News @ EU print version


Welcome to news@eu, the e-newsletter of the European Commission's Delegations to Australia and New Zealand. AUSSIE EXPORTS TO EUROPE: OZ TUCKER A HIT IN THE EAST Some of the EU's newest members are being targeted by an Australian company keen to show off what modern Oz cuisine has to offer. Dining Downunder is the brainchild of Sydney chef Vic Cherlikoff and one of its main products is a television series where three chefs cook with Aussie produce in top tourist locations around the country. The company also promotes various Australian products in Europe like Bega Cheese, Buderim Ginger and New Zealand Natural icecream. Cherikoff says he sees a lot of potential in the European market and has staged a number of product promotional events in places like Prague, Dusseldorf and in the Netherlands, Belgium, Malta and Hungary. "We will re-focus on Europe this year," said Cherikoff. He is also looking at selling the cooking program to European broadcasters. Australians looking to export to Europe, contact Austrade for more information - info@austrade.gov.au or PH - 132878. BUSINESS: CAN YOU AFFORD TO IGNORE EUROPE? EU TSUNAMI AID TOPS €1.5 BILLION TSUNAMI: EU TO HELP ASIA THROUGH TRADE COUNCIL THROWS WEIGHT BEHIND EU TSUNAMI EFFORT COMMISSION WEBSITE ON EU TSUNAMI EFFORT EUROPEAN SCIENTISTS JOIN POST-TSUNAMI ANALYSIS NEW CAP COMES INTO FORCE NZ FARMERS LAUD ARRIVAL OF NEW CAP EMISSIONS TRADING GETS UNDERWAY IN EUROPE EU MOVES TO CONSOLIDATE NO NUKES DEAL WITH IRAN ACP SUGAR FARMERS WON'T BE LEFT IN LURCH: MANDELSON EU TAKES STEP CLOSER TO COMMON SYSTEM ON VISAS STATISTIC OF THE WEEK BUSINESS: CAN YOU AFFORD TO IGNORE EUROPE? With all the hype about China should Australian business even bother to focus on Europe? The Australian Institute of Export, the European Australian Business Council (EABC) and the National Europe Centre will delve into this issue with a series of breakfast seminars this year for Australian businesspeople. The first, 'Can you afford to ignore Europe? A single open market for Australian Business' will be held in Sydney on 22 February at The Union Club at 25 Bent St in the city. The Melbourne seminar will take place on 25 February at The Athenaeum Club on 87 Collins St, Melbourne. Top level speakers have been enlisted and include former European Commission President, Sir Leon Brittan, who is now DL Chairman of the UBS Investment Bank and Austrade's Regional Director for Europe, John Finnin. The seminars are sponsored by Qantas and Austrade. For more information and to register, go to the website of the National Europe Centre at the Australian National University - http://anu.edu.au/NEC EU TSUNAMI AID TOPS €1.5 BILLION The European Union has pledged more than €1.5 billion towards the relief effort for Asia following the tsunami which wreaked havoc on the region on 26 December. Speaking at the donor's conference in Jakarta on 6 January, European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, announced €450 million worth of humanitarian and reconstruction aid on behalf of the Commission, and stated the European Investment Bank's intention to establish a €1 billion 'Indian Ocean Tsunami Lending Facility'. "The people of Europe stand with the people of Asia in this great tragedy," said Barroso, in his address to the world leaders gathered in Indonesia. "We will do everything in our power to help you in your efforts to put this tragedy behind us." In the immediate wake of the tragedy the Commission pledged €100 million in humanitarian aid to help in the initial crisis. The sum already donated by the EU's Member States and the Commission brings the overall EU contribution up to more than €1.5 billion, not including the massive private donations made by private citizens and companies in Europe. The European Civil Protection force is already active in tsunami-ravaged areas with assessment and coordination experts sent out to Asia immediately after the tsunami struck. The impact of this disaster is felt across the world - the tsunami battered numerous countries and also claimed its victims from many nationalities, including many Europeans," Barroso said. "Humanitarian efforts must continue but they must also be matched by effective planning for long term reconstruction to make people less vulnerable if such a disaster were to strike again." TSUNAMI: EU TO HELP ASIA THROUGH TRADE The European Commission is already looking at ways to use EU trade policy to relieve the pressure placed on businesses and governments in Asia as a result of the devastating tsunami which hit the region in late December. EU Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, said he wants to find ways of assisting people and businesses hit by the tsunami. "The localised nature of the damage poses real challenges in ensuring that relief hits the target, but there are trade measures we can use to assist rebuilding in the countries affected by the disaster, notably by speeding up measures to improve access to our markets," Mandelson said on 11 January. Commission Delegations in the region are looking into suspending anti-dumping duties and other measures imposed on businesses in the region, and the Commission is currently looking at ways to help these businesses boost exports to Europe. The EU's Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), which gives vulnerable developing countries preferential access for their products into the European market, will have its implementation fast-tracked with Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and India set to be large beneficiaries of the new regime. Sri Lanka, for example, will receive duty-free access to the EU for almost all its products including its vital textiles and clothing exports. The EU cannot make tariff concessions for individual countries without contravening WTO rules but the Commission stated it is ready to support WTO-wide initiatives to agree on tariff concessions for the affected countries. Other EU bodies that deal with food aid, fisheries, research and health are also looking at ways of assisting the relief effort in their various fields. COUNCIL THROWS WEIGHT BEHIND EU TSUNAMI EFFORT The EU Council has also pledged Europe's long-term commitment to reconstruction in tsunami-affected Asia stating after an extraordinary meeting of the Foreign Affairs and External Relations Committee that humanitarian aid should be the main focus of the effort at this point. The Council emphasised the need to prevent the outbreak of epidemics by ensuring food supply and access to clean drinking water, medicines and vaccines. The UN should continue to play a leading role in the relief effort, said the Council in a statement, inviting the Commission to propose a strategy so that the EU is better able to respond to such international crises in the future. €14 million of the EU's €1.5 billion worth of aid has been specifically allocated to the World Food Program to address the regions most pressing food needs. The Commission's contribution will provide 30,000 tonnes worth of cereals to victims of the tsunami. The Council also emphasised in their statement that aid to the tsunami victims would not be given at the expense of resources needed for African humanitarian and development aid. More than 200,000 people died in the Boxing Day tsunami, affecting 12 countries. More than 160 European nationals have been confirmed dead so far with many more on the lists of missing and injured. COMMISSION WEBSITE ON EU TSUNAMI EFFORT The European Commission has established a website which documents the EU response to the tsunami disaster. It features up to the minute and detailed information on the European effort. Go to - http://europa.eu/tsunami/index_en.htm EUROPEAN SCIENTISTS JOIN POST-TSUNAMI ANALYSIS The European Commission's Joint Research Centre has been instrumental in deciphering the circumstances surrounding the earthquake which caused the tsunami that hit Asia on 26 December. The Centre has been working closely with European and international organisations and researchers using satellite analysis to measure the immediate extent and cause of the disaster. The analysis is in turn being used to support international aid efforts. The Centre has put together country and regional maps of affected areas and the extent to which people, the environment and business has been affected by the disaster. The Commission plans to continue to maintain a comprehensive Tsunami Information System to assist EU and other humanitarian operations and will continue to issue damage and situation analysis assessments for the region. For more information on the Tsunami Information System and the efforts of the Joint Research Centre, go to - http://www.jrc.cec.eu.int/tsunami NEW CAP COMES INTO FORCE The EU's much anticipated reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy were implemented by 10 of the 15 pre-enlargement Member States on 1 January in a move that will see significant modifications to the way Europe assists the agricultural industry. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Sweden and the UK have changed over to the new system which replaces subsidies linked to production with a 'single farm payment' that is decoupled from levels of production. Farmers in those countries will have to make significant changes to their way they produce in order to meet the strict criteria, like having to observe specific conditions related to environmental sustainability and animal welfare, to be eligible for the payment. Direct payments to larger farms will be reduced in order to fund the EU's new rural development policy aimed at encouraging sustainability for agriculture and rural communities. Finland, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece and France will move to the New CAP next year. The ten new EU Member States are subject to a completely different support regime which reflects the differing nature of their agricultural industry. Slovenia and Malta have, however, opted to take on the New CAP in 2007. The New CAP's single payment system applies to the main market sectors including cereals, meat and milk and will be extended in 2006 to tobacco, olive oil and cotton. The New CAP also has a ceiling limiting spending on agricultural support with the same amount of funding allocated to the policy for the EU of 25 Members, as was provided to the EU-15. NZ FARMERS LAUD ARRIVAL OF NEW CAP The entry into force of the New CAP was welcomed by the Federated Farmers of New Zealand with President Tom Lambie stating the reform of the policy will create opportunities for New Zealand. Lambie explained the reforms well when he said- "Instead of a [European] sheep and beef farmer receiving different payments for the number of sheep or cattle they had on the property at a particular time of the year, that farmer will now receive a single payment based on the area of the land farmed," he said. "The reform means we can expect to see small reductions in total EU production of most commodities, but larger falls in EU export levels." The Federated Farmers said this will significantly advantage NZ producers because it is expected that the volume of subsidised, price-depressing beef will fall on the world market and NZ dairy farmers should benefit from reductions in EU export subsidies. Lambie praised the EU for taking "this huge first step" saying that in the long run both European and Kiwi farmers would reap the benefits. "CAP and other trade reforms offer New Zealand farmers many opportunities," he said. EMISSIONS TRADING GETS UNDERWAY IN EUROPE The European Union emissions trading system was launched on 1 January with 21 Member States embarking on the new scheme. Just four countries' plans - those for the Czech Republic, Poland, Greece and Italy - remain unassessed by the Commission with more than 9000 European industrial plants already trading CO² emissions allowances. As part of its commitment to the international agreement to combat rapid climate change, the Kyoto Protocol, the Commission saw that each EU country submit a plan to facilitate emissions trading. The system sees a Member State allocate a specified number of emissions allowances, which can be traded on the world market, to energy-intensive industrial plants. The Commission was charged with reviewing each Member State 's plan to see that it fitted with that country's particular strategy to reach its Kyoto target in reduced emissions. To read more about the EU's policy on climate change, go to - http://www.ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/emission.htm EU MOVES TO CONSOLIDATE NO NUKES DEAL WITH IRAN In forging the 'Paris Agreement' with Iran, EU countries the UK, Germany and France achieved a commitment from the Iranian Government to suspend the bulk of the country's nuclear program in exchange for an agreement which accorded Iran certain trade incentives with the EU. On 12 January the European Commission, which has been charged with the negotiations, met with Iranian representatives to formulate a Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). EU External Relations Commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who attended the negotiations, said they were a sign the EU wanted to work with Iran. "Iran can look forward to a richer relationship with the European Union, as long as the international community can be confident that Iran's nuclear program is not being developed for military purposes," she said. The TCA will be a non-preferential agreement which will focus on economic and financial cooperation and greater trade liberalisation between the EU and Iran. The agreement will also support Iran 's adaptation to WTO rules in light of its stated objective to join the international body for trade. It also envisages to pave the way for closer cooperation between the two sides on energy, transport, the environment, drug control, asylum and migration. "The negotiation and conclusion of the agreement will help develop economic exchanges and cooperation with Iran, and strengthen the process of political and economic reform," said the Commission in a statement. The EU is Iran's main trading partner accounting for 30 percent of its total trade. The TCA negotiations kicked off on 12 December, 2004. ACP SUGAR FARMERS WON'T BE LEFT IN LURCH: MANDELSON EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has called for urgent dialogue on the effects of the EU's changes to its sugar regime on the countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). ACP producers have voiced their concern that the EU's reforms will reduce the privileged levels of access afforded to developing countries in these regions for their sugar. Mandelson, in Guyana for talks on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the countries of the Caribbean, said that development assistance measures included in the EPAs would be advanced to increase the competitiveness of the ACP sugar industries and to support its diversification. "There can be no delay," Mandelson said affirming his commitment to ACP sugar producers. "I have heard the concerns on the pace and the extent of sugar reform in the EU - I take this extremely seriously - sugar reform in the EU is necessary and unavoidable," Mandelson said. "But it requires from us two things vis-à-vis ACP producers: that we maintain a preferential access for their imports, and that we accompany this with a robust local adaptation process." While in the region Mandelson also called for a global strategy for the smaller and more vulnerable WTO members. Late last year the EU launched an EPA, which is designed to foster trade between ACP nations and the EU and to encourage sustainable development, with countries of the Pacific - its negotiation is still ongoing. EU TAKES STEP CLOSER TO COMMON SYSTEM ON VISAS The EU is to establish a system whereby all Member States can share information and data on short-stay visas. The Visa Information System (VIS), proposed by the Commission, will take the EU further towards a common visa policy and facilitate more accurate checking of visas at the EU's external borders. The system would also make it easier for Member States to adhere to the 'Dublin Regulation' which determines the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application and the identification and return of illegal immigrants. Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, Franco Frattini, said the VIS would have two essential goals. "[The VIS will] contribute to the internal security of the Member States and the fight against illegal immigration by supporting the common visa policy and the checks on the visa applicants, thereby facilitating bona fide travelling in the Schengen area without internal borders," he said. 13 EU countries as well as Norway and Iceland, form the Schengen area. The Commission will soon begin negotiating the parameters of the VIS with the European Parliament and the EU Council. STATISTIC OF THE WEEK The European Union has overtaken Japan and the US as China's largest trading partner . Thanks to enlargement, when the EU swelled from 15 to 25 Member States, trade volume between China and the EU rose by 34.7 percent compared to 2003. China is the EU's second-largest trading partner, after the US. The EU is also Australia 's biggest trading partner and New Zealand 's second-largest after Australia. For more information on the items covered in news@eu, contact Roger Camilleri - PH: +61 2 6271 2746 or roger.camilleri@ec.europa.eu If you have not received this edition directly and would like to subscribe please go to http://www.delaus.cec.eu.int/forms/newsletter_subscription.htm and complete the registration form. Feel free to forward news@eu on to anyone you think might be interested. While the Commission aims to keep its network free from viruses, you are strongly encouraged to check this email and any attachments to it for viruses, as the Commission accepts no responsibility with regard to any computer virus transferred by way of this email. Please properly accredit the Delegation of the European Commission to Australia and New Zealand when reproducing any of the content of news@eu. updated January 13, 2005

Welcome to news@eu, the e-newsletter of the European Commission's Delegations to Australia and New Zealand.

AUSSIE EXPORTS TO EUROPE: OZ TUCKER A HIT IN THE EAST
Some of the EU's newest members are being targeted by an Australian company keen to show off what modern Oz cuisine has to offer. Dining Downunder is the brainchild of Sydney chef Vic Cherlikoff and one of its main products is a television series where three chefs cook with Aussie produce in top tourist locations around the country. The company also promotes various Australian products in Europe like Bega Cheese, Buderim Ginger and New Zealand Natural icecream. Cherikoff says he sees a lot of potential in the European market and has staged a number of product promotional events in places like Prague, Dusseldorf and in the Netherlands, Belgium, Malta and Hungary. "We will re-focus on Europe this year," said Cherikoff. He is also looking at selling the cooking program to European broadcasters.

Australians looking to export to Europe, contact Austrade for more information - info@austrade.gov.au or PH - 132878.

BUSINESS: CAN YOU AFFORD TO IGNORE EUROPE?
With all the hype about China should Australian business even bother to focus on Europe? The Australian Institute of Export, the European Australian Business Council (EABC) and the National Europe Centre will delve into this issue with a series of breakfast seminars this year for Australian businesspeople. The first, 'Can you afford to ignore Europe? A single open market for Australian Business' will be held in Sydney on 22 February at The Union Club at 25 Bent St in the city. The Melbourne seminar will take place on 25 February at The Athenaeum Club on 87 Collins St, Melbourne. Top level speakers have been enlisted and include former European Commission President, Sir Leon Brittan, who is now DL Chairman of the UBS Investment Bank and Austrade's Regional Director for Europe, John Finnin. The seminars are sponsored by Qantas and Austrade.

For more information and to register, go to the website of the National Europe Centre at the Australian National University - http://anu.edu.au/NEC

EU TSUNAMI AID TOPS €1.5 BILLION
The European Union has pledged more than €1.5 billion towards the relief effort for Asia following the tsunami which wreaked havoc on the region on 26 December. Speaking at the donor's conference in Jakarta on 6 January, European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, announced €450 million worth of humanitarian and reconstruction aid on behalf of the Commission, and stated the European Investment Bank's intention to establish a €1 billion 'Indian Ocean Tsunami Lending Facility'. "The people of Europe stand with the people of Asia in this great tragedy," said Barroso, in his address to the world leaders gathered in Indonesia. "We will do everything in our power to help you in your efforts to put this tragedy behind us." In the immediate wake of the tragedy the Commission pledged €100 million in humanitarian aid to help in the initial crisis. The sum already donated by the EU's Member States and the Commission brings the overall EU contribution up to more than €1.5 billion, not including the massive private donations made by private citizens and companies in Europe. The European Civil Protection force is already active in tsunami-ravaged areas with assessment and coordination experts sent out to Asia immediately after the tsunami struck. The impact of this disaster is felt across the world - the tsunami battered numerous countries and also claimed its victims from many nationalities, including many Europeans," Barroso said. "Humanitarian efforts must continue but they must also be matched by effective planning for long term reconstruction to make people less vulnerable if such a disaster were to strike again."

TSUNAMI: EU TO HELP ASIA THROUGH TRADE
The European Commission is already looking at ways to use EU trade policy to relieve the pressure placed on businesses and governments in Asia as a result of the devastating tsunami which hit the region in late December. EU Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, said he wants to find ways of assisting people and businesses hit by the tsunami. "The localised nature of the damage poses real challenges in ensuring that relief hits the target, but there are trade measures we can use to assist rebuilding in the countries affected by the disaster, notably by speeding up measures to improve access to our markets," Mandelson said on 11 January. Commission Delegations in the region are looking into suspending anti-dumping duties and other measures imposed on businesses in the region, and the Commission is currently looking at ways to help these businesses boost exports to Europe. The EU's Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), which gives vulnerable developing countries preferential access for their products into the European market, will have its implementation fast-tracked with Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and India set to be large beneficiaries of the new regime. Sri Lanka, for example, will receive duty-free access to the EU for almost all its products including its vital textiles and clothing exports. The EU cannot make tariff concessions for individual countries without contravening WTO rules but the Commission stated it is ready to support WTO-wide initiatives to agree on tariff concessions for the affected countries. Other EU bodies that deal with food aid, fisheries, research and health are also looking at ways of assisting the relief effort in their various fields.

COUNCIL THROWS WEIGHT BEHIND EU TSUNAMI EFFORT
The EU Council has also pledged Europe's long-term commitment to reconstruction in tsunami-affected Asia stating after an extraordinary meeting of the Foreign Affairs and External Relations Committee that humanitarian aid should be the main focus of the effort at this point. The Council emphasised the need to prevent the outbreak of epidemics by ensuring food supply and access to clean drinking water, medicines and vaccines. The UN should continue to play a leading role in the relief effort, said the Council in a statement, inviting the Commission to propose a strategy so that the EU is better able to respond to such international crises in the future. €14 million of the EU's €1.5 billion worth of aid has been specifically allocated to the World Food Program to address the regions most pressing food needs. The Commission's contribution will provide 30,000 tonnes worth of cereals to victims of the tsunami. The Council also emphasised in their statement that aid to the tsunami victims would not be given at the expense of resources needed for African humanitarian and development aid. More than 200,000 people died in the Boxing Day tsunami, affecting 12 countries. More than 160 European nationals have been confirmed dead so far with many more on the lists of missing and injured.

COMMISSION WEBSITE ON EU TSUNAMI EFFORT
The European Commission has established a website which documents the EU response to the tsunami disaster. It features up to the minute and detailed information on the European effort.

EUROPEAN SCIENTISTS JOIN POST-TSUNAMI ANALYSIS
The European Commission's Joint Research Centre has been instrumental in deciphering the circumstances surrounding the earthquake which caused the tsunami that hit Asia on 26 December. The Centre has been working closely with European and international organisations and researchers using satellite analysis to measure the immediate extent and cause of the disaster. The analysis is in turn being used to support international aid efforts. The Centre has put together country and regional maps of affected areas and the extent to which people, the environment and business has been affected by the disaster. The Commission plans to continue to maintain a comprehensive Tsunami Information System to assist EU and other humanitarian operations and will continue to issue damage and situation analysis assessments for the region.

For more information on the Tsunami Information System and the efforts of the Joint Research Centre, go to - http://www.jrc.cec.eu.int/tsunami

NEW CAP COMES INTO FORCE
The EU's much anticipated reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy were implemented by 10 of the 15 pre-enlargement Member States on 1 January in a move that will see significant modifications to the way Europe assists the agricultural industry. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Sweden and the UK have changed over to the new system which replaces subsidies linked to production with a 'single farm payment' that is decoupled from levels of production. Farmers in those countries will have to make significant changes to their way they produce in order to meet the strict criteria, like having to observe specific conditions related to environmental sustainability and animal welfare, to be eligible for the payment. Direct payments to larger farms will be reduced in order to fund the EU's new rural development policy aimed at encouraging sustainability for agriculture and rural communities. Finland, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece and France will move to the New CAP next year. The ten new EU Member States are subject to a completely different support regime which reflects the differing nature of their agricultural industry. Slovenia and Malta have, however, opted to take on the New CAP in 2007. The New CAP's single payment system applies to the main market sectors including cereals, meat and milk and will be extended in 2006 to tobacco, olive oil and cotton. The New CAP also has a ceiling limiting spending on agricultural support with the same amount of funding allocated to the policy for the EU of 25 Members, as was provided to the EU-15.

NZ FARMERS LAUD ARRIVAL OF NEW CAP
The entry into force of the New CAP was welcomed by the Federated Farmers of New Zealand with President Tom Lambie stating the reform of the policy will create opportunities for New Zealand. Lambie explained the reforms well when he said- "Instead of a [European] sheep and beef farmer receiving different payments for the number of sheep or cattle they had on the property at a particular time of the year, that farmer will now receive a single payment based on the area of the land farmed," he said. "The reform means we can expect to see small reductions in total EU production of most commodities, but larger falls in EU export levels." The Federated Farmers said this will significantly advantage NZ producers because it is expected that the volume of subsidised, price-depressing beef will fall on the world market and NZ dairy farmers should benefit from reductions in EU export subsidies. Lambie praised the EU for taking "this huge first step" saying that in the long run both European and Kiwi farmers would reap the benefits. "CAP and other trade reforms offer New Zealand farmers many opportunities," he said.

EMISSIONS TRADING GETS UNDERWAY IN EUROPE
The European Union emissions trading system was launched on 1 January with 21 Member States embarking on the new scheme. Just four countries' plans - those for the Czech Republic, Poland, Greece and Italy - remain unassessed by the Commission with more than 9000 European industrial plants already trading CO² emissions allowances. As part of its commitment to the international agreement to combat rapid climate change, the Kyoto Protocol, the Commission saw that each EU country submit a plan to facilitate emissions trading. The system sees a Member State allocate a specified number of emissions allowances, which can be traded on the world market, to energy-intensive industrial plants. The Commission was charged with reviewing each Member State 's plan to see that it fitted with that country's particular strategy to reach its Kyoto target in reduced emissions.

To read more about the EU's policy on climate change, go to - http://www.ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/emission.htm

EU MOVES TO CONSOLIDATE NO NUKES DEAL WITH IRAN
In forging the 'Paris Agreement' with Iran, EU countries the UK, Germany and France achieved a commitment from the Iranian Government to suspend the bulk of the country's nuclear program in exchange for an agreement which accorded Iran certain trade incentives with the EU. On 12 January the European Commission, which has been charged with the negotiations, met with Iranian representatives to formulate a Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). EU External Relations Commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who attended the negotiations, said they were a sign the EU wanted to work with Iran. "Iran can look forward to a richer relationship with the European Union, as long as the international community can be confident that Iran's nuclear program is not being developed for military purposes," she said. The TCA will be a non-preferential agreement which will focus on economic and financial cooperation and greater trade liberalisation between the EU and Iran. The agreement will also support Iran 's adaptation to WTO rules in light of its stated objective to join the international body for trade. It also envisages to pave the way for closer cooperation between the two sides on energy, transport, the environment, drug control, asylum and migration. "The negotiation and conclusion of the agreement will help develop economic exchanges and cooperation with Iran, and strengthen the process of political and economic reform," said the Commission in a statement. The EU is Iran's main trading partner accounting for 30 percent of its total trade. The TCA negotiations kicked off on 12 December, 2004.

ACP SUGAR FARMERS WON'T BE LEFT IN LURCH: MANDELSON
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has called for urgent dialogue on the effects of the EU's changes to its sugar regime on the countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). ACP producers have voiced their concern that the EU's reforms will reduce the privileged levels of access afforded to developing countries in these regions for their sugar. Mandelson, in Guyana for talks on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the countries of the Caribbean, said that development assistance measures included in the EPAs would be advanced to increase the competitiveness of the ACP sugar industries and to support its diversification. "There can be no delay," Mandelson said affirming his commitment to ACP sugar producers. "I have heard the concerns on the pace and the extent of sugar reform in the EU - I take this extremely seriously - sugar reform in the EU is necessary and unavoidable," Mandelson said. "But it requires from us two things vis-à-vis ACP producers: that we maintain a preferential access for their imports, and that we accompany this with a robust local adaptation process." While in the region Mandelson also called for a global strategy for the smaller and more vulnerable WTO members. Late last year the EU launched an EPA, which is designed to foster trade between ACP nations and the EU and to encourage sustainable development, with countries of the Pacific - its negotiation is still ongoing.

EU TAKES STEP CLOSER TO COMMON SYSTEM ON VISAS
The EU is to establish a system whereby all Member States can share information and data on short-stay visas. The Visa Information System (VIS), proposed by the Commission, will take the EU further towards a common visa policy and facilitate more accurate checking of visas at the EU's external borders. The system would also make it easier for Member States to adhere to the 'Dublin Regulation' which determines the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application and the identification and return of illegal immigrants. Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, Franco Frattini, said the VIS would have two essential goals. "[The VIS will] contribute to the internal security of the Member States and the fight against illegal immigration by supporting the common visa policy and the checks on the visa applicants, thereby facilitating bona fide travelling in the Schengen area without internal borders," he said. 13 EU countries as well as Norway and Iceland, form the Schengen area. The Commission will soon begin negotiating the parameters of the VIS with the European Parliament and the EU Council.

STATISTIC OF THE WEEK
The European Union has overtaken Japan and the US as China's largest trading partner . Thanks to enlargement, when the EU swelled from 15 to 25 Member States, trade volume between China and the EU rose by 34.7 percent compared to 2003. China is the EU's second-largest trading partner, after the US.

The EU is also Australia 's biggest trading partner and New Zealand 's second-largest after Australia.

For more information on the items covered in news@eu, contact Roger Camilleri - PH: +61 2 6271 2746 or roger.camilleri@ec.europa.eu

If you have not received this edition directly and would like to subscribe please go to http://www.delaus.cec.eu.int/forms/newsletter_subscription.htm and complete the registration form.

Feel free to forward news@eu on to anyone you think might be interested.

While the Commission aims to keep its network free from viruses, you are strongly encouraged to check this email and any attachments to it for viruses, as the Commission accepts no responsibility with regard to any computer virus transferred by way of this email. Please properly accredit the Delegation of the European Commission to Australia and New Zealand when reproducing any of the content of news@eu.