Climate Change ¿What is the threat of Kyoto and how is the European Union commited in?

The European Union and Kyoto

The European Union is committed to reducing its 1990 levels of greenhouse gas emissions by 8% between the years 2008-2012 under the Kyoto Protocol on climage change. Meeting this target without damaging European competitiveness poses a major challenge. The European Union is determined to take the lead in the fight against climate change and has ratified by 1 June 2002 the Kyoto Protocol - a first step in a longer-term global environmental effort to protect our planet.
The protocol stes limits on greenhouse gas emissions for industrialised countries and the transition economies of Russia and the EU applicants in central and eastern Europe for a five-year period beginning in 2008.
In 2001, the European Commission has tabled in its report on its European Climate Change Programme and in a Communication to Council and Parliament a series of actions for the next two years that will help to reduce green house gas emissions. These actions concern the energy sector, transport and industry as well as so called cross cutting issues, which will have effects on all sectors.

Emissions trading

The proposal for a Directive on emissions trading is currently the most prominent climate change action for the Community. Emission trading can minimise the costs of compliance with the Kyoto Protocol and the European Commission, after extensive consultation with industry and Member States is proposing that an emission trading scheme, mainly for large energy intensive installations, should be introduced in 2005.

The scheme would apply to between 4,000 and 5,000 individual energy-intensive plants ( above a certain size ). Between them, these account for nearly half of the Union's total carbon dioxide emissions.

The scheme would cover electricity generators and producers of iron and steel, glass, cement, pottery and bricks. For the time being, it would not include the chemical industry, which is responsible for barely 1% of all direct emissions, nor the waste and transport sectors. Small and medium-sized businesses would also be largely excluded.

Under the proposal, every large industrial and energy installations covered by the scheme would be issued with a permit certifying its annual CO2 emission levels. If it succeeds in emitting less, it may sell its surplus certificates to an operator that has gone above the permitted ceiling. Financial penalties would be imposed on plants whose emissions exceeded the allowances they had been allocated or purchased.

The system's value is that it uses market forces to transfer the ability to reduce emissions to those who can achieve this most cheaply, and, by requiring producers to pay for extra allowances that may be required, is consistent with the 'polluter pays' principle.

Kyoto and competitiveness

Reducing compliance costs in meeting the 8% Kyoto target is essential if the international competitiveness of European companies is not to be undermined. This is especially true since US withdrawal from the process suggests that American businesses may face few costs in implementing their climate change measures.

Competition may also come from Russia. The collapse of its economy in the past decade means that its current level of emissions is way below the 2008-2012 Kyoto target. This could give its industry a potential advantage and encourage the country either to sell its surplus allowances or use them to attract inward investment in some industrial sectors.

The fact that Kyoto commits only industrialised countries to quantitative emission reduction targets may give the developing world a competitive edge with regard to greenhouse gas emissions. This could encourage some companies based in Europe to consider moving their operations overseas. However, distance from the EU market, a different regulatory environment and smaller pool of qualified labour should offset any such tendencies.

Another factor influencing competitiveness is the possibility available under the Kyoto Protocol to offset tree planting efforts and forestry management against emission reduction targets. Countries such as Canada, Japan and Russia will benefit proportionately more than the EU from this opportunity.

Costs of Kyoto

Leadership in the fight against climate change does not come without a price, although this would have to be balanced against the effects of inaction if no measures are taken against greenhouses gases emisssions. Because of the many variables involved, such as energy inputs, growth of GDP and trade-offs with other policy areas, it is impossible to give firm figures for the costs of compliance.

However, estimates for the annual cost to the Union as a whole range from less than 0.1% to nearly 1% of GDP. The relative costs for individual sectors will depend on whether some are called on to make greater reductions than others or whether a flat rate target is set across the board.

Energy-intensive sectors such as steel, basic chemicals and pulp and paper, precisely because they have already made significant emission reduction efforts, and face trough international competition, could incur higher marginal reduction costs.

On the other hand, companies moving early to develop, patent and implement the necessary technology to reduce emissions or produce alternative forms of energy may gain a competitive advantage.

The overall economic effects of addressing climate change under the Kyoto Protocol are very difficult to quantify. It is clear that there are risks. However, there are also potential opportunities.

Everything is possible, from triggering relocation of some industry to outside the EU to winning a competitive advantage by creating a stimulus for the development of new leading-edge technology.

This is why it is so important to start off on the right foot and keep a proper balance between the environmental and economic dimensions of the problem. This is in the best spirit of the Union's commitment to the principle of sustainable development by taking into account the economic, social and environmental dimensions in its decision-making process.. This in turn requires the early development of performance structures to carry out reliable impact assessments.

The European Commission Enterprise and Industry, Reports and Estudies

China and India join Galileo

China and India have decided to participate in Galileo, the EU’s satellite navigation system. This is a sign of Asian countries’ desire to move beyond mere trade relations with the European Union.

The Galileo system, to be operational in 2008, will provide a more accurate alternative to the US network of global positioning satellites (GPS). Galileo will primarily be used for the geographic positioning of vehicles and other transport modes, as well as for scientific research, land management and disaster monitoring. It will also have government applications accessible only to EU member states.

What is Galileo?

Galileo will be Europe’s own global navigation satellite system, providing a highly accurate, guaranteed global positioning service under civilian control. It will be inter-operable with GPS and GLONASS, the two other global satellite navigation systems.
A user will be able to take a position with the same receiver from any of the satellites in any combination. By offering dual frequencies as standard, however, Galileo will deliver real-time positioning accuracy down to the metre range, which is unprecedented for a publicly available system.
It will guarantee availability of the service under all but the most extreme circumstances and will inform users within seconds of a failure of any satellite. This will make it suitable for applications where safety is crucial, such as running trains, guiding cars and landing aircraft.
The first experimental satellite, part of the so-called Galileo System Test Bed (GSTB) will be launched in the second semester of 2005. The objective of this experimental satellite is to characterize the critical technologies, which are already under development under ESA contracts. Thereafter up to four operational satellites will be launched in the timeframe 2005-2006 to validate the basic Galileo space and related ground segment. Once this In-Orbit Validation (IOV) phase has been completed, the remaining satellites will be installed to reach the Full Operational Capability (FOC) in 2008.
The fully deployed Galileo system consists of 30 satellites (27 operational + 3 active spares), positioned in three circular Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) planes in 23616 km altitude above the Earth, and at an inclination of the orbital planes of 56 degrees with reference to the equatorial plane. Once this is achieved, the Galileo navigation signals will provide a good coverage even at latitudes up to 75 degrees north, which corresponds to the North Cape, and beyond. The large number of satellites together with the optimisation of the constellation, and the availability of the three active spare satellites, will ensure that the loss of one satellite has no discernible effect on the user.
Two Galileo Control Centres (GCC) will be implemented on European ground to provide for the control of the satellites and to perform the navigation mission management. The data provided by a global network of twenty Galileo Sensor Stations (GSS) will be sent to the Galileo Control Centres through a redundant communications network. The GCC’s will use the data of the Sensor Stations to compute the integrity information and to synchronize the time signal of all satellites and of the ground station clocks. The exchange of the data between the Control Centres and the satellites will be performed through so-called up-link stations. Five S-band up-link stations and 10 C-band up-link stations will be installed around the globe for this purpose.
As a further feature, Galileo will provide a global Search and Rescue (SAR) function, based on the operational Cospas-Sarsat system. To do so, each satellite will be equipped with a transponder, which is able to transfer the distress signals from the user transmitters to the Rescue Co-ordination Centre, which will then initiate the rescue operation. At the same time, the system will provide a signal to the user, informing him that his situation has been detected and that help is under way. This latter feature is new and is considered a major upgrade compared to the existing system, which does not provide a feedback to the user.

Sources: European Space Agency (ESA) and Europa Information Sources

Open European Community, Brussels on May 6 2006

The European Community, allways close to citizens, will be opened on Saturday May 6 to all citizens with the democracy festival, where everybody will be wellcomed on its headquarters to explain how it works.
Germán Yáñez, European Express.


Europe is growing larger and will expand even further, opening up new horizons and deeper cooperation for its citizens. This is why the European Institutions have chosen worker and student mobility and Social Europe as the stars of its 2006 Festival of Europe.
European Comission press releases.

WTO Director-General PASCAL LAMY CALLS FOR “SHARED SENSE OF URGENCY” IN THE TRADE NEGOTIATIONS

Director-General Pascal Lamy, in his introductory statement to the TradeNegotiations Committee on 1 May 2006, said that finding consensus in thenegotiations “remains doable, but only if a sense of urgency—which I feelis not always shared by all—starts appearing in each and every delegation”“We must now focus our efforts on working intensively, continuously andin an effective manner on a text-based negotiating process, which issolidly anchored in Geneva”, he added.
> More on the TNC

TravelEurope: The Channel Islands: Jersey and Guerney

You will find the Channel Islands nestling in the Bay of Cherbourg, close to France, and indeed the French influence in all the islands is immediately obvious as soon as you step off the plane or boat.

The Channel Islands are constitutionally separate from the UK and France and to all intents and purposes are totally self-governing. The States of Jersey and The States of Guernsey (known as The States) are the effective legislators and government and 'run' the islands at a local level. There is also a link to the Privy Council and the Queen in the UK as the islands are ultimately a British Dependency.

Jersey is the largest, and perhaps the most well known, of the islands at 45 square miles and a population of some 90,000 inhabitants. Guernsey comes next with around 60,000 inhabitants in 25 square miles, and the likes of Alderney, Sark, Herm and other islands are much smaller, but all with their own indigenous population.

Transport links to the islands are extensive with air and sea links to both the UK and French mainlands and therefore hopping on to a plane or boat is as natural as boarding a train when attempting to get from A to B - and the travel time is very short being between 30 and 60 minutes depending on your destination.

An array of restaurants, hotels and pubs provide options for all tastes and budgets but generally all establishments are of a very high standard catering for both the high demands of the business sector as well as the discerning tourist. As such, you will find an incredible amount of options for leisure facilities to cope with the demands and interests of the very cosmopolitan populations in all the islands - not least of course the high quality golf courses and wide variety of water based activities.

IESE, The Business School of University of Navarra becames the Leading Distributor of Harvard Business Cases in Spanish

Harvard Business School Publishing (HBSP) has become a new academic partner, adding more than 500 official case translations from this prestigious U.S. school to IESEP?s catalogue. The agreement between both distributors underscores IESE Publishing?s position as the distributor offering the largest number of business cases in Spanish in the world.The addition of Harvard cases brings the total number of documents and products on offer to 4,800. Read now, in Spanish, cases from Harvard Business School, focusing on companies all over the world and covering a wide range of topics.

European Commission Welcomes World Bank's Announcement of Africa Fund

The European Commission has welcomed the World Bank Group’s recently announced Africa Catalytic Growth Fund, saying that both institutions are determined to support and to accelerate shared economic growth and to assist in the achievement of Millennium Development Goals that have proved difficult to attain in Africa.

The World Bank Group Trust Fund complements the European Trust Fund on Infrastructure, which was launched on February 9th by the Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) as a new tool to implement the Euro-Africa partnership on infrastructure. Both institutions are also key actors in development co-operation and have now new means to better respond to the African challenges.

"Last year, the international community has taken substantial commitments to raise more money for development aid and deliver it better and faster," said Louis Michel, Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid. "This year we must deliver on these commitments."

Last December, the European Union adopted the European Consensus on Development and the EU Strategy for Africa. Today the EU has a joint strategy for development shared by all its Member States and by the Commission alike. The World Bank has equally adopted an Action Plan to support Africa in September 2005. To establish synergy and complementarity between the two strategies, both institutions are engaged in frequent consultations.

Development is a global effort, say the European Commission, and both the EU and the World Bank share the same objective of growth and poverty eradication in Africa. The two Trust Funds will allow the two institutions rapidly to channel additional resources from other partners to Africa with the aim of accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals

EuropeanExpress Supports Fight Hunger

We support fight hunger, the UN organisation to fight the hunguer, for this reason we are sending massive mailings to show the world the new campaign.
Damos apoyo a "fight hunger" el programa de UN para luchar contra el hambre en el mundo, por ello estamos difundiendo masivamente el link de su video para mejorar sus subvenciones.

Play video here http://www.fighthunger.org/files/energy_en.wmv

To view the places where you can walk >press here<

Este acto tendrá lugar el día 21 de Mayo a las 12:00 en la Plaza Colón y se dirigirá hasta la Puerta de Alcalá (Madrid). Hay la posibilidad de que se lleve a cabo en la ciudad de Vigo, para mantenerse informado presione >aquí<

UN Appeals For $426 Million To Aid Drought Victims In Horn Of Africa

Launching an appeal for $426 million to support the urgent needs of people in the drought stricken Horn of Africa the UN's top humanitarian official said that more than 8 million were in mortal danger.

Speaking in the Kenyan capital Nairobi UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland said that the drought shows no sign of relenting. Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia have been suffering from water shortages and declining access to food following several years of successive rainfall failures and the rapid erosion of assets. Large numbers of people were dyingdue to preventable diseases and malnutrition related to the drought, Mr. Egeland said.

He went on to warn that Somalia, to which the bulk of the appeal, is targeted, is particularly vulnerable to the unfolding crisis. Intolerable levels of children are dying of malnutrition with "angry and hungry men with Kalashnikovs in search of food" poised to trigger furtherconflict.

“I know we launch many appeals, and there are many areas of the world needing assistance, but I cannot underline too much how important this is,” Kevin Kennedy, the Director of the Complex Emergency Division of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said recently in New York.

“There are millions of people at risk, and predictions …that if things do not improve rapidly, if assistance is not provided, we could see a much, much worse situation three, four, five months out,” he warned.

Mr. Kennedy said the five or six year drought cycles of the past have become yearly or bi-yearly leaving some 15 million people at risk in addition to the 8 million in immediate danger.

These are people who rely on livestock for their livelihood and their whole way of life,” Mr. Kennedy said. “The rain has stopped falling. The waterholes have dried up. The crops have failed when they can do cropping and the livestock are dying.”

OCHA said the funds being sought will provide a comprehensive response, covering water and sanitation, health and nutrition, livestock and agriculture, livelihood security and education, as well as food aid, in order to save lives immediately and to also build resilience to futuredroughts.

“We have to break the cycle of drought in this region; it will affect and save the lives of literally hundreds of thousands of people over the long-term,” Mr. Kennedy said.

Palestinian Assistance: Humanitarian Assistance and Democracy Building

The United States remains committed to President Bush’s vision of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is also our desire to help provide for the basic human needs of the Palestinian people.

Consistent with these principles, the United States will increase its humanitarian aid to help Palestinians in need. Basic humanitarian assistance – including health, food, and education – will increase by 57 percent, for a total of $245 million. The United States will also provide $42 million to strengthen civil society and independent institutions. Assistance will be administered through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and non-Palestinian Authority actors, including local and international NGOs.

Because the new Hamas-led Palestinian government has failed to accept the Quartet principles of non-violence, recognition of Israel and respect for previous agreements between the parties, the United States is suspending assistance to the Palestinian government’s cabinet and ministries.

The new Palestinian government must take responsibility for the consequences of its policies.

The path back to the Roadmap is clear – acceptance of the three principles. If it accepts the Quartet principles, or a new government comes to power that accepts them, funding can be restored.

Fact sheet of the U.S.Department of State_Spacial Briefing

U.S. & Europe Call for Release of Jailed Belarus Protesters

The United States is calling on Belarus immediately to release protesters and opposition supporters detained or arrested in connection with the country’s "severely flawed" March 19 election, a U.S. diplomat told Europe’s leading human-rights group.

Hundreds of around-the-clock protesters spent their fifth day demonstrating in October Square in the Belarus capital city of Minsk. The sustained public demonstration is unprecedented in Belarus, a former Soviet republic that has used repressive measures to silence critics of the government.

More at U.S. Department of State>>>

European Business Summit

Building a Europe of Excellence

Turning knowledge into growth

During two days the 4th European Business Submit had a record number of 2.686 attendees. EBS conferences and networking attracted 1.898 participants, including 100 keynote speakers. The various parallel sessions were visited by 520 people. Over 250 journalists covered this fourth EBS.
Both on numbers as on content, this was by far the biggest EBS, throughout 2 plenary sessions, 9 thematic workshops, 6 country groups, 15 parallel sessions and a Gala Dinner.

more at http://www.ebsummit.org/index.html?current=26&page=26&page2=26&lang=en

For any comments about our articles or others you'd like us to publish please mail us at europeanexpress@gmail.com

Edinburgh Excellence - From manufacturing to high-tech

Jim McFarlane, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian: "To survive the threat of manufacturing industry moving to lower-cost locations, European countries must move up the value chain and add value thought innovation"

The Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian is engaged together with the cities of Copenhagen, Vienna, Veneto and Hamburg looking to internationalisation supporting growth and helps innovative projects for young companies.

Learn more at www.edinburghsciencetriangle.com

Germán Yáñez Márquez on the blog of Margot Wallström Vice-president of the EU Comission

The US government has shown us how the government in a nation must be. The US government, doesn't mean what colour you are, doesn't mean which is the thank of the president has usually most admirable actions suporting free movement of persons and companies until, the terrorist attak of 11S, when all the citizens supported they governmen, as well as the political parties. Now we are taking the debate of an US representative, should I say that, some of the politicala and economical cases produced by, for example, the publicantion of faces of Mahoma, the intervention by the Spanish government to an Inter-European operation of ENDESA, or to finance a terrorist government, had never happened in the US. The United States is a great, free, and world-trusted Nation by it's conviction and because they all work to go ahead together. Why Europa doesn't? We should stay united and feel European, and of course if a terrorist group as ETA is decided to be named by the whole European Countries not to change the threat as "they are friends" because of the gun on back. To stay united is go ahead. Fights into the community makes us go back, this words are my contribution to Europe and I'm sure all who feel and trust in the "Great Community" will agree.

IMF - Last News

1 De Rato and IMF Reform, A Letter to the Editor by Thomas Dawson, Director, External Relations Department,
IMFhttp://www.imf.org/external/np/vc/2006/030806.htm


2 Transcript of a Conference Call with Journalists on The Global Economic and Financial Impact of an Avian Flu Pandemic and the Role of the IMFhttp://www.imf.org/external/np/tr/2006/tr060313.htm



IMF - Conferences and Seminars

1 IMF Seminars and Conferences -- IMF Book Forum: Is Globalization Here to Stay?, March 29, 2006http://www.imf.org/External/NP/EXR/BForums/2006/032906.htm

EPP supports to Partido Popular Español against Mr. Zapatero's coalition with Morales, Chaves, and terrorists Governments from the world over

The President of the European People´s Party (EPP), Wilfried Martens, declared his support to the Spanish Partido Popular and its leader, Mariano Rajoy, during a "Convención", held last weekend in Madrid that was open to the public and to journalists.
"2005 was a difficult year for the European Union due to the results of the referenda on the Constitutional Treaty in France and the Netherlands; but the Partido Popular supported the European interests instead of partisan interests", Martens stated during his speech in the plenary session.

"The Partido Popular has a very good political project, a very good team of men and women and a prominent leader, Mariano Rajoy. You are the party of the citizens and this is the key to win the next Spanish elections," President Martens declared.
In the closing speech of the "Convención", Mariano Rajoy thanked Wilfried Martens for attending the meeting. The leaders of the UMP (France), Nicolas Sarkozy, and the PSD (Portugal), Luis Marques Mendes, also attended the "Convención".

CAA - aircraft register for Cayman Islands

A Guide to registering aircraft in the Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands provide a safe, stable and ‘friendly flag’ for registration of an aircraft and a developed system for perfecting a security interest over that aircraft.
The Cayman Islands enjoy a stable system of government, consisting of a 15 member Legislative Assembly elected by the people every 4 years, which enables the Cayman Islands largely to self-govern on local affairs, and a Governor who is formally appointed by the Queen every 3 years to act as a representative of the U.K. government and to exercise power over certain domestic issues (for example, controlling the Islands’ internal security matters, dissolving the legislature, assenting to laws and acting as a delegate between the Islands and the British government).

Press anywhere on the text to link the PDF article.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy

Agenda: WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy

13–17 March 06

Monday 13 March 06 in Basel

• Bank for International Settlements

Tuesday 14 March 06 in Geneva

• Conference at the Graduate Institute of International Studies

To view official comunication from press office, please follow this link.

IMF - Speeches

Evolution not Revolution: The Changing Role of the IMF in the Global Economy.

By Anne O. Krueger at Stanford University.

As a consequence of what we learned, the Fund has made important and far-reaching adjustments to the way it works. Now is an appropriate moment to assess what we have done and to consider what further changes need to be made. There will, of course, always be a need for change: the world is constantly evolving and so must we at the Fund if we are to continue to fulfill our central purpose: the maintenance of international financial stability. Indeed, the Fund's history, like that of the international economic policy community as a whole, is one of adapting to change. Success in meeting some challenges inevitably brings fresh ones in its wake. We are proud to be a learning institution.

Read more at: IMF Speeches

UNESCO - Report on children out of school

Recomended Source by German Yañez:

UNESCO presents it's new report on children education. About one hundred and fifteen million children are out of school.
The objetive is school for all children by 2015.

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UNESCO, 1 March -Education News-


One hundred and fifteen million primary school-age children are out of school according to a joint UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS / UNICEF global estimate. This number equals 18% - or almost one in five - of the children worldwide in this age group. And many of the children who are in school may never complete their primary education or finish it without attaining even basic literacy skills.
The report will soon be available in French.

Download or View the report.