Implementation/Pollution The European Commission is taking wide-ranging legal action to ensure that
Member States comply with EU legislation aimed at improving air quality in the
European Union. Its action is aimed at Belgium, Italy, Greece, Portugal, the
Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Austria and Spain. Cases relate to 7
separate EU laws on air quality, each of which is aimed at preventing or
reducing the harmful effects of air pollution on public health and the
environment. Primarily, the proceedings relate to the failure of Member States
to adopt, by the agreed deadlines, national measures implementing these EU
laws.
Research/Balkans The GEANT network, a high debit pan-European research network has been
extended to the Balkans . From now on not only will communities of researchers
from the countries in South Eastern Europe be mutually interconnected but they
will also be linked to the present European network for research and education.
This will make their effective participation in research and teaching activities
with the rest of Europe much easier.
Balkans The European Commission has proposed to start preparations leading to the
participation by the countries of the Western Balkans (Albania,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia-Montenegro) in Community
programmes and agencies. Participatioin might start as early as 2005.
SACE: NEW APPROACH TURKEY AND BALKANS Agenzia Giornalistica Italia (English Version), Italy
... With regard to the Balkans, the Croatian and Slovenian markets will open
without restrictions, but Bosnia Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro will
have some ...
Fisheries The Commission would like to help national authorities meet the cost of
monitoring and control under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). EU aid will
amount to 70 million euros over the 2004-2005 period. It will also become
available to the new Member States when they join the EU to help them rapidly
upgrade their control structures and to ensure the correct application of CFP
measures.
WRITE
your e-mail Romano Vod'i, Czech Republic
... Office (EIRO) called the attention of Members of the European Parliament, to
initiate a parliamentary debate on the situation of Kosovo Roma in the Balkans
and ...
GERMAN Spy "Headed
Reconnaissance Mission" in Sofia Novinite, Bulgaria
In October 2001 the spy from the German intelligence services BND headed a
reconnaissance mission on the Balkans, an article in the German newspaper
Berliner ...
PEACE Troops Bound for Balkans Mission icNorthern Ireland, UK
... to Northern Ireland and their loved ones yesterday, jetting off on a
six-month mission to provide medical support to British and NATO forces in the
Balkans. ...
GERMANY'S
Schroeder to push EU future on Balkans trip EU Business, UK
... this week to Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro aimed at spurring
trade and advancing Berlin's aim to open the door to the European Union for the
Balkans ...
JAT looks to consolidate in Balkans B92, Yugoslavia
JAT Airways also plans to create a regional carrier next year as it seeks to
consolidate in the Balkans and strengthen its position in the European airline
...
New smart
payments reseller for Greece & Balkans 25 Sep 2003
Real-time smart payment technology provider, Welcome Real-time, has
licensed European IT firm, Printec Group, to market and sell Welcome's XLS smart
payment software in Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Croatia and Serbia. Through the agreement, Printec will not only sell Welcome's
products but also offer integrated solutions for banks and financial
institutions migrating to the EMV (Europay/MasterCard/Visa) card standard. "XLS
loyalty software will help to boost EMV migration and will bring advanced
marketing solutions to retailers in our region," said Harris Konstantinou, CEO
for Printec Group.
WiseMarketer.com.
INFRASTRUCTURE LINKS ACROSS
THE BALKANS Speaking in Tirana on 30 July at a meeting of Balkan leaders, Bulgarian
Foreign Minister Solomon Pasi said the countries of the regions must step up
their efforts to improve existing infrastructure, novinite.bg reported.
Providing rather optimistic estimates for travel times in the Balkans, Pasi
said, "At the beginning of the 21st century, it takes nine hours by car to
travel from Sofia to Tirana [550 kilometers]; to Skopje, four hours [240
kilometers]; to Sarajevo, 10 hours [740 kilometers]; and to Belgrade, five hours
[400 kilometers]." He said these travel times are nearly twice as long as for
comparable distances elsewhere in Europe. "We have no direct flights to
Belgrade, Sarajevo, and Zagreb, and those to Skopje and Tirana are once or twice
a week," he complained. "Sofia has no railway connection with Skopje and Skopje
has none with Tirana. This situation cannot be tolerated any longer." Pasi
stressed the need to build the long-delayed, so-called Pan-European Transport
Corridor No. 8 that would run from Italy via Albania and Macedonia to the
Bulgarian Black Sea port of Burgas. "From our perspective, a major priority is
to bridge the missing parts of the corridor and eliminate the bottlenecks across
the borders and, in particular, to complete the railway line between Sofia and
Skopje," Pasi said. He also stressed the strategic aspects of such a corridor,
as it would run "across the center of the Balkan Peninsula, linking Europe with
Asia and acting as a stepping stone to the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central
Asia, and the Caspian region, Northern Africa, and the Mediterranean."
Prior to inviting the regional prime ministers to meet in Sofia in November or
December, Pasi said: "I myself do believe that in the long run, Corridor No. 8
will be extended by a bridge over the Adriatic, thus reducing the [travel time]
between the Black Sea and Italy to a mere 10 hours by car." (Ulrich
Buechsenschuetz, ub@itinerarium.de)
South Eastern Europe European Parliament has requested the strengthening of the procedure of
association and stabilisation for South Eastern Europe, notably by the use of
political instruments for enlargement.
