Europe-East articles from March 2003

Europe-East archives from March 2003

CANDIDATES ON TRACK BUT NINE WILL RECEIVE "EARLY WARNINGS".(European Union, new membership)
March 13, 2003... The ten "acceding countries" are generally on track in their preparations to join the EU on May 1, 2004, but all except Slovenia are to receive "early warning letters" from the European Commission on account of delays in meeting their accession...

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE...(European Union membership, European Parliament considers formal assent to new membership)(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... No sooner had the better-than-expected Yes vote in the first enlargement referendum in Malta brought a major sigh of relief from those who feared a "domino" effect from a negative result, than a potential new spanner was thrust into the...

PARLIAMENT GETS AN ACCESSION TREATY TEXT - PROVISIONALLY.(European Parliament )(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... The European Parliament has now formally received a text of the 6,000-page Accession Treaty in all 11 official EU languages. But the text is still provisional, and a final definitive text is not now expected to emerge until the end of March - a...

PARLIAMENT'S PREPARATIONS IN FULL SWING.(European Parliament, representatives; new member states)
March 13, 2003... Institutional impact - number of MEPs. The new Member States will not be able to send directly-elected representatives to the European Parliament until after the elections of June 10-14, 2004, but Parliament has decided to invite 162...

COMMISSION UNPERTURBED BY CZECH AND POLISH POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS.(European Commission; planned accession of Czech Republic and Poland)
March 13, 2003... The European Commission has brushed aside fears that domestic developments in the Czech Republic and Poland might disrupt the EU enlargement process in the run-up to crucial referendums due in June on the prospect of EU accession on May 1,...

PROJECT TO HELP CZECH PREPARATIONS TO JOIN SCHENGEN ZONE.(European Union, project for Czech Republic's accesion to economic union)(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... An EU-funded PHARE project worth one million Euro has been launched that aims to help the Czech Republic in its preparations for implementing the Schengen Convention. Running for 18 months until July 2004, the project foresees the long-term...

COMMISSION QUANTIFIES FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO LITHUANIA OVER KALININGRAD.(European Commission, funding for passenger transit between Russia and Kaliningrad )(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... The European Commission has decided to grant Lithuania funding of Euro 12 million under the PHARE pre-accession assistance scheme to offset the additional costs of implementing special arrangements for passenger transit between Russia and its...

PRODI SAYS HUNGARIAN MARCH TOWARDS MEMBERSHIP NEARING END.(European Union)(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... During his visit to Hungary on February 27, European Commission President Romano Prodi welcomed the fact that the "march towards membership" of the EU in May 2004 is "coming to an end". Hungary had fulfilled the large majority of its...

GREEK AND TURKISH CYPRIOTS URGED TO BREAK REUNIFICATION DEADLOCK.(Cyprus reunification plans)
March 13, 2003... Kofi Annan invited Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Raouf Denktash to The Hague on March 10 to ascertain face to face whether they intended to put his plan for the reunification of the island to a...

2003 IS "CRUCIAL" FOR BULGARIA, SAYS VERHEUGEN.(European Union membership)(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... The year 2003 will be "very, very crucial" for Bulgaria's hopes of joining the EU in 2007, Enlargement Commissioner Gunter Verheugen said on March 10 in Brussels after a breakfast meeting with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy and...

CANDIDATE-COUNTRY CITIZENS POSITIVE ABOUT THE CAP.(European Union, Common Agricultural Policy)
March 13, 2003... The majority of citizens and farmers in the thirteen candidate countries think that joining the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will benefit farmers, but Czechs and Slovenes think that it will do more harm than good. These are the main...

MALTESE GENERAL ELECTION TO FOLLOW "YES" VOTE ON ACCESSION.(Malta, European Union membership)
March 13, 2003... Romano Prodi added in a statement: "This is a historic choice which will have a lasting impact for the future of Malta for generations to come. This is a choice for stability and growth, as well as for the peaceful reunification of Europe and...

COMPLAINTS ABOUT PRO-EU PROPAGANDA.(European Union, accession referendums in candidate countries)(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... Hans Lindqvist and the TEAM group of Euro-sceptics in the European Parliament have objected vigorously to the way that what they term "EU propaganda" is seeping into the accession referendums in the candidate countries. "EU money has been used...

SKOPJE TO TABLE MEMBERSHIP BID BY END-2003.(former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, European Union)(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) is set to submit a formal application for EU membership by the end of year, Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva has indicated. Speaking after a ministerial meeting with an EU Troika in the margins...

ZAGREB DEFENDS ITS CO-OPERATION WITH TRIBUNAL.(Croatia, war crimes trials; International Criminal Tribunal )
March 13, 2003... Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula has insisted that his country is complying well with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the Hague, and said it is prepared to step up its co-operation. The comments...

INTERNATIONAL COURT CHIEF CALLS FOR MORE EFFORTS ON WAR CRIMINALS.(Yugoslavian war criminals)
March 13, 2003... The chief war crimes prosecutor at The Hague's International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has called on the EU and international community to exert "much more pressure" on countries in the Balkans to co-operate on bringing...

SOLANA WELCOMES NEW SERBIA & MONTENEGRO PRESIDENT.(newly-elected President of Serbia & Montenegro)
March 13, 2003... EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana has sent messages of congratulation to the newly-elected President of Serbia & Montenegro, Svetozar Marovic, and the recently-installed Speaker of the new union's Parliament, Dragoljub Micunovic. Mr Solana...

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGES EFFORTS ON MISSING PERSONS IN BOSNIA.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... Human rights group Amnesty International has called on the EU Police Mission (EUPM) in Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH) to give more concrete direction to the Bosnian authorities in tackling what it says is the vast number of outstanding cases of...

FOREIGN MINISTERS LOOK TO FUTURE RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA.(European Union)
March 13, 2003... May Summit on horizon. EU diplomats report that Foreign Ministers held a brief but not ill-timed "tour de table" on EU-Russia relations in view of the May Summit, to which all 15 EU Member States have been invited. Sources say that the...

ENVIRONMENT TROIKA RETURNS EMPTY-HANDED FROM MOSCOW.(European Union, Russia's view on Kyoto Protocol on climate change)(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... Just one Minister, Energy Minister Igor Yousoufov, members of the Duma (the Russian Parliament) and representatives of non-governmental organisations found the time to meet up with the European Environment Troika, which visited Moscow on March...

RUSSIAN SCIENTIFIC CO-OPERATION AGREEMENT UP FOR RENEWAL.(European Commission, Russia)(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... The European Commission is keen to renew the Co-operation Agreement on Science and Technology with the Russian Federation for a period of five years. In a draft Decision presented on February 27, it calls on the Council of Ministers (after...

PROJECT TO MONITOR DESTRUCTION OF RUSSIAN CHEMICAL WEAPONS FACILITY.(European Union project)(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... A new EU-funded TACIS technical assistance project has been launched that aims to upgrade an environmental and human health monitoring system related to the demilitarisation of the former chemical weapons facility at OAO Khimprom in...

EU DECIDES TRANSNISTRIAN TRAVEL BAN.(On 17 members of the separatist regime of Igor Smirnov in Transnistria, Moldova)
March 13, 2003... The EU has decided to impose a Belarus-style travel ban on 17 members of the separatist regime of Igor Smirnov in Transnistria, Moldova. The move - formally decided without debate at the February 27 Justice and Home Affairs Council - is...

NEW TACIS PROJECT ON UKRAINIAN ACCOUNTING STANDARDS.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... A new three million Euro TACIS project designed to support the spread of International Accounting Standards (IAS) in the Ukrainian accounting profession has been launched in Kiev, the European Commission has announced. The "Accountancy Training...

COMMISSION KEEN TO MODIFY INTAS STATUTES.(INTAS, the international association for the promotion of co-operation with scientists from the New Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union)(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... The European Commission proposes to re-examine the Community's role in INTAS, the international association for the promotion of co-operation with scientists from the New Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union. It presented a...

GEORGIAN AMBASSADOR CALLS FOR ACTION ON ABKHAZIA.
March 13, 2003... Georgia's Ambassador to the EU Konstantin Zaldastanishvili has urged the European Union to help resolve the conflict with the breakaway republic of Abkhazia. He said that a "first step" could be to appoint a Special Envoy to the Southern...

RABAT SEEKS "ADVANCED STATUS" BEFORE FREE TRADE AREA COMPLETED.(The EU/Morocco Agreement)
March 13, 2003... Implementation of the EU/Morocco Association Agreement, the possibility of giving Rabat a special "advanced status" in its relations with the European Union and international political issues were among the highlights of the EU/Morocco...

EURO 76 MILLION FOR SEVEN ASSOCIATED MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES.(Granted by the European Commission )
March 13, 2003... As part of the national financing programmes for the 2002-2004 period, the European Commission has granted a funding package totalling Euro 76.5 million for a string of development operations in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria...

MORE TROUBLE OVER EEA ENLARGEMENT.(European Environmental Organization )
March 13, 2003... The April 16 deadline for completion of these talks is critical, in view of the painstaking process of ratification that must follow if the modified EEA agreement is going to backed by all 28 countries involved so that it can come into effect...

FIGHT AGAINST BALKANS ORGANISED CRIME MUST BE STEPPED UP, SAY MINISTERS.
March 13, 2003... Fighting organised crime in the Western Balkans is a not only a top priority for the region but also has direct relevance for the current EU-15, and efforts must be stepped up. That was the basic message to emerge from an "open debate" on the...

WIDE VARIATIONS IN LABOUR COSTS ACROSS EU, CANDIDATES.
March 13, 2003... The cost of labour per hour varies widely across the EU and the Accession Countries, according to figures published by Eurostat on March 3. The statistics, compiled from figures for 2000, show that the lowest hourly labour cost in the EU was...

PRODI PLANNING TO WORK ON OUTLINES FOR POST-2007 BUDGET.(Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission)
March 13, 2003... Regarding the central priority of the Annual Policy Strategy, namely "accession", the additional financial resources are intended to finance the extension of existing programs to the enlarged Union, and to finance specific transitory measures...

NICE TREATY AFFECTING LEGISLATION IN THE PIPELINE.(treaty came into force in February 2003)(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... The entry into force of the Nice Treaty on February 1, 2003 had a number of consequences for certain current legislative proposals. In a Communication to the Council and the European Parliament, the Commission identifies those for which the...

PLAN FOR LIST OF SAFE ASYLUM COUNTRIES SHELVED.
March 13, 2003... An Austrian move in favour of having a European Union list of non-EU states deemed "safe" for asylum purposes seems to have lost some momentum. The draft Regulation it tabled in November 2002 aims to prevent abuse of the asylum system caused by...

RUSSIA & SOUTHEAST EUROPE ON ENERGY AGENDA.
March 13, 2003... Russia and Southeast Europe were both discussed at the February 22 informal EU energy ministerial in Salonika, Greece. For Russia, "common interest projects" were among the topics broached. The Presidency's Conclusions speak of a desire for...

ATHENS AND ANKARA SIGN AGREEMENT ON GAS NETWORKS.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... Greece and Turkey have signed an agreement on the interconnection of their gas networks, a development hailed by the European Commission as "a major contribution to securing European supplies". The agreement, which also involves the Commission,...

TRANSPORT: MEPS ADOPT REPORT ON EXTERNAL RELATIONS.(Members of the European Parliament)(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... The European Parliament's Committee on Transport voted on February 18 in favour of an own-initiative report by British Socialist MEP Brian Simpson on the EU's external transport relations which will now be sent on to the April plenary session....

ENVIRONMENT MINISTERS ADOPT POSITION FOR KIEV CONFERENCE.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... The March 4 Environment Council in Brussels adopted an EU position ahead of the Kiev pan-European conference on the theme of "Environment for Europe (May 2003). On this score, the Ministers approved and accepted the aims and recommendations the...

SOUTHEAST EUROPEAN FREE TRADE TALKS COMPLETED.
March 13, 2003... Seven countries in Southeast Europe have formally concluded a total of 21sets of negotiations that pave the way for a regional free trade area of some 55 million consumers to come into force from mid-2003. The European Commission said that it...

EU HALTS REFUNDS FOR SUGAR EXPORTS TO THE BALKANS.
March 13, 2003... The trade in sugar between the Western Balkans and the EU benefits from a system of preferential tariffs put in place in 2000 to aid post-war reconstruction. This allows sugar produced in the Balkan countries to be exported to the EU without...

COMMISSION PROPOSES ANTI-DUMPING DUTIES OF 54.8% ON CARBON BLACK.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... The European Commission has proposed provisional anti-dumping duties up to 54.8% on imports from Russia and Egypt of carbon black, a basic raw material for the rubber industry. The proposal sets a 6.6% rate for Egyptian companies, a 20.5% rate...

NEW ANTI-DUMPING DUTIES PROPOSED FOR HOT-ROLLED STEEL IMPORTS.
March 13, 2003... The European Commission has proposed definitive anti-dumping duties of up to 29.2% on imports of hot-rolled flat steel from five trading partners. The maximum duties have been set at 29.2% for Egypt, 18.6% for Slovakia, and 11.5% for Turkey....

NEW BOSNIAN TAX POLICY CHAIR APPOINTED.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... Senior European Commission official Joly Dixon has been appointed Chair of the Indirect Tax Policy Commission in Bosnia & Herzegovina by BiH Special Representative Paddy Ashdown. The Commission is tasked with developing a detailed...

SAPARD PAYMENT RULES MODIFIED.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... The European Commission has recently approved an amendment to the financing rules for the SAPARD pre-accession Rural Development scheme for the EU candidate countries, to extend the deadlines for using budget commitments. The move is designed...

COMMISSION OFFERS ENHANCED ROLE TO NEIGHBOURS.
March 13, 2003... The "ring of friends". The initiative concerns the countries that will find themselves on the EU's "external land and sea border" after EU enlargement, namely: Russia, the "Western Newly Independent States" (WNIS) - Ukraine, Moldova,...

PARLIAMENT COULD DELAY APPROVAL OF ACCESSION TREATY.
March 13, 2003... Once the matter was brought to his attention by Budgets Committee Chair Terry Wynn, Pat Cox wrote to Greek Prime Minister and European Council President Costa Simitis to inform him of this potentially serious difficulty. That was three weeks...

ENLARGEMENT: FITTING ROMANIA INTO THE EU JIGSAW.
March 27, 2003... Outside the European Commission's high-tech public information office in Bucharest, prominently located in Revolution Square, thousands of angry teachers that have been bussed in from across Romania are being corralled by police in a late-March...

EU/UKRAINE: EUROPEAN INFORMATION STRATEGY ENDORSED.
March 27, 2003... The Ukraine government has endorsed a plan to boost public information about the goals and tasks of Ukraine's European integration strategy, the European Institute for the Media (EIM) reports. According to the head of Ukraine's State Committee...