Europe-East articles from January 2007

Europe-East archives from January 2007

EUROPEAN COMMISSION : ACCELERATED RECRUITMENT OF BULGARIAN AND ROMANIAN STAFF FROM 2007.(Brief article)
January 25, 2007... Romania and Bulgaria's entry into the EU also signals the arrival of additional European Commission staff. They will of course be led by Romanian Commissioner Leonard Orban (Multilingualism), and Bulgarian Commissioner Meglena Kuneva...

EU/TURKEY : ANKARA LAUNCHES NEW LONG-TERM REFORM PROGRAMME.
January 25, 2007... Disappointed by the EU's decision on the partial suspension of the accession negotiations, Ankara does not, however, lose its vigour and takes new initiatives to continue the reform process. At its meeting scheduled for 10 January, the Turkish...

EU/KOSOVO : ANOTHER LITMUS TEST FOR EU'S ABILITY TO SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE.
January 25, 2007... Following the difficult decision on Turkey, which was recently taken by the EU in response to the country's failure to comply with the Ankara Protocol, Brussels is again facing a thorny strategic choice - this time with regard to the future...

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT : ASSEMBLY ELECTS VICE-PRESIDENTS AND QUAESTORS.(Brief article)
January 25, 2007... The European Parliament, on 16 January, elected its fourteen vice-presidents and six quaestors. Alejo Vidal-Quadras (EPP-ED, Spain), Gerard Onesta (Greens/EFA, France), Edward McMillan-Scott (EPP-ED, United Kingdom), Mario Mauro (EPP-ED,...

EUROPEAN COMMISSION/COUNCIL PRESIDENCY : BARROSO AND MERKEL ATTACKaRUSSIA'S CUT IN OIL EXPORTS.
January 25, 2007... The traditional meeting between the European Commission and the Presidency-in-Office of the European Union, namely Germany from 1 January 2007, has taken place against an energy crisis backdrop. Split up into 16 working groups, the...

BRUSSELS OUTRAGED AT ASSASSINATION IN ISTANBUL.
January 25, 2007... European politicians and EU officials have expressed their outrage at the murder of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink outside his Agos newspaper office in Istanbul on 19 January. Dink, 53, was well known for his articles about the...

EU/BULGARIA/AIR TRANSPORT : BULGARIA WILL REMAIN A THIRD COUNTRY IN THE AVIATION SECTOR.
January 25, 2007... In a historic move, Bulgaria will not, on its accession to the European Union on 1 January 2007, benefit from the advantages in the aviation sector procured by accession. The European Commission took this decision on 20 December on safety...

IMMIGRATION / WORKERS : DIRECT EFFECTS OF NON-DISCRIMINATION PRINCIPLE FOR A TUNISIAN.
January 25, 2007... The European Court of Justice is poised to expand its case law on nationals of third countries with which the EU has association agreements. That will be the impact of the Gattoussi judgment handed down on 14 December 2006 (C-97/05), which is...

EU/US : DOHA: THE TOUGHEST NUT TO CRACK FOR 2007.
January 25, 2007... The Doha Development Round of world trade talks looks like being the most contentious issue for transatlantic relations in 2007 as efforts intensify to forge a deal. Finding a way forward after the recent setback on the Open Sky talks aimed at...

EIB LOAN FOR BALTIC STATES.(European Investment Bank)(Brief article)
January 25, 2007... The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing a loan of 25 million to AS Hansapank to part-finance investments undertaken by medium-sized enterprises (less than 3,000 employees) throughout the Baltic states. Hansapank itself will on-lend the...

EIB LOAN FOR TURKISH RAILWAY LINE.
January 25, 2007... The European Investment Bank announced a 850 million loan on 14 December for Turkey's State Railways (TCDD). The sovereign loan will enable TCDD to build the country's first high-speed railway along the Istanbul-Ankara corridor, connecting the...

EU/ISRAEL : EIB RESUMES ITS LENDING OPERATIONS IN ISRAEL AFTER 11 YEARS.(Brief article)
January 25, 2007... At the end of December 2006, Philippe de Fontaine Vive, EIB Vice-President in charge of the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership (FEMIP), visited Israel and signed two loan contracts for a total of 275 million. Following...

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT : ENLARGEMENT WILL CONTINUE, VANHANEN TELLS MEPS.(Brief article)
January 25, 2007... 'The outcome of the European Council is that the Union is still open to new members. Enlargement will continue and those applicants that meet the conditions set by the Union will be able to join,' said Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen...

COUNCIL/EP : EU-27: CHANGES TO THE WEIGHTING OF VOTES IN THE COUNCIL.(Brief article)
January 25, 2007... With Romania and Bulgaria having joined the EU on 1 January 2007, changes of a technical nature have been made within the European institutions. The consolidated Treaty of the European Communities, published in the Official Journal of the EU on...

EU: BELARUSIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS UNDEMOCRATIC.
January 25, 2007... External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner rebuked Belarus for the undemocratic manner in which the local elections on 14 January were conducted. "I deplore the fact that the 14 January local...

EU/RUSSIA : EU CALLS ON MOSCOW TO BEHAVE IN "RELIABLE AND TRANSPARENT" FASHION.
January 25, 2007... "Lessons must be learned from this crisis [...] The situation should never have deteriorated to this point," said the European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, on 11 January. Commenting on the resolution of the crisis between Russia and...

EU/WESTERN BALKANS : EU HAILS BALKAN FREE TRADE DEAL.
January 25, 2007... Following a few months of negotiations, a new Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) was signed in Bucharest on 19 December. This is the first agreement bringing together all the Western Balkan countries after years of tensions following...

EU/SERBIA/KOSOVO : EU HOPES FOR DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT TO BE FORMED IN SERBIA.
January 25, 2007... The result of the general elections in Serbia, held on 21 January, was at the top of the EU foreign ministers' discussion at the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 22 January. Commenting of the outcome of the vote providing...

EU/TURKEY : EU OPENS TALKS IN ONE NEW CHAPTER WITH TURKEY.
January 25, 2007... The permanent representatives of EU member states in Brussels (Coreper) agreed on 20 December to send a letter inviting Turkey to open talks in one new chapter of the accession talks, the enterprise and industry chapter, which fell short of...

EU/UKRAINE : EU OPENS TALKS ON NEW ENHANCED AGREEMENT WITH KIEV.(European Union)
January 25, 2007... The EU's foreign ministers, meeting at the General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels on 21 January, approved the European Commission's mandate for negotiations with Ukraine on a new enhanced agreement. It paves the way for the...

EU/CROATIA : EU OPENS TALKS WITH CROATIA ON NEW CHAPTERS.(European Union)(Brief article)
January 25, 2007... The Accession Conference meeting on 21 December in Brussels decided to open talks with Croatia on three new chapters as part of the country's bid to join the EU. This decision regards the following chapters: economic and monetary policy,...

FREE MOVEMENT OF WORKERS : EU RELUCTANT TO OPEN JOB MARKETS TO ROMANIANS AND BULGARIANS.
January 25, 2007... The European Commission, on 21 December, felt it necessary to recall the different rules which apply to the free movement of Romanians and Bulgarians in the 25 current member states. NO NOTIFICATION OBLIGATION During the first phase,...

EUROBAROMETER : EUROPEANS HESITANT ON ENLARGEMENT.
January 25, 2007... There is no clear majority among Europeans on the issue of further Union enlargement. The results of the latest Eurobarometer survey, published by the European Commission on 18 December(1) merely shows that the gap between supporters and...

ENLARGEMENT : EU WELCOMES BULGARIA AND ROMANIA INTO THE FAMILY.(European Union)
January 25, 2007... In a few days time, the European Union will welcome Bulgaria and Romania as its 26th and 27th members. On 1 January, some 487 million EU citizens, including 30 million from Bulgaria and Romania will celebrate this historic moment across Europe....

FINANCIAL AID FOR NORTHERN CYPRIOT COMMUNITY.(Brief article)
January 25, 2007... In a bid to encourage the economic development of the Northern Cypriot community, the European Commission decided on 15 December to grant it 197.55 million in aid. This financial decision is implementing the Aid Regulation of 259 million...

EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE : FOUR NEW BULGARIAN AND ROMANIAN JUDGES IN LUXEMBOURG.
January 25, 2007... The judges sent by Bulgaria and Romania to the Court of Justice of the European Communities and the Court of First Instance will make their pledges in Luxembourg on 12 January. Bulgarian Alexander Arabadjiev and Romanian Camelia Toader will...

FUNDING FOR MOROCCO.(Brief article)
January 25, 2007... Under its Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership (FEMIP), the European Investment Bank is participating to the tune of 10 million in the launch of the Moroccan Infrastructure Fund (MIF), a limited liability company (Societe...

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT : HANS-GERT POTTERING WINS ELECTION HANDS DOWN IN ONE ROUND.
January 25, 2007... It took only one round for the EPP-ED candidate to be elected president of the European Parliament, winning the election, on 16 January, by an absolute majority of 450 votes of the 689 cast (715 participants, 26 spoilt ballot papers). Germany's...

ENERGY : MERKEL CALLS FOR "RELIABLE RELATIONS" WITH RUSSIA.
January 25, 2007... German Chancellor Angela Merkel got a mixed reception when she addressed the European Parliament on 17 January. Presenting the priorities for the German EU Presidency, Merkel, as well as many MEPs and Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso,...

EU/RUSSIA/POLAND : MERKEL PREDICTS THAT THE RUSSIAN BAN WILL BE LIFTED BEFORE MAY.
January 25, 2007... Despite intensive efforts by the German Presidency of the EU, the problem of the Russian embargo of Polish meat is still unresolved. German Chancellor Angela Merkel hopes, however, that the agreement will be achieved before the forthcoming...

EU/RUSSIA/ALGERIA : MINISTERS CONCERNED OVER ALGERIA-RUSSIA GAS ACCORD.(Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)(Brief article)
January 25, 2007... With the gas transit and price dispute between Russia and Belarus settled, there was a further cause for concern as EU foreign ministers touched upon energy at their meeting in Brussels on 22 January. The signing of a memorandum of...

EU/RUSSIA : MOSCOW LIFTS THREAT TO BAN EU MEAT IMPORTS.
January 25, 2007... Russia is not expected to impose a general embargo on European meat, as it had been threatening to do from 1 January next, in connection with the EU's enlargement to include Romania and Bulgaria. At the conclusion of negotiations in Moscow...

EU/POLAND/RUSSIA : POLISH DEMANDS UNREALISTIC, SAYS WARSAW-BASED THINK-TANK.(Interview)
January 25, 2007... The Polish government has no strategy on how to break the deadlock over its veto on the starting of negotiations on a new EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, says Pawel Swieboda, the Director of demosEuropa - Polish Centre for...

EU ENLARGEMENT : ROMANIA AND BULGARIA JOIN THE EU.
January 25, 2007... Huge celebrations took place in Bulgaria and Romania on 31 December 2006 and on New Year's day to mark the accession of the European Union's two latest member states. Thousands of people attended concerts and festivities in Bucharest and Sofia....

EU/TURKEY : SARKOZY: TURKEY HAS NO PLACE INSIDE THE EUROPEAN UNION.(Brief article)
January 25, 2007... Following his nomination as the official centre-right party's candidate for the French presidential elections, Nicolas Sarkozy opened up his campaign with a statement saying that "Turkey has no place inside the European Union". Sarkozy,...

ENERGY : TOWARDS A POLITICALLY CORRECT' ENERGY POLICY.
January 25, 2007... The European Commission published, on 10 January, an unprecedented Energy Package, made up of around a dozen strategic documents that cover a series of themes linked to the Community's energy policy. The strategy that the Commission will...

GERMAN PRESIDENCY : TURKEY, KOSOVO AND RUSSIA TO KEEP BERLIN BUSY.
January 25, 2007... Provided there are no unexpected issues "comparable to the wave of protests in the Middle East against Mohammed caricatures or the recent crisis in Lebanon," the German EU Presidency will focus on three areas in the enlargement and external...

GRIDS : DEVELOPMENT OF NETWORKS AT THE HEART OF THE ENERGY STRATEGY.
January 25, 2007... European leaders agreed at the Barcelona European Council in 2002, on a level of electricity interconnection between member states of a minimum of 10% of production capacities. Incidentally, this figure, which equates to billions of euro of...