Bulletin of the European Union

Secretariat-General European Commission

Description

1/2, 2001
Activities of the institutions and bodies
Target audience: Specialised/Technical

Sujets

• Periodical publication
• Union européenne
• Economie gestion

Informations

• Publié par: SECRETARIAT-GENERAL-EUROPEAN-COMMISSION
• Nombre de lectures: 694
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

ISSN 0378-3693
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
L L Ε Τ I
OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
1/2 · 2001 The Bulletin of the European Union reports on the activities of the Commission and the other Community
institutions. It is produced by the Secretariat-General of the European Commission and published
10 times a year in the official European languages.
The following reference system is used: the first digit indicates the part number, the second digit the
chapter number and the subsequent digit or digits the point number. Citations should therefore read as
follows: Bull. 1/2-1994, point 1.1.1 or 2.2.3.
A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet.
It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int).
European Commission
Secretariat-General
Editorial team: rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200 — B-1049 Brussels —Tel. [phone]
Sent to press in May 2001
© European Communities, 2001
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
Printed in Belgium EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Β U L L Ε Τ I
OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
1/2 · 2001 Bulletin information service
Readers can obtain information on developments since this issue went to press (date of adop­
tion of instruments by the Council, of opinions given by Parliament or the Economic and
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tion service of the Commission Offices on the following numbers:
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References in the text s to other parts of the same issue of the Bulletin are given in parentheses in text,
thus (-> point 2.1.53).
Abbreviations
Publications cited in this Bulletin
Bull. Bulletin of the European Union
Supplement — Bull. Supplement to the Bulletin of the European Union
General Report General Report on the Activities of the European Union
Currencies
ATS Austrian schilling
BEF Belgian franc
DEM German mark
DKK Danish krone
ESP Spanish peseta
FIM Finnish markka
FRF French franc
GBP Pound sterling
GRD Greek drachma
IEP Irish pound
ITL Italian lira
LUF Luxembourg franc
NLG Dutch guilder
PTE Portuguese escudo
SEK Swedish krona
USD United States dollar PART ONE
ACTIVITIES
IN JANUARY/
FEBRUARY 2001 News in brief
D Treaty of Nice: the Treaty is signed on 26 February (—» point 1.1.1).
D Institutional affairs: the Commission adopts a proposal for a Council regulation on the stat­
ute and financing of European political parties (—» point 1.1.2).
Π Preparations for the Stockholm European Council: the Commission adopts a communica­
tion entitled 'Realising the European Union's potential: consolidating and extending the Lisbon
strategy' (—> point 1.3.35).
Ü Financial services: the Commission adopts a communication on e­commerce and financial
services (—» point 1.3.69) and an action plan to prevent fraud and counterfeiting of non­cash means
of payment (—> point 1.3.70).
D Research: the Commission adopts its proposal for a European Parliament and Council deci­
sion concerning the sixth framework programme (—> point 1.3.124).
D Economic and social cohesion: the Commission adopts its second report on economic and
social cohesion (—> point 1.3.131).
D Environment: the Commission adopts a proposal for a European Parliament and Council de­
cision laying down the sixth Community environment action programme for the period 2001­10
(—» point 1.4.28), a Green Paper on integrated product policy in the European Union
(—» point 1.4.31) and a White Paper on a strategy fora future chemicals policy (­> point 1.4.41).
D Genetically modified organisms (GMOs): Parliament and the Council approve a proposal
for amending Directive 90/220/EEC on the deliberate release of GMOs into the environment
(­»point 1.4.42).
D Sea transport: the Commission adopts a proposal for a directive on market access to port
services (—» point 1.4.64).
D Rail transport: Parliament and the Council adopt directives on the development of the Com­
munity's railways, on the licensing of railway undertakings, and on the allocation of railway in­
frastructure capacity and the levying of charges (—» point 1.4.57).
D Turkey: the Council adopts a regulation on assistance to Turkey in the framework of the
pre­accession strategy, with particular reference to the establishment of an accession partnership
(—> point 1.5.3), and Parliament and the Council adopt a regulation regarding the implementation
of measures to promote economic and social development in Turkey (—> point 1.5.9).
D Commercial policy: the Commission adopts a communication concerning a strategy for the
Customs Union (—» point 1.6.52).
D Commission: the Commission adopts its work programme for 2001 (—»points 1.9.15 and
2.3.1) and outlines the annual policy strategy for 2002 (—» point 1.9.16).
Bull. EU 1­2/2001 Contents
Activities in January/February 2001 Part One
News in brief
Institutional affairs and the future of the Union
8 Human rights
The Community economic and social area 12
Economic and monetary policy 12
Statistical system 20
Employment and social policy 22
26 Equal opportunities
27 Internal market
34 Competition
44 Enterprise
45 Research and technology
46 Information society
47 Economic and social cohesion
54 Trans-European networks
59 Fisheries
64 Citizenship and quality of life
64 Area of freedom, security and justice
66 Education and culture
70 Environment
79 Energy
80 Transport
86 Health and consumer protection
Enlargement 91
Role of the Union in the World 95
Common foreign and security policy 95
International organisations and conferences 107
Common commercial policy 107
Development cooperation 114
115 Humanitarian aid
116 Relations with the western Balkans
117 s with the southern Mediterranean and the Middle East
120 Independent States of the former Soviet Union; Mongolia United States, Japan and other industrialised countries 122
Asia 122
Latin America 126
ACP countries and OCTs 126
Diplomatic relations 133
Financing Community activities, resource management 134
134 Budgets
136 Financial operations
Protection of the Communities' financial interests
136 and the fight against fraud
137 Community law
Monitoring the application of Community law 137
144 Decisions by the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance
148 Community institutions
148 European Parliament
Council 151
156 Commission
158 Court of Auditors
159 European Investment Bank
161 Economic and Social Committee
Committee of the Regions 162
163 ECSC Consultative
Part Two Documentation
1 The euro 166
2 Address by Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission,
'The state of the Union in 2001 '7
3 The Commission's work programme for 2001 172
4 Additional references in the Official Journal8
5 Corrigenda 181
Index2 1. Institutional affairs and the future
of the Union
Reference: Parliament part-session held in Stras­Treaty of Nice
bourg from 13 to 17 June: Bull. 6-2000, point 1.10.1
1.1.1. Signing of the Treaty of Nice.
Approved by the Commission on 24 January.
Approval of the draft Treaty by the European
Formally adopted by the Commission on 13 Feb­Council, meeting at the Intergovernmental Con­
ruary. This proposal follows on from an under­ference: Bull. 12-2000, point 1.1.3
taking given by the Commission to Parliament on
Signed in Nice on 26 February. The Treaty of 14 June 2000, in response to oral questions, to
Nice was signed by the Plenipotentiaries of the take two parallel initiatives: on the one hand, to
EU Member States during an official ceremony submit to the Intergovernmental Conference a
where the speakers included Mr Chirac, President proposal for revising Article 191 of the EC Treaty
of the French Republic, Mr Jospin, Prime Minis­ in order to create a sound, permanent legal basis
ter of France, Mr Persson, Prime Minister of Swe­ for all legislation relating to European political
den and President of the European Council, parties, and, on the other hand, pending this new
Mrs Fontaine, President of then Parlia­ legislation, to propose a provisional legislative
ment, and Mr Prodi, President of the Commis­ text based on Article 308 of the EC Treaty.
sion.
The provisional regulation proposed by the Com­
Detailed information on the Treaty of Nice mission, covering a two-year period, was drawn
can be found on the Internet (http://eu- up after in-depth consultation of the parties and
ropa.eu.int/comm/nice_treaty/index_en.htm). groups represented in the European Parliament. It
OJC80, 10.3.2001 aims to lay down the fundamental criteria and
procedures necessary for recognising European
political parties, with a view to ensuring that they
are representative at European level