Brussels, 20/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - Monday's Competitiveness Council did not make much progress on the "key issues" such as the takeover directive or sales promotion. On the other hand, it did define agreements concerning several technical issues. The meeting covered the following points:
Internal market strategy. Pending a decision in September, the Council noted the latest scoreboard on the internal market and the internal market strategy 2003-2006 presented by the Commission. It noted that only five Member States comply with the goals set at the Stockholm and Barcelona Summits, with a Community legislation transposition deficit of below 1.5%. The transposition deficit has even increased, from 1.8% in 2001 to 2.4% in 2002. France, which has the lowest rate of transposition, assured it would continue in its effort. Minister Noëlle Lenoir encouraged the Commission to keep the pressure up. Germany invoked transposition problems linked to its federal system.
Takeover bids. As pointed out in yesterday's EUROPE (p.9), the Council did not even manage to define guidelines for continuing discussion on the various compromise proposals regarding the public takeover bid directive. Commissioner Frits Bolkestein confirmed that he is opposed to the abolition of Articles 9 and 11 of the directive on anti-takeover defence measures recommended by Germany. With this minimalist solution, the directive "will not even be worth the paper it is written on", he protested.
Sales promotion. The Council deferred adoption of the text allowing companies to make crossborder promotional campaigns until the Italian presidency. Opinions differ over the kind of the text (directive or regulation) and the possible derogations (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.9).
Consumers. The Presidency briefed ministers on the content of discussions at the informal consumers' meeting in Eretria, on 7 and 8 May. David Byrne, European Commissioner responsible for consumer policy, then announced proposals relating to the establishment of a legal framework for cooperation on strengthening regulation on consumer protection and on unfair trade practices. The Council, however, did not make any noteworthy progress on the consumer credit issue. As indicated earlier (see EUROPE of 17 May, p.8), the aim of the Greek Presidency was to clear the path for further work. Also, Member States limited themselves to clarifying their positions on outstanding issues.
Detergents. After having adopted the twenty-sixth amendment to the directive on dangerous substances and having unanimously reached political agreements concerning the updating of Community regulations on measuring instruments and drug precursors (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.10), the Council closed the "industry" chapter of its agenda with a political agreement on the proposal of directive on detergents. In this case, however, the agreement was reached by qualified majority, with Germany and Portugal refusing to sign up to the proposal of compromise presented by the Greek Presidency. We recall that the proposal of regulation presented on 20 September by the Commission aims to modernise the legislation on surfactants contained in detergents in order to protect the aquatic environment against deleterious effects and to improve consumer information, without, however, entailing excessive costs for producers. It also aims to facilitate the free movement of these surfactant detergents within the internal market by updating provisions on their biodegradability. The Commission proposes that the provisions set out in the 1989 recommendation concerning the labelling of detergents and maintenance products, as well as providing consumers with specific information on the presence of perfumed substances in detergents, should be made compulsory for products covered by the future regulation.
Tourism. After being briefed by the Presidency on the informal Toruism Council which was held in Crete on 6 May, ministers held a brief exchange of views after which they stressed the need to strengthen the European tourism sector by backing the guidelines defined by the Commission in its communication entitled "working together for the future of European tourism".
Standardisation. The Council "noted" written information from the Commission on application after enlargement of the "new approach" whereby the standardisation bodies define minimum requirements, rather than detailed standards.
Contract law. The Council "noted" written information from the Commission on its action plan relating to contract law.
Free movement. The Council "noted" Presidency information on discussions underway on the directive intended to ensure, within a single text, the free movement of EU citizens and of their families. There was also divergence over the duration of the right of residency (from three to six months), control of residents, visas for non-Community members of families, and rights of residency for students.
Community Patent. The Council "noted" written Presidency information on work in progress for adopting the regulation that will create a Community Patent. A political approach had been defined on 3 March on competent jurisdiction. Discussions are expected to resume in June and end under Italian Presidency.