Other summit issues at a glance

Date: 02/12/1999

Environment

EU leaders will discuss progress made towards integrating environmental concerns into other policy areas and are likely to conclude that although tentative steps have already been taken, much more needs to be done.

So far, integration strategies have been drawn up by transport, energy, agriculture, industry, development and internal market ministers. But a recent European Commission paper warned that progress was “clearly uneven,” with reports lacking targets and timetables and focusing on end-of-pipe solutions rather than tackling the causes of problems.

Further papers on integrating the environment into fisheries, financial policy and foreign affairs are expected next year, with an overall review slated for June 2001.

Employment

Helsinki is likely to be the first EU summit in two years that will not lend its name to a new 'process' in the Union's ongoing crusade against unemployment.

Since the special jobs summit which launched the Union's first-ever 'employment strategy' in Luxembourg at the end of 1997, the gatherings of EU leaders in Cardiff, Vienna and Cologne have all added new presidency job-creation initiatives or 'processes' to the initial scheme. Critics warn that if this practice continues, the employment strategy could become overly complex and unwieldy.

In a bid to prevent this from happening, the Finns say that they intend to break with what is fast becoming an EU tradition and concentrate on looking at ways of coordinating the existing pro-job measures.

“The summit will probably produce some papers on ways of consolidating the current initiatives, but we are not intending to launch the 'Helsinki process',” said one Finnish diplomat.

Taxation

Following his failure to overcome British opposition to a key part of the EU's three-part tax plan last week, Finnish Finance Minister Sauli Niinistä will present a minimalist report to the summit.

Finance ministers are likely to meet in Helsinki on the eve of the summit next Thursday (9 December) to make a last-ditch effort to break the deadlock, and Niinistä and Tax Commissioner Frits Bolkestein will pull out all the stops to persuade the UK to bend over whether foreign-currency bonds should be exempted from a planned future 20&percent; tax on cross-border savings.

The presidency report, as it currently stands, highlights the issues which still have to be resolved: an exemption for investment funds; cutting the administrative burden on 'paying agents'; whether to introduce the tax at the same time in dependent territories; and revenue sharing.

A report on the EU's 66 most predatory corporate tax breaks will also be presented to EU leaders at the summit, but member states are still divided over whether these schemes should be 'rolled back' or whether a commitment should be made not to introduce their equivalents in the future.

Sport

The European Commission will present proposals at the summit aimed at boosting the role of sports in EU policy.

But the plans drawn up by Culture Commissioner Viviane Reding fall short of demanding a separate legal basis for launching sports initiatives, despite the fact that this would make it easier for the Commission to take action.

Instead, Reding will call on member states to make more effort to bring sports projects within the scope of existing EU initiatives covering health, education and the mobility of citizens.

The Luxembourger has already announced plans to tackle doping in EU sports, and has signalled her support for a review of Union legislation to offset the impact of the landmark Bosman judgement on football.