European Agenda 01 2008

WHAT’S ON IN POLITICAL BRUSSELS?

SloveniaThe first new member state to take over the EU Presidencyp. 6

EnergySpecial on the events and players that shape Europe‘s hottest topic p. 33

EventsA comprehensive overview of the highlights on the EU calendar for the first half of 2008 p. 13

InterviewJanez Jansa‘s top advisor on Europe gives a preview of the incoming Slovenian EU Presidencyp. 10

PeopleWho is new: Recent personnel changes in the EUWho was where: Pictures of Brussels‘ recent top events p. 58

Agenda 2008Where we are headed in 2008:Europe‘s vital events and issues.

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EDITORIALEuropeanAgenda

hen the clock strikes midnight on January 1st 2008, Slovenia will make European Un-ion history by becoming the first of the new member states to take up the EU Presidency.

If everything runs according to plan, the EU will by then be engrossed in the proc-ess of ratification of the new Lisbon Treaty, which the Union cannot afford to let fail like its predecessor. At the same time, the

deadline for a peaceful solution in Kosovo will have passed, and if a settlement has not been reached then Slovenia and the European Un-ion will risk another potentially unpredictable conflict in the Balkans involving both NATO and Russia.

These might be overwhelming challenges for such a young nation, but ‘overwhelming challenges’ are something to which Slovenia has become well-accustomed. As the first nation to join the European Un-ion from the former Yugoslavia, it managed a small miracle in breaking away from the time bomb of the Balkans, even maintaining a stable, democratic regime in spite of the political manoeuvring of its neigh-bour states. What is more, Slovenia’s GDP per capita on joining the EU in

The Miracle Workers2004 surpassed that of almost all other European countries’ on their join-ing the Union, including Portugal, which currently holds the Presidency.

In this edition of European Agenda, we will focus on the upcoming EU Slovenian Presidency, discussing those political leaders who have made the country a prime example to all new member states, as well as to the rest of the European Union. Slovenia is in the perfect place to take on the challenge of peace and political stability in the region and throughout the EU.

You will also find in these pages our Energy Special, in which European Agenda addresses the most important issues from Energy Security to Climate Change. Interviews with the most influential players in the en-ergy industry, from European policy-makers to the oil and gas sectors to the growing number of renewable energy associations, we hope this will shed some light on increasingly one of the most crucial issues for the European Union today.

Rudolf HetzelPublisher

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CONTENTEuropeanAgenda

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Editor in Chief: George P. Kyriacou, Miguel Maia

Editors: Rudolf Hetzel, Grit Fiedler, Elke Zander, Clemens zur Hausen, Jeff Katcherian, Isabel Mendes, Daniel Le Ray, Paul Thomas

Graphical Concept: Steffi Butter, Marcel Franke, Diana Steffens

Layout: Steffi Butter, Marcel Franke, Diana Steffens

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Slovenia Typically Slovenian?

Slovenia Facts & Figures

Slovenia Political Leaders

Slovenia Presidency Interview

Agenda 2008

Topics Euro Adoption

Topics EU Accession

Energy Map

Energy Agenda 2008

Energy Interview with Exxon Mobil

Energy Global Tycoons

Energy Wind Energy

Energy Biofuels

Energy Nuclear Energy

People Winner and Loser

People Personnel Changes

People Gala

Topics Eurocrat’s Babble

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58Gala: Friends of Europe President’s Dinner p. 55

Agenda March: EU Summit p. 18

Interview on EU Presidency p. 10

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College of Europe - Telephone: +32 (0)50 477 301 - [email protected]

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SLOVENIAEuropeanAgenda

Typically Slovenian?

Life expectancy in Slovenia is on the rise, but with an average life expectancy of 74.8 years men live a full 7 years less than women.

74.8

According to figures from 2004, the average Slove-nian will drink 84 liters of beer a year. That’s some-thing like 23 dl a day, which is a full 10 dl less than the standard beer can of 33 dl. Surely no-where close to 43 dl the Czechs drink every day.

84 liters LUKAIf you happen to be born in Slovenia, chances are if you’re a boy that your name is Luka – the most popular boy’s name at the moment.

was the number of men in Slovenia in 2006, with a total population of 2,020,174.

989,799

Marriages are on the rise in Slovenia as

in 2006 over 6,300 marriages happened, almost 10% more than the year before.

Slovenia has 98.7 inhabit-ants per km2,

which is much lower than in the majority of other European states (460/km2 in the Neth-erlands, 195/km2 in Italy).

98.710%

12%

In 2006 the lowest number of deaths after 1979 was recorded with only 18,180 people dying.

18,180

If you are from Slovenia, then there is a 12% chance that you live in the capi-tal city of Ljubliana. The second largest city, Maribor, is inhabited by 5% of the population.

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NIKAA very popular name for a Slovenian girls nowadays is Nika.

was the number of women in Slovenia in 2006.

1,023,798

Luka and Nika will think twice before having

kids of their own. Slovenia has the 6th low-est birthrate in the world, with an average of 1.22 children/woman.

1.22years is the average life expectancy of a woman in Slovenia.

56% of Slovenians think they need a diet and 49% are doing something about it.

49%

81.9

Is the ratio between the Human De-velopment Index for women and men. Nika lives in the 25th best place women could possibly live in the world; at least as far as the difference between her quality of life and that of Luka.

90.1

As is to be expected, this southern, temper-ate, mediterranean country is quite into wine. The consumption of 44 liters/year is not far off the French, Italian or Portuguese one. But then again, the real country to beat is Lithuania.

44 liters

of all people living in Slovenia are native Slovenes (2002 census). There are two national minority communities: Serbs (1.98%), Croats (1.81%) and Bosniaks (1.10%). Hungarian and Italian communi-ties also rank in the several thousands of inhabitants.

83.06%

A Country in Numbers


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Slovenia Facts and Figures

Capital City: LjubljanaOther major cities: Maribor and Nova Gorica.

1991 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2007

on 25 june 1991 Slovenia formally declared independence. It did so 24 hours before the expected date, wrong-footing Yugoslav military response. A brief conflict, lasting only 10 days, followed before Slovenia received broad international recognition as an in-dependent state.

Ljubljana is the average temperature in January-2°is the average temperature in July21°

roughly 2/3 the size of Belgium20,273 km2

coast line at the Adriatic Sea46,6 km

is the highest mountain Triglav (the name means “three-heads”)2864 m

on 15 january 1992The then-European Com-munity recognises Slov-enia as an independent State on 15 January 1992

on 22 may 1992Slovenia joined the United Nations.

on 29 march 2004Slovenia joined NATO.

on 1 may 2004Slovenia joined the European Union

on 1 january 2007Slovenia joined the Eu-rozone and the Euro replaced the “Tolar” as

the official cur-rency.

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prime minister: janzes jansaThe hero of the 10-day Inde-pendence War in Slovenia, he was elected Prime Minister in November 2004. Educated in Defense Studies to become part of the Yugoslav regime’s elite, Jansa’s views on unfair treatment within the Yugoslav People’s Army (YPA) first got his works confiscated, and in

1985 he was prosecuted by the Yugoslav authorities. Fear of popular unrest prevented the authorities from going ahead with his arrest, but he lost any chance of finding em-ployment and survived for two years as a mountain guide, away from the capital city of Ljubljana. He made his way back into the defense and po-litical system and in 1990 put in place the military apparatus that fended off the YPA’s response to the Slovenian Declaration of Independence on 25 July 1991. In 1993 he was nominated leader of the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia and after having been elected to the National Assembly. His first governmental duty was as Defense Minister in 2000, under the government of Andrej Bajuk and in 2004 his party won the elections for the National Assembly, consequently nominating him Prime Minister.

Slovenia Political Leaders

president: danilo türk The new President of Slovenia, Danilo Türk, was elected President of the Republic on November 11, beating his opponent Lojze Pe-terle as he received 68.2% of the votes. He will take the Oath of Office on December 23rd 2007. A former diplomat and Ambassa-dor of his country to the United Nations, Mr Türk was nominated UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs by then-Secre-

tary General Kofi Annan, an office he held from 2000 to 2005. Despite his impressive victory at the polls, Mr Túrk will have a hard task replacing the current Slovenian President, Janez Drnovsek. Drnovsek is regarded as a sort of spiritual guru in Slovenia, who, after being diagnosed with kidney cancer in 1999, changed his life remarkably by refocusing his attention to the inner-most problems of the human condition. Despised by the politi-cal classes, whom he accused of spiritual shortsightedness, President Dr-novsek has been quoted referring to current Prime Minister Jansa as “the Prince of Darkness”. He is, nevertheless, one of the most popular public figures in the country and thus he is going to be a tough act to follow.

foreign minister: dimitrij rupelDimitrij Rupel is the Foreign Affairs Min-ister in Slovenia and considered one of the most seasoned politicians in Europe to hold that position. He first held the position from 1990 to 1993 during the in-dependence process, and took it up again in 2000. In his second term, he stayed for 4 years, until he was exonerated by Prime

Minister Anton Rop. He then joined the opposition Democratic Party and when Janez Jansa won the elections later that year, he was rein-stated in the position, only 6 months after he had left. Mr. Rupel stud-ied Literature and holds a Ph.D. in Sociology with Brandeis University. His niece, Anja Rupel, is one of the most successful pop singers and songwriters on the Slovenian music scene.

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lovenia will be the first of the member states that acceded to the EU in 2004 to take up the Council Presidency. It is a mo-mentous occasion for the Union as Slov-enia represents not only the Central and Eastern European countries, but it is the first Balkan country to be part of the EU. With looming prospects over the Kosovo issue, Slovenia is now in a perfect posi-tion to show the rest of the region that there is a way to peace, stability and to EU membership itself.

European Agenda met with Janez Lenarčič, State Secretary for European Affairs, and a top advisor to Prime Minis-ter Jansa, to discuss the hottest issues for the first presidency with a Slavic accent.

European Agenda: What will be the four main priorities for the Slov-enian Presidency?

Janez Lenarčič: The presidency will work on a number of issues, but it will focus on four cardinal priorities. The first will be the future of Eu-rope, which includes the ratification of the new treaty, the continuation of the accession negotiations and the role of the EU in general.

The second priority is the situation in the Western Balkans. This is of great importance to Slovenia because it is the region that we have geo-graphic, historical, cultural and all kinds of other links with. As you know, all the countries in this region have the European perspective and our goal is to take important steps forward that will lead to the realisation of this ultimate objective, that will obviously take several years.

The next priority is Climate Change and the Energy Policy. This is one of the most important challenges for the EU and there were very ambitious goals set by the 2007 Spring Council meeting that require some follow-up work on how to achieve them. The last objective that we will want to dis-cuss at the March 2008 Summit will be the Lisbon Agenda that will come into its next implementation step, and we must follow that process too.

Interview The Balkans at the Heart of Europe

What do you think will be the effect on the whole process of the victory of Mr Tachi in Kosovo?

The results have not changed the situation. It is our understanding that there is a broad consensus among the various Albanian parties in Kosovo concerning its status, and the victory of Mr Tachi does not change that fact.

This question will certainly be the most difficult one during our presi-dency. We do not expect that the issue of Kosovo will be settled by the end of this year and it is more likely that it will spill over into the next year. We are getting ready for that, and our primary goal will be to estab-lish and maintain a unified position on the issue. It is no secret that, at the moment, member states don’t have identical views on how to solve this issue; we have to work together with the current Portuguese presi-dency and continue into our presidency to forge and maintain the unity of the European Union. Kosovo is and will be a European issue, because the EU is the entity that will have to live with the consequences of the Kosovo settlement for years to come.

If there were a unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo, what would be the Slovenian presidency’s actions?

This is a hypothetical question, but it is one of the scenarios we are working on. It is still too early to say what the EU action would then be. We are still waiting for the report of the Contact Group on 10th De-cember and there are still some meetings scheduled. We will see where this process will come to and at the same time we are getting ready for every situation and every scenario. We will try to follow our primary goal, which is ensuring unified EU action.

Are Kosovo and the situation in the rest of Eastern Europe and Central Asia going to be prominent topics of discussion during the forthcoming EU-Russia Summit?

There are very many issues on the agenda for EU-Russia relations, namely from the Common Foreign and Security policy, such as Kosovo and all the other trouble spots and crisis situations in the world. There are also other areas like economic cooperation, raising the question of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. There are chances, especially

Janez Jansa’s top advisor gives European Agenda a sneak preview of the incoming Slovenian Presidency. by Rudolf Hetzel

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after the new elections in Poland, to move forward again in the relation-ship with Russia.

This Summit will also be particularly interesting in as much as it will come after the parliamentary and presidential elections in Russia and there will be a new president attending the meeting. Let me say that we hope everyone is aware of the importance of the democratic conduct of these elections.

What do you hope to achieve with 2008 being the year for Intercultural Dialogue?

The primary goal of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue is to promote mutual understanding, dialogue and respect between people living in Europe of various ethnic, religious, cultural and other back-grounds. If you take a look at the decision declaring 2008 the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, it sets a number of goals to be pursued by the Member States in order to promote dialogue within our borders.

Of course, intercultural dialogue can also have an external dimension and, in this context, the Presidency will take the opportunity to promote intercultural dialogue with third countries, especially with the Western Balkans, but also in the Euro-Mediterranean framework.

Going onto the issue of energy security, what is the importance of the Nabucco Pipeline in your strategy?

Of course any measure that improves the diversity of energy supply is beneficial in the EU. The Energy Action Plan will be reviewed on an an-nual basis, but, in the long run, energy security will have to be pursued

via other avenues, namely through alternative energy sources because - no matter how we diversify our supply - the European Union’s depend-ence on imported energy supplies is wrong and this trend is something that has to be dealt with. The way to go about this is greater investment in renewable energy sources, which is also an important part of our agenda. When I mentioned earlier the commitment made last March, I meant particularly the commitment to achieve 20% share of renewable energies. That binding target is set for the entire European Union and what remains to be done now is to find the target for each individual member state. One can imagine that it is not going to be an easy matter and it will require intensive consultations and negotiations on the basis of the Commission’s proposals that we expect will be issued in January. This will all take some time because this falls under the category of leg-islative package to be reached under the co-decision procedure.

What do you think will be the Slovenian Presidency’s role in the ratifica-tion process for the new Treaty?

The Presidency cannot ratify the treaty for other member states, what it can do is show the right example. Our government intends to send the proposal for ratification to our parliament immediately after the signa-ture. And then we hope our parliament will ratify the treaty speedily to show the way to other countries. We will also stimulate ratification proc-esses in other member states and we stand ready to assist whenever we are called to do so.

I think it is important that people understand that we cannot afford to fail now, because we have been here before, and then the ratifica-tion process failed in two member states and we are now trying to do it again in a different way, but it is a treaty that is good for Europe.

How much of the Lisbon Strategy overlapped to the Lisbon Treaty, apart from the name, that is?

Well, maybe there will now be more confusion because of the “Treaty” and the “Strategy”. I think you can find the goals of the Lisbon Strategy all over the place in the text of the new treaty. I think there is no shortage there of Lisbon goals mentioned from the very first articles onwards.

What needs more attention in the Lisbon goals is the budget for it. In 2005, there was an agreement that the Commission would do a compre-hensive review of the budget for 2008-9 and that should, in my view, be more aligned with the Lisbon Strategy. But the time for that is not now because we need to have a treaty in place; we need to determine what we will do together before we can decide how we finance it.

As far as the Strategy itself is concerned, we believe that its renewed or revised form is now more effective with the mechanism that was put in place allowing the member states themselves to put in place pro-grams that the Commission monitors and assesses. This mechanism has proved to be good because it gives the member states the initiative and the Strategy has started to produce results and the economic perform-ance of the EU in the last few years has been good, especially compared to other big economic players like the United States or Japan.

We don’t expect major changes in the Strategy; maybe just some fine tuning in some areas and a smooth transition to the next phase of the implementation.

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AGENDAEuropeanAgenda

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AGENDA 2008

24.04.08 – 25.04.08

European Commu-nication Summit

European Patent Forum

06.05.08 – 07.05.08

28.01.08 – 01.02.08

2nd EU Sustain-able Energy Week

European Busi-ness Summit

13.03.08 – 14.03.08

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Under the umbrella of the Sustainable En-ergy Europe Campaign (SEE), the EC’s DG TREN, the EU Institutions, the Slovenian Presidency and major stakehold-ers concerned with sustainable energy are working together to put on the second EU Sustainable Energy Week. The events or-

ganised during EUSEW in Brussels and beyond stress the need for eve-ryone to work together towards a common goal. An extensive list of key topics will be cov-ered, highlighting the multi-sectoral nature of sustainable energy development, namely: from renewable energy sources to the energy

efficiency which they provide, from the in-troduction of EU policy to the local actions which carry it out, from distributed energy to planning, from tech-nologies to markets, from legislation to so-cietal behaviours and educational integra-tion, architecture and transportation.

28.01.08 – 01.02.08 2nd EU Sustainable Energy Week Energy independence: Outlining foundations for the future

location:brussels, belgium

host: jointly under-taken by the euro-pean institutions and a wide array of private and public organisations.

JANUARY

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Parliament: Session Committees Groups External Parliamentary Activities Conciliation Committee Flags: National Holidays

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08.01.08 “Give Europe the means to grow - budget review: reform or reshape?”, ALDE Group, EP, Brussels +++ 08.-11.01.08 New EU Member States: Preparing for the Euro Introduction, Brus-sels, Frankfurt +++ 09.01.08 Blueprint Partners 5th Anniversary, Brussels +++ 09.01.08 “Compe-tences of national, regional and local authorities with regards to urban transport”, Joint Seminar ALDE and CoR; EP, Brussels +++ 17.01.08 Interna-tional workshop on ‘achieving and safeguard-ing sound fiscal positions’, DG ECOFIN, Brussels +++ 20.-22.01.08 Informal Workshop on Climate Change, Slovenian Presidency of the EU +++ 21.-22.02.08 Poland at a crossroads: how can the economy benefit more from EU accession?, DG ECOFIN, Brussels +++ 27.01.08 – 30.01.08 5th International Trade Academy Forum, Eurocham-bres, La Hulpe, Brussels +++ 31.01.-10.02.08 7th Regulatory and Scientific Affairs Conference, Eu-ropean Generic Medicines Association, Brussels

23.01.08 – 27.01.08World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008

For over three decades, the World Economic Forum Annual Meet-ing has provided an unrivalled platform for leaders from all walks of life to shape the global

agenda at the start of each year. At the core is its multi-stakeholder model that leverages the collective wisdom of leaders from business, gov-ernment, the media, academia, the arts and civil society by building a global platform for collab-oration and action to address priorities on the global agenda. Under the motto “the Power of Collaborative Innovation”, the Annual Meeting 2008 programme will also harness the experi-ence of next year’s diverse and international Co-Chairs: Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the Great Britain, James Dimon, Chairman and CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Henry A. Kissinger.

location: davos, switzerland

host: world economic forum

07.01.08 – 08.01.08 Opening of the Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008

The European Year of Intercultural Dialogue will be officially opened at an EU conference in

Ljubljana, Slovenia on the 7th and 8th of January 2008, as Slovenia is chairing the EU Presidency in the first half of the year. At this conference, stud-ies and research papers will be presented on the topic of intercultural dialogue, especially with regards to integration and education. The Civil Society Platform for Intercultural Dialogue will also present their political recommendations.

location: ljubljana,slovenia

further events

31.01.08 Europe’s Looming Demographic Crunch

This year’s Friends of Europe “European Policy Summit on Demograph-ics” will discuss whether tactical policies can ad-dress profoundly struc-tural problems and what

policy measures are needed to soften the impact of shrinking workforces. Furthermore, it will ad-dress questions on whether the EU’s “Flexicu-rity“ is the first sign of a workplace revolution, and for how long pensions and healthcare will still be affordable in Europe. Confirmed speakers include: Joaquin Almunia, EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs; Aart de Geus, Deputy Secretary-General, OECD; Beverly Hugh-es, Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families, UK.

location: bibliothèque solvay, brussels, belgium

host : friends of europe

EU Commissioner Joaquin AlmuniaCo-Chair Tony Blair

Intercultural Dialogue gets underway

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With the theme of ‘Greening the Economy: new Energy for Busi-ness’, the EBS 2008 will focus on how Europe can turn a “carbon chal-lenge” into business opportunity, giving new energy to growth and jobs. At EBS 2008, leading business and political figures, NGOs, media and academics

from various countries will exchange (busi-ness) climate visions and present (eco) in-novative solutions. Speakers will include: José Manuel Barroso, President, European Commission; EU Com-missioners Jacques Barrot, Stavros Dimas, Ján Figel, László Ko-vács, Peter Mandel-

son, Janez Potočnik; Jeroen van der Veer, CEO, Royal Dutch Shell; Jean-Cyril Spinetta, CEO, Air France-KLM; Fulvio Conti, CEO, Enel; Jean-Philippe Courtois, President, Microsoft International; Ian Hud-son, President, DuPont EMEA; Dennis Jönsson, President, CEO, Tetra Pak.

21.02.08 – 22.02.08 6th European Business Summit Greening the Economy: New Energy for Business

location: tour & taxi, brussels, belgium

host: federation of en-terprises in belgium (feb) and busines-seurope

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05.02.08 CoR Bureau Meeting, CoR, Brussels +++ 06.02.08 – 07.02.08 CoR Plenary Session, CoR, Brussels +++ 07.02.08 Breaga: Award Win-ning Irish Musicians, Irish Regions Office, Brus-sels, Belgium +++ 11.02.08 – 13.02.08 Confer-ence on e-Government, Slovenian Presidency of the EU, Brdo, Slovenia +++ 14.02.08 – 15.02.08 Conference on Cancer, Slovenian Presidency of the EU, Brdo, Slovenia +++ 16.02.08 EU Stud-ies Fair, European Voice, Brussels +++ 19.02.08 – 20.02.08 Biosimilars 2008, Brussels +++ 21.02.08 – 22.02.08 Informal Meeting of EU Defence Ministers, Slovenian Presidency of the EU +++ 26.02.08 Lunch Debate on Competi-tiveness, Forum for the Automobile and Society, Brussels +++ 26.02.08 – 28.02.08 Logicon Eu-rope 2008, Brussels +++ 28.02.08 The Future of the Franco-German Engine in the European Un-ion, College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium

12.02.08 ICT Standardisation Policy Conference

Europe must create an environment which meets both industry needs and society’s ex-pectations to promote the competitiveness of European industry while

ensuring that all citizens can further benefit from the opportunities created by the Informa-tion Society. Given the critical importance of an efficient European ICT standardisation policy, the Commission is organising an open meeting to present and discuss the recommendations of a recent study on ‘The specific policy needs for ICT standardisation’.

location: ec charlemagne building

host: european commission

EC Vice President Verheugen will open the conference.

07.02.08 – 08.02.08 EUA ExpertsConference

In an increasingly com-petitive environment, Europe’s Higher Educa-tion Institutions must find a way to become financially sustainable.

This conference promises to unite experts from across Europe to identify the key elements nec-essary for the financial survival of Europe’s High-er Education Institutions in the future. Policy-makers, institutional leaders and researchers on the topic will explore the links between funding and autonomy, accountability and governance structures, aiming to pinpoint the key features of sound costing systems.

location: brussels

host: european univer-sity asscociation

further events

19.02.08 – 21.02.08 5th Worldwide Security Conference

The WCS5, organised by the EWI in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and the World Customs Organization, is one of the largest and most prestigious security con-

ferences. It will bring together 750 government, business and civil society leaders from around the world to discuss the challenge of enhancing cooperation to fight terrorism and violent ex-tremism. The WCS5 will examine a broad range of views from around the globe on the respon-sibility of business, governments and people to create a new global architecture to face the challenge.

location: world customs organization headquarters, brussels, belgium

host: east-west-institute

Michel Danet, Secretary General of the WCO


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When the Heads of State and Govern-ment of the 27 EU member-states will in March 2008, the ratification process of the new Treaty will of course be one of the most important is-sues to be discussed. On the international front, the outcome and consequences of

the Kosovo process will be on the agenda. The Council meeting comes a few weeks before the EU-Russia Summit that will also be addressed by the European leaders.Internally, besides the ratification of the Lis-bon treaty, the gath-ering will focus on the new stage of im-

plementation of the Lisbon Strategy and it will also prepare the review of the Budget. This will be the first moment to analyze the achievements of the European Year for Intercultural Dia-logue.

13.03.08 – 14.03.08 European Council Spring SummitRelaunching the Lisbon strategy under a new treaty

host: council of theeuropean union

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02.03.08 – 05.03.08 PRFM 2008, European Nu-clear Society +++ 04.03.08 – CeBIT, Expo Hano-ver +++ 05.03.08 – 06.03.08 Conference: Use of Structural Funds for Enhanced Development of Research Infrastructure, Slovenian Presidency of the European Union, Brdo, Slovenia +++ 05.03.08 – 06.03.08 COGEN Europe Annual Conference 2008, European Association for the Promotion of Cogeneration, Brussels +++ 07.03.08 - 09.03.08 CEP Clean Energy Power 2008, REECO GmbH, Stuttgart +++ 11.03.08 The European Business Awards, InterContinental Paris+++ 12.03.08 Concert of The Slovenian Philharmonic, Sloveni-an Presidency of the European Union, Brussels +++ 11.03.08 – 13.03.08 Transmission & Distri-bution Europe 2008, Amsterdam, The Nether-lands +++ 18.03.08 – 21.03.08 28th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, Erasme University Hospital, Brussels +++ 19.03.08 3rd International Conference on Nanotechnology and Smart Textiles for Industry and Fashion, The Institute of Nanotechnology, London +++ 19.03.08 The European Meeting in-dustry Fair, Brussels Expo

17.03.08 – 19.03.08 UIC Highspeed 2008

The 6th World Congress & Trade Exhibition on High Speed Rail in Am-sterdam will be the most important event in

the long distance passenger rail transportation and infrastructure business. All strategic issues linked to the development of high speed rail systems will be addressed at this global event organized by UIC, NS and ProRail, with all key players from the international transport scene expected to attend. UIC HIGHSPEED 2008 fol-lows five successful editions of this congress un-der the EurailSpeed brand name. This new brand name, UIC HIGHSPEED 2008, underlines the new global dimension of UIC’s railway cooperation activities.

location: amsterdam rai exhibition and convention center

Jaques Barrot

12.03.08 – 14.03.08 World Biofuels Markets

With 1300 participants from 58 countries at-tending in 2007, the World Biofuels Markets Congress is Europe’s largest gathering of biofuels professionals. Since its inception in 2006, the congress has grown exponentially to become the must-at-tend conference for in-dustry experts looking

to share best practices and attract new clients. This year’s agenda includes over 200 top speak-ers and is organized into three streams with five workshops. Several networking events are also built into the program, offering participants plenty of time to meet new contacts and visit our 100 exhibitors.

location: brussels expo

host: green power conferences

further events

31.03.08 – 03.04.08 European Wind Energy Conference

The European Wind En-ergy Conference & Ex-hibition is widely recog-

nised as the unique „Annual General Meeting“ for the international wind energy community. The 2008 event, to be held in Brussels from 31 March to 3 April, will attract over 4,000 profes-sional visitors and political delegations from 70 countries. Visitors represent all relevant parts of the decision making chain - from engineers, pur-chasers and analysts to political representatives and board members. It is the only event that covers every key aspect of the wind market, giv-ing unparalleled access to business contacts and unique networking opportunities.

Location: Brussels Expo

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The European Commu-nication Summit gath-ers the leading Com-munication Directors and Spokespersons for a two-day confer-ence in Brussels. Par-ticipants come from business, politics, as-sociations and media across Europe and will hear presentations and discussions from more

than 60 top speakers who debate strategies and tools, methods and best cases within the fields of Corporate Communication, Pub-lic Relations, Media Relations and political communication. Speak-ers will include: Mike Davies, Global Director of Communications, PriceWaterhouseCoop-

ers; Christof Ehrhart, Vice President Corpo-rate Communications EADS; Elfrieke van Ga-len, Vice President Cor-porate Communica-tions CSR, KLM. At the evening gala, the Euro-pean Communication Award will be present-ed to a campaign that successfully promoted the European idea.

24.04.08 – 25.04.08 European Commu- nication SummitConference and Gala for Europe’s PR professionals

LOCATION: LE PLAZA, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

HOST: EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNICATION DIRECTORS (EACD)

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02.04.08 – 04.04.08 Climate Protection and Re-newable Energy: Medium and Small Communi-ties facing the Challenge, European Climate Con-ference, Rovigo, Italy +++ 03.04.08 – 04.04.08 Conference “Public Finances in the EU”, EC, Brussels +++ 08.04.08 – 10.04.08 Euromainte-nance 2008, European Federation of National Maintenance Societies, Brussels +++ 09.04.08 Conference: Social Impact of Education and Vi-sion 2020, Slovenian Presidency of the European Union, Brdo, Slovenia +++ 14.04.08 – 18.04.08 GSMP World Wide Spring Event 2008, Brussels, Belgium +++ 17.04.08 – 18.04.08 East meets West 2008, European Patent Office, Vienna, Aus-tria +++ 22.04.08 – 24.04.08 European Seafood Exposition, Brussels +++ 24.04.08 – 25.04.08 European Forum for In-House Counsel, Europe-an Company Lawyers Association, Brussels +++ 27.04.08 NATO Summit, Bucharest, Romania

21.04.08 – 25.04.08 European Road Transport Research Arena - TRA 2008

TRA 2008 will be an op-portunity for EU road transport stakeholders and researchers to dis-cuss strategies to com-plete the process that began at Goteborg’s

TRA 2006 of creating a true ‘European Road Transport Research Arena’. Coinciding with im-plementation of the 7th EU Research Framework Programme (FP7), it aims to develop new tech-nologies for better transport systems. Climate change demands urgent responses, and com-petition is challenging Europe’s position in the global road transport market. The event brings together research partners, industry representa-tives, NGOs and policy-makers to develop ideas on how to answer these and other challenges.

LOCATION: LJUBLJANA,SLOVENIA

HOST: EUROPEAN COMMISSION, CEDR, ERTRAC

EU Transport Commissioner Potocnik

15.04.08 – 16.04.08 European Nuclear Assembly

The European Nuclear Assembly (ENA) pro-vides an opportunity for politicians, industry experts and stakeholder representatives from around the world to dis-

cuss the latest political, economic and environ-mental developments in the nuclear field. The Energy Policy for Europe (EPE), recently adopted by the Council, forges a link between energy and climate change and recognises the central role that nuclear energy will play in promoting low-carbon energy and competitiveness. The European Nuclear Energy Forum will aim for an inclusive, transparent and non-ideological de-bate on the key contribution that nuclear makes to the EU’s energy future.

LOCATION: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

HOST: FORATOM-EUROPE-AN ATOMIC FORUM

further events

24.04.08 – 26.04.08 The EU inInternational Affairs

The Institute for Euro-pean Studies (IES) at the Vrije Universiteit Brus-sels (VUB), the Institut d’Études Européennnes (IEE) at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), the UN University pro-gramme for Compara-

tive Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS), and the Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations organise this conference. In line with its overall objectives, it provides a forum for dis-cussion and exchange of ideas among scholars that take an interest in understanding the inter-face between the EU and international politics and law, as well as fostering exchange between the scientific and the related policy communities, and both academics and the policy-making com-munity are expected to attend the conference.

LOCATION: WORLD CUSTOMS ORGANIZATION HEADQUARTERS, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

HOST: EAST-WEST-INSTITUTE

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The European Patent Forum and the Europe-an Inventor of the Year 2008 are co-organised by the European Pat-ent Office, the govern-ment of Slovenia, the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office and the European Com-mission. The Euro-pean Patent Forum attempts to examine

intellectual property holistically, taking into account political, social, ethical, techno-logical, environmental and historical factors. Jointly organised by the European Patent Office and the Euro-pean Commission, the European Inven-tor of the Year Awards were first presented in

Brussels in 2006, and in Munich in its sec-ond year. Speakers in 2007 included Angela Merkel and Günther Verheugen.

06.05.08 – 07.05.08 European Patent Forum and European Inventor of the Year Advancing Innovation in Europe

LOCATION:GRAND HOTEL UNION, LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA

HOST:EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE, EUROPEAN COMMISSION

MAY

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15.05.08-16.05.08 Adapting EU Trade Law to the Challenge of Globalisation, Academy of Europe-an Law +++ 16.05.08 European Policy Seminar: Exporting education: Europe‘s role in transna-tional education, Academic Cooperation Asso-ciation (ACA), Brussels +++ 19.05.08 – 30.05.08 UN Conference on Biodiversity 2008, Bonn, Ger-many +++ 21.05.08 – 22.05.08 Training: The Eu-ropeanisation of Prison Management, European Institute of Public Administration, Bratislava, Slovakia +++ 23.05.08 – 24.05.08 Conference on Disability, Slovenian Presidency of the Euro-pean Union, Ljubljana, Slovenia +++ 27.05.08 Conference: „Reforming the Budget, Changing Europe“, DG ECOFIN, Brussels +++ 27.05.2008 European Neighbours‘ Day, CECODHAS - Euro-pean Liaison Committee for Social Housing, 725 towns in Europe

06.05.08 - 08.05.08 e-Health without Frontiers

This conference organ-ised by the European Institute for Health Records will focus on topics which contribute to connecting eHealth tools and users. It aims to demonstrate oppor-

tunities, achievements and challenges of the implementation of electronic healthcare, and to define as clearly as possible future directions for the further development of eHealth in Europe. On May the 5th satellite events such as national eHealth conference and events will be organised by European associations and projects.

LOCATION: LJUBLIANA, SLOVENIA

HOST: EUROPEAN INSTI-TUTE FOR HEALTH RECORDS

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU Commissioner for External Relations

16.05.08 – 17.05.08 EU-LAC Summit

High level meeting of Heads of States and Governments between

the EU-Latin America & Caribbean (LAC). The last EU-LAC Summit took place in Vienna (May 2006). The summits are unique occasions to have a dialogue at high level, addressing im-portant issues to the partnership between both regions. At each Summit, the Heads of State and Government adopt a Declaration, containing joint policy statements and commitments re-garding the cooperation between both regions.

LOCATION: LIMA, PERU

further events

15.05.08 - 16.05.08 IRU World Congress

Road transport’s indis-pensable role in enhanc-ing prosperity, wealth distribution and social re-lations between regions and nations. The con-gress includes speeches

by Binali Yildirim, Minister of Transport of Turkey, Mikhail Gorbachev, Former President of the Soviet Union, and Jamal Saghir, Director, Energy, Trans-port and Water, World Bank, on May 15th. On May 16th (after sessions on, for example, “Make your road transport operations more efficient, profita-ble, safer and more secure”), Renate Sommer, MEP, Martin Marmy, IRU Secretary General, and others will discuss on “The Silk Road – A link between the Asian, European, CIS, Middle East, North, Central and South American economies”.

LOCATION: ISTANBUL, TURKEY

HOST: INTERNATIONAL ROAD TRANSPORT UNION

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Employment Week 2008, now celebrating its 15th year, provides a forum for all European employment and social affairs stakeholders. In 23 sessions, the Em-ployment Week 2008 will aim to unlock the dialogue between the political decision mak-ers, business leaders, social partners and

hundreds of employ-ment practitioners to discuss the achieve-ments of current Euro-pean employment pol-icies and trends, as well as exchange ideas on how to create synergy between all the stake-holders. A wide range of conference topics illustrated by concrete case-studies aims at

providing participants with the chance to learn more about the employment trends and initiatives in the European Union. Each session will allow am-ple time for discussion and debate which will provide the opportu-nity to influence future initiatives that will im-pact your activities.

11.06.08 - 12.06.08 Employment Week 2008 Discussing Employment Trends in Europe

LOCATION:MANAGEMENT CENTRE EUROPE, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

HOST: TARSUS GROUP

JUNE

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02.06.08 Conference on e-Justice & e-Law, Slov. Pres. of the EU, Portoroz, Slovenia +++ 02.06.08 - 06.06.08 16th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, ETA - Renewable Energies, Valencia, Spain +++ 04.06.2008 - 06.06.2008 ITS in Europe Congress and Exhibi-tion, ERTICO - ITS Europe, Geneva, Switzerland +++ 04.06. – 06.06.2007 ECOMM2008, Lon-don, UK +++ 11.06.08 - 13.06.08 AESGP 44th Annual Meeting, AESGP, Stockholm, Sweden +++ 12.06.08 - 13.06.08 9th Light Rail Con-ference, UITP, Istanbul, Turkey +++ 15.06.08 - 17.06.08 ACA Annual Conference, ACA, Tal-lin, Estonia +++ 16.06.08 - 17.06.08 Eurelec-tric Annual Convention & Conference 2008, Barcelona, Spain +++ 16.06.-18.06.2008 Joint AISAM-ACME Congress, Helsinki, Finland +++ 22.06.08 - 25.06.08 7th World Surfactants Congress, CEFIC, Paris, France +++ 30.06.2008 - 30.07.2008 45th IFLA World Congress, Apel-doorn, The Netherlands

03.06.08 – 05.06.08 Green Week

After the success of Green Week 2007, which was linked with the fes-tivities for the 50th an-niversary of the Treaty of Rome and looked back at 50 years of European environmental policy as

well as at the future, Green Week 2008 – organ-ised by the European Commission – will provide a unique opportunity for debate, exchange of experience and best practice among non-gov-ernmental organisations, businesses, various levels of government and the public.

LOCATION: CHARLEMAGNE BUILDING, BRUS-SELS, BELGIUM

HOST: EUROPEAN COM-MISSION

Commissioner Wallstroem at the Green Week 2007

03.06.08 – 04.06.08 Reform to Perform

The OECD brings togeth-er the governments of countries committed to democracy and the mar-ket economy worldwide to support sustainable economic growth, boost employment, raise liv-ing standards, maintain financial stability, assist other countries‘ eco-nomic development and contribute to growth in world trade.The OECD Forum is a „multi-stake-holder summit“ which brings together business

and labour leaders, civil society personalities, gov-

ernment ministers and leaders of international organisations to discuss the hottest issues on the international agenda. It takes place in conjunction with the annual OECD Ministerial Summit and aims to a more prosperous, stable and sustainable future with its title “Reform to Perform”.

LOCATION: OECD CONFERENCE CENTRE, PARIS, FRANCE

HOST: OECD

further events

18.06.08 – 20.06.08 ACI EUROPE Annual Congress

Aéroports de Paris will host the 18th ACI EU-ROPE General Assembly, Annual Congress and Ex-hibition & ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards. Traditionally attracting up to 450 senior level directors from Interna-

tional airports, government bodies, associations, suppliers and more, the ACI EUROPE General As-sembly, Annual Congress & Exhibition addresses the most topical and challenging issues facing the airport sector. The Annual Congress, hosted by Aéroport de Paris, will deliver a prestigious line-up of speakers and first-class French hospi-tality making it an occasion not to be missed.

LOCATION : CARROUSEL DU LOUVRE, PARIS, FRANCE

HOST: INTERNATIONAL ROAD TRANSPORT UNION

ACI President Paraschis

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- www.alde.eu - www.adle.eu

Help us collect 1 million signatures on the Global Initiative to Fight Trafficking, which is to be presented to the UN Secretary-General in February 2008.

www.stopthetraffik.org

ALDE supports

For more information please consult www.alde.eu/humantrafficking© Designed by Lara SzpiroImages © belpress.com

Sign the petition! Your vote counts!

— 27 —

TOPICSEuropeanAgenda

he Maastricht Converge Criteria‘, in all likelihood is the fi rst term that springs to mind when ‘euro adoption’ is men-tioned. Many will probably recall their fi rst acquaintance with the euro notes and coins back in 2002. However, for a member state aspiring to adopt the euro, it means far more than placing its econo-my on a sound footing and later passing the ‘test’. Long before the member state receives the green light to adopt the eu-ro it would have most certainly invested heavily in early, thorough preparations and communication strategies, which in the end would pay off in terms of speed of the adoption, public acceptance of the euro and smoothness of the transition.

an extraordinary event warranting an extraordinary action plan …

The adoption of the euro touches upon almost every as-pect of our lives; it has administrative implications for the government, for the banks and for the commercial sector; a logistical aspect both to circulate the new banknotes and coins and to mop up the old ones; a psychological aspect since money per se is not just a store of value, but is one of the most fundamental factors in our lives that establishes and maintains a feeling of well being and independence; a social facet since weaker groups in society struggle more than others to get to grips with it. Finally, there are mar-keting issues at play, since the adoption itself removes of a trade barrier between the member state and the single market, and hence after the adoption, businesses fi nd themselves in a much bigger market position. From which ever angle you look at it, the key to a suc-cessful euro adoption is the convergence all these aspects together. In other words, all stakeholders within the member state have to get round the table, agree on an action plan and see it through together.

an ‘airy fairy’ action plan?The euro adoption is undoubtedly technical in nature, and hence the

stakeholders do not only choose their priorities and goals but also im-

Euro Adoption: Adopting or Adapting?

plement the nitty gritty details of the action plan within the sectors they represent. The government, the banks and the commercial sector have to work in concert with each other in order to make their bookkeeping, cash management, and payment systems euro compliant. Given that, the IT systems are usually not only integrated within an organisation it-self but also feed into other organisations’ IT systems, the euro adoption warrants not only extensive modifi cations but also that such modifi ca-tions between organisations are in synch with each other.

communication is key; both within and without!As soon as an action plan is decided, and technical preparations are well

under way, every single person within an organisation is involved in the process. The public at large is informed through a plethora of channels, be it TV, radio, newspaper, magazines, websites, telephone help lines, web chatting, conferences, seminars or public meetings. An information cam-paign targets the general public and specifi c campaigns focus on particular target groups, such as vulnerable groups, elderly, children and consumers.

These groups are informed through specialised tools including ad hoc publications, web portals, corporate and information meetings, one-to-one meetings, specifi c seminars as well as focused advertising and public relations initiatives.

The information campaign evolves into a series of ‘hands on’ training and education programmes, preparing citizens to familiarise themselves with the euro notes and coins as well as to learn the difference between numerical values of the euro and the ‘soon defunct’ national currency. These programmes target different stakeholders including private organisations, self employed, teachers and educators, social workers and community leaders, so that they act as multipli-ers to spread their knowledge to their fellow people.

mandatory dual display of pricesConsumer confi dence is boosted through mandatory dual display, be

it of prices or salaries. Mandatory dual display — before and after adop-tion — helps consumers become acquainted with the value of goods and services in euro and understand pricing practices in the new cur-rency. Slowly they learn to think in euro and be able to compare prices even before the euro becomes legal tender.

keeping a close eye on prices…Dual display helps consumers monitor and judge whether a particular

Orchestrating the transition. Communicating a streamlined Euro introduction by Member of the European Parliament, David Casa and Editorial Adviser and Press Officer at the EP, David Stellini

The govern-ment, the

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MEP David Casa (epp-ed, mt) is the rapporteur at the European Parliament on Slovakia’s bid to join the euro zone in January 2009.

AuthorsDavid Stellini is the Press Advisor within the EPP-ED Group in the European Parliament and formerly an Information Officer with the National Euro Changeover Committee, Malta. david.stellini@europarl.

europa.eu

The “mental” changeover

takes consid-erably more time than

the physical changeover

itself.

formal application procedure to adopt the euro

The member state formally asks the European Commission and the European Central Bank to report on its progress in fulfilling the “Maas-tricht” convergence criteria. On the basis of a proposal by the Commis-sion, and after consulting the European Parliament, the Council decides

Further to the above criteria, the Treaty requires an examination of the compatibil-ity of the country‘s national legislation with the relevant provisions of the Treaty.

maastricht criteria

Price Stability

Budget Deficit

Public Debt

Long Term Interest Rates

Exchange Rate Stability

reference rates

Inflation rate not exceeding by more than 1.5 percentage points that of the three best performing countries

Below the reference value of 3 % of GDP

Below or approaching the reference value of 60 % of GDP

Not exceeding by more than 2 per-centage points that of the three best performing countries in terms of price stability.

Participation in ERM II for at least

january

2002

2007

2008

2009

bound to

not bound to

The member states that joined the EU after the Maastricht Treaty (2002) have com-mitted themselves in their Accession Treaties to adopt the euro when they meet the convergence criteria. Denmark and the UK were granted an ‘opt out’ clause from the European Monetary Union in the Maastricht Treaty.

business entity is adhering to its obligations. They can report any practic-es concerning wrongful display of dual prices and any concern or unjusti-fied price rises that they believe is related to the euro. The government investigates these cases individually and in case of a price increase re-lated to the introduction of the euro the retailer is approached to remedy the situation.

The government monitors the prices and publishes average prices found for products on newspaper and websites so that consumers check the pricing benchmark and are able to discern whether the outlet is actu-ally cheaper or more expensive than the average.

indeed, the psychological aspect as well!However, notwithstanding all government’s efforts against wrong

dual display and price abuse, the human mind does play tricks at least when one is first faced with euro prices. Prices may seem higher or lower when shown in euro (depending on the exchange rate between the na-tional currency and the euro), because the numerical values (prices) of the products changes although the purchasing values obviously do not. The euro adoption changes not only the ‘physical’ notes and coins but

even one’s ‘monetary language’. There are cog-nitive, emotional and practical issues at play and as such, preparation and practice ensures that what customers take for granted before the adoption — in their ability to handle their daily budget — continues to be the case after the changeover itself. Consumers have to use, plan and budget in euro with confidence and ease and start ‘thinking euro’, months before they start paying in euro. The extent to which they are able to make the mental leap much depends on their willingness and ability to deal with change.

The “mental” changeover takes considerably more time than the physi-cal changeover itself. Five years on, the Euro Barometer survey results still show that only 57 per cent of respondents ‘most often’ think in euro when doing day-to-day shopping, and only 29 per cent ‘most often’ think in euro when doing ‘exceptional’ purchases.

By and large, these figures show that euro adoption is not only about passing the Maastricht ‘test’ or adopting the ‘physical’ euro notes and coins, but rather more about adapting to it!

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roatia is regarded as well advanced on its way to the European Union. The process became very dynamic as soon as the country intensified relations with the EU at the beginning of this decade. Prompt signing of the Stabili-zation and Association Agreement en-sued and was followed in early 2003 by an application for EU membership. Already by June 2004 candidate coun-try status was awarded to Croatia and by October 2005 EU accession negotia-tions were launched. Having become a candidate country in late 2005, Croatia jumped the train of pre-accession as-sistance programmes PHARE, ISPA and SAPARD, in place for the period 2000-2006. In a relatively short time span, the pre-accession scenario in Croatia

thus gained in complexity, with different policy tools interacting in or-der to bring the country closer to fulfilling EU membership criteria. To-day accession negotiations are proceeding at a high speed, a variety of pre-accession programmes are being implemented simultaneously, and the reform processes are probably at their peak.

While it is difficult to point at a precise date of its EU accession, there is no more doubt either abroad or inside Croatia that the country is head-ing precisely for the European Union. A factor guaranteeing Croatia’s European direction is political consensus of all parliamentary parties on this topic. Regardless of domestic politics, EU accession is hardly an ob-ject of political debates. Most parties support fast accession, fearful of seeing the door to the EU close in the face of challenges further (south) east. Such political consensus is quite an achievement in a young coun-try whose electorate shows a rather volatile opinion on the EU, usually influenced by the current Zagreb-Brussels relations.

— A dynamic learning process — by Iva Frki & Dalibor Dvorny

EU Accession Croatia’s take on EU pre-accession assistance

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Ms. Iva FrkiMA in international relations from Grinnell College in Iowa, USA and a Masters degree in International Relations and European Studies from the Central Eu-ropean University in Budapest, Hungary. Working at the Central Office for Development Strategy and Co-ordination of EU Funds of the Republic of Croatia on projects supporting regional development.

along the negotiations’ highwayAnother guarantee of a continued high speed of accession negotia-

tions is EU financial assistance supporting the internal accession proc-ess. The speed of negotiations must have a stronghold in dynamic policy reforms; this is where the pre-accession assistance steps in. So far, sub-stantial resources have been allocated to this purpose. Croatia has ben-efited from 262 million EUR through the programme CARDS (assistance for post-war reconstruction and stabilization) during 2001-2004, 252 million EUR in 2005 and 2006 for a wider scope of investment purposes through PHARE, ISPA and SAPARD, and is entitled to further 592 million EUR in the period 2007-2010 under the new pre-accession programme IPA. The country is performing very well in terms of absorbing this as-sistance, extended by five different programmes operating under quite dissimilar principles. The latest figures indicate that 97% of CARDS fund-ing has been contracted. Entire PHARE and ISPA allocations have been assigned to specific projects and similarly high contracting figures are expected in their case. The process is not seamless but the administra-tion is adapting in order to address issues as they emerge.

The pace of learning is in fact becoming more steady with the onset of IPA. The aim of this new programme is to prepare future Member States for effective management and use of the EU Structural Funds. In order to do so, payments under IPA are conditioned upon fulfillment of a set of rules ensuring strategic programming, transparent management and effective implementation. In this manner projects and programmes fi-nanced through IPA have a double impact: their outputs are valuable in terms of helping fullfil accession criteria while their implementation method transfers good EU practice into domestic policy, ensuring in the long run greater impact of all public funding.

IPA principles beneficial to domestic policymaking and policy delivery are the following:

∞ multi-annual planning of priorities, investments and budget; ∞ introduction of partner institutions and their consultation in all

phases of the process; ∞ strengthening of inter-institutional cooperation and opening up

scope for synergies; ∞ transparency of procedures and clear division of responsibilities

among stakeholders; ∞ strong coordination by lead institutions which are able to provide

support and guidance and to defend national interests in negotiations with the EU.

Mr. Dalibor DvornyMA in European Studies and International Rela-tions from Institut Européen des Hautes Etudes In-ternationales (Nice / Berlin). Working at the Central Office for Development Strategy and Coordination of EU Funds of the Republic of Croatia on projects in the transport sector.

“ EU funds both help improve state adminis-tration and speed up governance improve-ments and enhance the system of govern-

ance as a whole.”

Insight into Croatia’s management of IPA so far suggests a learning process is taking place among domestic actors in charge. Efforts by the state administration will have to be intensified as the process of imple-mentation steps in after a successfully completed programming period. The challenge ahead lies in including a greater number of actors from the state administration into the management and use of EU funding.

In the face of these challenges, one should consider Croatia’s per-formance record so far. In previous episodes of managing EU funds, the state administration has shown it is capable of change and of learning. Croatia is a country in which decentralized management of EU funds was allowed on a pilot basis already under CARDS. Having shown a good

performance there, Croatia went ahead with a relatively speedy proc-ess of accreditation for managing all of CARDS, PHARE and ISPA in that decentralized manner. It is currently undertaking steps for a similar ac-creditation for the management of IPA funding.

rising to the twin-targeted challengeIn concluding, two core instrumental observations can be made which

are conducive both to the current as well as to the upcoming Euro-con-text Croatia is confronted with. Firstly, working in the state administra-tion has never been more challenging and dynamic than now, with ac-cession approaching. It is empowering to know that one’s work directly influences the pace of that accession. Secondly, challenges arising from the process of managing EU funds do not only point out to necessary improvements in the functioning of the state administration; they can in fact speed up these improvements and enhance the system of gov-ernance as a whole. If EU pre-accession programmes are understood as being more than just additional investment money, they become a catalyst of change in domestic policymaking. As a small country with relatively young institutions and a good learning record so far, Croatia is well placed to make the challenges of this EU assistance (and of IPA in particular) work in its favour, enhancing governance and speeding up the accession process as it does so.

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27.02.08 – 28.02.08 Climate Change Con-

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ENERGYEuropeanAgenda

ENERGY

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Map Energy Stakeholders in Brussels

Events Energy Top Events in Europe in 2008

Interview Michael Lane, Exxon Mobil

Portraits Global Energy Tycoons

Wind Energy Interview with Christian Kjaer, EWEA

Biofuel Energy Reconsidered

Nuclear Energy Pro and Con

27.02.08 – 28.02.08 Climate Change Conference


HOST: EPSILON AND CEPS


LOCATION:BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

HOST: EUROPEAN WIND ENERGY ASSOCIA-TION

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PARC LEOPOLD

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20 EPCA270 Avenue de Tervueren

1 EPIA(RHE) 63-65 Rue d’Arlon

22 EPPSA80 Avenue de l’Opale

23 EPTDA5 Pegasuslaan

1 EREC(REH) 63-65 Rue d’Arlon

25 EREF73 Avenue de la Fauconnerie

7 ERGEG28 Rue le Titien

1

1 AEBIOM(REH) 63-65 Rue d’Arlon

2 AEGPL165 Bld de Souverain

3 AquaFed6 Rond Point Schuman

4 Assoelettrica1 Avenue de la Joyeuse

Entrée

5 Cable Europe41 Avenue des Arts

6 CEDEC55 Rue Royale, box 10

7 CEER28 Rue le Titien

8 CEWEP12A Bld Clovis

9 COGEN Europe98, Gulledelle

10 eBIO106 Rue Joseph II

11 EDORA7 Rue de la Revolution,

12 EFET93 Rue Le Corrège

1 EGEC(REH) 63-65 Rue d’ Arlon

14 EHI 153-155 Colonel Bourg-

straat

15 ELCFED80 Bld A. Reyers

16 Energie-Cités157 Avenue Brugmann

17 ENGVA200 Avenue Louise

18 ENS57 Rue de la Loi

19 EPBA204 Avenue Marcel Thiry

1 ESHA(REH) 63-65 Rue d’Arlon

1 ESTIF(REH) 63-65 Rue d’Arlon

28 ETN30 Rue Saint George

29 ETSO15 Bld Saint-Michel

30 EURACOAL168 Avenue de Tervueren

1 EUREC Agency(REH) 63-65 Rue d‘Arlon

32 EURELECTRIC66 Bld de l‘Impératrice

33 EURIMA375 Avenue Louise, box 4

34 EUROBAT204 Avenue Marcel Thiry

35 EUROFUEL12 Rue de la Rosée

36 EUROGAS4 Avenue Palmerston

37 EUROGIF 4 Rue de l‘Industrie

38 EUROHEAT & POWER300 Avenue de Tervueren

ASSOCIATIONS

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COUNCIL

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BD AUGUSTE REYERS

39 European Energy Forum7 Avenue Ariane

15 EUTurbines80 Bld A. Reyers

1 EWEA (RHE) 63-65 Rue d‘Arlon

42 FEDARENE11 Rue du Beau Site

18 FORATOM57 Rue de la Loi

44 GIE83 Rue Ducale

SCHUMAN

45 HFP204 Avenue Marcel Thiry

46 NEW IG204 Avenue Marcel Thiry

29 UCTE15 Boulevard Saint-Michel

48 BP11 Rond Point Schuman

49 British Energy6 Rond Point Schuman

50 Czech Power39 Square Vergote

51 E.ON AG60 Avenue de Cortenbergh

52 EDF21 Avenue des Arts

53 Edison3 Avenue des Nerviens

54 Electrabel8 Boulevard du Régent

55 EnBW60-62 Rue Belliard

56 Enel SpA13 -14 Avenue des Arts

57 ENI43-44 Boulevard du Regent

59 ExxonMobil2 Hermeslaan

60 Fortum 17 Rue de la Charité

61 Gaz de France39 Rue des Deux Églises

62 GE2-4 Rond Point Schuman

63 Hydro ASA83 Avenue Marcel Thiry

64 IBERDROLA12 Avenue de la Renaissance

65 Repsol YPF1 Place du Trône

66 RWE AG273 Avenue de Tervueren

67 Schlumberger4 Rue de l‘Industrie

75 Shell International15-23 Ave Arnaud Fraiteur

68 Siemens69-71 Rue d‘Arlon

48 Statoil 11 Rond Point Schuman

49 TVO6 Rond Point Schuman

71 Texaco25 Avenue Arnaud Fraiteur

72 Total52 Rue de l‘Industrie

73 Vattenfall 8 Avenue de Tervuren

74 Veolia26 Rue des deux Eglises

75 VNG7A Avenue Edmond Mesens

52 Wingas21 Avenue des Arts

COMPANIES

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ENERGY EVENTS 2008

28.01.08 – 01.02.08EU Sustainable Energy Week

Under the umbrella of the Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign (SEE), the EC’s DG TREN, the EU Institutions, the Sloveni-an Presidency and major stakeholders concerned with sustainable energy are putting on the sec-

ond EU Sustainable Energy Week together. The events organised during EUSEW in Brussels and beyond cover key topics that highlight the mul-ti-sectoral nature of sustainable energy develop-ment and stress the need for everyone to work together towards a common goal.www.eusew.eu


HOST: EUROPEAN INSTITU-TIONS AND A WIDE ARRAY OF PRIVATE AND PUBLIC OR-GANISATIONS

27.02.08 – 28.02.08 Climate Change Conference

This annual event is a collaboration between Epsilon and CEPS and is built on the principle of creating a forum for

honest exchange of ideas between stakeholders from across the EU and beyond, and policy-mak-ers from member state and EU level. Key topics to be discussed are as follows: post-2012 after Bali and before the Hokkaido G8 summit; progress of EU-integrated energy and climate package, burden-sharing renewables and technology; EU Emissions Trading Review with a focus on invest-ment; and Transport.www.climate-policy.eu


HOST: EPSILON AND CEPS

07.02.08 – 10.02.08 Bioenergy World Europe ’08

Four days of exhibi-tions and conferences dedicated to bioenergy (liquid, solid and gase-ous) held in conjunc-tion with Fieragricola,

a major international agriculture exhibition. www.bioenergy-world.com

LOCATION:VERONA, ITALY

HOST: BEES, BIOENERGY EVENTS & SERVICES

10.02.08 – 13.02.08PIME 2008

PIME, the conference on Public Information Ma-terials Exchange, is the annual meeting place for professional nuclear communications per-sonnel from around the

world. The programme includes the essential is-sues of the moment and the latest communica-tion techiques, a line-up of quality speakers and ample opportunities for sharing information and discussion. www.pime2008.org

LOCATION: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

HOST: EUROPEAN NU-CLEAR SOCIETY

26.02.08 – 27.02.08 The Future of the Carbon Market

Market liquidity and the price of carbon are of key concern as businesses adapt to the new regime and take long-term stra-tegic decisions. In addi-tion, they must also deal

with regulatory uncertainty as political leaders debate the extension of the Kyoto Protocol and the EU ETS beyond 2012. This conference provides a platform for participants to discuss and debate the financial and practical implications of the carbon trading market and sheds new light on the ways in which individuals and companies in-tend to react to these changing times.www.marketforce.eu.com/carbon/

LOCATION: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM

HOST: THE INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

25.02.08 - 27.02.08 Intelligent Energy Conference 2008

The Intelligent Energy (IE) Conference and Exhibition showcases advanced solutions, services and processes designed to maximise oil and gas recovery, as

well as optimising efficiency throughout the Ex-ploration and Production (E&P) chain. In the ple-nary session, Malcolm Brinded (Executive Direc-tor E&P, Shell), Helge Lund (CEO Statoil), Andrew Gould (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Schlumberger) will present their visions and ex-periences with intelligent energy. www.intelligentenergyevent.com/

LOCATION:AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

HOST: SOCIETY OF PETRO-LEUM ENGINEERS

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07.03.08 – 09.03.08 Clean Energy Power

For the fifth year, world-wide experts will meet in order to exchange know-how, present ex-

periences from the practice and offer advice gained through research and development, en-suring this knowledge is quickly transformed in-to action. The innovation conference takes place over two days parallel to the CEP trade fair.www.cep-expo.de

LOCATION: STUTTGART, GERMANY

12.03.08-14.03.08 World Biofuels Markets Congress

Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agri-culture and Rural Devel-opment, is confirmed to address the World Biofu-els Markets Congress. The World Biofuels Markets

Congress has grown rapidly into Europe’s largest biofuels congress and attracts all the major com-panies from the entire global biofuels value chain to Brussels every year. www.worldbiofuelsmarkets.com


HOST: GREENPOWERCONFERENCES


The European Wind Energy Conference & Exhibition is widely rec-ognised as the unique “Annual General Meet-ing” for the international wind energy community. The 2008 confererence is chaired by the EU Commissioner for En-ergy, Andre Piebalgs and expected to attract over 4,000 professional visi-tors and political delega-tions from 70 countries. It is the only event that covers every key aspect of the wind market, giv-ing unparalleled access

to business contacts and unique networking op-portunities.www.ewec2008.info

LOCATION:BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

HOST: EUROPEAN WIND ENERGY ASSOCIA-TION

15.04.08 – 16.04.08 European Nuclear Assembly

The European Nuclear Assembly (ENA), an in-ternational conference organised by FORATOM, provides an opportunity for politicians, industry

experts and stakeholder representatives from around the world to discuss the latest political, economic and environmental developments in the nuclear field. High-level speakers will fo-cus on investments and economics, security of supply, climate change, public perception, and worldwide nuclear development.www.ena2008.org


HOST: FORATOM

21.05.08 – 22.05.08 All-Energy 2008 Conference

All-Energy ’08 combines the UK’s largest renew-able energy exhibition and a conference cover-ing all renewable sources as well as the challenges and opportunities facing the industry. It incor-porates H208, with its

theme ‘Hydrogen & Fuel Cells in the Real World - Applications in Transportation & Power’ keynote by UK Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks MP.www.all-energy.co.uk

LOCATION: ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND

HOST: BRITISH WIND EN-ERGY ASSOCIATION, SCOTTISH RENEWA-BLES FORUM

21.05.08 – 22.05.08 16th European Biomass Conference

Over 1,500 participants from more than 80 countries are expected

to attend the16th European Biomass Conference & Exhibition and learn about the latest break-throughs in the field. The conference will be chaired by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Schmid, Chairman of the Executive Board of ISET, Council Member of the WBGU (Advisory Council on Global Change to the German Government).www.conference-biomass.com

LOCATION: VALENCIA, SPAIN

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ExxonMobil is the world’s largest private oil company. The scale of its operation is truly global and its turnover is comparable to the nominal GDP of countries such as Swit-zerland, and larger to that of Austria or Denmark.

Regardless of its commercial success, it is ExxonMobil’s alleged stance on Climate Change that has come under the spotlight. European Agenda met with Michael Lane, ExxonMobil’s Global Environmental & Health Manager, Downstream and Chemical to talk about energy efficien-cy and its importance to an oil and gas company. Before

that, however, the European Agenda first tried to find out more about ExxonMobil’s position on Climate Change.

european agenda: many analysts claim that that exxonmobil’s position on climate change is, itself, changing. is that true?

Michael Lane: We haven’t changed our views on climate change. In the past we have been critical of the Kyoto Protocol because we did not think that it was the best way to tackle the problems and a lot people interpreted our position as denying climate change which is an issue that we do take very seri-ously. We are aligned with the IPCC on this topic, there is increasing evidence that the world has warmed, by approximately 0.6 — 0.7 ºC over about the last 100 years. There are two major contributors to that effect that we understand and appreciate: the increasing use of fossil fuels and demand for it and, secondly, the significant changes in land use that happened through deforestation and agriculture.

do you believe there is a direct link between carbon dioxide (co2) emissions and this rise in temperature?

I am not an expert in climate science and I cannot give you a definitive answer, but we do know that CO2 is a greenhouse gas and that there is a greenhouse effect, it is reasonable to take precautions.

Our main criticism as a company to the Kyoto Protocol, for instance,

Interview The Challenge of a Growing Energy Demand

was that it did not involve the developing world and without their in-volvement and support, it does not matter what everyone else does be-cause it will not be sufficient. It is certainly not sufficient to stabilize CO2 at the 550 parts per million (ppm) range that most scientists seem to think is a reasonable level.

eventually, do you believe that 550 ppm level of atmospheric co2 is possible?

I am not an expert in that area, but I listen to experts and they say that if you really had the whole world cooperating, you applied today’s tech-nologies, as a bridge, whilst really aggressively working on long term technical solutions you can probably limit the temperature rise to a few degrees. But there are huge “ifs” there and I am not qualified. It is pos-

sible, but will it happen? I do not know.The fact of the matter is that we cannot meet the

world’s future legitimate need of energy without increas-ing the use of fossil fuels. This can lead governments to attempt to pick technology winners while, according to us, the best approach is to design policies for technology neutral drivers.

can you give us an example of one of those drivers?The emission trading scheme is an established EU policy.

They have put in place a system of CO2 allowances the trading of which leads to a market value of CO2, but they have not told us how we go about the reduction. They have given a financial incentive to reduce the amount of CO2 and left it to the experts to figure out the most cost-effective, the best way of doing that. And that is a

message that we do like to pass to legislators around the world. Let the market figure out the best solutions.

your energy outlook for 2030 states that oil, gas and coal produc-tion will unavoidably increase. does this mean that an increase in co2 emissions is also unavoidable?

No, but let me answer the question in two parts. Looking at our Out-look, we know that in order to meet the future world needs for energy,

European Agenda meets with Michael Lane, Global Environmental & Health Manager at ExxonMobil, to talk about Energy Efficiency and Climate Change by Miguel Maia / Elke Zander

EIt might sound

strange that an oil company would

want to reduce the use of its product. Our challenge is to �nd the oil and gas to meet the growth that we know is go-

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there will need to be an increase use of fossil fuels, and the most con-cerning one from a climate standpoint is coal. So, let us say that “if you produce all this extra fossil fuel, there is going to be all this extra CO2” and that is potentially true. The gains in energy efficiency will help offset the growth in CO2 production, but they will not eliminate it.

In that period and presumably towards the end of that period, large emitters’ best shot at capping the CO2 emissions is through Carbon cap-ture and storage and there are basically two main ways of doing that: One is to re-inject carbon dioxide into depleted oil or gas reserves, the other area that is less well tried is to actually just use an empty cave. The problem is that the historic sites of power plants in particular were built either close to raw materials or to ports or close to consumers and its not obvious that close to those sites there will be the right holes in the ground. Building big pipelines and compressing and pumping CO2 large distances to find the right hole is very expensive.

you mentioned the gains in energy efficiency. what does an oil and gas producer stand to gain from being efficient and, therefore, sell-ing less of its product?

That is what people say: the more oil that gets used the more oil you will sell, but we do care a great deal because the costs of using oil are enormous for us too. Well, now we come to the second part of my an-swer about the CO2 emissions. The directors of our company, in the mid-1990s re-launched our energy efficiency campaign at a time when the oil prices were still very low, which showed great foresight. It is a pro-gram that involves a group of expert engineers that go to a facility and look at the whole operation from the efficiency point of view. We are an energy intensive industry and about 40% of our costs in our refinery are energy related.

what about your partnership with the car manufacturers?Let’s talk CO2. As oil producers, our industry only controls about 15% of

the lifecycle CO2 emissions from producing transport fuel. The remain-ing 85% comes from their consumption in the vehicles. But 15% of an enormous quantity is still a very large amount. We spend billions of dol-lars every year with our own energy bill and the sorts of savings we have already achieved since the mid-1990s is something like $750 million a year, savings that are good for the environment and for the operating costs. We are in a very cost competitive industry and if reducing our costs enables us to pass on those savings to our customers this would be why we do it for ourselves. But not only! Of course it is better for the environ-ment to reduce the CO2.

as far as we understand, the energy efficiency of exxonmobil is very much related to the company and not to the end user?

It might sound strange that an oil company would want to reduce the use of its product. Our challenge is to find the oil and gas to meet the growth that we know is going to be there. The best way for us to contribute to the world, in our small way - we are the big-gest oil company, but we only cover 4% of the world’s oil - is to make efficient fuels that will help our customers save money, help the en-vironment and eventually help us meet the growing demand for oil around the planet.

technical terms

exxonmobil expects that there will be a 50% to 60% increase in over-all energy demand over the next 25 years. About 80% is likely to be in the developing world, particularly India and China. At the end of that period, around 80% of that demand will still be met by fossil fuels, about 60% of which will come from oil and gas.

the hcci (Homogeneous Charged Compression Ignition [check name]) is a cross between a diesel engine and a petrol engine. The fundamen-tal difference between diesel and petrol engines is that every engine has explosions inside it that make the pistons go up and down but in the diesel engine there is no spark, and it’s just the compression of the fuel that produces enough heat to explode inside the cylinder. That is good for efficiency but not particularly good for emissions. In a petrol engine you need a spark to start the explosion. That is not as efficient but it means you can get lower emissions with the same temperature.The idea behind HCCI is to have a new kind of fuel that can achieve the explosion without a spark and the clean burning of petrol. The effi-ciency of that system, we believe, is of about 30%, which is enormous.

the onboard reforming is kind of a bridge to a hydrogen fuel cell powered car where the hydrogen is made from conventional fuel in the vehicle. In a fuel cell you essentially take hydrogen and oxygen. When you combine them together in a fuel cell they release energy and they combine to produce water. At the point of use, the only emissions is water vapor. It’s a “zero carbon system”.The problems it has, apart from the basic cost of fuel cells is the supply and distribution of the hydrogen fuel. If you make it from electricity and if you get the electricity from oil or coal, all you have done is move the emissions from one place to another, from the vehicle to a power station somewhere else Part of our research is also looking creating organisms that use to pow-er of the sun to produce hydrogen instead of oxygen.

cogeneration is the simultaneous production of electricity and heat, usually in the form of steam, and the real benefit is that a very large of the demand of heat and energy in the refinery is met with the steam. It is possible to make electricity and then recover all the heat and use it to a significant extent. It saves up to half the CO2 output.

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what is exxon’s presence in the renewable energy sector?What we found was that we did not have within our company the core

expertise in that area and we therefore decided to not to pursue those opportunities ourselves. Moreover, the current range of technology has some serious limitations and therefore we felt it was better to put our efforts into areas where we have some real expertise.

Because of our size, our impact is greater if we are concentrating on our area and working with our partners and the people that use our products to improve their efficiency. We also finance the Global Energy and Climate Project (GCEP) at Stanford University that is leapfrogging current alternative energy solutions with studies in the field of improved large-scale photovoltaic energy and even - one of my favorites – with nano-sized photovoltaic cells so that, in your jacket for instance, you could even plug in your ipod. Hydrogen also offers great opportunities long-term, but there are huge technical and economic obstacles. So, we are focusing in 2 areas: being as efficient as you can with our traditional fuel and gas areas; and supporting research programs that explore new alternatives. Just from our internal energy efficiency program we saved

enough CO2 to be something like a third of the wind power in Germany which is the biggest wind power country in Europe. We could never hope to invest in that much wind power, we can do that through what we know best and save an equivalent amount of CO2. We prefer doing it through the exploration of technologies we already have sound knowl-edge in and that we’ve been doing for some time now, such as carbon capture and sequestration.

going back to ccs, how should one eventually get rid of this co2? aren’t we creating a problem that is similar to that of nuclear waste, creating another waste that we then do not know how to treat?

I believe with some of the new technologies we are helping to develop we will eventually move to a low carbon majority source of energy and we will get through the fossil fuel age whether that lasts 50, 100 or 150 years. How much time are we buying through sequestration and storage to develop low carbon energy sources that are really viable and main-stream? My guess is that nobody can answer that question right now, because the other question we cannot answer is how long the oil is go-ing to last.

We know that we have used one third, so we probably have two times the historic total ever consumption of oil available. That does not mean it will last another 300 years, but it does not mean it is going to last only 20 or 30 years.

what is your cooperation with the eu institutions in that field?There’s a program called CO2ReMoVe, a major European research ini-

tiative into the long-term potential for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. ExxonMobil is contributing over €1 million and provide expert technical guidance to the CO2ReMoVe project. Over five years, CO2ReMoVe will evaluate a range of technologies to monitor the injection and storage of CO2 in four loca-tions, in European and Northern Africa. For instance, ExxonMobil shares in the ownership of the North Sea Sleipner gas field where over one mil-lion tons of CO2 have been sequestered each year since 1998.

focusing now on other region of the world, what do you feel should be the approach to china’s growing demand for oil?

If you assume that the Chinese economy grows in the way it has and how it is expected to do and then you said that all of that energy was provided by today’s most efficient technology, the Chinese could literally meet their energy demand and increase without any significant increase in CO2. This is not directly about China; it is just a very powerful way of illustrating the capability of today’s technology to make a huge impact.

The barriers to China doing that are commercial, funding issues. This is where politics gets really important, because we cannot do that as a company.

are you also expanding your inFluence in other poorer regions? what is your presence there?

We are expanding our capacity in China but also elsewhere in Asia and the Pacific. We are not specifically investing in refineries in India yet but we are certainly providing products into India through our Asian facili-ties, so are supporting energy demand growth in the developing world.

The area where we are doing it in a slightly different way is in Africa. There is a venture that we have developed in Chad and in Cameroon where we, in cooperation with the World Bank, put together a financial package that helps ensure that the big revenue that will come from the oil in Chad actually finds its way to the poor people of the country and benefits their economy.

It is probably best if we try to do that rather than divert it into other activities. So we are mainly helping in Africa through the upstream devel-opment. Moreover, we are involved in a number of social projects in the countries where we operate, regarding malaria and campaigns on HIV.

Michael LaneHolding degrees in Natural Sciences and

Chemical Engineering from Cambridge Uni-versity, Michael Lane joined Exxon Chemical in 1976. Following several management as-signments at the Fawley Refinery (England, Brussels, USA), he returned to Fawley as chemicals manufacturing director in 1993, whilst being UK Chairman for ExxonMobil

Chemical Ltd in 2000. After working as Safety, Health & Environment Manager for ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemicals since 2002, Mr Lane became Global Environmental & Health Manager for the Downstream & Chemical businesses, worldwide, in 2003.

I believe with some of the new technologies we are helping to develop we will eventually move to a low carbon

majority source of energy.

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s the price for oil and gas is reaching record levels, the list of billionaires around the world is more and more crowded by people who make their fortunes from en-ergy. Forbes.com estimates that there are more than 40 billionaires who earn at least some of their money from oil and gas. But also renewable energies can make you rich. European Agenda presents some of the world’s most influencial energy tycoons. (Note: Net worths are taken from the Forbes list The World‘s Richest People 2007 www.forbes.com/lists/2007/10/07billionaires_

The-Worlds-Billionaires_Rank.html – with the volatile energy prices, they may have fluctuated since then.).

Portraits Global Energy TycoonsWho is who in the global energy market? by Clemens zur Hausen/ Elke Zander

roman abramovich (net worth: $ 18.7 bil)∞ Born 1966 in Saratov, Russia, divorced, 5 chil-

dren∞ World´s richest oil and gas tycoon∞ Began his business career selling plastic ducks∞ Owns Chelsea Football Club∞ Other than most people in Europe think,

the name is stressed on the third syllable (Abramóvich)

mohammed al amoudi (net worth: $ 8.0 bil)∞ Born 1946 in Dessie, Ethiopia, lives in Ethiopia

and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia∞ Bought oil refineries in Sweden and Morocco,

before that he made a fortune in construction and real estate

∞ Has been honoured with the Swedish Royal Order of the Polar Star and holds an honorary doctorate in Philosophy from Addis Abeba Uni-versity

∞ Sponsors Africa‘s oldest football cup competi-tion, now known as the Al Amoudi Senior Chal-lenge Cup

∞ honoured by the World Bank for his work in sup-porting African development

viktor vekselberg (net worth: $ 10.4 bil)∞ Born 1957 in Drohobych, Ukraine, married, 2

children∞ Holds a Ph.D. in mathematics, has been direc-

tor at the Institute of Advanced Pneumatics in Moscow

∞ In 2004 bought the largest private collection of Fabergé imperial eggs. No price was dis-closed for the sale, but a price tag of $100-million has been rumoured.

∞ He is described by Forbes as a „deal junkie“

dan l. duncan (net worth: $ 8.2 bil)∞ Born 1933 in Shelby County/Texas, USA, lives in

Houston/Texas, married, 4 children∞ Lived the “American Dream”: Company started

with 2 trucks in 1968, today it owns 34,000 miles of pipelines

∞ Raised by his grandmother and her preaching: “Do the best you can every day”

∞ Loves hunting, has caught 360 species on 6 continents

∞ Donated $100 million to the Baylor College of Medicine in 2006

shi zhengrong (net worth: $ 2.2 bil)∞ Born 1963 in Yangzhong, China, lives in

Australia, married, 2 children∞ Founder and CEO of Suntech Power, special-

ized in producing photovoltaic cells∞ Scientist, holds a Master in laser physics and a

Ph.D. in electrical engineering∞ He “never thought this solar business could

take off or become commercially viable. I thought I just needed to (…) publish papers to do my job as a scientist.”

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ind energy has asserted itself as the most prom-ising prospect for an alternative energy source for the future. But with climate change and gal-loping oil and gas prices many argue that there is no more time - the future is not only around the corner, it is now. European Agenda met with the CEO of the European Wind Energy Asso-ciation, Christian Kjaer, to understand whether wind energy can rise to the challenge.

The estimated global economic growth in the next decades is going to require a growth in the demand for energy. How can this be tackled?

The challenges are different between developed and developing coun-tries. For developing countries, the challenge is whether they can leapfrog in terms of technology. Developing countries have just as much right to prosperity as the rest of the world, but if they go about it as we have done, it is going to kill our planet.

China installed 100,000 megawatts of power generating capacity and most of it was coal. This is something that has to change! Of course we should not forget that the developed world spent 100 years emitting CO2 into the atmosphere, but for these fast-growing economies it has to happen in a different way. I think wind energy’s role in that is to act as an example, showing people that there is not necessarily a contradiction be-tween protecting the environment and gaining economic prosperity.

The challenge in the European Union and the rest of the developed world is different because here we have an established energy infrastructure. There is, nevertheless, an opportunity ahead of us, as we are facing two decades where part of the installed electricity generating capacity in Eu-rope is going to run out of its natural lifetime. This is extremely important because, if you look at the last five years, just in the EU, 30% of the new installed capacity has been wind energy and about 50% has been with gas. This means that Europe is already waking up to the problem.

The outlook foresees an increase in the demand for coal and oil at least until 2030. Is this unavoidable?

The challenge for the wind energy industry will be to show that we have a technology that can compete economically. Of course coal and oil will play a role but it is not about whether we are going to have

Wind Energy No More Time for the Future

those resources in the next few years; the big question is what is it go-ing to cost? And we do not know.

At this point we know that, depending on the size of the installation, wind energy can produce electricity from €5 cents to €9 cents per kilowatt-hour. With current prices, fueling a new gas power plant alone costs ap-proximately €6.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. In terms of oil, with the prices of the oil barrel at $80, fueling a new power plant would turn costs up to €6.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. In the end, it is incredibly irrelevant whether oil and gas will last. The real issue is what it is going to cost and when it peaks. When it happens we will not have any alternative other than to turn to renewables because we will not be able to afford the alternative.

Oil, however, actually has many other important applications for plas-tics, medicine, and even for components that make cars lighter. In fact, using and burning oil in a combustion engine or in a power plant is a waste of a wonderful product.

Do you agree with the idea that carbon capture is going to play a big role in solving the CO2 emission problem in the future?

No, I do not. If we look at the science in this, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that we need to limit the temperature rise to 2ºC and that the window of opportunity in which we can act is something be-tween 10 and 15 years. In Europe, there are some demonstration projects for Carbon Capture and Sequestration which are expected to be ready by 2012. Even if these projects work wonderfully, between now and 2020 they will not contribute anything inside this window of opportunity.

How do you see the Nobel Peace Prize going to the IPCC and to Al Gore?I think it was a good choice. The most powerful message contained in

the awarding of this prize is that climate change is a security issue and has repercussions on peace. It is not only about environment and miti-gating CO2 emissions, especially as we are now seeing the increasing battle for the remaining resources.

Christian Kjaer, the CEO of the European Wind Energy Association shares his views on energy, peace and the future of Europe by Miguel Maia

Christian Kjaer (CEO, European Wind Energy Association) Kjaer moved from journalism to become Policy Director, and lat-er CEO in 2006, of the EWEA. He is also Director of the European Renewable Energy Council and the Global Wind Energy Council.

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udolf Diesel, inventor of the diesel engine, first had the idea more than 100 years ago: why not use fuel from biomass for car engines? So his first engine (presented at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900) ran on peanut oil, much to the astonishment of scientists and engi-neers. The famous ‘Model T’ by Henry Ford from 1908 ran on bioethanol, Ford had the vision that “the fuel of the future is coming from apples, weeds, sawdust, al-most anything.” In the 20th century, however, cars ran on petrol – due to the large, cheap supply of crude oil.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the situation has changed tre-mendously. The price of oil has almost reached $100 per barrel and some of the main oil-regions are politically erratic, while in other regions it is much more expensive and environmentally unfriendly to get oil out of the earth (like deep-sea-drilling or removing oil out of tar sands in Canada). On the other hand the demand for fuel is rising dramatically, as more and more people are driving cars ( just think of China).

In the words of Robert Vierhout, Secretary General of the European Bioeth-anol Fuel Association (eBIO): “It will require tremendous sacrifices both en-vironmentally and economically to get crude oil. And that means that alter-native fuel becomes more and more attractive. The other big advantage of biofuels of course is that you can reduce CO2 emissions from cars.”

biofuels: providing an immediate solution to an immediate problem?For those reasons, the European Commission has set up the goal of

having 5.75% of the total fuelstream in Europe coming from biologi-cal sources by 2010. Is that a realistic goal? Vierhout is doubtful: “If you look at what has been achieved so far and what still needs to be done by 2010, you could well argue that it is impossible to achieve this goal, simply because most Member States started much too late.” So while France, Germany or Austria for example will easily reach the target of 5.75%, Europe as a whole is most probably going to fail.

“So what?” a number of critics recently stated, arguing that the ecologi-cal impact of biofuels is overestimated and that Europe should instead concentrate on newer technologies, like hydrogen. But what is often

Biofuel Energy Biofuels reconsidered after the recent bashing

neglected is that hydrogen requires a totally different infrastructure in terms of car engines and in terms of the distribution of fuel. So hydrogen seems to be a longer-term solution to Europe’s fuel problems whilst bio-fuels, on the other hand, can easily be used within the existing infrastruc-ture: “We can easily blend them into the existing fuel streams, they can be easily used in cars if you respect certain thresholds, and we can make them now, immediately, and use them immediately,” Vierhout stresses.

biomass for biofuels: reducing dependence on fossil fuels for the future

But what about the social impact of biofuels? Cultivating more crops for biofuels means fewer crops for food, which, some critics argue, makes prices for food rise. Although this is only partially correct (price rises for crops are due to bad harvests and rising demands in China and India rather than to biofuel prodiction), this is why many hope for the so called “second generation” of biofuels and ethanol, made of straw or specially grown energy crops like certain grasses or trees, instead of wheat or maize. Vierhout asserts: “if we can master this, we have an abundance of biomass available to produce biofuel. In general, it is possible, the tech-nology is there, but it is still quite expensive. That´s why we believe it will take some more years before it will be commercially available.”

From this point of view, biofuels are not THE solution to all of Europe´s energy problems in the transport sector, but they can be part of the strategy to reduce dependence on crude oil.

Over recent months biofuels seem to have lost their positive image, as enthusiasm receded and critics started to doubt the positive effects of fuels produced from biomass. European Agenda takes a second look. by Clemens zur Hausen

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the role of nuclear in the future: Nuclear decline in spite of industry talk of renaissance

The 2007 update of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report commis-sioned by the Greens in the European Parliament shows that, in stark con-trast to the claims of the nuclear industry and talk of a renaissance, nuclear energy is in decline. The shrinking in Europe is particularly notable, with ten power plants permanently withdrawn from the network since the last report in 2004. With fewer plants being built and existing ones becoming more decrepit, it seems clear that the grandiose ambitions of the industry will remain in the realm of fantasy.

The gap between the expectations promoted by the nuclear industry and reality are perfectly highlighted by the bungled attempt to build a new reactor at the Olkiluoto plant in Finland. This first new nuclear project in Europe in 15 years has been blighted by problems. After only two years of construction the project is already two years delayed. The budget is set to overrun by at least 50% - 1.5 billion Euro in losses - and shocking errors in key technical specifications.

Apart from the fact that the industry fails to deliver on its promises, nuclear energy is fraught with risks which have in no way diminished. At-tempts to position nuclear power as the solution to climate change are misleading and dangerous. It is wrong to try and counteract the risk of glo-bal warming through expansion of nuclear energy and the consequential nuclear risks. Promoting it as a sustainable energy source, as the nuclear lobby in Brussels and elsewhere is trying to do, is misleading. Any technolo-gy that can produce devastating consequences such as those in 1986 from the Chernobyl disaster can never be sustainable. The permanent risk of a core meltdown is a strong argument against the use of nuclear power. The lifetime extension of nuclear power plants heightens the risk of a major accident considerably. Other questions are still unanswered. Are we going to find a solution to disposing nuclear waste safely for thousands or even millions of years? Every country using nuclear power could build a nuclear bomb if it decided to do so. These dangers are no less terrifying given the challenges of climate change.

We must ignore the nuclear smokescreen and focus on proven, clean technologies in response to the climate crisis we are facing. Only a strategy which makes energy companies, ministers and citizens abandon the ener-gy production fix will help fight against climate change. Conservation and efficiency must become priorities in energy supply and use worldwide.

nuclear energy: The cost-effective and safe way to fight climate changeNuclear is today broadly recognised across the EU as a key to enhancing

supply security, a producer of electricity at low, stable and predictable costs and a way of helping combat climate change. Underlining the latter of these points, the European Parliament recently adopted by a large majority the Reul Report on ‘Conventional Energy Sources and Energy Technology’ recognising the role of nuclear as “the largest low-carbon energy source in Europe”. Nuclear energy along with renewables and coal with carbon cap-ture and storage, if proven economically and technologically viable, could form a triumvirate of low-carbon energy technologies able to provide the majority of Europe’s future electricity supply. More concerted effort also needs to be made in areas of efficiency.

With around 32% of Europe’s electricity nuclear, it is the most important provider of base-load energy to millions of homes and businesses, and indirectly a driver of job creation across the EU. Playing such a vital role, it is imperative to look seriously at how to plan for the future of nuclear. As world-leader in nuclear energy technology and innovation, the vast ex-perience of Europe’s nuclear industry is being utilised within the EU and by emerging economies across the globe in building new power plants. To help sustain this, assured and clear political support for the EU’s nuclear energy industry is necessary for business and citizens alike.

I applaud the European Commission in the establishment of the Euro-pean Nuclear Energy Forum (ENEF) and the High Level Group (HLG) on Safety and Waste Management as well as the Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SN-ETP). These initiatives underline the seriousness of the EU’s planning the way forward for the use of nuclear in years to come, and such action has not come soon enough. ENEF should provide a platform for direct interaction between the nuclear industry, investors and decision-makers. Involvement of other stakeholders, including those less favourable to nuclear energy, will offer great potential for debate. Is-sues such as investments, legislative frameworks, R&D needs, knowledge management, education and public opinion should be looked at in-depth. However, the Forum should not be a talk-shop. ENEF must be about ac-tion-driven deliverables which help to build a road-map for the future of nuclear energy.

One area where there has to be greater recognition and political leader-ship in supporting the initiatives of industry is the field of nuclear waste management. Technical solutions to long-term safe storage of radioactive waste exist. Recognition of these solutions and backing for their imple-mentation should be prioritised by decision-makers across Europe and at EU level.

Nuclear Energy Pro and Con

Alejo Vidal Quadras, MEP, EPP-ED Rebecca Harms, MEP, The GREENS

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People: Winner and Loser Who came out on top and who was a flop in recent months

angela merkelSince the handing over of the German Presidency of the European Union, Angela Merkel has had more than a fair number of successes. In June, the same month that Germany handed off a solid EU Presidency to Portugal, Merkel became the second woman after Thatcher ever to chair a G8 sum-mit. In August, Forbes magazine named her the most powerful woman in the world. With the upcoming signing of the Lisbon treaty on December 13th, she will also have accomplished much in terms of modernizing and updating the EU’s practices in how it approaches the future. With new and higher standards for transparency, citizen participation, and regula-tions, the goals of the Treaty aim for a far more streamlined European governing body.Together with Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor An-gela Merkel has also addressed the need to introduce more strict fi nan-cial regulation and oversight in the face of recent worldwide stock-slide scares. Last but not least, Merkel also strengthened her position in Eu-rope with the successful reduction of Germany’s defi cit, which in 2007 stays well below the Maastricht criteria for the fi rst time in 5 years.

yves leterme

More than fi ve months after its general election in June, Belgium remains in quiet turmoil, without a government, leaving the previous incumbents to act as caretakers. Yves Leterme, a member of the Flemish Christian Democrat party (CD&V) and the Flemish parliamentary majority, has so far failed to fulfi ll the task that he was appointed to as “Formateur” after winning the elections. The initial debate was about the region of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde, divided between monolingual Flanders and bi-lingual Brussels, with the new Flemish majority wishing to consolidate the region, abolishing the right of the 150,000 French speakers there to vote for Francophone parties. The discussion has not been helped by de-batable remarks by Leterme, which some Francophone Belgians found insulting. On August 23rd the development culminated when Leterme re-signed, as negotiations had clearly failed - only to be reinstated a month later. Leterme reputation suffered as well when he cited the wrong rea-son for celebrating the Belgian National day on July (he took it to be the day when the constitution was proclaimed, while it in fact commemo-rates the inauguration of the fi rst Belgian king Leopold I) and started to sing the French Marseillaise rather than the Belgian Brabançonne when asked to sing the Belgian anthem. For Belgium’s sake, hopefully his sec-ond round as ‘Formateur’ will prove more successful.Ph

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Institutions

Roselyne LefrançoisPSE, France04/07/2007

Catherine Neris PSE, France04/07/2007

Pierre Pribetich PSE, France04/07/2007

Francesco Ferrari ALDE, Italy05/07/2007

Ewa Tomaszewska UEN, Poland30/08/2007

Giovanna Corda PSE, Belgium31/08/2007

Lily Jacobs PSE, Netherlands04/09/2007

Vicente Miguel Garcés Ramón PSE, Spain27/09/2007

Emmanouil AngelakasEPP-ED, Greece01/10/2007

Costas BotopoulosPSE, Greece 01/10/2007

Maria Eleni KoppaPSE, Greece01/10/2007

Anni PodimataPSE, Greece01/10/2007

Margaritis SchinasEPP-ED, Greece01/10/2007

Armando FrançaPSE, Portugal15/10/2007

Cornelis VisserEPP-ED, Netherlands17/10/2007

Madeleine Jouye De GrandmaisonGUE/NGL, France09/11/2007

Georgios GeorgiouInd/Dem, Greece01/10/2007

TICKERKaterina Batzeli, Chairwoman, MEP – Committee on Culture and Education +++ Elmar Brok, Member of IGC, European Parliament +++ Giovanni Curtopassi, Head of Information and Communication, EAR +++ Enrique Baron Crespo, Member of IGC, European Parliament +++ Andrew Duff Member of IGC, European Parliament +++ Wolfgang Ischinger, Ambassador – EU High Representative +++ Martin Kamp, Secretary General, European People’s Party +++ John Prescott, Leader UK Delegation Parliament Assembly of the Council of Europe, Council of Europe +++ Dario Scannapieco, VP, European Investment Bank +++ Eva Srejber, VP, European Investment Bank +++ Charis Xirouchakis, Head of Visits, European Economic and Social Committee

Personnel Changes

New MEPs

De Kerchove new EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator

Gilles de Kerchove EU Counter-Terrorism CoordinatorCouncil of the EUNationality: BE Start: 19/09/2007Gilles de Kerchove coordinates the work of the Council of the EU in the

field of counter-terrorism, maintains an overview of the tools at the EU’s disposal, monitors the implementation of the EU counter-terrorism strategy, and ensures that the EU plays an ac¬tive role in the fight against terrorism. Mr de Kerchove was Director at the Council Secre¬tariat in charge of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters and in this capacity worked closely with Mr Gijs de Vries, the former EU counter-terrorism coordinator.

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Associations

Martyn Griffiths is the new Head of Communica-tions and Public Affairs, Confederation European Paper Industries (CEPI). He manages the devel-opment and implementation of global commu-nication strategies working in close collabora-tions with the CEPI team. Prior to joining CEPI, Mr.Griffiths worked for the European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers in Brussels as Communica-tions & External Affairs Manager.

Mella Frewen is the new Director General at CIAA, the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the EU. She took over from Daniela Israelachwili. Ms Frewen has worked previously as the Director for Government affairs – Europe & Africa for Monsanto. Prior to her engagements with Monsanto she was International Relations Director for Cerestar, Europe`s biggest starch producer. Ms Frewen holds a Bachelor and Mas-ter of Science degrees from the National Univer-sity of Ireland.

Martyn Griffiths Communications & Public Affairs DirectorNationality: UK

Mella FrewenDirector-General CIAANationality: IE

Griffiths joins CEPI

New Director General at CIAA

Lacny elected President of IRU

Janusz Lacny, who was previously IRU Vice President, President of the IRU’s Goods Transport Coun-cil, and Secretary General of the IRU’s Polish Member Association ZMPD has now been elected President of the International Road Transport Union by the IRU General Assembly. Mr Lacny enjoys a distinguished career in road transport, which started in 1991 when he became an international haulier, establishing his own transport company “JMJ-TRANS”.

Janusz LacnyPresidentIRUNationality: PLStart: 01/01/2008

TICKERSilvan Agius, Policy Officer, European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) +++ Gianluca Antonelli, Social Affairs Manager, Confederation European Paper Industries (CEPI) +++ Sabine Arras, Head of Communication, European Bioplastics +++ Constantino Baldissara, Vice-President, European Car-Transport Group (ECG) +++ Götz Brandau, Legal Affairs Officer, Federation of European Direct and Interactive Marketing (FEDMA) +++ Andrew Cecil, President, European Digital

Media Association (EDIMA) +++ Dr.Panos E. Cavoulacos, President, European Petroleum Industry Association (EUROPIA) +++ Paresh Chandra, Chief Information Officer, International Road Transport Union (IRU) +++ Michele Ciavarini Azzi, Chairman, Union of European Federalists (UEF-BE) +++ Marcel Daniëls, Vice President, TEVA Europe +++ Hendrick Jan de Jong, Chairman, European Pharmacopoeia (EDQM) +++ Susanna di Feliciantonio, Head of EU Public Affairs, Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) +++ Niall Doheny, International Communications Manager, European Railway Industries UNIFE +++ Francois-Xavier Dubois, Managing Director, Excellence for Non Profit ( AFA) +++ Anne–Sophie Duchêne, Communications Manager, European Postal Operators Association (POSTEUROP) +++ José Fernando Figueiredo, President, European Mutual Guarantee Association (AECM) +++ Pascal Garel, Chief Executive, European Hospital and Healthcare Federation (HOPE) +++ Florence Gras, General Delegate, European Association of Pari Mutuel Gaming Operators (EPMA) +++ Isabelle Gueury, Director, Association of European Chambers of Comerce and Industry (Eurochambers) +++ Jérôme Guyot, Communications Officer, Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EIM) +++ Matt Hardman, Campaigns Manager, the Forum for Private Business (FPB) +++ Emmanuelle Hardy,

Communications Manager, European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation of General Economic Interest (CEEP) +++ Folker Hellemund, Head, EU-Office of German Sports +++ Susanne Keitel, Director, European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines (EDQM) +++ Elisabeta Kitanovic, Executive Secretary, Brussels Office of the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) +++ Emma Lawson, Chairwoman, Federation of European Direct and Interactive

Marketing (FEDMA) +++ Knuth Lorenzen, President, Food Processing Machinery Europe (FPME) +++ Paloma Castro Martinez, Secretary for for EDiMA, European Digital Media Association +++ Antonio Montero, President, European Chemical Transportation Association (ECTA) +++ Graham Neale, President, Union of European Beverages Associations (UNESDA)

Sabine Arras

Martin Todd

Martyn Griffiths

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TICKERTomasz Borczuch, EU Affairs Specialist, Kujawsko-Pomorskie EU Office +++ Ricklef Beutin, Deputy Spokesperson, German Permanent Representation to the EU +++ Mr. Bettzuege German Bilateral Ambassador to Belgium +++ Kim Darroch, UK Permanent Representative to the EU, UK Permanent Rep. to the EU +++ Jean De Ruyt, Permanent Re p re s e nt at i ve , B e l g i a n Permanent Representative +++ Björne Hegefeldt, Information and Communication Officer, Mid Sweden Office +++ Joost Klarenbeek, Counsellor for RELEX, Dutch Permanent Representation+++ Jüri Luik, Permanent Representative, E s t o n i a n P e r m a n e n t Representative to NATO +++ Bartlomeiej Ostrowski, Head

of Office, Lower Silesia Regional Office +++ Isabel Poli, Project Manager, West Sweden +++ Alejandro Rodriguez-Ramos, European Business Advisor, East of England Brussels Office +++ Didier Seeuws, Deputy Permanent Representative, European Union

National and Regional Representations

Ambassador Raul Mälk joined the Estonian Foreign Service in 1992. Since then he has served in various senior positions in the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and led a number of Estonian delegations in international negotiation processes.

Raul MälkPermanent Representa-tive Estonian Respre-sentative to EUNationality:EEStart: 17/08/2007

New Estonian Representative

Brandenburg NATO Permanent Representative of Germany

Ambassador Ulrich Brandenburg is Germany’s new Permanent Representative to NATO. Ambas-sador Brandenburg was Deputy Political Director in the Federal Foreign Ministry in Berlin. He has previously served as Head of Defence and Security Policy and Head, Partnership and Cooperation Section, Political Affairs Di¬vision at NATO.

Ulrich BrandenburgPermanent Representative of GermanyNATONationality: GermanStart: 23/08/2007

Bartlomiej Ostrowski

Didier Seeuws

Juri Luik

Jean Deruyt

Löw is the new Head of the Brussels office of the ORF From 1989 to 1991 he worked as the ORF´s for-eign correspondent in Moscow. From 1991 to 1997 he was a correspondent in the USA, leading the of-fice in Washington during his last two years there. Since then, he has been active as resporter in the EU, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America, before becoming the Head of ORF Brussels.

Raimund LöwHead of Brussels OfficeORFNationality: ATStart:01/08/2007

Löw new Head of ORF Brussels

Bylund is the new Director of ERRIN, the Euro-pean Regions Research and Innovation Network. Mr Bylund succedds Charlotte Andersdotter. Mr Bylund was previously Manager, Technical Ex-perst at Ernst & Young.

Jonas BylundDirectorERRINNationality: SE

Bylund new Di-rector of ERRIN

Media and Think Tanks

TICKERJill Grinda, Director of Worldwide Distribution, Euronews +++ Catherine Martens, News Producer, Deutsche Welle +++ Ben Butters, Programme Director, Lisbon Council Entrepreneurs Programme +++ Katharina Müller, Marketing Manager, Centre for European Policy Studies. Ph

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Companies

Schönfelder Head of Siemens’ Government Affairs

Wilhelm Schönfelder, who before his recent retirement was Berlin’s ambassador to the European Union (1999- 30 June 2007, the end of Geramny’s EU Presidency), is Siemens Chief Lobbyist in Brussels. Mr Schönfelder, who has also held posts in Washington, Paris and Afghanistan amongst others, took up his duties at the beginning of September.

Zangrandi leads Enel’s EU Office

Roberto Zangrandi is the Head of European Af-fairs of Enel in Brussels since September. Previ-ously Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at the Italian electricity com¬pany in Rome, he started his career as financial journalist with leading Italian magazines. Successively he was Head of International Media Relations and then Head of the Frankfurt Office with Fiat, the auto-motive group of Italy.

TICKERSalla Ahonen, Senior Manager, Nokia +++ Sebastian Gerlach, Legal and Corporate Affairs Officer, Microsoft +++ Philippe Ghyssels, Health Policy Manager, Merck Serono Geneva +++ Reginald Otten, Consultant, Fleishman-Hillard +++

Wilhelm Schönfelder Head of Government AffairsSIEMENSNationality: DE Start: 01/09/2007

Roberto ZangrandiHead of European AffairsENEL EU OfficeNationality: IT Start: 01/09/2007

Consultancies

Abbot new Associate at Gplus

Roderick Abbot joined Gplus, the EU communications firm, as an As-sociate. A former Deputy Director-General at the WTO, Mr. Abbot has an illustrious career as a high-ranking official, namely also as Deputy Director-General with the European Commissions DG Trade. During his 30-year stint with the European Commission, Mr.Abbott played an active part in both the Tokyo and Uruguay Rounds of trade negotia-tions and served as the EU Ambassador in Geneva.

TICKERSylvie Biebricher, Business Director, Grayling Brussels +++ Carla Ciminera, Head of ICT Devision, Blueprint +++ Catherine Gilliard, EU Public Affairs Consultant, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer +++ Emmanul Goedseels,

Executive Vice Chairman, Interel +++ Eva-Maria Hartlieb, PR-Assistant, IKP Communications +++ Andrée Jallon,

Senior Advisor, Athenora Consulting +++ Erika Janson, Political Researcher, Quintus Public Affair’s Brussels +++ Irina Michalowitz, EU Representative

for Telecommunications, Telekom Austria Group +++ Karen van Bergen, SVP, Regional Director, Fleishman-Hillard International +++ Van Hulton, Managing Director, Burson-Masteller +++ Grégoire Poisson, Senior Consultant, EURO RSCG Brussels +++ Baudoin Velge, Managing Director, INTEREL

Roderic AbbotAssociateGplusNationality: UKStart: 04/07/2007

Karen van Bergen

Emmanuel Goedseels

Media and Think Tanks

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PROMOTING FRAGRANCE SAFETY AND ENJOYMENT WORLDWIDE

OUR RAISON D’ETRE

• Deliver credible science and promulgate safety standards globally

• Promote the benefits of fragrances and their role in enhancing the quality of life

INTERNATIONAL FRAGRANCE ASSOCIATION

For more information on the International Fragrance Association (IFRA), visit www.ifraorg.org

PEOPLEEuropeanAgenda

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GalaBrussels’ Event Highlights Second half 2008

LOCATION:REPRESENTATION OF THE FREE STATE OF BAVARIA TO THE EU

OCTOBER 2, 2007

Hanns-Seidel-Foundation

25 years in Brussels

LOCATION:BRUSSELS AIRPORT, SKY HALL

OCTOBER 4, 2007

Friends of Europe

President’s Dinner


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Hanns-Seidel-Foundation

25 years in BrusselsOctober 2, 2007 - Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the EU

On October 2 the Liasion office of the Hanns-Seidel-Foundation in Brussels celebrated its 25th anniversary. Foundation Chairman Hans Zehetmair and Jean Claude Juncker, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, addressed more than 500 guests, including Ambassadors, Members of the European Parliament and high ranking representatives from the EU Institutions.

Guests enjoying the hospitality of the Bavarian representation to the EU

Edmund Duckwitz, Hans Zehetmair, Hei-drun Piwernetz, Jean-Claude Juncker, Ur-sula Männle, Ingo Friedrich

Elmar Brok, Ambassador Dr Edmund Duckwitz

MEP Michael Gahler, Prince Nikolaus von Lichtenstein, Franz-Hermann Brüner

Dr. Rudolf Strohmeier and MEP Ingo Friedrich

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Dr. h.c. mult. Hans Zehetmair welcomes the Russian Ambassador Vladimir Chizhov


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Friends of Europe

President’s DinnerOctober 4, 2007 - Brussels Airport, Sky Hall

Over 650 guests from the topmost reaches of politics, business, civil society and the media throughout Europe gathered to celebrate the 75th birthday of Friends of Europe President Viscount Etienne Davignon. They came to pay tribute to a man who, during the 50 years since the Treaty of Rome, has played a prominent role in advancing the European project.

Prince Laurent of Belgium talking to guests.

Pat Cox (right) moderated the evening

Friends of Europe President Viscount Éti-enne Davignon, Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes

Prince Hassan of Jordan, Hans-Gert Pöttering, Antoinette Spaak, Prince Laurent. Sitting: Étienne Davignon, Neelie Kroes.

Prince Laurent talking to World Trade Organization Secretary-General Pascal Lamy. Former Commission President Jacques Santer

Étienne Davignon discusses with-Neelie Kroes.

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The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA)

Commercial Vehicle EventNovember 22, 2007- Autoworld Cinquantenaire

The 4th ACEA commercial vehicle event brought together industry and trade experts, politicians and EU legislators to discuss major changes within the European commercial ve-hicles (CV) market caused by globalisation and climate change.

Panel: Ivan Hodac, Secretary General ACEA + Fotis Karamitsos, DG Transport + Arild Iversen, CEO Wallenius Wilhelmsen + Jorma Halonen,Executive Vice President AB Volvo

Speaker: Aad Goudriaan, Chairman ACEA CV Board & President DAF Trucks

Speaker: David O‘Sullivan,Director General DG Trade

The European Telecommunications Network Operators‘ Association (ETNO)

Finding the right balanceNovember 22, 2007 – The Hilton Hotel, Brussels

More than 300 experts from the e-communica-tions industry, EU institutions, economists and member states discussed future challenges of the telecoms sector and held a first debate on the Commission proposals for the review of the EU telecoms rules, on the occasion of ETNO’s 5th Annual Conference.

Michael Bartholomew, ETNO Director

Didier Bellens,CEO Belgacom

Bojan Dremelj,CEO, Telekom Slovenjie

Debate on Future Policy Vision from left to right: Fabio Colasanti, Di-rector General DG Information Society and Media; Peter O’Donnell, debate moderator; Ian Hargreaves, OFCOM; Wolfgang Kopf, Deutsche Telekom; Professor Leonard Waverman, London Business School



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Invisible Contribution. VisibleS

uccess.

Invisible Contribution – Our new plasticiser plays a crucial role

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smallest patients.

Visible Success – Working closely with customers in many in-

dustries, we develop and optimize solutions. The results of these

partnerships are worth seeing. Improved processes and increased

quality contribute to the success of our customers. And a better

quality of life for us all.

www.basf.com/more

C H E M I C A L S P L A S T I C S P E R F O R M A N C E P R O D U C T S A G R I C U LT U R A L P R O D U C T S & N U T R I T I O N O I L & G A S

Med_Care_European_Agenda-e 26.11.2007 11:09 Uhr Seite 1

The European Telecommunications Network Operators‘ Association (ETNO)

Finding the right balanceNovember 22, 2007 – The Hilton Hotel, Brussels


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Eurocrats’ Babble

De Bello Gallico was written around 50 BC, stating in fact the following: Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Bel-gae, “of all these the Belgians are the strongest”. Can you really divide a force that withstood Julius?

Belgium is not only the host of the European Union, it is its cradle. It was only then when Celtic, early Gaul and Germanic tribes mingled

on these muddy lowlands to live out the European dream long before Schumann, Spaak, and Spinelli.

Speaking of the so-called “great” Europeans – who are the ones run-ning the real day-to-day European business? Belgians! Why? Because

they TRULY speak more than one language, instead of just having spent one “study year abroad” like everyone else

The French are famous for baguette and acting snooty to almost everyone. The Dutch are famous for driving caravans and smoking

pot. The Germans are famous for… you know what. YOU, Belgians, on the other hand are famous for brewing the best beer, making the most deli-cious chocolates and producing the funniest cartoons in the world – do you really want to split that up?

“Wallonian beer” just sounds silly. So does “Flemish beer” So does „Belgo-Germanic beer“. Only „Brussels D.C. Brew“ sounds nice

On the way from check-in to the gate at the Brussels airport, you would pass three national borders

The fact of the matter is that they call them “French fries” or “freedom fries”, but definitely not “Flemish fries” or “Walloon fries”. Get over it.

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Less confusion when traveling through Brussels: Double-language street names like “Rue du Moulin / Molenstraat”, “Rue de la Charité / Liefdadig-

heidstraat, “Quai du Bois à Brûler / Brandhoutkaai” would cease to exist

Brussels would be renamed “Brussels D.C.” and fall under the Com-missions’ jurisdiction. The newly created DG D.C. would be headed

by a Croat and a Turk; the newly created police force would speak World English with a strong Euro-accent

Population figures would rise considerably in Brussels D.C. due to the extremely favorable tax rates. VAT, for instances, would be aban-

doned altogether

The national landscape of Europe would be enriched by two new heraldic animals:

A Flemish black lion saying “No more mooch-ing” and a Wallonian red rooster sign a sign reading “Stupid Flanders!”

Following these articulate examples, all European states disinte-grate into smaller region states, until in 12 years, Eurocitzens hold

their breath to the Euro cup final Päijät-Häme vs. Styria

No more “excusez-moi” or “het spijt me”, just good old “sorry, com-ing through” when fighting your way out of the Metro on a Monday

morning

A newly reformed service culture will emerge – the plumber will arrive on exactly the time he stated, construction works will be

conducted in an efficient manner and stop causing nerve-wracking con-gestions during peak time. There will be lots of parking space in central Brussels D.C. and actually, there will be more sun-hours per year than in Malibu

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“GALLIA est omnis divisa in partes tres, quarum unam incolunt Bel-gae, aliam Aquitani, tertiam qui ipsorum lingua Celtae, nostra Galli appellantur.“ Thus wrote Julius Caesar in De Bello Gallico I. 2,000 years onwards, Belgium is inhabited by the Flames, the Walloons, and

the Bruxellois/Brusseleirs, and it seems that they are pretty much fed up with their respective co-habitants. European Agenda gives 7 rea-sons, pro and con, for the Belgium nation-state to stay together or to split up – from a Eurocrats’ perspective:

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7 ReasonsWhy Belgium should stay together

7 ReasonsWhy Belgium should split up

European Agenda 01 2008

Documents

Transcript of European Agenda 01 2008