Right to be forgotten: Europeans will soon have a how-to guide

Transcription

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Saturday 26 July 2014 N° 4916 42nd year
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Commission:
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By Christophe Garach
The idea of postponing the inauguration of the new Commission
by one month (from 1 November)
has not been ruled out entirely.
The Commission and Parliament
are studying all scenarios at this
stage. The Conference of Group
Chairs is even receptive to the idea
of a change of date.
After its failure to name Catherine
Ashton’s successor, on 17 July,
the European Council will meet
again on 30 August. Only after that
meeting will Jean-Claude Juncker
be able to unveil the distribution of
portfolios in the new college. After
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and prepare for their hearings. That
leads at best to the end of September or early October. If none of the
candidates is rejected during the
procedure, a vote of investiture
will still be possible at the October
plenary. Otherwise, one or more
additional hearings would have to
be held, thereby postponing the
final vote to November. One thing
is certain: MEPs do not plan to have
the agenda dictated to them and to
botch the hearings, even if it means
delaying the final investiture.
Table of Contents
Right to be forgotten: Europeans will
soon have a how-to guide
By Nathalie Vandystadt
fter a meeting with Google, MicA
rosoft and Yahoo!, the 28 data
protection authorities will present
guidelines this autumn
Europeans’ right to be forgotten
as now applied by Google can be
improved in the light of the EU Court
of Justice’s historic judgement of 13
May obliging the California-based firm
to respond to a Spanish citizen’s request
for the deletion of links connecting his
name to two articles on settled debts.
That is what emerged from the discrete meeting between the Article
29 Group (G29), comprised of European data protection authorities (in
reference to a 1995 directive undergoing revision), and representatives
of the leading internet search engines
(Google, Microsoft/Bing and Yahoo!),
on 24 July in Brussels. In its statement,
CNIL, the French authority, gives an
idea of the lack of precision on how
the internet giants treat this right to be
forgotten (together with the Spanish
and now the Italian authority, CNIL is
already in a dispute with Google, which
dominates the market, over respect for
the confidentiality of data in the EU).
At issue are the problems raised by
Google’s new forms to implement the
European judgement: when data deletion (delisting) requests are accepted by
the company, they concern only Goo-
Sold by subscription only © reproduction strictly prohibited in any language
gle’s European sites, like Google.be,
and the data will still be accessible in
the EU via Google.com.
The company, which finds the European ruling “disappointing,” did not
comment on the details of the meeting.
It had earlier said that it has already
received 90,000 delisting requests,
prompting the G29 to coordinate to
respond to complaints from persons
whose requests are rejected (just over
50% of requests are being accepted,
according to Reuters).
OTHER RESPONSES BY 31 JULY
Several questions were raised at the
meeting, eg: “Do you delist results only
in the EU, on all sites accessible in the
EU or by EU residents, or on all domains
on a global basis?” “What grounds do
you provide to data subjects to justify
a refusal?” On its form, Google states
that it may “refuse to delete information concerning financial fraud, professional negligence, criminal convictions
or a public official’s conduct”.
The aim of the European authorities is to finalise – for next autumn –
guidelines on application of the EU
court judgement. For this to happen,
the search engine firms will have to
answer, by 31 July, other questions on
the treatment of links that lead, for
instance, to anonymised rulings or
sensitive requests related to press articles (since freedom of expression and
information are at stake). n
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EUROPOLITICS N° 4916 Saturday 26 July 2014
Contents N° 4916
Top stories
INTERNET
FINANCIAL SERVICES
INTERVIEW
Financing for broadband: Major
projects on the horizon Page 4
Court of Justice to rule on MasterCard
on 11 September Page 7
Giovanni Kessler, director-general,
European Anti-Fraud Office Page 10
Sectoral policies
Right to be forgotten: Europeans
will soon have a how-to guide.................. 1
Commission postpones
authorisation of GMO imports................ 7
Parliament gets back to work
on novel foods.......................................... 8
States in danger of losing
Structural Funds at end of 2015.............. 8
Exec concerned about drop
in gas flows to Ukraine............................. 9
Business & competitiveness
Financing for broadband:
Major projects on the horizon................. 4
Cloud9 mobile prepares for battle
on alternative roaming............................. 5
Liberty Global-Ziggo merger:
Decision in October................................ 5
Court to rule on aid to SNCM
in September........................................... 6
Co-legislators face packed agenda........... 6
Financial services, banks,
insurance
Court of Justice to rule
on MasterCard on 11 September............ 7
Economic & monetary affairs,
taxation
Trade policy
TTIP: Leaked EU position on
SPS addresses consumers’ concerns......13
In brief
Single seat for eurozone in IMF:
A pipe dream?.......................................... 9
Directive on maritime spatial
planning adopted...................................13
Yukos case: Russia threatened
with record fine......................................13
Institutions
EU agenda...........................................14
“Dalli has never backed up
his conspiracy theory with facts”...........10
ENERGY PREMIUM
External relations
EU extends Ukraine
sanctions list again.................................12
US Congress bid to export more gas
to Europe gains momentum..................12
On europolitics.info
n Turkey green-lights South Stream
n Energy interconnectors a major priority, says Ristori
n French energy transition, nuclear still an issue
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EUROPOLITICS
4
Saturday 26 July 2014 N° 4916 EUROPOLITICS
Financing for broadband: Major projects on the horizon
These inequalities are in large part a
result of the technological and financial decisions made by member states
(see table). “By April 2014, a majority
of member states had adopted national
broadband plans consistent with the targets in the Digital Agenda for Europe,”
says the Commission in its report on
the telecoms market, published in July.
Three member states (Greece, Cyprus
and Romania) still had to finalise their
digital road maps. Nonetheless, these
Other %
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
BE BG CZ DK DE EE EL
Source: Communications Committee
ES
FR
HR
IE
IT
CY
LV
LT
LU
HU MT NL
AT
PL
PT
RO
SI
SK
FI
SE
UK
EU
Member states’ technological choices determine the quality and cost of their network. Recently connected countries,
such as France, Spain and Poland, have chosen to invest in optical fibre, which has the advantage of transmitting
signals more rapidly and has fewer losses than existing copper networks for telephony. However, coverage is more
limited. Germany, Belgium and Hungary are using cable. The Commission has said it is “technologically neutral”.
68.6%
44.7%
76.4%
66.7%
97.1%
83.4%
59.4%
77.7%
86.0%
66.6%
60.4%
62.0%
85.7%
90.3%
61.3%
75.1%
48.6%
60%
40.4%
80%
74.1%
Actual/Advertised speed(%)
100%
80.4%
Actual Download Speed of xDSL technology as a Percentage of
Advertised Speed during peak periods, split by country
Average (60.3%)
DIGITAL INEQUALITY AMONG EUROPEANS
Disparities between member states are
still massive, with Belgium, the Netherlands and Malta mostly covered, while
Italy and Greece are lagging behind.
Inequalities are also territorial, between
urban and rural zones. On average,
only 18% of less-populated zones were
covered by broadband internet in 2013.
Rates of coverage for broadband can
be very low in rural zones in otherwise
well-equipped countries: this is case
in the UK and Germany, which have
around 70% coverage overall but only
20% in rural zones.
There is also significant inequality
in terms of quality of access. Sweden,
Romania and Latvia have the fastest
internet, while Italy and Spain have the
plans still need to be transformed from
plans to reality...
In Hungary, no measures had been
taken by 2014 to implement a plan that
was adopted four years ago. Moreover,
says the Commission, financial incentives are insufficient to compensate for
the effects of the tax on infrastructure
that was imposed on providers in 2013.
Poland, where 49% of the population
has NGA, is also lagging far behind. It
is planning €4.1 billion of investment to
connect the entire country, of which €1
billion will come from European Structural Funds between now and 2020. This
concerns projects
for the period (continued on next page)
Fixed broadband subscriptions - technology market shares, January 2014
DSL lines % (VDSL included)
Cable modem % (DOCSIS 3.0 included)
FTTH/B %
100%
73.2%
Financing for broadband in Europe
will be one of Jean-Claude Juncker’s
main priorities when he takes office, the
new president of the European Commission has announced. He has also promised €300 billion of public investment in
networks, particularly digital - without
changing budgetary rules. Germany and
France have said they need €20 billion
of public and private funding each to
cover all of their territory. Meanwhile,
the Italian President of the Council,
Matteo Renzi, has called for “budgetary flexibility” for digital.Where will the
money come from? This should become
clear over the next few months.
The stakes are considerable: the
European Union has fixed the objective of covering 100% of its territory
with next-generation access (NGA) –
or very high-speed internet (more than
30 Megabytes, or Mbps, per second) by
2020. However, coverage is currently
only 62%, according to the Commission’s latest scoreboard. In other words,
the majority of companies and indivuduals are still using digital back-roads
- when they could be on the information
superhighway.
NATIONAL PLANS INCOMPLETE
94.8%
Jean-Claude Juncker intends to
address financing for broadband
networks when he takes office
slowest. Last but not least, actual download speeds are very often well below the
level claimed by providers (see table).
82.6%
By Nathalie Steiwer
40%
20%
0%
HR CY CZ DK FI FR DE EL HU IS IE IT LT MT NL NO PL PT SK SI ES SE UK
France and Britain lagging behind, Slovakia and Hungary leading the way: actual download speeds can be much lower
than those claimed by providers. Thanks to cable, which better respects its commitments, the EU can be proud:
Europe’s actual download speed is 36% higher than that of the US for copper and fibre, and 92% for cable,
according to the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications.
5
2007-2013, which had to be re-programmed: Poland had only absorbed
10% of the Rural Development Funds
available for broadband, says the Commisison. Slovakia also registered a very
low rate of absorption of EU funds for
broadband.
France has completed its funding plan
with difficulty. In all, it needs €20 billion
to cover the entire country, the government has said, including from national
government funds (€3.3 billion) and
local and EU funds. An agreement on
project bonds was reached with the EIB
in July, but EU procedures are too slow,
says French Industrial Renewal Minister
Arnaud Montebourg.
In Germany, the coalition government
has announced a €20 billion plan to
cover all zones with internet of at least 50
MBps by 2018 (compared with 50% currently), yet the compromise on means of
financing remains to be decided by the
Commission. Meanwhile, South Korea
is investing massively in next generation
technology, 5G. n
Cloud9 mobile prepares for battle on alternative roaming
By Nathalie Steiwer
The British alternative provider, currently
unknown, is challenging classic providers to decouple their mobile networks
Alternative roaming provider Cloud9
mobile has clarified its European presence to
Europolitics, as well as explaining its difficulties in accessing the networks of ‘classic’ providers – following the publication of our article on alternative roaming contracts. These
contracts allow consumers to change operator
during a stay abroad while keeping the same
telephone number.
The company, based in the UK, intends
to launch services in two member states in
October. It is “in talks with four French providers” and has made contact with the French
regulator, Arcep, regarding two providers who
are blocking access to their network, says
the company’s Commercial Director, Chris
Holme. However, Arcep has not received a
formal complaint, we heard from the body’s
press service.
On the other hand, in the UK Cloud9 has
signed an agreement with an operator and a
formal complaint has already been lodged
against Telefonica UK regarding its wholesale
access rates. In Austria, a market rumoured
to be difficult for providers without their own
network (MVNOs) due to high prices for
mobile communciations, Cloud9 says it has
signed with all providers and is beginning tests
with three of these. According to the Austrian
regulator’s register, the company is currently
registered as a fixed line provider. In Belgium, Cloud9 mobile has announced that
it has signed with a provider. In the Netherlands, the company is ready to sign with three
operators and will lodge a complaint with the
regulatory authority. In the meantime, the
company appears on a website as a provider of
alternative roaming services, but its customer
service does not respond to e-mails or calls. n
Liberty Global-Ziggo merger: Decision in October
By Sophie Mosca
Liberty has apparently offered to sell
Film1, its pay channel. Will that be
enough for the Commission? Answer
on 17 October
The American telecommunications
group Liberty Global is pursuing its bid
on Dutch cable operator Ziggo despite the
European Commission’s in-depth investigation into the transaction, opened on 8 May.
The friendly takeover bid was launched
on 2 July and will run until 10 September
at a share price of €35.74, slightly more than
initially announced in January (€34.53). To
obtain the Commission’s good graces, Liberty Global, controlled by billionaire John
Malone, proposed to sell Film1, its pay channel. The EU executive had pointed out that,
combined with HBO TV, Ziggo’s pay chain,
the merged entity would have only one
competitor on the Dutch market. Liberty
Global allegedly has also agreed, according
to an informed source, not to block its internet network access to net giants like Google
or Netflix, which is establishing a presence
in France and Benelux.
The European Commission is concerned that the deal may limit competition
on certain pay TV and telecommunications markets in the Netherlands, where
the two operators are the only two suppliers
of premium pay film channels. That could
lead to higher prices for consumers. It is
also concerned that the two competitors
may be tempted to “coordinate their practices and raise prices or delay investments”.
Liberty is still on a shopping spree in
Europe, moreover: it has set up an alliance with the Discovery TV channel to
acquire All3Media, the British producer
of films and series, and has bought a
6.4% stake in British Sky Broadcasting, a
satellite broadcaster. n
6
Court to rule on aid to SNCM in September
By Sophie Mosca
The advocate-general has called for a
rejection of French demands to annul the
reimbursement of 440 million euro in aid
The Société nationale Corse Méditerranée
(SNCM or National Corsican Mediterranean Company), which serves the island
of Corsica (as well as Sardinia, Algeria and
Tunisia) via ferries, will have its fate determined in September. The EU Court of Justice (ECJ) will rule on its appeal and France’s
appeal concerning €440 million in state aid
received in 2002, then during its privatisation in 2006, which the European Commission had approved. Seized by SNCM’s rival,
Corsica Ferries, judges from the EU’s court
had considered, in September 2012, that this
aid was incompatible with EU law and had
demanded for it to be paid back. In addition,
they had deemed that the so-called ‘complementary’ service during peak periods during
the tourist season should no longer be part
of the public service concession between the
SNCM, the Corsican local authorities and
the Corsican transport office. That considerably reduces its area. At a time when it is experiencing structural management difficulties
and given the competition on the crossings
that it runs, a confirmation of this judgement
would be the final nail in the coffin for the
SNCM. The advocate-general had, on 16
January, rejected en bloc the appeal by the
SNCM and France’s appeal.
The main shareholder of the SNCM, Transdev, a subsidiary of Veolia and the Caisse des
Dépôts et Consignations (a public investor),
wants to disengage from the SNCM, which
is structurally in financial dificulty, and advocates a receivership procedure. It is a solution
that would make it possible to wipe away this
troublesome company, which is supported by
the French government, a 25% shareholder.
The trade unions reject this prospect, which
would mean the dismantling of SNCM with
the loss of the juicy contract – €600 million
per year – of the public service concession to
Corsica. They defend the implementation
of the industrial plan signed in June 2013 by
the former company management, which
envisages the renewal of the fleet with the
purchase of four ships and the loss of 500 jobs
out of 2,600, without any redundancies.
After stormy strike action that blocked traffic to Corsica from June to early July, a moratorium of four months was decided, ruling
out receivership for the time being. n
Complaint by sailors’ union
The Commission will also have to clarify
what treatment it will give to the complaint
that it has received from the sailors’ trade
union CGT-marins, the SNCM’s main trade
union. The latter points to a distorsion of
competition on the lines to Corsica run by
Corsica Ferries, which carries an international Italian flag and employs Romanian
workers that are a lot less expensive
than the labour force imposed on the
SNCM. “The investigation is ongoing,”
said Commissioner Joaquin Almunia’s
spokesperson.
Co-legislators face packed agenda
By François Paquay
After the summer break, Parliament and
Council will have to break several deadlocks in legislation affecting businesses
Arguably the most controversial item on the
legislative agenda is the consumer product
safety regulation - COM(2013)0078 - which
contains the controversial provision implementing mandatory marking of the country
of origin on non-food consumer products.
Christel Schaldemose (S&D, Denmark), the
rapporteur on this file, has been re-elected to
Parliament and re-appointed in her role by
the coordinators of the Committee on the
Internal Market and Consumer Protection
(IMCO). Her report was adopted by MEPs
in April, but criticism remains of the way the
‘Made in’ issue has been handled in general,
and in particular of the absence of an impact
assessment on this specific topic. The newly
elected Chair of the committee, Vicky Ford,
told Europolitics that she does not believe
MEPs “should pass laws that affect businesses
and consumers without having done a proper
impact assessment, which is the case here”.
In the Council as well, the member states do
not seem to be able to find a solution. The
Italian EU Presidency intends to progress on
this file: policy debates are on the agendas of
the two upcoming Competitiveness Council session, on 25-26 September and 4-5
December.
In September, the members of the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) will start
working on the proposal for a directive on
single-member private limited liability companies - COM(2014)212. The rapporteur
has not yet been appointed. In the Council,
the working group of Coreper is scheduled
to finish the first reading of the text in the
beginning of October. A general approach
should be adopted during the December
Competitiveness Council. The debates are
likely to be animated: the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has
already voiced its concerns over the proposal’s incompatibility with the subsidiarity and
proportionality principles.
JURI MEPs will also have to start working
on the proposal for a directive on the protection of trade secrets - COM(2013)813. The
new rapporteur for this file has not yet been
nominated: Marielle Gallo (EPP, France),
who had been appointed before the elections,
did not stand in the last elections. Member
states have already adopted a common
position in May.
On the proposal for a regulation
on a common European sales law COM(2011)0635 -MEPs already adopted
their position in February 2013. Both rapporteurs - Klaus-Heiner Lehne (EPP, Germany)
and Luigi Berlinguer (S&D, Italy) - have
left their seats. Should the Council manage
to come up with a common position on
this file, the JURI committee would have to
appoint new rapporteurs to start negotiations.
“Intense” and “in-depth” technical discussions have taken place within the Coreper
working group during the Greek EU Presidency. The state of play will be discussed
during the Justice and Home Affairs Council,
on 4-5 December. n
7
Court of Justice to rule on MasterCard on 11 September
By Manon Malhère
It will hand down a judgement on the
compatibility with EU law of interchange fees set by the company
The EU Court of Justice will decide,
at 9:30 on 11 September, whether or
not the fees charged between banks for
card-based payment transactions, set by
MasterCard, are compatible with European Union competition law. The judgement is timely: a legislative text currently
before the Council and Parliament aims
to limit these multilateral interchange
fees (MIFs).
The case pits MasterCard against the
Commission. In 2007, the EU executive
ruled that the cross-border MIFs set by
MasterCard were inflated and anti-competitive. «They raise the retailer’s cost
for accepting card payments without
generating any demonstrated efficiency
gains,» said the Commission, which
ordered MasterCard to reduce the fees
or risk a stiff fine. MasterCard proposed
to limit MIFs to 0.2% of debit card payment transactions and 0.3% of credit
card transactions, but then brought legal
action against the Commission. In May
2012, the EU General Court sided with
the EU executive. It held that MasterCard continued to act as an association of
undertakings with regard to MIFs after it
was listed on the stock exchange in 2006.
In other words, the banks continued to
exercise decision-making power over
essential operational aspects of MasterCard’s system. The General Court held
that these MIFs are not necessary to the
proper working of MasterCard’s system.
At the end of January, the court’s advocate-general confirmed the General
Court’s ruling. It is now up to the Court
of Justice to issue a verdict.
PROPOSAL ON TABLE
The Commission decided to go further and presented, in July 2013, a draft
regulation capping MIFs. The text sets
ceilings of 0.3% and 0.2% on all credit
and debt card payment transactions,
cross-border and national alike. The EU
executive maintains that consumers will
benefit from these rules: since the fees
are borne by retailers, they will pass on
to consumers the savings that will result
from lower MIFs. MasterCard and Visa
argue, on the contrary, that consumers
will be the losers.
The EP adopted its position in April
2014. MEPs wish to include in the regulation cards issued to companies for
payment of business expenses (business
cards). MasterCard is opposed to the
idea, arguing that there was no impact
assessment and that these cards play
a different role. For instance, a company can provide business cards to its
employees for payment of their business
expenses. These offer «more sophisticated services to businesses while helping them reduce red tape,» notes MasterCard. It adds that if interchange fees
for business cards are capped, the issuing banks will be obliged to increase the
fees applying to these cards, thus raising
costs for businesses.
In the Council, the issue is still under
discussion at expert level. According to a
provisional timetable, the Italian Presidency plans an exchange of views at the
November Ecofin Council. n
Background
Multilateral interchange fees (MIFs)
are paid between two banks for card
payment transactions. The consumer’s bank receives a commission
from the retailer’s bank. These fees
are supposed to correspond to the
costs of the payment transaction.
They are borne by retailers, who
pay a fee to their bank. Consumers
pay annual fees to their bank for the
use of their card.
Commission postpones authorisation of GMO imports
By Joanna Sopinska
The animal feed industry wants a final
decision by the beginning of September
The animal feed industry has expressed
its “serious disappointment” about the
delayed authorisation of imports of eight
genetically modified (GM) feed and food
products. In a joint statement, released on
25 July, the European association representing the trade in cereals (COCERAL),
the EU’s vegetable oil and proteinmeal
industry association (FEDIOL) and the
European compound feed manufacturers’
federation (FEFAC) warned that the Euro-
pean Commission’s decision of this week to
postpone the authorisation “leaves the EU
food and feed business operators exposed
to possible risk of disruptions of the vital
imports of soybeans, maize and various protein-rich products […] as well serious legal
uncertainty”.
The three organisations called on the
Commission to take a decision on authorisation by the beginning of September,
“before the 2014 autumn harvest will
be made available in the key exporting
regions to the EU and before risk of noncompliance will increase even further”.
The statement recalled that the EU
depends on imports to cover 75% of its
needs for protein-rich ingredients for
feeding purposes.
Applications for the import and use of
four biotech soybeans, two maize, one oilseed rape and one cotton variety in the EU
(Maize MON 87460, Rapeseed GT 73,
Soybean 305423, Soybean MON87708,
Soybean MON87705, Soybean BPSCV127-9, Maize T25 and Cotton T30440) are waiting for the final green light
from the College of Commissioners following the usual ‘no opinion’ vote at previous
standing committee and appeal committee
meetings over the past few months. The
written approval procedure was reportedly
blocked by a number of commissioners. n
8
Parliament gets back to work on novel foods
By Sophie Petitjean
It hopes for swift adoption of the
regulation, which the rapporteur
refuses to make conditional on
solving the tough issue of cloning
The EU may soon update its rules on
foods produced using new technologies
or not consumed to a significant degree
before 1997 (‘novel foods’). After its
2011 failure, the European Parliament
put this issue back on the drawing board
at the first meeting of the Committee
on the Environment and Public Health
(ENVI), on 23 July. Rapporteur James
Nicholson (ECR, UK) declared at this
meeting that he had no intention of
holding the matter hostage to settle the
question of food derived from cloned
animals or their offspring.
Regulation 258/97 establishes a specific assessment procedure for foods
presenting a new or modified primary
molecular structure, those consisting of
micro-organisms, foods consisting of or
isolated from plants and food ingredients
isolated from animals, and those whose
nutritional value has been altered. It
also obliges the manufacturer wishing
to place a novel food on the European
market to submit an application to a
member state. The EU executive proposed, in 2008, to update these rules
and to set up a European assessment
procedure, but discussions ended in
failure three years later over the difficult
question of cloning. The Commission
then came back with a package in 2013
separating foods derived from cloning.
The committee’s discussion was the
first exchange of views by newly elected
or re-elected MEPs. Nicholson intends
to amend the definition of novel foods
and the subsequent categories proposed.
“We need to be flexible to prevent
weaknesses in the regulation’s scope,”
he said, with support from Pilar Ayuso
(EPP, Spain). Margrete Auken (Greens,
Denmark) was more critical: “I have
the impression that business interests
outweigh consumers’ interests on this
issue,” she commented. She denounces
the provisions on nanotechnologies
(only nanomaterials defined by Regulation 1169/2011 on nutrition labelling
would be covered by the new regulation) and the legal vacuum regarding
foods derived from cloned animals.
In the absence of texts on cloning, the
regulation on novel foods will continue
to apply. Yet neither the 1997 text nor
the new proposal contains any specific
provisions.
During the debate, the European
Food Safety Agency (EFSA) said that
it had “started drafting a guidance document for foods from third countries,”
which it hopes to publish in October
2015. An expert group presented the
main conclusions of its update of the
impact study. n
States in danger of losing Structural Funds at end of 2015
of fund absorption at this stage. That could
serve as a warning signal for 2014-2020,
which also looks as though it may not be very
fast out of the starting blocks on the ground.
On the other hand, the states will have an
extra margin of one year to absorb the funds
this time around, since the N+2 rule – under
which the funds for 2007-2013 are available
until the end of 2015 – has become N+3,
giving the stragglers a bit more breathing
room. n
Absorption of funding and project selection by Member State for the 2007
2013 programming period
100
% of total Cohesion Policy funding 2007-2013
Absorption rate May 2014
Project selection rate by end 2013
100
PT
EU-27
EE
FI
LT
EL
SE
PL
BE
DE
IE
DK
AT
CY
NL
LU
0
LV
0
ES
20
UK
20
SI
40
FR
40
CZ
60
HU
60
IT
80
MT
80
SK
One third of Structural fund payments for
2007-2013 – around €108 billion – still have
to be allocated to the member states, Walter
Deffaa, director-general of DG Regio, told
members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development (REGI),
on 23 July. Is this worrying, considering that
the programming period is nearly over and
that whatever has not been paid out by the
end of next year will be lost to the states? The
answer depends on the state. Some are in a
more critical situation than others, with payments that do not yet total half of what they
are in principle entitled to receive. Others are
already at more than 80%.
Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Italy are
among the states at risk. If they do not speed
up implementation of their projects, some of
their funds could evaporate. “There is a growing risk that some member states and regions
BG
Some 108 billion euro for 20072013 still awaiting allocation
will lose a large amount of funding because
of not being able to complete programmes
by the end of 2015,” confirms the recent sixth
report on cohesion.
According to Deffaa, these states’ difficulties stem mainly from inadequate administrative capacity. “A specific unit has been set up
in DG Regio to help them,” he added.
The 2007-2013 programming period also
got under way after a delay of more than a
year, which explains the fairly mediocre rate
RO
By Isabelle Smets
Source: SFC
9
Exec concerned about drop in gas flows to Ukraine
By Judit Zegnal
Hungary has cut back on reverse flows
to boost record-low storage levels
The European Commission will continue
to seek solutions to enable the flow of natural gas from Europe to Ukraine, its energy
spokesperson, Sabine Berger, has said. She
was reacting to reports published by Reuters
and other media this week on decreasing
gas exports to Ukraine, primarily from the
direction of Hungary.
“According to our information, as of 1 July,
Hungary intensified injections into its gas
storage facilities, therefore there is less gas
available for export,” Berger confirmed to
Europolitics, on 23 July. She did not specify
quantities. “We will continue to look into
the issue [of reverse flows from Europe to
Ukraine]; we are in contact with companies
and transmission system operators,” Berger
said. Due to a prolonged gas price dispute
with Kyiv, Moscow has cut off gas supplies
to Ukraine. Since then, Ukraine has been
largely dependent on European gas exports
for filling up its storage tanks for the coming
winter season. According to Commission
information, currently Ukraine receives gas
via reverse flows from Poland and Hungary.
The flows from Slovakia are scheduled to
start in September, under a memorandum
of understanding signed on 28 April by
the Slovak and Ukrainian gas transmission
system operators. Bratislava said that combined reverse flows from Slovakia, Hungary
and Poland could reach up to around 16-17
billion cubic metres annually.
Flows from Poland have been “stable,”
amounting to four million cubic metres per
day (mcm/d) since mid-April, Berger said.
Flows from Hungary started at the end of
May and have been “fluctuating” between
five and ten mcm/d, she said.
According to diplomatic sources, Hungary
has been negotiating with Russia’s Gazprom
for additional gas supplies in order to fill up its
storage tanks, which stand at the lowest level
in Europe. However, Gazprom has been
reluctant to sell more gas to Budapest, fearing
that it would be passed on to Ukraine, said
the source who spoke anonymously due to
policy. At the same time, the Commission has
reiterated its position that any new gas contracts with Gazprom must be free of so-called
destination clauses, which would restrict
the buyers from re-selling Russian gas on
international markets, including Ukraine.
“In general, such a clause would not be
acceptable from the point of view of the
Commission – because it would be a destination clause,” Berger told Europolitics earlier
in July.
According to data on the transparency website of Gas Infrastructure Europe, Hungary’s
gas storage facilities stood at 43% as of 25
July, while Ukraine’s were 45.84% filled. For
comparison, the average rate for European
gas storage tanks was 77.27%, GIE’s data
revealed.
“We hope the lowering of reverse flows is
temporary; this is unpleasant but not critical,” Andriy Kobolev, head of Ukraine’s state
energy company Naftogaz, was quoted by
Reuters as saying, on 23 July. n
Single seat for eurozone in IMF: A pipe dream?
By Jorge Valero
Disagreements between France and
Germany block chances of consensus
The idea of having a single seat for the
eurozone countries in international organisations, especially in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has resurfaced in political
debate (see earlier article). Despite the interest by key players in pushing this proposal forward, in particular by the newly elected European Commission President, Jean-Claude
Juncker, a single seat in the IMF is unlikely
to become reality any time soon. According
to European sources, the difficulties of sorting
out the practicalities impede progress on this
matter at least in the short term. Moreover, the
member states continue to disagree over several issues related to the IMF, and differences
also remain on how the eurozone member
states’ quotas in the IMF could be merged or
who should be the zone’s representative. One
of the main problems is the lack of consensus
between the eurozone’s two largest econo-
mies. France’s representatives in the Washington-based institution come from the Ministry of Finance, while the German delegates
come from the Bundesbank (central bank).
Accordingly, Berlin’s moves are guided by
its monetary policy priorities, while France’s
economic focus is broader. European diplomats note that the two countries also find it
difficult to agree on certain other substantial
issues, such as the issuance of special drawing rights (the foreign reserve assets defined
by the fund to supplement their members´
reserves). On this point, Berlin takes a more
restrictive stance. Moreover, France tends to
side with the UK - the largest non-eurozone
country represented in other international
organisations where a single seat could also
be established, such as the World Bank - since
Paris and London share priorities in fields like
development, and they share a colonial past.
These differences were already manifest
during the recent reform of the IMF, whose
aim was to reduce the quotas of the US and
the European states and thereby to give
greater voice to emerging countries. Bel-
gium and Netherlands were opposed to this
reform, since they both lost their seat on the
IMF’s board. Certain capitals think that the
current debate could lead to better coordination among the European members of the
board. If that happens, diplomats believe a
genuine ‘unified’ European position may
emerge, but single seat may still remain up
in the air. The member states are afraid that
they may be “paralyzed by having just one
voice but nothing to say,” sources explained
on condition of anonymity. Furthermore, the
largest eurozone countries have yet to agree
on who their single representative should be:
the Eurogroup president, the commissioner
on economic affairs, or a lower-level official.
Against this backdrop, the single seat is
not likely to become reality “any time soon,”
commented Zsolt Darvas, a senior fellow at
the Bruegel think tank. Although the idea
“makes a lot of sense,” he underlined that
the member states are “eager to maintain
their own representation in order to have
more direct control over the decision making
processes at the IMF”. n
10
“Dalli has never backed up his conspiracy theory with facts”
By Sophie Petitjean
Interview
with
Giovanni
Kessler,
director-general,
European
Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)
ble for such cases. The Commission acted
according to its duties. Also, as you yourself
wrote, the tobacco products directive has not
been affected – either in terms of deadline or
content [...]. Alleging that there is a conspir-
No. I know that the Maltese judicial
authorities charged Silvio Zammit [Zammit
is a Maltese entrepreneur who allegedly
asked the tobacco company Swedish Match
for money in Dalli’s name – Ed]. The trial
is ongoing. After their own inquiry, the Maltese police intended to charge Dalli too – as
the then chief Police Commissioner, John
Rizzo, said when he gave evidence before
the Maltese court. However, this was not
possible as Dalli was out of the country for
health reasons. He returned to Malta when
a new government was elected and a new
chief of police was appointed - who said
there was no charge against Dalli. According
to our information, the Maltese investigation concerning Dalli remains open to date.
Do you think that Dalli was ‘protected’?
© CE
I am not going to speculate, I have only
spoken to you about facts.
Giovanni Kessler
In this interview, the director-general of
OLAF gives his side of the story in response
to Europolitics’ dossier on the Dalli affair.
Former Health Commissioner John Dalli
is suspected of trading favours relating to
the review of the tobacco products directive.
Kessler’s services carried out an inquiry into
the allegations sent by Swedish Match to the
Commission in 2012.
Dalli has alleged that the tobacco industry and the Commission are involved in a
conspiracy against him. He says that OLAF
fabricated evidence in order to push him
out. What is your side of the story?
That is absurd. Dalli has never backed
up this conspiracy theory with any facts.
The few times he tried, he did not provide
any substantial evidence, and each time he
gave a different version of events. The last
attempt, in an interview in Europolitics, was
ridiculous: I haven’t received any instructions or been put under any pressure from
anybody in this case. OLAF carried out a
rigorous and fully independent inquiry. The
Commission was informed of an allegation
of corruption, and transmitted this correctly
to OLAF, the independent body responsiwww.europolitics.info
acy is tantamount to accusing me and my
team of offences which carry criminal sanctions. We are in the process of examining
the legal aspects of these accusations. But in
fact, this conspiracy theory is Dalli’s attempt
to avoid accounting for his actions. He has
never replied on the facts revealed by our
investigation.
So you haven’t been promised the
position of European prosecutor?
Not at all. That’s another of Dalli’s
absurd theories. We don’t even know ‘if’
or ‘when’ this post will be created, and we
knew this even less so two years ago. What’s
more, when this project takes form, it won’t
be the president of the Commission who
appoints the prosecutor. My mandate as
director-general of OLAF is fixed by law: I
have three-and-a-half years left and I hope
to finish this mandate in all serenity. It is
not renewable. Therefore, I am not seeking anything from anyone, and I cannot be
influenced.
Have you been informed of developments in the inquiry by the Maltese
police?
Did Dalli threaten to make a complaint
against you?
Yes, he threatened me several times after
the investigation. The last time, he sent me a
message saying I would be arrested if I came
to Malta. I learned from Europolitics that he
had also made a complaint of defamation to
the Belgian court, or that he wanted to do so.
If that is the case, then a judge can rule on
this conspiracy theory. I’m not influenced
by these statements and I’m not worried: we
have done our job scrupulously.
OLAF’s Supervisory Committee has
nonetheless criticised certain irregularities
in your inquiry – which you have always
disputed.
The committee has not said that our
investigation was illegal. Only courts are
competent to judge the legality of our
investigative activities. In 14 years, and
apart from the Dalli case, the committee
has never written an opinion on a single
investigation. In this case, the committee
has made recommendations and we have
followed some of them. OLAF has, as
usual, acted fully in line with the applicable rules. We informed the committee in
writing three days before sending our final
report to the Maltese authorities. I also
11
called Mr Timmermans, who was president of the Committee at the time, to tell
him the case was urgent and I could not
hold on to the dossier for too long as I had
to send it to the Maltese judicial authorities. He replied to me that there was no
problem with that. Before we sent the dossier to the Maltese authorities, the committee asked for and was given full access
to the file. It even obtained a prolongation
after the first term of 30 days.
Is Timmermans’ departure from the
Supervisory Committee linked to the
Dalli affair?
I cannot speculate or speak for him.
Do you think that Herbert Bösch and
Johan Denolf are punishing you for the
fact that they lost out on the position of
director-general of OLAF?
They were indeed candidates for my
position, as everyone knows, but I will not
engage in speculation of this kind.
Some MEPs also seem very set against
you, such as Ingeborg Grässle, who has
called for OLAF to be “cleaned up”.
These statements targeting specific staff
members at OLAF, if true and genuine,
are an unacceptable threat to members of
my team, particularly as they come from
a leading representative of a political institution, the European Parliament. Such
announcements affect OLAF’s investigators,
hinder our independence and damage our
reputation.
Have you put pressure on OLAF’s
Supervisory Committee’s office, as alleged
by Bösch, not to publish its opinion on the
Dalli affair?
We have not put any pressure on the
committee. An independent officer is
in charge of evaluating whether OLAF
and the committee respect rules on data
protection. We have received an opinion
from this data protection officer, which
gave several warnings and informed that
disciplinary measures would apply if the
legislation on data protection was not
respected. We have only transmitted this
opinion to the Supervisory Committee
with a view to ensuring loyal cooperation.
Regarding your inquiry report, can you
explain why two pages are missing from the
first version, and why the second interview,
between Inge Delfosse (tobacco industry)
and Silvio Zammit (entrepreneur), does
not feature in the annexes?
OLAF does not publish its investigation reports. When the report was leaked
to the Maltese press after it was sent to the
competent authorities, there were two
pages missing. This may have happened
because these two pages concerned a
succession of telephone calls, which may
have been compromising for Dalli [...].
As for the second call between Delfosse
and Zammit, we have the recording of
the conversation but we have not transcribed it because it was not relevant
to the investigation. Nonetheless, this
recording is part of our report, and we
have sent it to the Maltese police. Any
competent authority may therefore listen
to it and transcribe it. The first conversation is much more interesting: it is one
of the most important pieces of evidence.
It is here that Zammit refers to €10
million to be paid into a bank account
- after having called the commissioner.
He made several requests for bribes and
since the report is probably still online,
you can read it yourself at leisure.
During his interrogation, Zammit
confirmed that this sum of money corresponded to his salary. Does this seem
plausible to you?
When people ask for a bribe, they do
not always do it explicitly. Zammit refers
to his “boss” and the fact that the directive
could be changed – but that everything
has a price. For example, there is also the
meeting between Dalli and Zammit on
10 February 2012, after which Zammit
confirmed that the tobacco products
directive could be changed in exchange
for €60 million - he repeated this a few
days later to directors of Swedish Match.
However, we have not concluded that
Dalli was the instigator. What we have
said is that our investigation revealed a
series of facts and that these facts would
deserve being analysed by judicial authorities and answered upon. That’s precisely
what M Dalli is avoiding with all these
conspiracy theories.n
Editor’s note
A correction has to be brought to the English version of the article ‘John Dalli denounces
a conspiracy against him’ published on 26 June: this article refers to a meeting on 10
February 2012. Contrary to what is stated in this article, a meeting did take place (as
reported in the OLAF report), but Gayle Kimberley (the consultant employed by Swedish
Match) did not attend as initially planned. Only Dalli and Zammit met that day, after which
Zammit met Kimberley separately and gave her the document she had prepared and he
had annotated. Zammit made one of his bribe requests immediately after this meeting.
12
EU extends Ukraine sanctions list again
By Joanna Sopinska
An agreement on tougher measures
known as ‘stage three’ sanctions is
expected on 29 July, say diplomats
After long discussions held under
strict security, the member statets’
ambassadors agreed, on 24 July, to
blacklist another 15 Ukrainian and Russian individuals and 18 entities (nine
companies and nine institutions) over
their role in the Ukraine crisis, according to diplomatic sources. This brings
to 87 the number of persons hit by an
asset freeze and a visa ban and increases
to 20 the number of entities subject to
the same restrictive measures.
The list of names, which is expected
to include individuals and entities responsible for actions against
Ukraine’s territorial integrity and those
actively supporting Russian decision
makers involved in the annexation
of Crimea and the destabilisation of
Eastern Ukraine, will be made public
late on 25 July, the Council said in a
statement.
‘STAGE THREE’ SANCTIONS
The ambassadors will continue to
work, most likely until 29 July, towards
an agreement on the list of sanctions
targeting Russia’s defence sector,
thereby limiting Moscow’s access to
the EU’s capital markets and restricting
EU-Russia trade in dual-use goods and
sensitive technologies, including in the
energy sector. According to diplomats,
a political agreement on the so-called
‘stage tree’ sanctions will need to
receive a green light from the Council
– either from the foreign ministers or
the EU’s leaders.
The ambassadors also decided to
continue work on further restrictive
measures against Crimea and Sevastopol. According to diplomatic sources,
they consider imposing a ban on new
investments in the peninsula that has
been illegally annexed by Russia in late
February as well as a ban on exports of
“certain technology and equipment”.
If approved, most probably next week,
these measures would add to an import
ban imposed in mid-June by the EU
on goods originating from Crimea and
Sevastopol.
UKRAINE
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk stepped down, on
24 July, paving the way for new elections in October. Separately, the US
has said it has new evidence showing
that Russia has fired artillery into Eastern Ukraine and that Moscow is preparing to send more heavy weapons to the
pro-Russian separatists. n
US Congress bid to export more gas to Europe gains momentum
By Brian Beary
But proponents of a freer energy
export regime fear that anti-fracking grassroots campaigns will kill
the gas production boom
Republican lawmakers are going all out
to make it easier to export US gas to European allies. A bill has just been introduced
to the US Senate by John Hoeven (Republican, North Dakota) to reduce the time
taken to approve exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the current two-year
average to a maximum of 45 days. The
proposal is similar to the bill the House of
Representatives passed on 25 June by 266
to 150 votes that got the support of almost
all Republicans plus 46 Democrats. The
Ukraine-Russia crisis continues to create
political momentum for liberalisation.
Senator Hoeven said his bill was a compromise between Democrats and Republicans that “should have enough support
to pass through our Congress” (Democrats control the Senate, Republicans the
House). “It will weaken Putin’s energy
leverage over Europe and encourage
the European Union to stand with us on
sanctions against Russia,” he added.
Speaking at a pro-liberalisation seminar
at the Heritage Foundation think tank,
Congressman Cory Gardner (Republi-
“It will encourage the
European Union to stand
with us on sanctions
against Russia”
can, Colorado) said: “I hope that [Senate
Majority Leader] Harry Reid will put politics aside and deal with the call for help
that we are receiving from our allies”.
Reid has the decisive say on whether to
put bills before the full Senate for a vote.
Gardner argued that “the mere passage”
of the bill will give leverage to Eastern
European countries like Hungary and
Ukraine in negotiating oil and gas contracts with Russia. The slow approval procedure for LNG exports is also a bone of
contention in the ongoing EU-US free
trade agreement talks, the TTIP, where
the US administration is resisting EU
demands to make the granting of LNG
export permits more automatic. Beyond
these administrative hurdles, there are
infrastructural obstacles too: the first US
LNG export terminal will only become
operational in 2015, while potential
buyers in Eastern Europe like Poland
and Lithuania are scrambling to build
LNG import facilities.
Meanwhile, Congressman Gardner
raised alarm bells about the increasing success US environmentalists are
having in stopping hydraulic fracturing
(fracking) for shale gas. A popular referendum to restrict fracking looks likely to
be held in Colorado in November, he
noted. “If this spreads to other states, we
would see a tremendous drop in energy
production,” which would also reduce
the energy export potential, he warned.
Vermont is the only US state to ban
fracking outright, but New York and New
Jersey have moratoriums, and dozens of
other US states and municipalities are
considering anti-fracking proposals. n
13
TTIP: Leaked EU position on SPS addresses consumers’ concerns
By Joanna Sopinska
But the US position remains secret. To
reach agreement on the consolidated
version of the SPS chapter both parties
would need to compromise
The potential impact of the currently
negotiated EU-US Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership (TTIP) on agrifood producers and consumers has been
one of the hottest topics on both sides of
the Atlantic since the start of talks last year.
Both the EU and US have strong offensive
interests in the related area of sanitary and
phytosanitary standards (SPS). At the same
time, both sides committed themselves to
remove as many trade barriers as possible,
including in the area of SPS, by simplifying
procedures, cutting red tape and recognising their standards as equivalent.
The latest leaked draft EU position on
SPS measures in the TTIP talks throws
some light on where the European negotiators are heading on food safety and public,
animal and plant health. In the section on
the general terms of the agreement, the
parties commit themselves to facilitate
trade “to the greatest extent possible while
preserving each party’s right to protect
animal or plant life or health in its territory and respecting each party’s regulatory
systems, risk assessment, risk management
and policy development processes”. This
provides a guarantee the EU consumer and
producer organisations have been seeking
that the EU’s food and health standards will
not be compromised.
Many lobby groups in Europe have been
wary that in order to reach an agreement
with the White House, the EU’s negotiators
would open the Union’s market for imports
of chlorinated poultry and hormone-treated
meat and would replace the ‘precautionary
principle’ used inter alia in the GMOs
authorisation procedure in the EU with
the so-called ‘science-based approach’ used
in the US, according to which it must be
proven that a product is harmful to health
before it is removed from the market.
Instead, the draft obliges both parties to
accept their SPS measures “as equivalent”
to their own “if the exporting party objectively demonstrates to the importing party
that its measure achieves the importing
party’s appropriate level of protection.”
In order to cut red tape and limit the
financial burden on exporters/importers,
the parties would commit themselves to
provide a “single authorisation, approval or
certificate” system on their territories. Now
both the EU and US have multi-level and
multi-party standardisation systems. n
In brief
Directive on maritime spatial planning
adopted
The EU Council has approved by near unanimity
(Slovenia abstained) the directive on maritime spatial
planning. The text is the result of a compromise with
the European Parliament and was already approved
by MEPs, on 17 April. Competition for the use
of maritime space by different sectors of activity –
renewable energy equipment, aquaculture, transport,
tourism, protected areas and other growth poles
– has brought to light the need for more effective
management of this space to prevent conflicts and
create synergy between different activities. A pillar of
the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP), the directive
addresses this need and constitutes one of the key
instruments of ‘blue growth’. Under the directive,
member states will have to set up maritime spatial
plans by April 2021 based on an ecosystem approach.
The plans will have to take into account land-sea
interactions along with environmental, economic,
social and safety aspects, while encouraging crossborder cooperation. The directive will enter into
force 20 days after its publication in the Official
Journal of the EU and must be transposed into
member state law by 2016.
Yukos case: Russia threatened with record
fine
According to certain sources, the Permanent Court of
Arbitration is expected to rule in favour of shareholders
of the former oil empire controlled by Mikhail
Khodorkovsky, who claim that they suffered damages
from the Russian authorities’ dismantling of their
company, Yukos, in 2005. If so, it remains to be seen
whether the court, based in The Hague, will endorse
the amount claimed by the former shareholders,
nearly US$130 billion, an unprecedented claim in a
commercial case. It is a financial holding company,
GML (ex-Menatep), which became the principal
shareholder in Yukos in 2005 after Khodorkovsky was
arrested, that brought the action against the Russian
state. GML accuses Russia of having expropriated
Yukos “illegally” and in a “discriminatory” manner,
reads a statement by the company. Yukos was
dismantled by the Russian authorities, in particular
through “rigged auctions,” claims GML, to the
benefit of Rosneft, an oil firm headed by an ally of
Vladimir Putin, Igor Sechin. The trial is taking place
in the framework of the Energy Charter Treaty, the
only international agreement to which the EU and
Russia (at the time) are parties, and which comprises
investor-state dispute resolution arrangements. In this
case, Moscow has cooperated fully in the arbitration
procedure, notes GML.
14
EU agenda
CONFERENCES
AND SEMINARS
NATO: A CREDIBLE SECURITY PROVIDER?
- STRENGTHENING EUROPEAN SECURITY
AND DEFENCE CAPABILITIES WITHIN THE
ALLIANCE
2 September, Cardiff UK
This debate will be held the day before
the start of the NATO summit. The
ongoing events in Ukraine have come
as a significant wake-up call for the
international community, prompting
demands for a thorough reflection of
NATO’s capacity to ensure peace and
security within its territory and within that
of its neighbours and strategic partners.
Once again, the capability of European
countries to contribute to NATO led
responses and collective defence has been
called into question.
The debate will address the following core
themes:
• What existing and emerging threats do
NATO and its members face and what is at
stake?
• How can the Alliance ensure its
capabilities do not continue to be damaged
by declining defence budgets?
• What is the likelihood of European
countries developing greater strategic
autonomy from both NATO and the US,
while increasing their ability to contribute
to the Alliance through dollars and
resources?
• What should the key implementation
actions be as a result of the NATO Summit?
Venue: Hilton Hotel, Cardiff, UK
Contact Jessie Atkinson at jessie.atkinson@
forum-europe.com or on 0044 (0) 2920 783
029.
www.forum-europe.com
50TH CONGRESS OF THE EUROPEAN
SOCIETIES OF TOXICOLOGY
7 - 10 September, Edinburgh
The conference aims to “Advance Science
for Human and Environmental Health”
and we have an exciting programme
highlighting new and innovative science
and current regulatory topics. There will
be a mix of plenary and keynote lectures,
symposia, workshops and a full continuing
education programme. In addition, there
will be interactive poster sessions and a
dynamic trade exhibition. EUROTOX 2014
will be THE meeting place for toxicologists
from around the world to come together to
meet and discuss the key issues facing the
discipline today.
Venue: International Conference Centre,
Edinburgh
Organiser: Eurotox
INTERNATIONAL PROGRESS IN BIOGAS III
CONFERENCE
10-11 September, Stuttgart, Germany
More than 80 experts on biogas from almost
30 countries representing all continents will
discuss the achievements and developments
on: - Domestic biogas plants, - Agricultural
biogas plants, - Environment, methaneemissions, - Process control, modelling
of the biogas process, - Innovative
fermentation and digester construction
methods, - Digestation application and
management, - Biogas generation from
industrial, communal and municipal biowaste, - Flexibility of biogas production
and use, - Process inhibition, - Technical
economical and social cooperative
structures of decentralized small scale
biogas systems, - Pretreatment technologies,
among others. During the conference a
practitioners forum, an Oral-Poster-Session
with more than 20 speakers, posters sessions
and an exhibition will take place. We
expect to have about 400 participants.
Additionally, there will be the opportunity
to take part in an agricultural or a research
field trip.
http://the.international.biogas.center/index.
php?id=151&L=1
VIRTUAL PHYSIOLOGICAL HUMAN
CONFERENCE 2014
9 - 12 September, Trondheim, Norway
the 3rd VPH conference by the Virtual
Physiological Human Institute. This
biannual conference series grew out of the
FP7 Virtual Physiological Human Network
of Excellence. It has become one of the
major instruments for maintaining the
coherence and momentum of the highly
multidisciplinary VPH community.
The members of the VPH community
subscribe to the view that substantially
improved healthcare can only be achieved
through converged efforts of the life
sciences, the mathematical sciences and
engineering. On 14 January 2014 in
Strasbourg, Members of the European
Parliament specifically endorsed the work
of the VPH Institute by recognising the role
of the VPH initiative towards improving
healthcare in their eHealth Action Plan
2012-2020. VPH2014 participants may thus
enjoy the rare claim that they contribute to
an initiative that has earned the support of
the elected representatives of EU citizens
and is directly supported in EU policy.
MASTERCLASS IN EUROPEAN POSTAL
REGULATION
18 - 19 September, Brussels
These are times of great change in
the postal sector – both structural
(privatisations) and market-driven
(electronic substitution of physical mail,
off-set to some extent by the boom in
e-commerce driven parcel delivery).
Cullen International’s training masterclass
examines the existing regulatory framework
for the sector and explores how it may need
to evolve in relation to such changes. We
focus on the definition and requirements of
universal service, the changing competitive
landscape, e-commerce, and how
competition law impacts on the sector.
Organiser: Cullen International
www.cullen-international.com
http://www.cullen-international.com/menu/
training--conferences/regulatory-training/
masterclasses-in-eu-postal-regulation/postalmasterclass/
The Norwegian University of Science
and Technology (NTNU) is will host
15
5G HUDDLE - TOWARDS A GLOBAL 5G
VISION
22 - 23 September, London
The Wireless World Research Forum
(WWRF) in conjunction with techUK will
host ‘The 5G Huddle - Towards a global
5G vision’, 2 days of interactive discussion
aimed at bringing together senior industry
and Government leaders from North
America, Europe and Asia.
As we begin the process across the world
of defining what constitutes 5G, this event
will develop the international discourse on
what 5G should be – from technologies
and networks to applications, markets and
business models. We will also build on
our collective experiences to focus on the
approaches on standardisation of 5G, with
the aim of its availability from 2020.
Contact Charlene Selmer on 0044 (0) 2920
783 024 / charlene.selmer@forum-europe.
com.
WORLD ES-ID CONGRESS
23 - 25 September, Marseille, France
Now in its 10th edition, World e-ID
Congress gathers the electronic ID
community around world’s most inspiring
large scale rollouts and next generation
technologies. From September 23 to 25,
400 e-ID programs managers, government
officials and technology experts will
share lessons, see new perspectives and
opportunities concerning their own e-ID
plans, whether in public or private sectors.
This all-in-one event combines high-level
conference, large exhibition and side events
to learn, meet, experience and network on a
single platform.
Among the themes:
• e-ID goes mobile and Cloud
• Emerging countries with the World Bank
• Global view of national e-ID deployments
• EU funding projects: the road ahead
• e-ID for Business
Held in conjunction with three
complementary conferences within World
Smart Week and the 50-booth «Smart
Solutions Show», World e-ID Congress will
also provide rich opportunities to network
with 1700 expected participants overall
FT ETNO SUMMIT 2014
THE NEW DIGITAL AGENDA – TOWARDS A
EUROPEAN RENAISSANCE
1 October, Brussels
The FT-ETNO Summit 2014 will bring
together Europe’s political and business
leaders to provide timely input into the
Commission’s next wave of digital policies.
Through a series of keynote presentations
and CEO panel debates, speakers
will examine what needs to happen to
encourage investment, enable innovation
and foster consumer confidence.
Organisers: Financial Times, ETNO
MARITIME INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
16 - 17 October, Malta
International event bringing together multidisciplinary experts to discuss how new
ideas and products are changing the face of
both the commercial shipping and yachting
sectors. It builds on the successful series
of Isle of Open Source and Isle of Open
Innovation conferences run in previous
years. Delegates will hear from senior level
speakers from within the maritime and
ICT industries including practitioners,
academics & public authorities, who have
used technological innovation to radically
transform their organisations` operations
and profitability.
www.quaynote.com/ankiti/
www/?code=mti14&f=home
email: [email protected], phone: 00 44
20 3560 8154
SHC 2014 - INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
ON SOLAR HEATING AND COOLING FOR
BUILDINGS AND INDUSTRY,
27 - 29 October, Beijing, China
SHC 2014 will be the third edition of this
series of annual scientific conferences on
solar heating and cooling. It offers a unique
discussion platform for the international
solar thermal community. In addition
to key technical topics, the conference
addresses market and policy issues from an
international perspective. Being in China
this year’s conference offers the opportunity
to get first-hand impressions from the by far
biggest solar thermal market.
Contact: [email protected], www.shc2014.
org
THE E-NAVIGATION REVOLUTION - 5TH
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
11 - 12 November, London
The e-Navigation Revolution will bring
together a global audience of seniorlevel delegates to explore a wide range of
electronic navigation issues. Comprising
presentations from industry leaders
and roundtable discussion groups, this
international forum will provide the ideal
platform for debating hot issues, learning
about new technologies and creating
new business opportunities. Chaired by
Rear Admiral Nick Lambert, previous
Hydrographer of the Royal Navy, topics
to be covered in the conference include
Digital Publications, GNSS vulnerability,
ENC, GPS jamming, back-up systems,
ACCSEAS, how the deck officer of
the modern world different from his
predecessors , training, and the human
element. The exhibition alongside
the conference will offer e-navigation
equipment providers unrivalled openings to
reach key decision-makers and influencers
in the buying process while their minds are
focused on the subject.
www.ecdisrevolution.org
5TH ANNUAL EUROPEAN DATA
PROTECTION AND PRIVACY CONFERENCE
9 December, Brussels
Timed to follow the 2014 changes to the
European Parliament and Commission,
and approaching the end of Italy’s
presidency of the European Council, this
conference will discuss what remains to be
done to complete the long-awaited reforms
to data protection in Europe, and what the
future holds for industry and governing
bodies, whatever the fate of the reforms.
Organiser: Forum Eruope
Contact Jessie Atkinson at jessie.atkinson@
forum-europe.com or on 0044 (0) 2920 783
029.
www.dataprotection2014.eu
FFTH CONFERENCE 2015
10 - 12 February 2015, Warsaw
The FTTH Conference of the FTTH
Council Europe is the biggest FTTHrelated conference in the world. The
conference takes place in February and
has been held in a different European
city since 2004. he event includes a
conference, a workshop, and an exhibition.
The conference discusses hot topics of
fibre roll-out in Europe: FTTH in Central
and Eastern Europe, fibre-enabled services
including eHealth, eGovernment, etc.;
financing of FTTH networks; marketing
of FTTH networks and take rates; the role
of FTTH in smart cities and smart regions;
innovative solutions for fibre networks…
To announce your events on these pages,
contact: [email protected]

Right to be forgotten: Europeans will soon have a how-to guide

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