. Second-hand cars are now defined as those more than six months old or with more than 6,000 km mileage (twice the previous lower limits). Trade in art and antiques is also now sub-ject to a uniform system of VAT calculation under the 7th VAT Directive. It is similar to the system for sec-ond-hand goods, but there are provisions for auctions and some other special provisions. The UK, which has allowed duty-free imports of works of art since before 1973, is allowed during the transitional VAT period, up to 30 June 1999 at the latest, to charge a reduced rate of 2.5%.
Africa mercy flights extended. Relief flights to bring help to refugees and displaced people in Somalia, Southern Sudan and Rwanda, started by a Commission decision of 12 April 1994, are to be continued until the beginning of March 1995. The Commission allocated last Friday a million ECU under Article 254 of the Fourth Lome Convention for the continued airlift, which uses nine aircraft. Last month the Commission agreed to a further allocation of 50m ECU for aid to victims of the Rwanda and Burundi crises, within those countries and in neighbouring ones.
Asylum in Europe: Volume 11 of this study by the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), complementing Asylum in Europe an Introduction (Volume 1), is subtitled Review of Refugee and Asylum Laws and procedures in Selected European Countries. Obtainable from ECR-E, 3-9 Broadway, London SW8 ISJ, tel. 171 582 9928. Price $6.75 Volume I, $12 Volume II, $15 both together.
ITEA'95. The closing date for applications for the Information Technology European Awards for 1995 has been postponed from 15 January to 30 April 1995. Details on application procedure from Helle Bonnet, Euro-CASE, 16 rue Mazarine, 75006 Paris, France.
Forthcoming Events. The European Centre for Public Affairs is holding a Seminar on "Public Affairs in the New Union: Players and Rules" on 19 and 20 January 1995 at the Faculty Club at Louvain, Belgium.

CONTACT: Adrienne Pratt, Templeton College
Tel: +44 856 735422
Fax: +44 865 736374

LOAD-DATE: May 27, 1997

LANGUAGE: English

PUB-TYPE: Newswire

16 of 26 DOCUMENTS

PR Week

June 24, 1993

PR Week crisis management event

LENGTH: 199 words

PR Week is to a sponsor a live crisis management event on September 29 in Oxford.
Called Managing a corporate crisis in today's instant news society', the event will be a Socratic dialogue' - similar in style to Channel 4's Hypotheticals series. Expert panellists play roles in a crisis, reacting to a hy-pothetical situation developed by a moderator.
The moderator will be SmithKline Beecham vice-president of corporate affairs Richard Torrenzano. The event is hosted by the European Centre for Public Affairs and the Global Public Affairs Institute.
Guest panellists for the crisis management event, which will take place at Templeton College, include: Sir Geoffrey Pattie MP, CNN's London bureau chief, David Feingold, US attorney Elliot Kaplan, and the edi-tor of Wall Street Journal Europe, Philip Revzin.
The panel discussion will be followed by dinner in Templeton College.
Tickets for the event, which is part of a four-day Global Public Affairs seminar arranged by the ECPA and GPAI, cost pounds 75 each. For more details about the event contact Adrienne Pratt, European Centre for Public Affairs, Templeton College, Oxford OX1 5NY (Tel: 0865 735422).

LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2000

LANGUAGE: English

PUB-TYPE: Magazine

18 of 26 DOCUMENTS

PR Newswire

June 17, 1992, Wednesday - 10:22 Eastern Time

GLOBAL PUBLIC AFFAIRS INSTITUTE APPOINTS NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

SECTION: Financial News

LENGTH: 519 words

DATELINE: NEW YORK, June 17

Wilfred D. Koplowitz has been appointed executive director of the Global Public Affairs Institute, Loet A. Velmans, chairman of the institute, announced today.  Koplowitz, retired director of international public affairs at Citibank, had previously served on the institute's board of directors and advisory council.  He succeeds James Armstrong, former AT&T executive, who will devote full time to his communications consulting prac-tice.

"The Global Public Affairs Institute is delighted that Bill Koplowitz will assume this position enabling him to apply fully his experience and energies to expanding the institute's program and membership," Velmans said. "We propose to strengthen the institute's contribution to the public affairs capabilities of member com-panies in the increasingly global marketplace in which they operate." Together with Edward R. Block, a former senior vice president for public affairs at AT&T, Velmans, re-tired CEO of Hill and Knowlton, Inc. founded the institute in 1988. The institute has conducted a series of intensive, highly acclaimed seminars for corporate public affairs and communications executives focusing on key international issues directly affecting the business community and on key communications functions for which public affairs staff is responsible. The member companies include AT&T, Boeing, Citicorp, Exxon Corporation, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Warner Lambert, Cigna Corporation, Hill and Knowlton, Burson Marsteller, Rockwell International, Bristol-Myers Squibb, General Motors and Nippon Telephone and Telegraph. A cooperative arrangement with the European Centre for Public Affairs at Oxford University resulted in a jointly sponsored seminar at Oxford in 1991. A second version of this seminar will be presented Sept. 13-17, 1992, also at Oxford, and is open to qualified executives of multinational corporations. The institute is conducting a research project to identify and analyze the methods and structure through which multinational companies are managing their public affairs response to the globalizing trends in the world market. Koplowitz served for 30 years in various foreign affairs positions at the Department of State, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Department with assignments in Washington and overseas. He retired from government in 1979 and ran an international affairs consultancy until his appointment to Citibank in 1981. Koplowitz earned a B.A. from Yale University and an M.A. from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). During his government services, he was a member of the senior seminar in foreign policy at the Department of State and the faculty of the National Defense University. The institute operates in association with New York University. The deans of NYU's School of Business and faculty of Arts and Sciences sit on its board of directors. The institute is located at 729 Seventh Avenue, Eighth floor, New York, N.Y. 10019. CONTACT: Bill Koplowitz of Global Public Affairs Institute, 212-921-2262

LOAD-DATE: 061792 NY024

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

DISTRIBUTION: TO BUSINESS EDITOR

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PR Newswire Europe

March 5, 1992

THE WEEK IN EUROPE: COMMISSION VICE PRESIDENT VISITS CIS

SECTION: GENERAL AND CITY NEWS

LENGTH: 1779 words

The following look at events in the European Community in the past and coming week and a diary of upcoming events was issued today by the London office of the European Communities Commission: THE WEEK IN EUROPE
:: Andriessen's Visit to CIS.
Commission vice-president Frans Andriessen reported to European Community Foreign Ministers on Monday on his trip to Byelorussia, the Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan where he held talks with key ministers. Mr Andriessen said the political situation in the independent states was disquieting. Democracy had not yet taken root and despite the elections, the old power structure remained in place in most states albeit with new faces, party names and programmes.
Ministers broadly endorsed the call by Mr Andriessen for the Community to extend EC ties to all mem-bers of the Commonwealth of Independent Sates - in Asia as well as in Europe - and to relax conditions which have so far blocked the 1.25bn (£887m) food aid loan to the CIS. Mr Andriessen also said that the EC should show the world a lead in stabilising the longer term economic future of the CIS. Specifically, the EC should discuss widening the scope of aid to the CIS at a conference which it will chair in Lisbon in May to deal with structural, not just emergency aid.
After visiting the four republics last week, Mr Andriessen told ministers that Central Asia and Kazakh-stan "are so interdependent with the other former Soviet republics that they will stand or fall together." Mr Andriessen pleaded with Ministers not to let food aid get caught up in red tape. The Community should be ready to waive some of the guarantees it has been demanding for its food loan. He plans further visits to the CIS shortly.
:: The EC and Estonia.
On February 27, delegations of the European Community and of the Republic of Estonia initialled an agreement on trade and commercial and economic co-operation, the first since Estonia's independence was recognised by the EC in August 1991. The delegations were headed by Lennart Meri, Estonia's Minister of Foreign Affairs and by John Maslen of the directorate-general for external relations in the Commission. Simi-lar agreements exist with Lithuania and Latvia.
:: Prince Charles Saluted.
Commission vice-president Martin Bangemann praised Prince Charles for his support this week for traditional cheeses made from unpasteurised milk. Mr Bangemann, who is responsible for clearing the way for the single market, said he would write to the Prince of Wales to thank him for his efforts to preserve culi-nary diversity in Europe.
In the past, he said, the UK in particular had attempted to make imports of French cheeses made from raw milk subject to stringent hygiene regulations. The Commission had resisted this at the time and merely required the information to be supplied on the label. Certain minimum standards of hygiene were of course indispensable, Mr Bangemann said in Brussels. "We want the bacterial count in milk used for cheesemaking to be carefully monitored...the 'good' bacteria should be kept," he added. "After all we do not want synthetic cheese."

Brittan on Competition Policy and Regional Development.

Speaking to the annual conference of the Confederation of Irish Industry in Dublin on February 28, Commission vice-president Sir Leon Brittan stressed EC support for Irish regional and industrial development and the need for sound economic policies to prepare for economic and monetary union. He referred to recent Commission proposals to double spending from Community sources (including the new Cohesion Fund) and the role that a strong competition policy can play in helping to bring about cohesion.
Sir Leon also spoke of the positive contribution which EC competition policy can make to cohesion. Strict control of state aids in the central, more prosperous regions is necessary in the interests of cohesion as well as competition.
:: New EC Head in Belfast.
Jane Morrice is the new head of the European Commission's office in Belfast. She takes over the posi-tion from Dennis Kennedy who left last September. Jane Morrice spent the last five years working as a TV and radio reporter for BBC Northern Ireland. Before that she spent 7 years as a journalist in Brussels special-ising in EC affairs. Belfast born, she is married and has a young son.
:: Famine in Africa.
A co-ordination meeting on food needs in African countries held in Brussels on February 27 brought together representatives of international organisations, non-governmental organisations and of individual states. It was convoked at the initiative of the United States Agency for International Development and hosted by the Commission. Most of the major donors involved in relief programmes in Africa were present: the Commission and EC member states, Australia, Austria, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, USA, the World Food Programme, the UN High Commission for Refugees and other relevant UN agencies, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
::Marin on Southern Africa.
Speaking at a seminar in Lisbon last week, Commission vice-president Manuel Marin said the Com-mission and member states had been providing about 40% of official development assistance to Angola since the mid 80's. The Community and its member sates had also been providing, since the ceasefire, strong and sustained political support to the peace process.
Mr Marin said that through the Community's Special Programme for South Africa, 170 million ecus (£119m) have been provided since 1986 for more than 4OO projects. This year's contribution has been in-creased to 80m ecus (£56m), demonstrating the Community's will to support the most vulnerable layers of society.
:: The European Economic Area.
Vice-president Frans Andriessen has confirmed that the Commission has requested a further opinion from the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg on the contentious legal tangle surrounding the creation of the European Economic Area. On December 19 last year the court ruled that the new proposed union be-tween the EC and the seven EFTA countries was invalid because of the ambiguous role of the judiciary in settling disputes. Following further talks between the EC and EFTA the court has been requested to look at the issue once again.

Warning for UK Atomic Authority.

The Commission has issued a warning to the UK Atomic Energy Authority for a breach of the provi-sions of Article 79 of the Euratom Treaty and several articles of a Commission Regulation. On December 3 1991 The UK Atomic Energy Authority Dounreay provided the Euratom Safeguards Directorate with the final results of their physical inventory taking in the uranium scrap/residue recovery plant. These results showed a significant difference between the physical stocks and the book stocks for highly enriched uranium. But be-cause of the unintentional nature of the infringement and the fact that the operator has fully informed Eura-tom about the results of the inventory taking and the significant follow-up actions taken, the Commission de-cided to apply a warning, the least severe sanction under the Treaty.
:: The Commission and UK Tractors.
Following an investigation lasting a number of years the Commission has adopted a decision forbid-ding a system of exchanging information about sales and market shares for agricultural tractors sold in the UK. The most important manufacturers took part in the exchange which was set up in 1975.
The Commission judged that competition was restricted by the identification in detail of the sales of each participant in this highly concentrated market without any appreciable competition from outside. The information exchange posed two important risks for the maintenance of healthy competition: elimination of hidden competition in that it gave participants a degree of knowledge of the performance of others: and a reinforcement of the barriers to entry into the market.
:: The Ozone layer.
The Commission has approved a Communication to the Council putting forward proposals for adjust-ments to the reduction schedules of ozone depleting substances and on the control of transitional sub-stances. Based on the work of the UNEP Technology and Economic Assessment Panel, the Commission is proposing that production and consumption of CFCs, other fully halogenated CFCs, halons, carbon tetrachlo-ride and 1,1,1-trichloroethane should be cut by 85% by December 31 1993, and that complete phase-out of all depleting substances in the Community should occur by December 31 1995. The Communication will be discussed during the March 23 Environment Council.
:: Conference and Diary Dates
European Week for Business. March 23-27. Organised by the European Information Centres of the Commission to help small and medium sized businesses. The 27 EICs in the UK will be taking a full part in the week which is taking place simultaneously across the EC.
Advertising in Europe - coping with the legal restrictions March 27, London's Mayfair Hotel one day conference organised by Euro Conferences with Bird and Bird solicitors. Aimed at marketing and advertising executives, lawyers employed in industry and private practice. Details: 0273-483 396.
Towards fiscal federalism? A seminar organised by the Federal Trust together with the UK office of the Commission. March 30 at Jean Monnet House, 8 Story's Gate, London SW1. Speakers include Sir Michael Palliser and Joly Dixon, advisor to Commission president Jacques Delors.
Topic '92: Public Affairs in the European Union. Conference organised by the European Centre for Public Affairs. April 8-11 at Templeton College Oxford. Information from Adrienne Pratt, Templeton College, Oxford. Tel 0865-735422. Fax: 0865-736374.
1992: The future of European industry. Major conference organised by the Centre for Business Eco-nomics at the European Business School, London. April 2 at the European Business School, Regent's Park, London. Details from Richard West, short courses manager, the European Business School, Regent's Park, London, tel 071-487-7419.
Alternative Financial Centres in Europe. A major pan-European conference to be held on April 9-10 in Dublin. Venue - Dublin Castle, Ireland. Details: 081- 332 0044. Fax: 081-332 0874.
Our next briefing will take place on Thursday, March 12 at 1130hrs.
Contact: Press Office, Commission of the European Communities, 071-973 1970.

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PR Newswire Europe

March 14, 1991

THE WEEK IN EUROPE: UK TO BE "AT THE VERY HEART OF EUROPE" - MAJOR

SECTION: GENERAL AND CITY NEWS

LENGTH: 1607 words

  The following look at events in the European Community in the past and coming week and a diary of upcoming events was issued today (March 14) by the London office of the European Communities Commis-sion
  UK to be "At the very heart of Europe" - Major
  In his first speech outside the UK since becoming Prime Minister, John Major, in Bonn on Monday, urged harmony and consensus to build "a safe and prosperous (European) home." He went on to say that his aims for Britain in the Community could be simply stated: "I want us to be where we belong. At the very heart of Europe. Working with our partners in building the future." He continued by setting out a British agenda for Europe with three objectives. First, price stability must be the prime objective of monetary policy. Second, economic and monetary union must be based on free and open markets. Lastly, the development of monetary cooperation must depend on much greater progress towards economic convergence between member states. Mr Major also gave a press conference with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl at which he said: "The Community will be infinitely stronger with Britain, France and Germany all clearly in the centre of it and all working for the future of the Community." Commenting on Mr Major's speech, Commission President Jacques Delors welcomed the UK policies on Europe as a shift in substance, not just style. Speaking during a debate at the European Parliament, M Delors said: "I would be in bad faith if I did not say that there has been a fundamental shift on the part of Mr Major." The Prime Minister, speaking in the House of Commons the next day, again emphasised that Britain must be at the "very heart" of the European Community, playing a leading role in decision-making. He said: "There are only three ways to go in the Community: to leave, which is unthinkable, to stand aside and let ourselves be dragged along by others, which is untenable, or to be at the very heart of the Community and help frame the decisions - and that is our policy."
  EC emergency summit on the Middle East
  In response to France's call for an EC summit on the Middle East, Prime Minister Jacques Santer of Luxembourg, which holds the EC Presidency, said on Tuesday he was ready to call a meeting, probably on April 5. The aim of the meeting will be to discuss what the EC can do to promote peace in the Middle East and how it can react more in unison towards such crises as the Gulf war. The belief amongst the EC Troika of Luxembourg, Dutch and Italian Foreign Ministers, who last week visited the Middle East, was that the op-portunity for peace-making had to be seized quickly before attitudes hardened again into their pre-Gulf-war mould.
  Humanitarian aid for Kuwait and Iraq
  Following the end of the Gulf war, the Commission has decided to provide immediate humanitarian aid for both Kuwait (£238,000 - for baby food) and Iraq (£2m for water treatment equipment and medical aid).

45 new European "Chairs"

The Commission has given its support to 242 University proposals to set up new teaching activities in European Integration with effect from the beginning of the 1991- 1992 academic year. All this is part of the Jean Monnet Project II for 1991. The financial support of the Commission is channelled essentially towards the creation of 45 new European "chairs". Forty six "chairs" were created in the first round of the Action Jean Monnet Project. Permanent teaching activities now exist in Law (33 "chairs"), Economics (24 "chairs"), Politi-cal Science (20 "chairs") and History (14 "chairs"). The second round of the Jean Monnet Project, launched in 1990, also offers financial support to 188 permanent courses and "European" modules. The UK has 11 "chairs" and 30 permanent courses and modules.
MacSharry on CAP reform
Speaking to the European Parliament earlier this week, Agriculture Commissioner Ray MacSharry de-fended the Commission's line on farm policy reform. He emphasised that there had to be a switch away from the current means of providing support to farmers through high subsidised prices, towards direct income payments weighted towards those who most needed them.
EIB loan to UK water companies
The European Investment Bank is to lend £60m to UK Water Companies for improvement of river and bathing water quality and development of drinking water infrastructure in the South West and North East of the UK. £40m goes to South West Water Services Ltd and £20m for investment by Northumbrian Water Ltd. Last year the EIB lent £384.5m to water companies in the UK.
Pollution in the Gulf
Environment Commissioner Carlo Ripa di Meana has arranged for a new team of anti-pollution experts to go to the Gulf as part of the Commission's Task Force efforts to help combat the pollution created during the Gulf war.
Brittan on Maritime Transport
Speaking in Paris last week, Commission Vice-President Sir Leon Brittan said container transport was one of the most striking developments in world shipping. He said merchant fleets have been expanding rap-idly since the mid 1970s and the Community share of total world tonnage for this type of vessel was some 27 per cent, or around 6 million grt, compared with the situation in 1975 when its capacity was only some 2.6m grt.

EC-Czechoslovakia meeting

The first meeting of the Joint Committee of the Agreement on Trade and Commercial and Economic Cooperation, concluded between the EC and Czechoslovakia in 1990, took place in Prague on March 9. Amongst other things the two delegations reviewed the Community's PHARE programme for Czechoslovakia which provides for 35m ecus (£24.5m) in 1990, and some 100m ecus (£70m) in 1991. Commission Vice-President Frans Andriessen who took a leading part in the Community delegation also visited Poland, Hun-gary, Bulgaria and Romania.
Japanese bank merger cleared
The Commission has given the green light to the merger of two Japanese banks - the Kyowa Bank Ltd. and the Saitama Bank Ltd - both of which operate in the UK.
Japanese essay contest
Young Europeans between 18 and 34 are invited to participate in the 13th Study Tour of Japan essay contest. The 50 winners will be invited to study Japanese society at first hand. No application forms: apply directly to the Information Centre of the Mission of Japan to the EC, 58 Avenue des Arts, 1040 Brussels. Tel: 010 322 511 2307.
Young Europeans go to Japan
This year the Commission has accepted 43 business people, including 10 from Britain, to be sent to Tokyo to learn the Japanese language and business practices in the framework of the 11th EC Executive Training Programme in Japan. For information about ETP 12 for 1991 contact Rudie Filon on fax 010 322 (Brussels) 235 9723 or 236 0423 or 236 4342.
Essex Euro-Week
From 10th April, Essex County Council is the driving force behind Essex Euro-Week. With more than 160 events county-wide, everyone in Essex will have the chance to enjoy a taste and feel of Europe, as well as learning how the removal of trade barriers in 1992 will affect them. Details are set out in the Essex Euro-Week Programme, 200,000 copies of which have been sent to libraries, schools and district council offices. For more information call Essex County Council Press Office on 0245 432 100.
European Journalists Prize
George Clark, former European political correspondent of the Times has been presented with the European Journalists Prize for 1991. He received the award jointly with Carlos Luis Alvarez, director of OTR Press Madrid at a ceremony in Brussels on March 1. Clark, now a freelance, is a former chairman of the Brit-ish section of the Association of European Journalists.
World Consumer Rights Day
On March 15, World Consumer Rights Day will be celebrated for the ninth consecutive year. The theme chosen by the International Organisation of Consumers' Unions (IOCU) for 1991 is "The right to con-sumer protection." Contact: BEUC. Tel: Brussels 010 322 735 3110.
Conference and Diary Dates
A Press Conference and reception to mark the launch of the Centre for European Studies and the transfer of the publication of New European to MCB University Press in association with the centre will be held at the Commission's London office on March 21 at 12.30pm. For details contact John Rattray on 071 582 3996 or 081 675 4854.
The British Businessman and the Central European Market
One day conference on Thursday March 21 (9 - 5.30pm) at the University of Nottingham. For details contact Chris Ellis, the office for Professional and Industrial Training, the University of Nottingham, Notting-ham NG7 2RD. Tel: 0602 484 848, ext 3701.
Catching the ear of the European Community
TOPIC seminar organised by European Centre for Public Affairs, Templeton College, Oxford. April 8 - 11. Venue - Oxford. Details from Adrienne Pratt, ECPA. Tel: 0865 735 422. Fax: 0865 736 374.
Other Events:
Environment Council March 18, Brussels ECO/FIN Council March 18, Brussels, EEC/Latin America MInisterial meeting March 18 - 19, Nicaragua Industry Council March 19, Brussels, ECO/SOC Plenary Ses-sion March 20 - 21, Brussels, Internal Market Council March 21 - 22, Brussels, Agriculture Council March 25 - 26, Brussels, Transport Council March 27, Brussels.
Our next briefing will take place on Thursday, March 21 at 11.30am.
Contact: R Elphick, CEC, London - 071 2228122

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PR Newswire Europe

January 17, 1991

THE WEEK IN EUROPE: EC SUPPORTS UN DEMANDS FOR IRAQI WITHDRAWAL

SECTION: GENERAL AND CITY NEWS

LENGTH: 1556 words

The following look at events in the European Community in the past and coming week and a diary of upcoming events was issued today by the London office of the European Communities Commission:
EC efforts to avoid war in Gulf. As we go to press allied air attacks on Iraq have begun. An emergency meeting of EC foreign ministers was taking place this afternoon (Thursday) in Paris. It was to coincide with a parallel meeting of ministers belonging to the Western European Union.
EC efforts to free Kuwait and to enforce UN resolutions peacefully continued until the last minute. A French peace initiative emerged after EC foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels, ruled out a further approach to Iraq's President Saddam Hussein.
On his return to Paris from his abortive mission in Baghdad, UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar briefed Jacques Poos, Luxembourg Foreign Minister and current Chairman of the European Com-munity Council. John Major, UK Prime Minister, met President Francois Mitterrand of France in Paris. What emerged from all this political activity including at the UN Headquarters in New York was solid support for UN demands for an immediate Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait.
EC warns Moscow over Lithuania repression. EC Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday warned that continued violence by Soviet troops in the Baltic Republics could lead to an immediate end to cooperation and the suspension of EC economic aid. The Soviet leadership was told that technical aid worth 400m ecus (£280m) would be at risk if it continued to use force rather than negotiations in Lithuania.
Jacques Poos appealed to the Soviet Union to "return to the path of dialogue" with the Baltic and other Soviet republics. At the same time Commission President Jacques Delors delivered a combined protest and warning to the Soviet Ambassador to the Community, saying the first casualty of any continued Soviet crack-down would be technical aid and a meeting between EC and Soviet officials to discuss it, set for January 24.
Last month the EC agreed on the programme of technical assistance for this year as well as up to 750m ecus (£500m) in food aid (one third in the form of grant, and two thirds in credit). Jacques Poos said of the Vilnius violence that it had "evoked memories of Budapest and Prague, though the situation was not ex-actly the same and more complex".
Papandreou on Social Charter. Speaking in London on Monday before meeting UK Secretary of State for Employment Michael Howard, Commissioner Vasso Papandreou, responsible for Social Affairs, said so-cial cohesion of the European internal market could be placed in jeopardy by a continued negative stance by the UK over measures within the Social Charter.
"The economic benefits of the Internal Market can only be fully assured if the social dimension of this market is taken into consideration," she told an Industrial Society conference on European Employment.
Ms Papandreou supported the idea that social issues did not need the support of all member countries. Some required only qualified support, but a number of key developments - including directives on part-time working - required unanimous support, she said.
In a letter published in The Times today, Mr Howard said the UK had not blocked any proposals under the EC's Social Action Programme. The UK Government would continue to take an active, constructive part in the discussions, he said.
Brittan on competition and the EC. Speaking at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, USA, on Monday Commission Vice- President Sir Leon Brittan stressed the importance of competition policy in the development of EC markets and in relations with the United States. EC competition policy had been in the Rome Treaty from the beginning.
He went on to say that competition policy will always be needed in imperfect markets. There should be no rivalry between the EC and the USA in competition policy, he said. The Community was committed to the maintenance of open, competitive markets and had shown in implementing its 1992 programme that it fa-vours liberalisation of competition both internally and externally.

Copyright and piracy. In the light of new technologies which have emerged in the course of the 1980s, the Commission has once again been considering the complex field of copyright and "neighbouring" rights. These comprise the copyright-related rights held by people such as performers, record producers and radio and TV broadcasting organisations.

On the initiative of Vice-President Martin Bangemann and Commissioner Jean Dondelinger, the Com-mission has just approved a package of proposals for submission to the member states. The package takes the shape of a working programme for action from now to the end of 1992.
Bruce Millan in Leeds. Regional Policy Commissioner Bruce Millan visits Leeds tomorrow (Friday) at the invitation of the City Council. The Commissioner will fly directly from Brussels to Leeds airport to spend the day in the region looking particularly at problems of the inner city.
SPUR. The Commission has decided to approve the British state aid scheme entitled SPUR (Support for Products Under Research). This regime provides for contributions for R and D projects put forward by enterprises with fewer than 500 employees. Aid intensity is 25% of the eligible costs to a maximum of £150,000. Total UK budget for the programme is £16m.
Brittan speaks on GATT talks. As efforts continue to restart GATT talks which broke down before Christmas Sir Leon Brittan said in Washington DC on Tuesday he was convinced that the European offer on agriculture represented a basis upon which it should be possible to forge a compromise.
This would accelerate the fundamental restructuring of the Common Agricultural Policy which was al-ready under way. A failure of the GATT round would not only be a tragedy for both Europe and the USA be-cause we would lose a unique opportunity to strengthen and extend the liberal world trading system, he said. But also because it would set back the cause of agricultural reform in Europe to which he was personally committed and to which the United States attached such importance.
European Environmental Yearbook 1991. 2nd edition. 1,100 pages. £60 p/p £3.15. From Docter Inter-national UK Ltd, 27 Kensington Court, London W8 5DN. Contact Colinette Craig. Tel: 071 937 3535. Fax: 071 937 1639.
"Social Work, Education and 1992". Author Hugh Barr. The UK social work profession is urged to pre-pare for some of the consequences of the EC directive on higher education diplomas and the proposed di-rective covering other professions aimed at securing greater mobility between member states in this new paper from the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work. Price £3.00 post free. Available from CCETSW Central office, Derbyshire House, St. Chad's Street. London WC1H 8AD. Contact George Smith on 071 278 2455 ext. 348.
European Affairs Coordinator. The Building Employers Confederation is looking for one. Applications forms from Lynne Elliott, Building Employers Confederation, 82 New Cavendish Street, London W1M 8AD. Tel 071 580 5588.
Building a Citizens' Europe. Seminar organised by the European Commission next Monday January (21) to publicise our Citizens' Europe Advisory Service: venue 8 Storey's Gate, London SW1 at 10.30am. Admission free.
A consensus conference for nurses, organised by the European Oncology Nursing Society (EONS) and supported by the Europe Against Cancer programme, will be held in Kensington Town Hall, London January 23-25 1991. Aim of the conference: to gain consensus agreement on the content and implementa-tion in all member states of a core curriculum for the training of nurses in oncology. Participants will include cancer nursing experts and educators from throughout the Community, professional nursing bodies and rep-resentatives from the European Commission. Further information contact: Phylip Pritchard 071 376 3623.
New Directions after the Uruguay Round. Seminar organised by the European Centre for Public Af-fairs at Wiston House, West Sussex, 20 - 22 February. Details from Adrienne Pratt, Administrator ECPA, Templeton College, Oxford OX1 5NY. Tel 0865 735 422. Fax 0865 736 374.
Vision for London Conference. European experts will present papers and lead six workshops on the main themes from the EC's Green Paper on the Urban Environment. Key-speech by Environment Commis-sioner Carlo Ripa di Meana. Venue - Church House, Dean's Yard, London SW1 - 14 March. Details from Judy Monahan - Tel: 071-829 8349.

Conference and Diary Dates

  Agricultural Council               21-22 January       Brussels
  European Parliament Session        21-25 January       Strasbourg
  ECO/FIN Council                    28 January          Brussels
  General Affairs Council            4-5 February        Brussels
  Our next briefing will take place on Thursday, January 24 at    
  1130hrs.
     Contact: Robert Elphick, CEC, 071-222 8122

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PR Newswire Europe

July 26, 1990

THE WEEK IN EUROPE: EC EXPERTS WILL RETURN TO MOSCOW

SECTION: GENERAL AND CITY NEWS

LENGTH: 1522 words

The following look at events in the European Community in the past and coming week and a diary of upcoming events was issued today by the London office of the European Communities Commission:
Delors in Moscow Speaking at a press conference in Moscow last week after meeting President Mik-hail Gorbachev and most of the principal Soviet leaders, Commission President Jacques Delors revealed that EC experts would return to Moscow next month for an extended visit and detailed discussions with their Soviet counterparts to draw up recommendations for the next special EC summit in October.
Mr Delors also revealed that the EC and the Soviet Union are working on a joint nuclear safety pro-gramme which could result in the scrapping, or radical upgrading, of up to 25 Soviet power stations. Mr Delors said the Soviet authorities were very interested in the proposals for energy co-operation on the lines proposed by Ruud Lubbers, the Dutch Prime Minister, at the EC summit in Dublin.
However, he warned that no judgment on Soviet economic reforms could really be made until a revised package was finalised by the Soviet Government in September. Mr Delors singled out energy production, transportation and the environment, as well as technical assistance, as possible areas for EC involvement in the Soviet economy in a package of measures to be presented to the EC October summit.
Mr Delors, on the first official visit by a European Commission President to the Soviet Union, warned of the dangers of economic disintegration, pointing in particular to the plans of several Soviet republics to intro-duce their own currencies. President Gorbachev, meanwhile, warned that if the West held back from invest-ing in Soviet economic reform, it would delay the process of change. He urged the West to see "foreign eco-nomic co-operation" as permitting the country to "move over to a new economic system more quickly and more resolutely".
New UK ERDF grants. Commissioner Bruce Millan, responsible for regional policy, announced this week new structural fund grants from the European Regional Development Fund worth 660 million ECUs (£498 million), of which 60.6 million ECUS (£44.9 million) will go to the UK under Objective 2 criteria which deal with regions of industrial decline. Humberside will receive 15 million ECUs (£11.1 million), Fife 13.3 mil-lion ECUs (£10 million), Central 11 million ECUs (£8.1 million), Tayside 8.6 million ECUs (£6.5 million) and Mid-Yorkshire 12.7 million ECUs (£9.2 million). Spain, France, the Netherlands and Belgium are also benefi-ciaries.
Brittan on sovereignty and the EC. Addressing the Bruges Group last week, Commission Vice-President Sir Leon Brittan attacked those who "worry away at the bone of Sovereignty", adding that the rest of Europe was "now frankly bored" by those who "perpetrate a caricature of what the Community repre-sents". He urged the UK to become an enthusiastic member of the European Monetary System.
Acknowledging that there are problems over the democratic accountability of Community institutions, he argued that the solution lay in involving national parliaments more closely in Community affairs. Mr Brittan proposed the creation of a European committee of national parliaments - with 12 members from each par-liament - to provide a better link between the Council of Ministers and member states.
Commission moves against subsidies. The Commission is continuing its offensive, led by Commission Vice-President Sir Leon Brittan, against state subsidies to EC industry, proposing that four member states, including the UK, wind up their general investment aid programmes by the end of the year. The three other countries singled out are Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands.
The Commission's announcement is a continuation of its policy of examining all existing state aid schemes to ensure they comply with competition rules. The proposal for the UK covers section 8 of the In-dustrial Development Act of 1982 whose powers, the Commission says, should be abolished by January 1 1991.

Commission investigations UK deal. The Commission has decided to open a procedure under Article 93.2 of the Rome Treaty in order to investigate possible aid granted by Derbyshire County Council to the Toyota Motor Company through the price charged for development land. The Commission is satisfied that no aid from cental government has been paid to Toyota and is only investigating possible aid from the local au-thorities which are also bound by Community rules on State aid.

Increase in European Recovery Programmes. The Commission has given the German Government its approval under the state aid rules to increase the budget for aid to East Germany under the European Re-covery Programme, also known as the Marshall Plan. With unification in prospect, the FRG government de-cided to extend the ERP scheme to East Germany and the Commission gave its approval on May 8. It has now agreed an increase in the scheme's 1990 budget from DM 1.2 billion to DM 6 billion.
Organisation of working time directive adopted. Yesterday (Wednesday), the Commission adopted a proposed directive concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time. In summary, the proposals are for: a minimium daily rest period of 11 hours in 24 hours: at least one rest day per week: night workers should not work more than 8 hours per 24 hours: no overtime by night workers.
Regulation on merger adopted. The Commission has adopted an implementing regulation and guide-lines to ensure the smooth introduction and operation of the merger regulation which comes into effect on September 21 1990. The Commission has adopted: two notices in the form of guidelines as to how the terms "concentration" and "ancillary restrictions" are to be interpreted: an implementing regulation which defines the rights and obligations of the Commission and the companies involved in a case: and a Form has been drawn up for notifications.
UK heads implementation and EC complaint league. The UK has maintained its pole position for top implementation of EC directives in the past year, but also headed the EC league for people making com-plaints about infringement of community law. The UK with 247 complaints in 1989 was followed by France with 185 and Spain with 184. Those three countries accounted for more than half the complaints lodged in 1989 (1195). The rise in UK complaints is accounted for by an increase in complaints concerning the envi-ronment (192 in 1989, compared to 31 in 1982 and only one in 1982)
"New European" double issue out this week. Articles by Ralf Dahrendorf on "Money, politics and Europe", Bruce Kent on NATO, Alexander Kustarov on "Russia and Europe" and others. For more informa-tion contact New European Publications, 14/16 Carroun Road, London SW8 1JT. Tel. 071 582 3996.
Europe against cancer. The second phase of Europe's four-year anti- cancer campaign begins this au-tumn with "Europe Against Cancer Week" which takes place from October 8-14.

Conference and diary dates

  UK Centre for European Education. One-day conference on The European dimension in teacher train-ing on Wednesday September 12 at the Northern College of Education (Dundee Campus). Organiser: Ian Findlay tel: 0224 482341.
  "Influencing Decisions in Europe"  Seminar organised by the European Centre for Public Affairs on 12-14 September. All enquiries to The Administrator (ECPA), Templeton College, Oxford OX1 5NY. Tel: 0865 735422. Fax: 0865 736374.
  "European Competition Policy" Half-day symposium. Chatham House, London, Friday September 14. Speaker Commission Vice-President Sir Leon Brittan. Details from RIIA, Chatham House, 10 St James Square, London SW1Y 4LE.
  The Common Ag Policies, University of Warwick. September 19 at the Social Studies Building, Univer-sity of Warwick, Coventry. Register by September 7 with Eva Evans, UACES Secretariat, King's College, Strand, London WC2R 2LS. Tel: 071 240 0206.
  Work and Social Policies in the new Europe. Joint conference organised by European Parliamentari-ans and Industrialists Council and the European Centre for Work and Society. September 26/27 at the Salle "Monts des Arts", Comite Economique et Social, Brussels.  Register by 15 September with the ECWS Con-ference 1990, Avenue de Cortenbergh, 66 bte 13, B - 1040, Brussels. Tel: 010 322 732 2000   Fax: 010 322 732 2464.
  Informal ECO/FIN Ministers   7 - 8  September        Rome
  European Parliament Session 10 - 14 September        Strasbourg
  General Affairs Council     17 - 18 September        Brussels
  Internal Market Council     17      September        Brussels
  The Week in Europe is now taking its customary summer break. May we remind you that the library at Jean Monnet House is closed from July 27 to September 3 .  Our next briefing will be on September 6 at 1130hrs.
     Contact: Robert Elphick, CEC, 071-222 8122

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PR Newswire Europe

May 31, 1990

THE WEEK IN EUROPE: FRANCE URGED TO RESCIND UK BEEF BAN

SECTION: GENERAL AND CITY NEWS

LENGTH: 1652 words

The following look at events in the European Community in the past and coming week and a diary of upcoming events was issued today by the London office of the European Communities Commission:
French Ban on British Beef. The Commission has called on France to rescind immediately their ban on imports of British beef because of fears about Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, vulgarly known as "mad cow disease". In a statement, the Commission said today that it is satisfied that measures taken provided the fullest guarantees as regards consumption of beef. The Community's Scientific Veterinary Committee was keeping the situation under close watch and would be discussing the matter again next week.
EC acts over polluted UK beaches. The Commission has confirmed it has begun legal action against the UK Government in the European Court of Justice over dozens of polluted beaches that fall below EC minimum standards for bathing. In particular, action is being taken over beaches at Blackpool, Southport and Formby, in Lancashire. The Commission says the three beaches fall short of acceptable levels for bathing, which were laid down in a directive in 1975 but which did not come into force until 1985.
Last year 94 other beaches in England and Wales were below EC standards, largely because of the amount of sewage being dumped into the sea. The UK Government has said it intends mounting a vigorous defence against the prosecution. The Department of Environment claims 76% of the UK's 440 designated bathing sites meet EC standards.
EC meets Japanese Ministers. Meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, Japanese and EC Ministers agreed to develop political relations and to set up a new working group on bilateral trade. The Japanese delegation include the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Taro Nankayama and the Minister for International Trade and In-dustry, Mr Kabun Muto. On the Commission's side the delegation, headed by Vice-President Frans Andries-sen, included Martin Bangemann, Carlo Ripa di Meana and Ray Macsharry.
The Ministerial level meeting was the first for three and a half years. Trade matters will remain an im-portant aspect of the EC- Japan relationship. Recognising the existence of a large trade imbalance and some remaining issues related to market access conditions between the EC and Japan, the Commission and the Japanese delegation shared the view that they should continue to make efforts to achieve a sound de-velopment of their economic relationship. It was decided to establish a working group on problems hindering market access.
The Commission mentioned the leather and shoe sector and that of processed foods as important is-sues requiring a solution. It was also agreed that the EC and Japan should deepen cooperation in the follow-ing fields: G24, science and technology, environment, communication and information, development assis-tance, labour and social affairs and cultural exchange. The potential for cooperation was underlined by the signature of an agreement on Nuclear Safeguards Research and Development between the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute and Euratom.
EBRD Charter signed. The Charter of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was signed in Paris on Tuesday. At the ceremony President Francois Mitterrand of France said other countries and institutions may join the existing 40 nations and EC bodies as shareholders in the EBRD. He said the Bank should evolve with a major world institution and through loans, guarantees, equity investment and un-derwriting would fulfil a catalytic role in Central and Eastern Europe.

FORCE. The EC Council of Ministers this week adopted the FORCE (Formation Continue en Europe) Programme which deals with the development of continuous professional training. Its aims are to encourage further investment in continued professional education, to encourage innovation in this field and to develop ways of keeping abreast of changes in the European labour market. FORCE will have a duration of four years starting in 1991. The budget allocated for the period 1991-92 is 24m ecus (£18m).

EC support for Special Olympics. An accord between the Commission and the European Summer Special Olympics 1990 will be signed at the Commission's London Office on June 6 at 1130hrs. The signing will be followed by a press conference. Signing on behalf of the Games will be Bill Hughes, Chairman and Chief Executive of Grampian Holdings and past Chairman of the CBI Scotland. Signing on behalf of the European Commission will be Kenneth Munro, head of the office in Scotland.
The 1990 Summer Games - for young people with a mental handicap - will be the second European Games (the first were held in Dublin in 1985) and around 3,000 athletes from 30 European countries will travel to Strathclyde, making this one of the biggest participant sporting events ever seen in Scotland. HRH the Duke of Edinburgh has accepted the invitation to become Honorary Patron of the Games and will be pre-sent at the opening ceremony to be held at Celtic Park, Glasgow, on July 21. A team of runners from Strath-clyde Police are to carry the Special Olympics Flame on a 6,000 kilometre journey across Europe from Greece to Scotland.
Reduced cost of EC compliance. Commissioner Antonio Cardoso e Cunha told EC Industry Ministers, meeting in Brussels on Monday, that the Commission intends reducing the cost to small and medium-sized companies of complying with EC rules and said it would study all existing and future legislation to identify the areas where the costs are unacceptably high. He mentioned, in this context, the Commission's new propos-als for VAT collection which he said imposed a particularly low cost on small and medium-sized companies. Member States also agreed to a resolution to study their own laws: changing or amending those where the cost on businesses are too high and those which are out of date or unintelligible.
The Europe Week in Northamptonshire is to take place from June 4-10 and will focus on business and training, agriculture and financial services. The European Community Mobile Information Unit will visit Daventry, Corby, Kettering and Northampton. Details from Alison Parry, Planning and Transportation De-partment, Northampton NN1 2HZ. Tel: 0604-236762.
Health and Safety Directives adopted. Two more directives on safety and health at work have cleared the last hurdle in the Community law-making process. On Tuesday, the Ministers of Social Affairs adopted the texts of Directives laying down the minimum requirements of safety and health concerning, respectively, the manual handling of loads and work with visual display units.

Conference and Diary Dates.

English-Speaking Union Seminar. "Environmental Policy post 1992 : implications for the UK". Tues-day, June 12. Seminar fee £70. Speakers include Margaret Brusasco, Head of International Affairs Division of DGXI of the European Commission. Details from Dene Newman, Current Affairs Unit, The ESU, Dart-mouth House, 37 Charles Street, London W1X 8AB. Tel: 071-493 3328. " Winning the trade battle in greater Europe", is the theme of a two-day Conference on June 21-22 at the Grange Park Hotel, Willerby, Near Hull, North Humberside. Speakers include Sir John Harvey-Jones. Details from Miss Margaret Nolan, Beverley Training Services, Beverley College, Gallows Lane, Beverley, North Humberside HU17 7DT. Tel: 0482-868362.
"Widening the Community Circle?" Problems and prospects for further enlargement of the European Community. A two-day conference at the University of Kent, Canterbury, June 25-26, organised by the Uni-versity Association for Contemporary European Studies. For details contact Eva Evans, UACES Secretariat, Kings College, Strand, London WC2R 2LS. Tel: 071-240 0206.
"Why don't Governments do what business wants them to?" A two- day seminar, 27-29 June, at Wis-ton House, Steyning, West Sussex, organised by the European Centre for Public Affairs. Speakers in-clude Commission Vice-President Sir Leon Brittan. Details from Adrienne Pratt, ECPA, Templeton College, Oxford OX1 5NY. Tel: 0865-735422. Fax: 0865-736374.
"Building a new Europe - the way to wider union" a one-day conference on June 29 at the Commis-sion's London Office. Looks at questions of widening and deepening the EC and the future economic order and security system needed for the whole of Europe. Speakers comprise politicians, experts and officials from both East and West Europe. Organised by the Federal Trust for Education and Research. For details contact Judy Keep on 071-839 6625.
Future Directions for the European Community: EMU and Political Union. A major international sym-posium organised by the Royal Institute of International Affairs. At Chatham House, London on July 6. De-tails from RIIA, 10 St James's Square, London SW1Y 4LE. Tel:071-930 2233. Fax: 071-839 3593.
Environment Council 7 June Luxembourg
ECO/FIN Council 11 June Luxembourg
Agriculture Council 11-12 June Luxembourg
European Parliament 11-15 June Strasbourg
General Affairs Council 18-19 June Luxembourg
Transport Council 18-19 June Luxembourg
Informal Agriculture Ministers18-19 June Dromoland Castle
Internal Market Council 20 June Luxembourg
European Council 25-26 June Dublin Castle
Our next briefing will be on Thursday, June 7 at 1130hrs.
Contact: Rpbert Elphick, 071-222 8122

LOAD-DATE: May 31, 1990

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

Origin Universal News Services Limited, 1990

26 of 26 DOCUMENTS

Financial Times (London,England)

July 9, 1988, Saturday

BYLINE: Maggie Urry

SECTION: SECTION I; UK News; Pg. 5

LENGTH: 74 words

Retailers were unaware of and unprepared for the enormous changes in the business environment that would result from a single European market in 1992, according to Mr Tom Spencer, an executive director of the European Centre for Public Affairs, Templeton College, Oxford, writes Maggie Urry. He was addressing retailers at a conference on the internationalisation of retailing held by Coopers & Lybrand, the international accountancy firm.

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
-PR Week
-June 23, 2006
-ECPA LOOKS TO LIFT INDUSTRY IMAGE
-SECTION: PUBLIC AFFAIRS; Pg. 9
-LENGTH: 148  words
-The European Centre for Public Affairs, which exists to promote best practice in the industry, is to so-licit proposals from consultancies on how they would improve the image of public affairs.
-The organisation will ask firms to submit their ideas at a meeting in the autumn, with the winning pro-gramme provided pro bono.
-Although still in planning stages, it is expected that the proposals will be judged by members of the APPC and the PA groups within the PRCA and CIPR.
-ECPA deputy chairman Michael Burrell said it was 'important that the industry promotes and defends it-self'. Burrell said 'it is a close to insuperable challenge to actually promote positive news stories about what (the PA industry) does'.
-But, he added, when the media do unearth negative stories about the PA industry, its representative bodies could use them to try and 'seize the opportunity to talk about how we operate'.
 LOAD-DATE: June 23, 2006

Difference between revisions of "Talk:European Centre for Public Affairs"

Revision as of 07:44, 6 February 2007

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