Europe-East articles from December 2002

Europe-East archives from December 2002

LAST-MINUTE BARGAINING AS CANDIDATES WAIT TO SEE WHO BLINKS FIRST.(European Union)
December 5, 2002... The final week before the Copenhagen Summit is turning into a tense multi-sided duel in which all the players are waiting to see who blinks first. The Danish Presidency is desperately trying to persuade the candidate countries that they should...

CZECH COMPETITION SOLUTION EASES EU TALKS FOR PRAGUE.(European Union)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2002... The atmosphere of compromise that characterised the meeting between EU and candidate countries' Foreign Affairs Ministers in Brussels on November 18 spilled over into some of the bilateral meetings that also took place on the fringes of the...

EU PRESIDENCY HANDS ITS FINAL OFFER TO CANDIDATES.(European Union)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2002... The Danish Presidency presented its draft "final offer" to each of the ten leading candidate countries on November 26 - but without any certainty it would be accepted either by the candidates or by the EU Member States. The individualised...

DANISH PRESIDENCY SHOWS ITS NEGOTIATING HAND.(European Union)
December 5, 2002... The Danish Presidency of the European Union is showing unusual candour in its approach to the final stages of the accession negotiations with the ten "Laeken" candidates. It has provided some clear outlines of how it is dealing with the last...

EU CANDIDATES ACCEPTING EU "REALISM" IN COPENHAGEN COUNTDOWN.(European Union)
December 5, 2002... There are signs that the EU candidate countries are starting to accept the limitations on what they can expect in their accession terms - limitations that the EU has been insisting all year are immovable. The meeting of Foreign Affairs...

ODDS-ON ENLARGEMENT?(European Union)
December 5, 2002... A experienced gambler would take one look at the current state of the EU accessions negotiations and assess the chances of a successful outcome as close to zero. One week before the scheduled date for closing the negotiations, at the...

ENLARGEMENT: DANISH PRESIDENCY SHOWS ITS NEGOTIATING HAND.(European Union)
December 5, 2002... The Danish Presidency of the European Union is showing unusual candour in its approach to the final stages of the accession negotiations with the ten "Laeken" candidates. It has provided some clear outlines of how it is dealing with the last...

MEPS BACK PLANS FOR ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS.(European Union )
December 5, 2002... The European Parliament plenary session on November 20 gave its overwhelming endorsement to the report on enlargement from its Foreign Affairs Committee - and in so doing, provided strong backing for the current EU plans for enlargement. The...

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DEBATE WITH CANDIDATES.
December 5, 2002... The European Parliament took a leap forward into the new enlarged Europe on November 19 when it held a debate in Strasbourg with parliamentary representatives from the candidate countries. Prefiguring the European Parliament that will exist -...

NO SMOOTH RUN FOR HUNGARY AT ASSOCIATION COUNCIL.(European Union Association Council)
December 5, 2002... Despite the fact that Hungary is on the threshold of closing negotiations for EU membership, its Association Council with the EU on November 18 offered plenty of evidence of areas where the EU is still determined to criticise. Notably, the EU...

PROGRESS IN BORDERS WITH CANDIDATES.(European Union)
December 5, 2002... What was one of the most sensitive areas in EU accession negotiations a year ago - the impact on EU regions bordering the candidate countries - has lost some of its sting as other issues have emerged to take its place, and as attention has...

DEAL ON LIBERALISING EU-CZECH FARM TRADE PROPOSED.(European Union)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2002... An increase in preferential farm trade between the EU and the Czech Republic worth Euro 120 million will be the upshot of a new farm trade liberalisation deal proposed by the Commission on November 26. Designed to open up farm trade in the...

HUNGARY JOINS SAPARD - AT LAST.(European Union program for agricultural and rural development)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2002... The European Commission decided on November 26 that Hungary was now ready to manage the EU's SAPARD programme of pre-accession aid for agriculture and rural development. This means Hungary can at last start implementing the scheme, under which...

SUPPORT FOR ACCESSION ON THE WAY UP.
December 5, 2002... Support in the candidate countries for joining the EU seems to be on the up, with more people saying that membership would be a "good thing" and that they would vote "Yes" in a referendum compared to last year. This is according to the...

BANK UNVEILS EURO 200 MILLION IN LOANS FOR HUNGARY & POLAND.(European Investment Bank)
December 5, 2002... The European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced that it is providing a total of Euro 200 million in loans for projects in Poland and Hungary. Euro 170 million is being made available for loans to intermediary banks in Hungary (Euro 120...

EU-SPONSORED WASTEWATER FACILITY OPENS IN LITHUANIA.(European Union)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2002... A revamped wastewater treatment facility in Vilnius, Lithuania, which received EU funding of Euro 860 000 under the PHARE scheme, was officially opened on November 18. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Lithuanian President Valdas...

ANKARA TO JOIN ANTI-DISCRIMINATION PROGRAMMES.(Turkey)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2002... Turkey is to join four EU programmes in the fields of gender equality, combating discrimination, combating social exclusion and EU incentive measures for employment. At a meeting of the "Turkish Civil Society Platform" on November 27, Anna...

PRODI KIWI JIBE 'DOES NOT EXCLUDE UKRAINE MEMBERSHIP'.(Romano Prodi, European Union)
December 5, 2002... Prodi says no membership for Ukraine. In the newspaper interview, Mr Prodi said he sees no reason for Ukraine, Moldova or Morocco to become EU members. He added that Russia is "too big" to join the bloc. Mr Shpek and Mr Chalyi were...

EU MONEY TO HELP UKRAINE ENERGY SECTOR OVERCOME CHERNOBYL.(European Union)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2002... Several Ukrainian power-generation firms will receive a total of 85 million hryvnya (some Euro 16 million) in EU funds in the coming weeks for purchases of coal, according to the EU delegation in Ukraine. The support is part of the Fuel Gap...

CALL FOR MEDIA FREEDOM PROJECTS.(Western Balkans; European Commission)
December 5, 2002... The European Commission has published a call for projects under the CARDS programme designed to promote free and independent media in the Western Balkans, with a maximum EU funding of Euro 300 000 (co-financing 80% of the total). The projects,...

VARYING PROGRESS IN BALKANS ECONOMIC REFORM.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2002... Much progress has already been made in economic reform in the countries of South East Europe, but achievements vary significantly from country to country. This is the key finding of a new report on "Progress in Policy Reform in South East...

EU-RUSSIA PARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION COMMITTEE.(European Union)
December 5, 2002... The EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee held its fifth meeting in Brussels on 25-26 November. In the course of the meeting the following issues were addressed: * EU-Russia Co-operation in security and in the fight against...

IKEA TO OPEN MOSCOW ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2002... Swedish furniture firm IKEA is to build Russia's first combined giant shopping centre and entertainment complex on the outskirts of Moscow, with the help of a ten-year loan of USD100 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and...

EU TORTURE CONCERNS IN FORMER SOVIET REPUBLICS.(European Union; Georgia and Uzbekistan)
December 5, 2002... Concerns over the use of torture in two former Soviet republics - Georgia and Uzbekistan - have been raised by both the European Union and the organisation Human Rights Watch. In a statement released on November 21, the EU has drawn...

SEVEN EU CANDIDATES WIN INVITATION TO NATO MEMBERSHIP.(European Union)
December 5, 2002... Leaders of the 19 NATO nations meeting in Prague issued their invitation to start accession talks with Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. This is NATO's fifth enlargement: from 12 original countries, it has...

ENLARGEMENT BIG BANG ACHIEVED WITH LITTLE MONEY.(European Union)
December 19, 2002... The European Union made its major leap towards its biggest ever enlargement on December 13 after a lot of hard bargaining over what turned out in the end to be very little money. The Danish Presidency of the EU did not deliver its celebration...

THE TERMS ON OFFER ON DECEMBER 12.(European Union)
December 19, 2002... The terms agreed by EU leaders on the night of December 12 were brief, because most of their substance was relegated to an annex still to be finalised: the outcome of the negotiations. What the draft conclusions did say, however, was: * on...

CANDIDATES' ATTITUDES TOWARDS EU MEMBERSHIP.(European Union)
December 19, 2002... According to the latest poll by the Central European Opinion Research Group Foundation (CEORG), the intention to participate in a referendum (those that claim to definitely or rather participate in a referendum) remains high in Hungary and...

NEW EIB LOAN TO SUPPORT SMALL-SCALE BALTIC PROJECTS.(European Investment Bank)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2002... The Baltic region is to benefit from a Euro 30 million 'global loan' awarded by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to Estonia's Hansapank. The loan will be used to finance small and medium-scale projects in industry, tourism and other services,...

RAFT OF TACIS SCHEMES CLEARED.(Brief Article)
December 19, 2002... A raft of TACIS technical co-operation schemes have been cleared by the European Commission by written procedure in the week before the Christmas break. Firstly, a Euro 37 million "regional co-operation" programme for all TACIS countries...

EU/MOLDOVA: UNION HINTS AT "MEASURES" OVER TRANSDNIESTRIA CONFLICT.
December 19, 2002... The EU has said that it is ready to look at "measures" designed to stamp out "illegal activities" arising from the Transniestria conflict in Moldova, and increase the pressure to find a political settlement via negotiation, according to a...

CHILDRENS' RIGHTS IN BOSNIA SUPPORTED.(Brief Article)
December 19, 2002... Children's and women's rights in Bosnia & Herzegovina are to receive a boost under an EU-funded programme newly cleared by the European Commission. The scheme, "Capacity Building for Monitoring and Implementation of Children's Rights in Bosnia...

OUTWARD FDI FROM CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.(foreign direct investment)
December 19, 2002... UNCTAD has released a study of the impact of the European Union's enlargement on the outward FDI flows of eight candidates for accession to the Union. The note analyses the historical patterns of the eight countries' FDI outflows since the...