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Belgian ministers outline Council Presidency priorities On Thursday 3 September MEPs discussed Europe's space and telecommunications policies with Belgian ministers Laruelle and Van Quickenborne, who presented the presidency's priorities to the EP Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. Before the summer recess, MEPs had quizzed the ministers about their plans for the coming six months in other policy areas. Space policy "For space policy, the expertise of the European Space Agency and the considerable po- litical clout of the EU are two complementary assets", said Sabine Laruelle, minister for small businesses, the self-employed, farming and science policy. She called for progress in defining a European vision for space exploration and argued that European actors must work to achieve sustainable exploitation of Galileo and GMES for the benefit of the public. She also mentioned the advantages that spin-offs of space research could bring to the management of climate change, in particular for African and developing countries. Reply- ing to questions by MEPs Philippe Lamberts (Greens/EFA, BE) and Maria Carvalho (EPP, PT), she said she was determined to take seriously the budgetary issues relating to the Press release ITER, Galileo and GMES projects. Digital economy "Europe must move towards a fully digital economy", said Vincent Van Quickenborne, min- ister for enterprise and administrative simplification. He emphasised the importance of the digital agenda among the EU2020 goals and called for thought to be given to ways of funding the plans to provide broadband access to all by 2013. "Shouldn't this simply be a universal service?" he asked, following a question from Kathleen Van Brempt (S&D, BE). Following comments by Paul Rübig (EPP, AT), the minister urged Parliament to press for a major reduction in roaming charges, which he considered to be too high, especially for data. He backed a call by Catherine Trautmann (S&D, FR) for the telecoms package to be implemented speedily and in full. Fisheries Setting catch amounts and quotas for 2011, reforming EU fisheries policy and further work on long-term management plans will be the Belgian Presidency's priorities, Minister-President of the Flemish government Kris Peeters told the Fisheries Committee on 15 July. Dialogue between scientists and fishermen will be a key focus, he said in reply to questions on the use of scientific knowledge. A symposium to be held in November in Ostend could bring an "important breakthrough" towards ending their mutual distrust, he added. The Lisbon treaty must be respected "not only in the letter, but also in spirit", said Mr Peeters, replying to many MEPs' concerns as to whether the Council would respect Parliament's new powers. On long-term management plans, the Minister-President said the Council is working hard to find "a pragmatic solution as soon as we can" to end delays in agree- Press Service Directorate for the Media Director - Spokesperson : Jaume DUCH GUILLOT EN Reference No.: 20100714IPR78879 Press switchboard number (32-2) 28 33000 1/6 Press release ing to proposed legislation on anchovy and horse mackerel. Replying to questions on Ice- land, Mr Peeters said: "Fisheries is a very important aspect in the accession negotiations. We will follow this part very closely [..] and hope you will do the same." In the chair: Carmen FRAGA ESTÉVEZ (EPP, ES) Environment Climate change, biodiversity, sustainable management of materials and the best environ- ment policy instruments are Belgian Presidency's four priorities, environment minister- Joke Schauvliege told the Environment Committee on 14 July. Asked whether the Presidency would press for a biowaste directive, Ms Schauvliege said Belgium supported the relevant EP resolution and that the Presidency would discuss op- tions with the Commission. MEPs also asked whether the proposed drinking water direc- tive was also a priority, to which the minister replied that this was indeed on the agenda of the presidency trio. MEPs also stressed it was important that the EU should agree common positions well ahead of international conferences such as the climate conference in Cancun and the- biodiversity conference in Nagoya, so as to be able to negotiate with other nations. Ms Schauvliege reassured MEPs that the first informal meeting of ministers had already taken place. In the chair: Jo LEINEN (S&D, DE) Women's rights and gender equality "We want to get more women into work and also into higher positions" employment and equal opportunities minister Joëlle Milquet told the Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee on 14 July. Gender policies should be implemented in employment policies, and the gender pay gap should be cut to 0-5% by 2020, as stated in the EU2020 strategy, she added. The Belgian Presidency will seek consensus on the draft "maternity leave" directive and also pursue the Spanish Presidency's work on combating violence against women and discrimination. MEPs advocated employment quotas for women, citing Norway's 40% quota for board mem- bers of listed companies. The also cited Parliament's call, in a resolution of 10 February 2010, for a European Year of Combating Violence against Women, adding that new forms of violence, such as stalking, should also be addressed. In the chair: Eva-Britt Svensson (GUE/NGL, SE) Employment and social affairs "We want to put employment policies at the heart of European strategies and of economic governance", employment and equality opportunities minister Joëlle Milquet told the Em- ployment and Social Affairs Committee on 14 July. Employment policies should play a promi- nent role in the decisions soon to be taken on economic governance. The minister also outlined five other priorities of the Belgian Presidency for the longer term: green jobs, ageing of the population, restructuring, flexicurity and the fight against discrimination, particularly on the labour market. On social cohesion, social affairs minister Laurette Onkelinx emphasised "the tools of the 2020 strategy", in particular Guideline 10 on social inclusion and poverty. She also called for more systematic use of Article 9 of the Lisbon Treaty as a horizontal social clause. "The fight against poverty and in particular the minimum income, child poverty and homelessness, are our priorities", said Jean-Marc Delizée, state secretary for social affairs and people with 20100714IPR78879 - 2/6 Press release disabilities. Following publication of the Commission's green paper on pensions, Michel Daerden, the pensions minister, called for a solution to certain questions relating to mobile workers at supranational level, even if "subsidiarity is the watchword on pensions". In the chair: Pervenche Berès (S&D, FR) Transport and tourism The Presidency will advocate ambitious road safety targets and push for cross-border en- forcement of fines, minister for mobility Etienne Schouppe told the Transport and Tourism Committee on 13 June. It also aims to conclude negotiations on bus passenger rights and to improve maritime safety legislation, he said. For air transport, Mr Schouppe promised "rapid progress" towards creating functional air traffic control blocks and said he expected the Commission to propose legislation to strengthen airport security. MEPs felt the plans were ambitious, and most welcomed them, although some warned that they would require additional funds. Ms Isabelle Weyckmans, tourism minister in Belgium's German-speaking community gov- ernment, promised efforts to promote culture-oriented, socially-responsible and sustainable tourism, both internally and internationally, presenting Europe as a world-class tourist des- tination. Belgium would also aim to include provisions for these purposes in EU financial instruments, she said. MEPs suggested allocating additional EU funds for tourism policy, stepping up support for bicycle tourism and introducing EU legislation to protect the rights of disabled tourists. In the chair: Dominique Riquet (EPP, FR) Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Belgian ministers Laurette Oneklinkx (health) and Sabine Laruelle (agriculture and science) discussed the Presidency agenda in the Environment Committee on 13 June. On cross- border healthcare, Ms Onkelinx pointed to the lengthy negotiations that had been needed to reach an agreement in Council. Several MEPs stressed that remaining legal uncertainties still need to be ironed out. Ms Onkelinx told MEPs critical of the EU-wide handling of the H1N1 that she favoured transparency on the issue. On food safety, MEPs welcomed Ms Laruelle's view that standards on food produced in the EU should also apply to imported food. Ms Onkelinx noted Parliament's vote opposing inclusion of food from cloned animals under 'novel food' rules, stressing however that an agreement should be found in conciliation, otherwise marketing of such food could go ahead. Food labelling rules and newly announced GM cultivation proposals will also feature on the Belgian Presidency agenda later this year. In the chair: Jo Leinen (S&D, DE) International trade Concluding the Doha Development Round, signing the EU-South Korea Free trade agree- ment, pressing ahead with negotiations for an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and the relations with key EU trading partners (US, China, Russia) are the Belgian Presidency's in- ternational trade priorities, foreign affairs and foreign trade minister Steven Vanackere told the International Trade Committee on 13 July. On the development dimension of trade, Mr Vanackere highlighted the need to conclude the