Europe-East articles from July 2006

Europe-East archives from July 2006

AFGHANISTAN CALLS FOR HELP.(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta called for a fresh injection of international funding to boost his country's development as he appeared before members of the European Parliament's Development and Foreign Affairs Committees...

EU/TURKEY : ANKARA "NOT READY" FOR COMPETITION POLICY NEGOTIATIONS.
July 27, 2006... While the question of Cyprus continues to be a thorn in the side of Turkey's accession to the European Union, Ankara has now been sent more bad news by the Council after it ruled on 28 June that Turkey "was not sufficiently prepared" to open...

ANOTHER STEP FOR MOROCCO FISHERIES AGREEMENT.
July 27, 2006... A common declaration with Morocco was adopted by the EU Council of Ministers on 14 July, in order to confirm the arrangements by which the new Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the two will come into force. The declaration stipulates...

EU/SERBIA : BELGRADE PRESENTS WAR CRIMES ACTION PLAN.
July 27, 2006... Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica presented the EU with a war crimes action plan late on 17 July in Brussels, designed to achieve full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and pave the...

BOOST FOR NABUCCO GAS PIPELINE.
July 27, 2006... The Energy Ministers of Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey, together with EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, agreed on 26 June in Vienna to speed up commercial, regulatory and legal work to build the Nabucco gas pipeline,...

BOSNIAN PM IN BRUSSELS TALKS.
July 27, 2006... EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Prime Minister Adnan Terzic late on 28 June in Brussels that EU-BiH negotiations on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) could be concluded by the end of the...

BOSNIA WARNED AGAIN ON POLICE REFORM.(European Union)(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... Bosnia and Herzegovina's talks on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU are progressing well at a technical level and could be concluded by the end of the year - but only if the Balkan country registers satisfactory...

EU/ROMANIA : BUCHAREST READY TO MANAGE ISPA PROJECTS.(instrument for structural policies for pre-accession)(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... Romania is speeding up its preparations for the effective absorption of EU funding. On 7 July, European Commissioner for Regional Policy Danuta Hubner announced that Bucharest has implemented, well in advance of the country's EU accession, the...

ENLARGEMENT/TAXATION : BULGARIAN AND ROMANIAN PRACTICES UNDER STUDY.(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... In view of the accession negotiations which are nearing completion, Romania and Bulgaria have agreed in the time remaining before they join the European Union to remove all tax practices which could be potentially detrimental to the other...

BULGARIAN FARM, SOCIAL PROGRESS ASSESSED.(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... Bulgaria has made considerable progress in addressing problem areas in agriculture as it prepares to join the EU, the bloc's Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said on a 13 July visit to the country. He reported...

BULGARIA, ROMANIA URGED TO KEEP UP ACCESSION EFFORT.(European Union)(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... Bulgaria and Romania have made progress towards EU membership but need to maintain the momentum of their accession preparations, the European Commission said on 19 July. 'Work has been done and this has led to good results but this is a...

EU PRESIDENCY : COMMISSION AIMING TO "DRIVE EUROPE FORWARD" WITH THE PRESIDENCY.(European Union)
July 27, 2006... "Our cooperation has begun very well", said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on 3 July in Helsinki. The 25 Commissioners were invited to the Finnish capital to meet the government of the country which took up the EU helm for...

COMMISSIONER ON FYROM POLL.(European Union. European Commission)(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has expressed his satisfaction with the report of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), stating that the 5 July...

EU/MONTENEGRO/SERBIA : COMMISSION RECOMMENDS SEPARATE TALKS AND AGREEMENTS.(European Union)(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... Following Montenegro's independence, and on the basis of the results achieved so far, the European Commission has recommended to the Council to continue separate Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) negotiations for Montenegro and...

PALESTINIAN AID : COMMISSION RELEASES AID FOR GAZA HOSPITALS.
July 27, 2006... In response to an urgent appeal from the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the European Commission is taking its first action through the Temporary International Mechanism (TIM). Following the destruction by the Israeli Defence Force of...

COMPETITIONS FOR BULGARIANS AND ROMANIANS.(European Personnel Selection Office)(European Union)(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) announced on 30 June that it was launching competitions to hire Bulgarian and Romanian administrators and assistants to work in the EU institutions. Notice of the competitions was published in the...

ENLARGEMENT : CROATIA NUDGES AHEAD OF TURKEY IN MEMBERSHIP TALKS.
July 27, 2006... Croatia has started to inch ahead of Turkey in EU membership negotiations. The European Commission has now sent, according to Commission sources, a 'screening report' to EU member states saying that Croatia is ready to begin negotiations proper...

ENLARGEMENT : CROATIA STILL UNDER PRESSURE ON REAL ESTATE.
July 27, 2006... Zagreb must meet certain benchmarks before its EU membership talks on free movement of capital can be opened, the European Commission has recommended. This is the outcome of the latest screening report by the EU executive on the state of...

CROATIA TO WORK WITH EU DRUGS AGENCY.(European Union)(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... Croatia will be able to participate in the work of the Lisbon-based European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), following an authorisation from the Council for the Commission to open negotiations. The EMCDDA was set up in...

EURO-ZONE ENLARGEMENT : CYPRUS PREPARES FOR THE EURO.
July 27, 2006... The European Commission on 30 June authorised Cyprus to begin preparations to adopt the euro. This means that Cyprus will be allowed to mint a million test pieces of each type of euro coin. Cyprus requested permission, on May 23, to...

EURO-ZONE ENLARGEMENT : ECOFIN REMOVES THE LAST OBSTACLES TO WELCOME SLOVENIA IN.(EcoFin Council)(Ljubljana Stock Exchange Inc)
July 27, 2006... The eleventh of July was a historic day in the enlargement of the euro-zone, with the EcoFin Council adopting two formal measures, one authorising Slovenia to accede to the euro-zone on 1 January 2007 and the second ratifying the definitive...

EIB LENDING FACILITY FOR TUNISIA.(European Union. European Investment Bank)(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... Under its Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership (FEMIP), the European Investment Bank has granted a long-term loan of the equivalent of 750,000 to the financial organisation Enda inter-arabe. The loan will be used to...

EU/SOUTH-EAST EUROPE : ENERGY COMMUNITY TREATY SECRETARIAT OPENS DOORS IN VIENNA.(European Union)(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... The Treaty Secretariat, the central body coordinating the Treaty establishing the South-East Europe Energy Community, was inaugurated in Vienna on 26 June by European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, accompanied by Austria's Economic...

EU/KAZAKHSTAN : ENERGY PARTNERSHIP WITH KAZAKHSTAN ON THE CARDS.
July 27, 2006... The European Commission is currently negotiating a memorandum of understanding on energy with Kazakhstan. The European Union thus acknowledges "Kazakhstan's key role as a major producer of oil and gas in the Caspian Sea region". According to...

ENLARGEMENT SUPPORT DROPS.(European Union)(Survey)(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... The citizens of the European Union seem to be satisfied with current developments in the Community. At the same time, they tend to adopt a sceptical attitude towards EU initiatives which might bring significant changes to their life. According...

EP REPORT ON TURKEY DELAYED.(European Union. European Parliament)(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... A vote on a draft report on Turkey by the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, scheduled for 12 July, was postponed until September for technical reasons. It was said that the time it took to translate the large number of amendments...

EU CONCERNED OVER BELARUS SENTENCE.(European Union)(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... The EU said on 18 July that it was deeply concerned about the recent sentencing of the former Belarusian Presidential candidate Aleksandr Kozulin to five and a half years in prison. A statement issued by the Finnish EU Presidency on behalf of...

MIGRATION/DEVELOPMENT : EU FOREIGN MINISTERS SET OUT PRIORITIES.
July 27, 2006... Managing migratory flows better globally looks set to be one of the key issues on the political agenda in the months and years ahead. Meeting in Brussels on 17 July, EU Foreign Ministers recognised the "growing importance" of migration policy...

EU-KAZAKHSTAN COOPERATION COUNCIL.
July 27, 2006... The eighth EU-Kazakhstan Cooperation Council on 18 July in Brussels discussed among other things the Central Asian country's candidacy for the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2009. According to...

EU-KYRGYZSTAN COOPERATION COUNCIL.(European Union)(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... The eighth EU-Kyrgyzstan Cooperation Council on 18 July in Brussels noted "with concern" the difficult situation the Central Asian country currently faced, according to a press release, and "welcomed the earnest efforts of the Kyrgyz...

EU/KOSOVO : EU LOOKS TO BECOME DRIVING FORCE' IN KOSOVO.(European Union)
July 27, 2006... The European Union intends to become the driving force within the future international presence in Kosovo, according to a report presented to EU Foreign Ministers on 17 July in Brussels. The joint report by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana...

DEVELOPMENT : EURO 197 MILLION FOR ERADICATING HUNGER WORLDWIDE.
July 27, 2006... Rather than delivering food, the European Commission aims to focus its strategy for eradicating hunger worldwide on support actions that help to avoid catastrophic food shortages. This is the key point of its strategy for 2006, allocated a...

EURO-ZONE : EURO-OUTS DON'T NEED TO HURRY UP, SAYS NEW STUDY.(Report)
July 27, 2006... Britain, Denmark and Sweden, as well as some of the big East European economies like Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, might gain little from joining the euro, argues Richard Baldwin in a new report published by the Centre for Economic...

WESTERN BALKANS : EU SET TO EASE VISA PROCEDURES.(European Union)
July 27, 2006... The EU has finally launched moves to make it easier for citizens of the Western Balkans to travel to the bloc. The European Commission proposed to EU member states draft mandates for negotiations on visa facilitation' with Albania, Bosnia and...

ENLARGEMENT : EU WARNS TURKEY OVER SENTENCE AGAINST JOURNALIST.
July 27, 2006... EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn reacted with consternation on 12 July to the news that Turkey's appeals court had upheld a suspended prison sentence handed down to a Turkish-Armenian journalist for insulting "Turkishness" in an article...

EU PRESIDENCY : FINLAND MAY RATIFY EU CONSTITUTION WITH 80% BACKING.
July 27, 2006... "Our Presidency will be entirely different to that of seven years ago since the EU itself is now very different", Finland's Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja told the press on 29 June. The Minister recalled the priorities identified by his...

FINNISH DIPLOMAT TO HEAD EU IRAQ DELEGATION.
July 27, 2006... The European Commission has appointed Ilkka Uusitalo as the Head of its newly-established Delegation in Iraq. This decision will reinforce the Commission's presence in Iraq and will also deepen EU-Iraq relations. Mr Uusitalo is an experienced...

FRENCH MPS BACK BULGARIA, ROMANIA.(members of the parliment)(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... French MPs gave the green light to Bulgaria and Romania's EU entry as the National Assembly endorsed late on 27 June a draft law for the ratification of the two countries' Accession Treaty, AFP reported. According to a parliamentary source, the...

FRESH OPTIMISM OVER CYPRUS.(Olli Rehn)(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn expressed optimism on 10 July about prospects for overcoming the division of Cyprus. He said the fact that the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities, Tassos Papadopoulos and Mehmet...

FYROM TO PARTICIPATE IN OPERATION ALTHEA.(Javier Solana)(Jovan Manasijevski)(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... Javier Solana, the EU's High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, and the Minister of Defence of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Jovan Manasijevski, signed on 3 July an agreement on FYROM's participation...

ENERGY : G8 PROMOTES NUCLEAR POWER AS AN ENERGY SECURITY SOLUTION.
July 27, 2006... The G8 leaders expressed concern at their Summit in St Petersburg over spiralling oil prices, which have again taken off following the Israeli offensive in Lebanon. In a joint declaration issued on 16 July, the Group of Eight big industrialised...

EP CIA INQUIRY : GERMANY AND MACEDONIA'S INVOLVEMENT STILL UNCLEAR.(Central Intelligence Agency)(Khaled El Masri)
July 27, 2006... What did they know and when did they know it? These are the two key questions MEPs were unable to find answers to on 10 July in relation to the role of Germany and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) in the CIA's alleged kidnap...

RESEARCH : ITER FUSION ENERGY TEAM COMPLETE.
July 27, 2006... The ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) Preparatory Committee,aholding its first meeting in Cadarache (France) on 14 July since the initialling of the ITER Joint Implementation Agreement on 24 May, approved the nominations...

TEXTILES : KEEPING THE CHINESE AT BAY - A TURKISH WAY.
July 27, 2006... Quick response to customers and creativity are the ingredients for staying a step ahead of the much-feared Chinese textiles invasion, according to Muharrem Kayhan of Turkish textiles manufacturer Soktas. Speaking with journalists visiting the...

LUXEMBOURG RATIFIES ACCESSION TREATY.(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... Luxembourg's parliament ratified on 29 June Bulgaria's and Romania's EU Accession Treaty, Rompres reported, making Luxembourg the 21st EU member to have endorsed the text. The ratification law was now awaiting promulgation by the Grand Duke of...

EU PRESIDENCY : MATTI VANHANEN OUTLINES FINLAND'S PRIORITIES TO THE EP.
July 27, 2006... Finland's Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen is keen to improve cooperation between the EU's institutions and to take account of the European Parliament's role on all issues, including those not subject to co-decision. He made this commitment in...

EU/MIDDLE EAST : MEMBER STATES CALL FOR "DE-ESCALATION".(Euroean union)(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... As violence intensified in the Middle East, with further bombing of Lebanon by the Israeli army and rocket attacks by Hezbollah, the EU member states sought to find a common line in response to this growing crisis. At the G8 Summit in St...

ENLARGEMENT : MEPS BACK CROATIA AS NEXT EU MEMBER AFTER BULGARIA AND ROMANIA.(members of the European parliment)
July 27, 2006... Two members of the European Parliament's largest political groups have marked the 15th anniversary of Croatia's independence by underlining their support for the Balkan country's EU membership bid. Appearing at the EP on 29 June in Brussels,...

MEPS IN ROMANIAN ADOPTION CALL.(member of european parliament)(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... The European Parliament has adopted a written Declaration calling on Romania to resume consideration of pending cases of international adoptions and authorise these where appropriate. The Declaration, put forward by five MEPs in April, has now...

EU/MEDITERRANEAN STATES : MINISTERS TURN THEIR BACKS ON EURO-MED BANK.
July 27, 2006... The writing was on the wall but Ministers have now provided confirmation: plans to set up a Euro-Mediterranean Bank are no longer on the agenda. The meeting of 35 Euro-Mediterranean Finance Ministers on 25 and 26 June in Gammarth, near Tunis,...

MITTAL/ARCELOR MERGER.
July 27, 2006... In an extraordinary meeting on 25 June, the Board of Directors of the Luxembourg-based steel group Arcelor finally accepted an improved takeover bid from Mittal Steel Co. worth over 25 billion. Opting for a more friendly merger deal with...

MONTENEGRO FULLY RECOGNISED.(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... EU Foreign Ministers, meeting on 17 July in Brussels, confirmed that all EU member states had now recognised Montenegro - which recently broke from Serbia - as a sovereign and independent state. In a set of conclusions, the Ministers said that...

MORE ACCESSION TREATY RATIFICATIONS.
July 27, 2006... Finland and Ireland have completed parliamentary ratification of Bulgaria's and Romania's EU Accession Treaty. "Ireland is the 20th state that ratifies the Treaty of Accession (i.e. at that point all 25 bar Luxembourg, France, Belgium, Denmark...

ILLEGAL FISHING : MORE COOPERATION IN FIGHT AGAINST ILLEGAL CAVIAR TRADE.(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... A set of measures to crack down on the illegal trade in caviar has been agreed by the EU, along with other importer and producer countries, following a meeting hosted by the European Commission on 27-29 June. Among these were agreements to...

NON-EU COUNTRIES : MORE SOLIDARITY AMONG OVERSEAS CONSULS URGED.(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... In the wake of the Tsunami disaster in December 2004, the need for member state consuls in non-EU countries to cooperate more closely became crystal clear. With this in mind, the EU Council of Ministers adopted on 27 June a set of non-binding...

NEW CHAPTER TO BE OPENED WITH CROATIA.(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... The EU has given the green light to the opening of a new chapter of negotiations on Croatia's accession to the EU. Having completed the screening' for Croatia's compliance with the acquis communautaire, the EU25 recommended the opening of talks...

EU/MAURITANIA : NEW COMMISSION PACKAGE TO COMBAT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.
July 27, 2006... The EU is to give Mauritania 2.45 million to help it prevent illegal migrants reaching the EU via the neighbouring Spanish Canary Islands. The announcement on 10 July was timed to coincide with the two-day Euro-African Ministerial Conference...

ENLARGEMENT : NEW FINANCING INSTRUMENT TO HELP POTENTIAL MEMBERS ON THE WAY.(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... The way was cleared on 17 July for the EU to launch a new financial tool to help aspiring entrants prepare for membership of the bloc as Ministers approved without further debate a planned Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA). The...

EU/RUSSIA : NEW FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT TO BE NEGOTIATED IN 2007.(European Union)(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... The EU and Russia will negotiate a new framework agreement in 2007 to replace the currentaPartnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), which expires on 30 November, 2007. The European Commission tabled a proposal on 3 June for a negotiating...

EXTERNAL RELATIONS : NEW HUMAN RIGHTS FUNDING TOOL PROPOSED.
July 27, 2006... The EU should put in place a self-standing financing instrument to promote democracy and human rights worldwide, the European Commission proposed on 29 June. The new instrument would replace an existing external assistance scheme called the...

EU/EASTERN EUROPE/CENTRAL ASIA : PATCHY ECONOMIC TRANSITION BUT STRONG GROWTH, COMMISSION FINDS.
July 27, 2006... Transition progress has been uneven across ex-Soviet New Independent States (NIS), according to a new report from the European Commission. The document 'on the implementation of macro-financial assistance to third countries in 2005' says that...

PILLAGE OF CHURCHES IN NORTHERN CYPRUS CONDEMNED.(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... MEPs have adopted a written Declaration condemning what they say is the pillage of Greek Orthodox churches in the northern part of Cyprus. The text proposed by two MEPs in April has now been signed by 403 of them. Such declarations, which often...

MIDDLE EAST : POWERLESS IN FACE OF CRISIS, EU FOCUSES ON HUMANITARIAN AID.
July 27, 2006... Unable to offer a political solution to broker an end to the crisis tearing the Middle East apart, the EU is focusing its efforts on humanitarian aid and the evacuation of European citizens from Lebanon. In the face of growing needs, the...

EU/AFRICA : RABAT - NEW DEPARTURE OR EMPTY PROMISES?(European Union)
July 27, 2006... Two possible destinies lie in store for the action plan on migration and development adopted at the Euro-African Ministerial in Rabat on 10-11 July. It could become the blueprint for future policy in the way the Tampere European Council in...

WESTERN BALKANS : REGION NAMED AS MAIN BENEFICIARY OF EU MACRO-FINANCIAL AID.(European union)
July 27, 2006... Balkan states were the main beneficiaries of EU macro-financial assistance to non-EU countries in 2000-2005, according to a new European Commission report on the subject. The countries concerned - the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,...

EU/IRAN : TEHRAN REFERRED TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL.(Javier Solana)(Ali Larijani)
July 27, 2006... Since the carrot failed to produce any results, the time has come for the stick. With Tehran failing to come up with a positive response to their proposals, the six major powers have decided to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council....

EP CIA INQUIRY : TRIPS TO POLAND AND ROMANIA PLANNED.
July 27, 2006... If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed will go to the mountain. MEPs seeking to discover if European governments helped the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to abduct, detain, torture and transport terror suspects have taken...

ENLARGEMENT : TURKS SOUNDING INCREASINGLY DISAPPOINTED WITH THE EU.
July 27, 2006... The doubts raised in various quarters about the idea of Turkish EU membership and problems over the Cyprus question look to be taking their toll on Turks' view of the 25-member bloc. A new Eurobarometer opinion survey has found that only 35% of...

UKRAINE CHAOS LAMENTED.(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... Ukraine, in fresh political turmoil over attempts to form a government, is in a "sorry state", Finland's Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja told the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee on 12 July in Brussels. Facing questions about...

UKRAINE MINE DISPOSAL.(Brief article)
July 27, 2006... An EU-funded project to dispose of anti-personnel landmines stockpiled in Ukraine that are considered a potential danger to the population and the environment is getting underway, the European Commission announced on 12 July. The project should...

TERRORISM : UN ASSET-FREEZING IN LINE WITH HUMAN RIGHTS, SAYS COURT.
July 27, 2006... The international system for freezing terrorists' assets does not flout fundamental rights, the EU Court of First Instance has ruled. The 12 July ruling (Cases T-253/02 and T-49/04) spells out the steps blacklisted people can take if they wish...

WTO OKAYS BALKAN TRADE PREFERENCES.
July 27, 2006... The World Trade Organization (WTO) Council for Trade in Goods has approved the EU's request for a waiver on its trade preference scheme for the Western Balkans, the WTO reported on 18 July. The draft Decision is now to be forwarded to the WTO...

ENVIRONMENT : NEGATIVE TRANSBOUNDARY IMPACT OF DANUBE CANAL CONFIRMED.
July 27, 2006... The Bystroe Canal being built by Ukraine is having a negative transboundary impact on the Danube Delta, adversely affecting water quality and levels in the river, its flora and fauna, the Romanian coastal section and the Black Sea, according to...