RankDateCountryTitle
prodi
chirac
blair
12000-10-06EUREUTERS WEEKLY EU DIARY FOR MONDAY, OCT 9-SUNDAY, OCT 15
0.84
   
  
22000-10-03FRANCECOMMISSION SHOULD BE "VOICE" FOR EUROZONE-PRODI
0.87
   
  
32000-09-28UKANALYSIS-DANISH 'NO' USHERS IN TWO-SPEED EUROPE 
0.80
   
0.82
   
42000-09-27UKANALYSIS-DANISH "NO" COULD HASTEN TWO-SPEED EUROPE 
0.77
   
0.77
   
52000-10-21SOUTH KOREAUPDATE 1-EU, ASIA SUMMIT BOOSTS KOREA RECONCILIATION 
0.77
   
 
62000-10-13FRANCERISING OIL PRICES TO FOCUS EU SUMMIT POLICY DEBATE   
72000-10-05FRANCEUPDATE 2-FRANCE OPPOSES EU SUGAR REFORM PLAN 
0.82
   
 
 
 
Total number of documents   7 | Complete   7 | Not Delivered   0 [1] | Not Processed   0 [2] | Errors   0 [3] |
 
   
 
 
   [<<]   prodi   [>>]   [^^]
RankScoreDateCountryTitle
10.872000-10-03FRANCECOMMISSION SHOULD BE "VOICE" FOR EUROZONE-PRODI
20.842000-10-06EUREUTERS WEEKLY EU DIARY FOR MONDAY, OCT 9-SUNDAY, OCT 15
 
   
 
 
   [<<]   chirac   [>>]   [^^]
RankScoreDateCountryTitle
10.822000-10-05FRANCEUPDATE 2-FRANCE OPPOSES EU SUGAR REFORM PLAN
20.802000-09-28UKANALYSIS-DANISH 'NO' USHERS IN TWO-SPEED EUROPE
30.772000-09-27UKANALYSIS-DANISH "NO" COULD HASTEN TWO-SPEED EUROPE
40.772000-10-21SOUTH KOREAUPDATE 1-EU, ASIA SUMMIT BOOSTS KOREA RECONCILIATION
 
   
 
 
   [<<]   blair   [>>]   [^^]
RankScoreDateCountryTitle
10.822000-09-28UKANALYSIS-DANISH 'NO' USHERS IN TWO-SPEED EUROPE
20.772000-09-27UKANALYSIS-DANISH "NO" COULD HASTEN TWO-SPEED EUROPE
 
   
 
 [<<]   1/7   [>>]   [^^]   [++] 
 
prodi    0.84
Date    2000-10-06
Country    EU
Title    REUTERS WEEKLY EU DIARY FOR MONDAY, OCT 9-SUNDAY, OCT 15
 
 

|... ta (1200/1000 GMT). BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Commission President Romano Prodi meets Hungarian President Ferenc Madl. BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy meets Vietnam's Trade Minister Vu Khoan and sig ...|... Provisional agenda includes:. - Communications by Commission President Romano Prodi: Preparation of White Paper on European governance; Commission work programme for 2000 update; - Economic affairs: preparation of economic actors to ...|... HURSDAY, OCTOBER 12 BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Commission President Romano Prodi meets Lebanese Prime Minister Selim al-Hoss. BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Development Commissioner Poul Nielson meets Gabonese Foreign Minister Ca ...|... ernment hold informal meeting (to Oct 14). European Commission President Romano Prodi, External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten, Regional Policy Commissioner Michel Barnier and Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Antonio Vitorino ...|

 
 
   
 
 [<<]   2/7   [>>]   [^^]   [++] 
 
prodi    0.87
Date    2000-10-03
Country    FRANCE
Title    COMMISSION SHOULD BE "VOICE" FOR EUROZONE-PRODI
 
 

3.10.2000 FRANCE: COMMISSION SHOULD BE "VOICE" FOR EUROZONE-PRODI. STRASBOURG, France, Oct 3 (Reuters) - European Commission President Romano Prodi proposed on Tuesday the Commission become "the voice of the (European) Union's economic policy" to put an end to current confusion about who does wha ...|... ment of economic policy projects an image of Europe as indecisive and muddled," Prodi said in a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, setting out his vision of the future of the EU. "The (European) central bank is independe ...|... nion and its members and capable of taking decisions with the necessary speed," Prodi said. Prodi said the appointment of a separate spokesman for economic policy in the same way that the bloc has appointed a "High Representative" to oversee forei ...|... the Council, must be the spokesman, the voice of the Union's economic policy," Prodi said. (C) Reuters Limited 2000. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

 
 
   
 
 [<<]   3/7   [>>]   [^^]   [++] 
 
chirac    0.80
blair    0.82
Date    2000-09-28
Country    UK
Title    ANALYSIS-DANISH 'NO' USHERS IN TWO-SPEED EUROPE
 
 

|... irector of the Centre for European Reform, close to British Prime Minister Tony Blair's thinking, said: "The idea of a vanguard moving forward with deeper integration, proposed by (German Foreign Minister) Joschka Fischer and (French President) Jacques Chirac, will be discussed much more. "The core countries will be more impatient with those peculiar Danes and Swedes and Britons. The pressure to move ahea ...|... ic and budget policies could well be the first step, he said. He forecast that Blair would ease his opposition to such a "flexibility clause" rather than risk a hard core of member states pursuing integration outside the Union, as Chirac threatened at an EU summit in Portugal in June. However, Grant said he believed Blair still wanted Britain to join the euro in the lifetime of the next British parliament, with a referendum within two years of the general election expe ...|

 
 
   
 
 [<<]   4/7   [>>]   [^^]   [++] 
 
chirac    0.77
blair    0.77
Date    2000-09-27
Country    UK
Title    ANALYSIS-DANISH "NO" COULD HASTEN TWO-SPEED EUROPE
 
 

|... of the European Policy Centre think-tank in Brussels. French President Jacques Chirac, whose country holds the bloc's rotating presidency, warned British Prime Minister Tony Blair in June that if integration-minded states were not able to move forward within the EU, they would do so outside it. Palmer said the Danish vote woul ...|

 
 
   
 
 [<<]   5/7   [>>]   [^^]   [++] 
 
chirac    0.77
Date    2000-10-21
Country    SOUTH KOREA
Title    UPDATE 1-EU, ASIA SUMMIT BOOSTS KOREA RECONCILIATION
 
 

|... n the Korean peninsula led by President Kim Dae-jung," French President Jacques Chirac told a closing news conference. But he said: "France will establish diplomatic relations with North Korea only insofar as North Korea shows by some ...|

 
 
   
 
 [<<]   6/7   [>>]   [^^]   [++] 
 
Date    2000-10-13
Country    FRANCE
Title    RISING OIL PRICES TO FOCUS EU SUMMIT POLICY DEBATE
 
 

Short document text is empty,
there were no highlights.

 
 
   
 
 [<<]   7/7   [>>]   [^^]   [++] 
 
chirac    0.82
Date    2000-10-05
Country    FRANCE
Title    UPDATE 2-FRANCE OPPOSES EU SUGAR REFORM PLAN
 
 

|... sed change to the EU's costly sugar marketing regime. French President Jacques Chirac said the regime would not be called into question while France held the EU presidency, and Farm Minister Jean Glavany called the Commission's propose ...|... he EU farm policy overhaul signed last year in Berlin. In a speech to farmers, Chirac said it fell on France to press heavily during its six-month presidency of the European Union for the EU to remain faithful to the founding principle ...|... in particular about the sugar regime, which will not be called into question," Chirac said. France holds the presidency until December 31. The EU's sugar regime - based on production quotas, import protectionism and export subsidies ...|

 
 
   
 
 [<<]   1/7   [>>]   [^^]   [* *] 
 
prodi    0.84
Date    2000-10-06
Country    EU
Title    REUTERS WEEKLY EU DIARY FOR MONDAY, OCT 9-SUNDAY, OCT 15
 
 

6.10.2000 EU: REUTERS WEEKLY EU DIARY FOR MONDAY, OCT 9-SUNDAY, OCT 15.
BRUSSELS, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Following is the Reuters
European Union Diary for the coming week.
****
HIGHLIGHTS
****

BIARRITZ, France - EU heads of state and government hold informal meeting (Fri-Sat)
LUXEMBOURG - EU foreign ministers meet (Mon-Tue)
LUXEMBOURG - EU environment ministers meet (Tue)
BRUSSELS - European Commission weekly meeting (Wed)
****
MONDAY, OCTOBER 9
LUXEMBOURG (EXPANDED ITEM) - EU foreign ministers meet (0930/0730 GMT) (to Oct 10). Agenda includes: efficiency of EU's external action; Western Balkans; MEDA II programme (Measures to accompany reform to economic and social structures in non member countries of the Mediterranean basin); Barcelona process: preparation of EU-Mediterranean countries ministerial meeting (Marseille, Nov 15-16); bananas; products from less developed countries; preparation of Biarritz informal meeting of EU heads of state and government (Oct 13-14); situation of oil market; correction letter to Accounting Principles Board; nuclear safety; transmissible diseases.
BRUSSELS (EXPANDED ITEM) - Intergovernmental conference ministerial meeting on preparation of Biarritz informal meeting of EU heads of state and government (Oct 13-14). European Parliament President Nicole Fontaine attends (1530/1330 GMT).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - EU-Morocco association council (1800/1600 GMT); followed by joint n/conf.
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom meets French Environment Minister Dominique Voynet and 13 environment ministers of candidate countries; followed by n/conf (1215/1015 GMT).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom meets Spanish Environment Minister Jaume Matas.
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Health Commissioner David Byrne meets Swedish Finance Minister Lars-Erik Lovden.
ROME (NEW ITEM) - European Competition Commissioner Mario Monti visits (to Oct 10). Meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato.
GENEVA (NEW ITEM) - European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin meets German Education Minister Edelgard Bulmahn and British Science Minister Lord Sainsbury.
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament holds n/conf before EU-ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific countries) joint parliamentary assembly (1400/1200 GMT).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - EU-ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific countries) joint parliamentary assembly (1430/1230 GMT) (to Oct 12). Speakers include European Parliament President Nicole Fontaine (1830/1630 GMT).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy holds public hearing on "Relaunching the Euro-Mediterranean partnership" (1500/1300 GMT).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee hears Eurostat (European statistical office) Director General Yves Franchet (1500/1300 GMT).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament Legal Affairs and Internal Market Committee hears European Administrative Reform Commissioner Neil Kinnock (1500/1300 GMT).
BRUSSELS - EU-Ukraine parliamentary cooperation committee meeting (to Oct 10).
BRUSSELS - EU-Cyprus joint parliamentary committee meeting (to Oct 10).
BRUSSELS - Special committee on agriculture (of national farm officials) meets.
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - German Social Democrat Party group in European Parliament holds meeting on White Paper on food safety (1930/1730 GMT). Venue: 2 Rue du Parnasse. Contact: Hildegard Casperi-Porsch (322) 284 3665.
LYON, France - European conference on "European Scientific evaluation" (to Oct 10).
***
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10
LUXEMBOURG (EXPANDED ITEM) - EU environment ministers meet (1000/0800 GMT). Agenda includes: ozone in ambient air; orientation debate on "management of ambient noise" (1115/0915 GMT); climate; electric and electronic equipment: waste, limitation of use of certain dangerous substances; world governance of environment; labelling and traceability of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
LUXEMBOURG - EU foreign ministers meet (last of two days).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - Eurostat (European statistical office) releases July industrial production data (1200/1000 GMT).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Commission President Romano Prodi meets Hungarian President Ferenc Madl.
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy meets Vietnam's Trade Minister Vu Khoan and signs textile and shoes agreements with Vietnam.
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio meets European Space Agency Director General Antonio Rodota.
ROME (EXPANDED ITEM) - European Competition Commissioner Mario Monti visits (last of two days). Meeting with Italian Industry Minister Enrico Letta.
BRUSSELS (EXPANDED ITEM) - EU-ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific countries) joint parliamentary assembly (second of four days). Agenda includes EU-ACP partnership and challenges of globalisation. Speakers include European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy and Development Commissioner Poul Nielson. BANFF, Canada (NEW ITEM) - European Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler attends Cairn's Group meeting (to Oct 11). Gives speech on "Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) and World Trade Organisation (WTO)" and meets Australian Agriculture Minister Mark Vail.
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Committee hears French European Affairs Minister Pierre Moscovici (1430/1230 GMT).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Committee holds public hearing on "Relaunching the Euro-Mediterranean partnership and the Barcelona process" (1500/1300 GMT).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee hears Italian Treasury Director Mario Draghi (0930/0730 GMT) and British Treasury Minister Dawn Primarolo on business taxation.
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee hears national parliament representatives on current trends in EU competition policy and the change-over to the euro (1500/1300 GMT).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament Citizen's Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs Committee hears Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Antonio Vitorino (1500/1300 GMT).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - EU-Slovakia joint parliamentary committee meeting (to Oct 11).
BRUSSELS - EU-Ukraine parliamentary cooperation committee meeting (last of two days).
BRUSSELS - EU-Cyprus joint parliamentary committee meeting (last of two days).
LUXEMBOURG - The Bridge Forum Dialogue holds debate on "Institutional reform of the European Union" (1800/1600 GMT). Speakers include Eurostat (European statistical office) Director General Yves Franchet. Venue: Jean Monnet Building. Contact: Forum Dialogue (352) 4774 4239.
BRUSSELS - Hill and Knowlton hold symposium "Regulating Significant Market Power" (1230/1030 GMT). Venue: European Parliament. Contact: Jean Clowes (44 118) 979 3282.
MECHELEN, Belgium - International Federation for Toys and Childhood holds n/conf on creation of internet website toymuse.net (1140/0940 GMT). Venue: Speelgoedmuseum. Contact: Thomas Lejeune-Wenger (333) 8442 3864.
PARIS - European Regional Policy Commissioner Michel Barnier holds n/conf (1500/1300 GMT). Venue: Foreign Press Centre.
PARIS - European conference on "The green tax reforms in Europe" (to Oct 11).
LYON, France - European conference on "European Scientific evaluation" (last of two days).
BIRMINGHAM, England - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation defence ministers hold informal meeting (to Oct 11).
LONDON - European Centre for Public Affairs holds conference on "Science, Government and Uncertainty: The Public Affairs of Risk" (to Oct 12). Contact: ECPA (44 870) 444 2760.
***
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Commission holds weekly meeting (0900/0700 GMT). Provisional agenda includes:.
- Communications by Commission President Romano Prodi: Preparation of White Paper on European governance; Commission work programme for 2000 update;
- Economic affairs: preparation of economic actors to changeover to euro;
- Enterprise/Information society: implementation of action plan "e-europe";
- Justice and home affairs: European Charter for Fundamental Rights;
- Social/Internal market: social protection long-term evolution: "sustainable and secure pensions"; coordination of legislative, regulatory and administrative positions concerning professional pension funds institutes;
- Competition: enterprise mergers control;
- External relations: aid to Colombia; (possibly) situation in Yugoslavia.
ROME (NEW ITEM) - European Culture Commissioner Viviane Reding visits (to Oct 12). Meeting with Italian Education Minister Tullio De Mauro and University and Science Minister Ortensio Zecchino. BANFF, Canada (NEW ITEM) - European Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler attends Cairns Group meeting (to Oct 11). Meeting with Canadian Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief, Canadian Fisheries Minister Herb Dhaliwal, Brazilian Agriculture Minister Marcus Vinicius Pratini and New Zealand's Agriculture Minister Jim Sutton.
BRUSSELS (EXPANDED ITEM) - EU-ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific countries) joint parliamentary assembly (third of four days). Agenda includes Zimbabwe, Haiti, Fiji, Solomon Islands, bananas and commodities and other urgent subjects in ACP countries, development cooperation issues, impact of sanctions and embargoes, renewable sources of energy.
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament Culture, Youth, Education, Media and Sport Committee holds public hearing on town twinning (1000/0800 GMT).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy Committee hears European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy (1500/1300 GMT).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament Constitutional Affairs Committee hears European Administrative Reform Commissioner Neil Kinnock on the reform of the European Commission (1730/1530 GMT).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism Committee hears French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot (1500/1300 GMT).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament Citizen's Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs Committee hears European Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein.
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee hears European Monetary Affairs Commissioner Pedro Solbes and European Monetary Institute former President Alexandre Lamfalussy on regulation of securities markets.
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - EU-Hungary joint parliamentary committee meeting (to Oct 12).
BRUSSELS - EU-Slovakia joint parliamentary committee meeting (last of two days).
BRUSSELS - Committees of Permanent Representatives to the EU meets (COREPER I and II).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - Chartered Institute of Environment Health holds n/conf on food safety (0830/0630 GMT). Venue: SAS Hotel. Contact: Amanda Cleary, fax (322) 548 0499.
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction launches fifth annual report on the state of the drugs problem in the European Union (1200/1000 GMT). Venue: European Commission Spokesman's Service. Contact: Kathy Robertson (351) 21 811 3000.
BRUSSELS - Mouvement Europeen Belgique and European Parliament office for Belgium hold public debate on "Europe in the eye of the storm?" (1730/1530 GMT). Venue: European Parliament, Eastman Building. Contact: Mouvement Europeen Belgique (322) 231 0622.
BERLIN - The Council of Europe holds international conference on "Sustainable tourism, environment and employment" (1700/1500 GMT) (to Oct 13). Contact: Helena Bouguessa (333) 8841 2264.
PARIS - Platform of French non-governmental organisation on food safety in the European Union (1100/0900 GMT). Venue: Foreign Press Centre (CAPE).
PARIS - European conference on "The green tax reforms in Europe" (last of two days).
BIRMINGHAM, England - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation defence ministers hold informal meeting (last of two days).
LONDON - European Centre for Public Affairs holds conference on "Science, Government and Uncertainty: The Public Affairs of Risk" (second of three days). Contact: ECPA (44 870) 444 2760.
***
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Commission President Romano Prodi meets Lebanese Prime Minister Selim al-Hoss.
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Development Commissioner Poul Nielson meets Gabonese Foreign Minister Casimir Oye.
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Employment Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou meets 16 German employment and social affairs state ministers.
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - Eurostat (European statistical office) releases second quarter national accounts (GDP) data (1200/1000 GMT).
ATHENS (NEW ITEM) - European Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom visits (to Oct 13). Meeting with Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis.
POLAND (NEW ITEM) - European Health Commissioner David Byrne makes official visit (to Oct 13). Meeting with Polish Agriculture Minister Artur Balazs.
BRUSSELS - European Commission holds conference with representatives from European civil society, business community and academic community on EU-Mercosur and EU-Chile association negotiations. European External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten gives opening speech. Contact: Sonia Dominguez (322) 299 1103.
ROME (EXPANDED ITEM) - European Culture Commissioner Viviane Reding visits (to Oct 12). Meeting with Italian EU Affairs Minister Gianni Mattioli and presentation of Socrates education programme in Italy.
BRUSSELS (EXPANDED ITEM) - EU-ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific countries) joint parliamentary assembly (last of four days). Agenda includes public hearing on "AIDS, a crucial issue for ACP-EU cooperation" (0900/0700 GMT). Speakers include Uganda's Prime Minister Crispus Kiyonga (1045/0845 GMT) and European Development Commissioner Poul Nielson on Commission's strategy against AIDS in ACP countries (1115/0915 GMT); followed by final n/conf (1900/1700 GMT).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament Temporary Committee on Echelon spy system meets (0900/0700 GMT).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy Committee hears European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin (1130/0930 GMT).
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism Committee hears European Energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio (0900/0700 GMT).
BRUSSELS - EU-Hungary joint parliamentary committee meeting (last of two days).
BRUSSELS - EU article 36 committee (of national justice officials) meets.
BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - Union of Industrial and Employers Confederation (UNICE) holds n/conf on "European business' views on enlargement" (1100/0900 GMT). Venue: 40 Rue Joseph II. Contact: Sylvie De Spiegeleer (322) 237 6549.
PARIS - French Environment Minister Dominique Voynet holds n/conf on conclusions of environment council (Luxembourg, Oct 10) and orientations of EU French Presidency in the field of environment (1100/0900 GMT). Venue: Foreign Press Centre (CAPE).
BORDEAUX, France - European conference on European network for judicial training (to Oct 14).
LONDON - European Centre for Public Affairs holds conference on "Science, Government and Uncertainty: The Public Affairs of Risk" (last of three days). Contact: ECPA (44 870) 444 2760.
***
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13
BIARRITZ, France (EXPANDED ITEM) - EU heads of state and government hold informal meeting (to Oct 14). European Commission President Romano Prodi, External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten, Regional Policy Commissioner Michel Barnier and Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Antonio Vitorino attend.
BIARRITZ, France (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament President Nicole Fontaine holds n/conf on European council (1100/0900 GMT).
BIARRITZ, France (NEW ITEM) - European Parliament President Nicole Fontaine holds n/conf on death penalty in the U.S. (1130/0930 GMT).
ATHENS (EXPANDED ITEM) - European Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom visits (last of two days). Meeting with Greek Environment Minister Costas Laliotis.
POLAND (EXPANDED ITEM) - European Health Commissioner David Byrne makes official visit (last of two days). Meeting with Polish Health Minister Franciszka Gegielska and EU Integration Minister Jacek Sariusz-Wolski.
POLAND (EXPANDED ITEM) - European Budget Commissioner Michaele Schreyer makes official visit (to Oct 14).
BLOIS, France - European seminar "Teach the History of Europe" (to Oct 14).
BERLIN - The Council of Europe holds international conference on "Sustainable tourism, environment and employment" (last of two days). Contact: Helena Bouguessa (333) 8841 2264.
BORDEAUX, France - European conference on European network for judicial training (second of three days).
***
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14
BIARRITZ, France - EU heads of state and government hold informal meeting (last of two days).
POLAND (EXPANDED ITEM) - European Budget Commissioner Michaele Schreyer makes official visit (last of two days).
BORDEAUX, France - European conference on European network for judicial training (last of three days).
BLOIS, France - European seminar "Teach the History of Europe" (last of two days).
***
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15
No events scheduled.
****
If you have items for inclusion in the Reuters EU Diary, please contact:

Joelle Guggenbuhl - Telephone: (322) 287 6850
Fax: (322) 230 5573
e-mail: brussels.newsroom@reuters.com

Reuters Editorial, 61 rue de Treves, 1040 BRUSSELS
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Unauthorised copying prohibited
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(C) Reuters Limited 2000.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

 
 
   
 
 [<<]   2/7   [>>]   [^^]   [* *] 
 
prodi    0.87
Date    2000-10-03
Country    FRANCE
Title    COMMISSION SHOULD BE "VOICE" FOR EUROZONE-PRODI
 
 

3.10.2000 FRANCE: COMMISSION SHOULD BE "VOICE" FOR EUROZONE-PRODI.
STRASBOURG, France, Oct 3 (Reuters) - European Commission President Romano Prodi proposed on Tuesday the Commission become "the voice of the (European) Union's economic policy" to put an end to current confusion about who does what in the euro zone.
"The current management of economic policy projects an image of Europe as indecisive and muddled," Prodi said in a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, setting out his vision of the future of the EU.
"The (European) central bank is independent, but unlike every other protagonist on the world stage it is not flanked by a stable economic policy body representing an overall view of the economic strategies of the Union and its members and capable of taking decisions with the necessary speed," Prodi said.
Prodi said the appointment of a separate spokesman for economic policy in the same way that the bloc has appointed a "High Representative" to oversee foreign policy was not needed because a means of response already existed.
"The simple, natural, effective solution is there, under our very noses: the Commission, acting on a mandate from the Council, must be the spokesman, the voice of the Union's economic policy," Prodi said.
(C) Reuters Limited 2000.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

 
 
   
 
 [<<]   3/7   [>>]   [^^]   [* *] 
 
chirac    0.80
blair    0.82
Date    2000-09-28
Country    UK
Title    ANALYSIS-DANISH 'NO' USHERS IN TWO-SPEED EUROPE
 
 

28.9.2000 UK: ANALYSIS-DANISH 'NO' USHERS IN TWO-SPEED EUROPE.
By Paul Taylor, Diplomatic Editor
LONDON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Denmark's 'no' vote to the euro is likely to usher in a two-speed European Union with a northern trio stuck in the slow lane as their partners forge closer links, experts say.
It also highlights a gulf in several EU countries between a pro-European political and economic elite and a more sceptical general public that tends to perceive the Union as a remote, bureaucratic enterprise.
Thursday's decisive rejection of the single currency by Danish voters was a blow to EU morale which will embolden Eurosceptics in Britain and Sweden and probably make those governments more hesitant about holding the referenda they have promised before joining the euro.
Meanwhile the 12 core countries already in the euro or about to join, led by France and Germany, seem likely to demand more forcefully to be allowed to press ahead with closer economic and political integration without being held back by the laggards.
That would widen the gap between the 'ins' and the 'outs'.
"One can only fear that this 'no' to joining the euro will spark a European Union at different speeds," Danish Finance Minister Mogens Lykketoft told Reuters in Copenhagen, lamenting the prospect that his country could lose influence.

CORE STATES IMPATIENT
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, close to British Prime Minister Tony Blair's thinking, said: "The idea of a vanguard moving forward with deeper integration, proposed by (German Foreign Minister) Joschka Fischer and (French President) Jacques Chirac, will be discussed much more.
"The core countries will be more impatient with those peculiar Danes and Swedes and Britons. The pressure to move ahead without them will grow," he said.
Grant said a 15-nation summit on reforming the EU was likely to agree to make it easier for groups of states to launch closer cooperation projects where not all members want to join.
Giving the Euro-12 group of finance ministers of single currency members a more formal role in coordinating economic and budget policies could well be the first step, he said.
He forecast that Blair would ease his opposition to such a "flexibility clause" rather than risk a hard core of member states pursuing integration outside the Union, as Chirac threatened at an EU summit in Portugal in June.
However, Grant said he believed Blair still wanted Britain to join the euro in the lifetime of the next British parliament, with a referendum within two years of the general election expected next year.
By that time, the Danish vote would be a distant memory and other factors, such as economic convergence, British business leaders' opinions, the strength of the euro and the level of Euroland unemployment, would be more influential.

BOOST TO EUROSCEPTICISM
Some analysts said the boost to Euroscepticism could extend beyond the three northern states which joined the EU long after its foundation and affect public opinion in founder members such as Germany, France and the Netherlands.
"It could have negative consequences in Germany, where the Eurosceptical mood could pollute the debate about the eastward enlargement of the EU," said Jean-Pierre Froehly, senior fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations.
He said the Danish vote highlighted the problem that many European governments faced in convincing the public of the benefits of EU membership and the impossibility of tackling economic and security issues in one country in the 21st century.
"It's a problem of political communication. Governments don't explain why we need the EU, and politicians tend to use Europe as a scapegoat for their own problems," Froehly said.
Daniel Gros of the Centre for European Policy Studies said there was now no prospect of Denmark holding a vote to end its other "opt-outs" from a common European defence policy and cooperation on justice and home affairs.
For the first time, a member state was not just opting out temporarily from a central plank of EU policy but putting itself on the sidelines for the duration, he said.
A senior EU official said Denmark's relegation to the European slow lane would be dramatised in 2002, when it is next due to hold the EU's rotating presidency for six months.
Danish ministers would not be able to chair, or even participate in, two of the core bodies at the heart of EU policy - the Euro-12 and a new grouping of foreign and defence ministers to run the common security and defence policy.
(C) Reuters Limited 2000.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

 
 
   
 
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chirac    0.77
blair    0.77
Date    2000-09-27
Country    UK
Title    ANALYSIS-DANISH "NO" COULD HASTEN TWO-SPEED EUROPE
 
 

27.9.2000 UK: ANALYSIS-DANISH "NO" COULD HASTEN TWO-SPEED EUROPE.
By Paul Taylor, Diplomatic Editor
LONDON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - For the second time in less than a decade, the future of European Union integration may be in the hands of a few thousand Danish voters.
A Danish "no" to the euro in Thursday's referendum could hasten moves towards a two-speed Europe, potentially leaving not just Denmark but also Britain and Sweden in the slow lane.
As in 1992, the knife-edge choice of this small, prosperous, stubbornly independent nation pits a pro-European political and business establishment against a populist grassroots movement, with wider implications for EU politics.
If Danes vote against joining the single currency, even by a tiny margin, they would deal a psychological blow to the EU, adding to a sense of crisis, and open a potentially damaging fracture in the 15-nation bloc.
Analysts say it would hearten "Eurosceptics" across the continent and weaken the prospects of Sweden or Britain risking an early vote on euro membership.
That in turn would increase pressure among the other 12 to forge ahead with closer economic and political integration on their own. A Danish "yes" would be a relief for EU leaders, but the narrowness of the escape, amid other clear signs of public disaffection with the European project, is bound to prompt more debate about how to give the EU greater popular legitimacy.
Massive abstention rates in European Parliament elections, and recent blockades across Western Europe over fuel taxes have highlighted a gulf between the political and economic elites and ordinary voters, even in more prosperous times.

EURO CRISIS SEEN UNLIKELY
Most analysts doubt that a "no" would open a serious crisis of confidence in the euro on financial markets, noting that the Danish economy is marginal to "Euroland" and the Danish crown would remain pegged to the currency anyway.
"The euro might take a knock for a couple of days, but in real terms it doesn't make a blind bit of difference," said Steven Everts of the Centre for European Reform in London. "The euro zone is here to stay. It's working, if imperfectly."
Euroland economies are growing healthily and the U.S. decision to join the European Central Bank in intervening last week on foreign exchange markets to prop up the sagging euro appears to have put a floor under the 21-month-old currency.
Washington's vote for the euro is likely to weigh more heavily with traders than a Danish vote against it.
But any sense of inevitability about the euro eventually extending to all EU member states, and especially to Britain, with its powerful economy, would probably be broken.
"In the short run a Danish "no" might matter psychologically a bit for the euro. But the long-run consequences would be much more important for the EU," said economist Daniel Gros of the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels.
For the first time, a member state would be opting out of core European policies not just temporarily but indefinitely.
Denmark would be unlikely to reverse its other opt-outs from EU defence cooperation and justice and home affairs policy - the two main growth areas of European integration in the next few years, Gros said.

KNOCK-ON EFFECT
"If it were just Denmark, that could be finessed. But if it's Denmark and Sweden and Britain, then it becomes different," Gros said, arguing that economic integration would make a qualitative leap among euro members in the next decade.
Everts agreed that a Danish "no" would sharpen the debate on EU reform in the run-up to a crucial summit in Nice, France, in December, with the euro's 11 founder members and Greece, which joins next January, pressing to be allowed to move ahead faster.
One step could be to give the informal "Euro-11" grouping of finance ministers of members of the single currency greater status and responsibility for coordinating economic policy.
Several countries, led by France and Germany, are pressing for a so-called flexibility clause to make it easier for groups of states to pursue closer cooperation, using EU institutions.
"The main effect of a Danish "no" would be to strengthen the determination of those who are already strongly arguing for making it easier for groups of states to cooperate more closely, without others being able to veto it," said John Palmer, director of the European Policy Centre think-tank in Brussels.
French President Jacques Chirac, whose country holds the bloc's rotating presidency, warned British Prime Minister Tony Blair in June that if integration-minded states were not able to move forward within the EU, they would do so outside it.
Palmer said the Danish vote would fuel debate about ways to give the EU greater political legitimacy, possibly through a European constitution or by directly electing the European Commission president.
Such ideas are anathema to Eurosceptics who believe the EU has already impinged too far on national sovereignty.
But Palmer played down the impact of Denmark's choice, saying: "I don't think it's earth-shattering either way."
(C) Reuters Limited 2000.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

 
 
   
 
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chirac    0.77
Date    2000-10-21
Country    SOUTH KOREA
Title    UPDATE 1-EU, ASIA SUMMIT BOOSTS KOREA RECONCILIATION
 
 

21.10.2000 SOUTH KOREA: UPDATE 1-EU, ASIA SUMMIT BOOSTS KOREA RECONCILIATION.
By Adrian Croft
SEOUL, Oct 21 (Reuters) - European and Asian leaders gave a boost to reconciliation between the two Koreas on Saturday at the conclusion of a summit that set ambitious goals for future inter-regional cooperation but achieved little concrete.
After the two-day Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) here, leaders of the 15 European Union countries and 10 Asian nations pledged to work together to push forward trade liberalisation, fight international crime and narrow the "digital divide" between rich and poor countries' access to new technologies.
The ASEM summit also adopted for the first time a specific commitment to protect human rights - a traditionally divisive issue between European and Asian countries.
But their most tangible achievement was to lend support to South Korean President Kim Dae-jung's policy of seeking reconciliation with North Korea, the secretive Stalinist state which is emerging from a self-imposed half century of isolation.
Several European governments - including Britain, Germany and Spain - chose the occasion to announce they were accepting North Korea's request for diplomatic relations, although France, which currently holds the EU presidency, was not yet ready.
"France unreservedly supports the policy of reconciliation on the Korean peninsula led by President Kim Dae-jung," French President Jacques Chirac told a closing news conference.
But he said: "France will establish diplomatic relations with North Korea only insofar as North Korea shows by some gestures its wish to respond to two of our concerns - non-proliferation and improvement of human rights."
"President Kim Dae-jung gave us positive indications on this subject. We naturally took note with great interest and I hope we will draw positive consequences from that as soon as possible," he said.
GERMANY DENIES RIFT
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder played down suggestions of a split in the EU over how to deal with North Korea. Pointing out that six EU states already had diplomatic relations with Pyongyang, he said there had never been a joint EU policy on North Korea.
"A few additional ones (countries) said we want to do the same thing because we want to support a policy adopted by the South Korean president. I don't understand what is meant to be so dramatic about this," he said.
Schroeder offered to share with South Korea lessons learned from the reunification of the two Germanies a decade ago.
The leaders adopted a declaration urging both sides to build on the momentum generated by a summit in June between President Kim and the North's Kim Jong-il.
In a communique released on Saturday, the 25 leaders welcomed "clear signs of recovery" in Asian countries hit by the region's 1997 currency crisis but urged continued reform. They also backed the extension of a trust fund set up in 1998 to provide technical advice to financially hit Asian countries.
They agreed to reinforce their political dialogue, pledging to work to strengthen arms control, tackle global environmental issues and combat transnational crime, including money-laundering, smuggling of immigrants, international terrorism and drug-trafficking.
TRADE ROUND
On trade, the ASEM members - which together account for half of the world's output - agreed to intensify efforts to launch a new round of global trade liberalisation talks "at the earliest opportunity".
ASEM was formed in 1994 as an Asian-European counterweight to the strong U.S. relationships with both Europe and Asia. It has been criticised in the past for being a talking shop.
In a sign that both sides acknowledge its agenda has been too sprawling, the leaders agreed to focus in future on a few specific topics.
EU officials saw a communique commitment to "promote and protect all human rights...and fundamental freedoms" as a breakthrough because Asian countries such as China, an ASEM member, have been traditionally hostile to Western concepts of human rights.
Seoul police congratulated themselves on the handling of the two-day summit, which some had feared could turn into a flashpoint for anti-globalisation protests similar to those seen in Prague and Seattle over the past year.
In the event, there were scuffles during several protests and marches by thousands of students and trades unionists on Friday in which six police officers and two demonstrators were injured, police said.
But the protests were held some distance from the conference centre, which was guarded by thousands of baton-wielding riot police.
(C) Reuters Limited 2000.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

 
 
   
 
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Date    2000-10-13
Country    FRANCE
Title    RISING OIL PRICES TO FOCUS EU SUMMIT POLICY DEBATE
 
 

13.10.2000 FRANCE: RISING OIL PRICES TO FOCUS EU SUMMIT POLICY DEBATE.
BIARRITZ, France, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Escalating tensions in the Middle East that have pushed crude oil prices to a 10-year peak will lend added impetus to a broader debate on oil policy at a European Union summit on Friday.
Benchmark Brent crude traded around $35.00 a barrel as panicky markets feared that spiralling Middle East violence could disrupt export flows from the region.
The EU leaders were already due to discuss European Commission proposals for a more coordinated energy policy, including whether to follow the United States in releasing some of the nationally-held strategic reserves.
EU member states are legally bound to hold 90 days of petroleum stocks but there is no existing mechanism for releasing them.
"Of course the impact of renewed Middle East violence on oil prices is a further element to be considered in what was already a difficult situation," Commission spokesman Jonathan Faull told reporters in this southern French resort.
"I'm quite sure that while it probably doesn't change the nature of the problem, it will be taken into account in the (summit) discussion," he added.
The Commission's proposals call for better relations with oil producing nations, including Russia, and a more diversified energy policy, with far greater energy efficiency as its main plank.
In a statement released in Brussels, environmental activist group Greenpeace said it feared Europe's current concerns over oil prices and energy supplies could be used to relaunch the debate over nuclear power.
"Greenpeace is calling on the European Commission to reject nuclear power as a solution to security of energy supplies and climate change and to implement the real solutions which are energy efficiency and renewable energy," said Mike Townsley, Greenpece's nuclear expert.
(C) Reuters Limited 2000.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

 
 
   
 
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chirac    0.82
Date    2000-10-05
Country    FRANCE
Title    UPDATE 2-FRANCE OPPOSES EU SUGAR REFORM PLAN
 
 

5.10.2000 FRANCE: UPDATE 2-FRANCE OPPOSES EU SUGAR REFORM PLAN.
By Greg Frost
PARIS, Oct 5 (Reuters) - France, the European Union's largest sugar beet producer, made it clear on Thursday that it would not support the European Commission's proposed change to the EU's costly sugar marketing regime.
French President Jacques Chirac said the regime would not be called into question while France held the EU presidency, and Farm Minister Jean Glavany called the Commission's proposed plan unacceptable.
Their comments came as French farmers said the Commission's proposals amounted to a full-scale attack on the principles of the EU farm policy overhaul signed last year in Berlin.
In a speech to farmers, Chirac said it fell on France to press heavily during its six-month presidency of the European Union for the EU to remain faithful to the founding principles of the Common Agricultural Policy.
"From this point of view, the future of (marketing regimes) that were left out of the Berlin accords represent a priority. I'm thinking in particular about the sugar regime, which will not be called into question," Chirac said.
France holds the presidency until December 31.
The EU's sugar regime - based on production quotas, import protectionism and export subsidies - was left out of the Berlin accords.

GLAVANY SAYS PROPOSALS UNACCEPTABLE
While the system was not due to expire until 2001, the Commission presented plans on Wednesday to extend a modified sugar production quota regime for the next two years and promised far-reaching reform in 2003.
The plans called for permanently cutting the production quota by 115,000 tonnes a year, abolishing the reimbursement of storage costs to producers and simplifying market organisation.
But Glavany said France would vigourously defend the status quo of the EU's sugar regime.
"The European sugar regime has functioned correctly for 30 years, safely withstanding the crises that have affected the world market," Glavany said in a statement.
"The Commission's proposal is unacceptable," he added.

FARMERS ATTACK PLAN
Earlier on Thursday, France's main farm union joined sugar producers in attacking the Commission's planned reform.
"Even though the Berlin accords were already the minimum acceptable for French farmers, now we are seeing a full-scale attack on the Common Agricultural Policy by the Commission," the FNSEA union said in a statement.
"After the incessant assaults on the European agricultural budget that we have seen for more than a year, today it's the sugar rule that is contested - against the views of most farm ministers and notably the French president," the union added.
French sugar beet producers' group CGB said on Wednesday it did not understand how the Commission could have reached the proposal after most EU farm ministers including Glavany said last month they were in favour of extending a modified quota regime for six years - not two.
"If the Commission is proposing to extend the sugar plan for only two years, it's because it wants to call into question the Berlin accords between now and 2002 and include all agricultural products in a new reform," CGB President Dominique Ducroquet said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Commission was under pressure to reform the sugar regime because of overproduction and strict World Trade Organisation limits for subsidised exports.
(Additional reporting by Christian Curtenelle).
(C) Reuters Limited 2000.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

 
 
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