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I Information

Council

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Declaration by the Netherlands in accordance with Article 5 and Article 97 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 of 14 June 1971 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community

(2006/C 40/01)

The Netherlands Government wishes to inform you of the following:

In accordance with Article 5 and Article 97 of Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community, Member States are required to specify the social security legislation to which this Regulation applies and to notify it to you.

The Netherlands Government wishes to amend one point of the declaration. This amendment relates to the entry into force of a new law.

On 1 January 2006 the Law on Invalidity Insurance for Employees was replaced by the Law on Work and Income in Accordance with Capacity for Work. The Law on Invalidity Insurance for Employees continues to apply only to persons who already receive benefits.

The above gives rise to the following amendment:

Legislation and schemes referred to in Article 4(1) and (2) of the Regulation

Invalidity benefits, including those for maintaining or improving earning capacity:

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ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENT BETWEEN THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

(2006/C 40/02)

The Kingdom of Spain, of the one part, and the Council of the European Union, of the other part,

Having regard to the conclusions adopted by the Council on 13 June 2005 on the official use of additional languages within the Council and possibly other Institutions and bodies of the European Union,

Whereas there are languages within the Union other than those referred to in Council Regulation No 1/1958 whose status is recognised by the Constitution of a Member State in all or part of its territory or the use of which as a national language is authorised by law,

Whereas, in the framework of efforts being made to bring the Union closer to all its citizens, the richness of its linguistic diversity must be taken more into consideration, and whereas allowing citizens the possibility of using these other languages in their relations with the Institutions is an important factor in strengthening their identification with the European Union's political project,

Have agreed to conclude this ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENT to allow the official use at the Council of the languages other than Castilian (Spanish) whose status is recognised by the Spanish Constitution.

Written communications to the Council of the European Union

Speeches to a meeting of the Council

Making public of acts adopted in codecision

Costs

Final provisions

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Declaration by the Slovak Republic pursuant to Article 5 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 of 14 June 1971 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community

(2006/C 40/03)

I.   LEGISLATION AND SCHEMES REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 4(1) AND (2) OF REGULATION (EEC) No 1408/71

1.   Sickness and Maternity Insurance

2.   Invalidity benefits

3.   Old-age benefits

4.   Survivor's benefits

5.   Accidents at work and occupational diseases

6.   Unemployment benefits

7.   Family benefits

8.   Death grants

II.   MINIMUM BENEFITS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 50 OF REGULATION (EEC) No 1408/71

Not applicable

III.   BENEFITS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLES 77 AND 78 OF REGULATION (EEC) No 1408/71

1.   Benefits referred to in Article 77

2.   Benefits referred to in Article 78

IV.   SPECIAL NON-CONTRIBUTORY BENEFITS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 4(2a) OF REGULATION (EEC) No 1408/71

Not applicable

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Commission

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Euro exchange rates (1)

16 February 2006

(2006/C 40/04)

1 euro= 

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(1)

Source: reference exchange rate published by the ECB.

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Summary information on State aid granted under Commission Regulation (EC) No 1595/2004 of 8 September 2004 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises active in the production, processing and marketing of fisheries products

(2006/C 40/05)

(Text with EEA relevance)

Aid No: XF 4/2005

Member State: Italy

Title of aid scheme: Programming Agreement drawn up between the Veneto regional administration and Veneto regional trade groups within the fishing industry (Federcoopesca, Lega pesca and AGCI)

Legal basis: Normative di riferimento: Legge n. 41 del 17.2.82 — VIo Piano Triennale della Pesca e dell'Acquacoltura 2000-2002, approvato con Decreto Ministeriale 25 maggio 2000 (GU del 27 luglio 2000, n. 174)

Expenditure (overall amount and per year): The overall funding required to implement the Programming Agreement totals EUR 1 113 606. This was allocated to the regional budget under expenditure heading 100038, expenditure for activities provided for under the Sixth Three-year Plan for Fisheries and Aquaculture 2000-03 under Law of 17 February 1982, in accordance with the Decreti Ministeriali29 December 2000 and 1 August 2002 (for 2000 and 2001).

Given that the aid scheme runs for two years, the yearly amount is EUR 556 803.

Intensity of aid: The percentage of aid granted to the regional recipient groups within Federcoopesca, Lega pesca and AGCI Pesca for the measures set out in the Programming Agreement is set at 100 % of the eligible expenditure incurred by groups to carry out schemes of common interest whose results are published.

Date of implementation: Implementation will commence on the date the aid scheme is published in the Official Journal of the European Union

Duration of scheme: two years

Objectives of aid: 

The above-mentioned objectives are in line with those recently set by the EU in its policy on fisheries and aquaculture.

Eligible costs covered by the scheme: The measures are based on the type of aid listed in Regulation (EC) No 1595/2004, Article 4, (Aid for producer groups or associations or members of the trade).

Eligible costs that the scheme was calculated on are based on the provisions in Regulations (EC) Nos 2792/99, 1685/2000 (as amended by Regulation (EC) No 448/2004) and 438/2001.

The provision of technical/economic assistance and consultancy services for technical and IT management is therefore in keeping with Commission Decision 2001/C/19/05, paragraphs 2.1.1 and 2.1.2.

The planned budget for carrying out these measures does not exceed what is strictly needed in order to achieve the objectives.

Aid for technical and economic training of fishery personnel, aid for disseminating new techniques and for technical/economic assistance are exclusively aimed at raising awareness amongst fishery trade groups on issues relating to sustainable management and conservation of fishery resources for a significant and positive impact on the environment.

Support for individual enterprises is eligible, although these may only be granted compensation for expenses incurred in connection with carrying out planned measures.

Information on aid scheme and explanatory remarks: Programming Agreement drawn up between the Veneto regional administration and Veneto regional fishing industry trade groups within Federcoopesca, Lega pesca and AGCI.

The legal basis for implementing this agreement at regional level is Law No 41 of 17 February 1982 and the Sixth Three-year Plan for Fisheries and Aquaculture 2000-02, approved by Decreto Ministeriale of 25 May 2000 (Italian State Gazette No 174 of 27 July 2000). The Agreement is funded by resources allocated by central government to the Veneto (Decreti Ministeriali of 29 December 2000 and 1 August 2002).

The measures contained in the Programming Agreement are in line with Regulation (EC) No 2792/99, Article 15(2) — Operations by members of the trade. This paragraph stipulates that ‘the Member States may encourage short-term operations of collective interest with a broader scope than operations normally undertaken by private businesses, carried out with the active contribution of members of the trade themselves or carried out by organisations acting on behalf of the producers or by other organisations having been recognised by the management authority, and serving to attain the objectives of the common fisheries policy’.

The aid covers the provisions contained in Law No 41/82 and in subsequent three-year plans for Fisheries and Aquaculture, which give trade groups the role of implementing Programming Agreements that target the following objectives:

to obtain the best return from regional fishery products;

to safeguard and foster employment;

to protect natural resources in coastal areas.

The Programming Agreements approved by national legislation as detailed above are also implemented at regional level given the following considerations:

the special historic and social value of trade groups in the fisheries sector in Veneto, both as representative of the overall business fabric of the Region and in terms of economic importance;

the need to strengthen the role of associations to steer and manage business restructuring, in light of the priorities set in the Sixth Three-year Plan for Fisheries;

the need to assign to these associations a range of practical tasks covering production services (marketing, publishing, development assistance) to support all commercial fishermen, until the proper authorised centres for assistance — similar to the well-established system of agricultural services — have been set up.

Recipient groups must provide their competent regional technical office with the following information by the deadline set in the Programming Agreement:

annual business plans, for scrutiny and approval by the regional authorities, together with statements concerning effective operational capacity;

biannual technical progress reports on the approved Programming Agreement (costs incurred, intermediate results and any other information relevant to the biannual audit of work carried out);

final technical reports (and corresponding statements of accounts) no later than 15 days after the annual programme ends, as provided for in the Programming Agreement, along with supporting documents (duly paid invoices and a copy of bank statements recording these transactions).

Competent regional authority: 

Telephone No (Segreteria dell'Unità Complessa Politiche Faunistico-Venatorie e della Pesca):

Lead manager:

Lead official:

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Prior notification of a concentration

(Case COMP/ M.4138 — DZ Equity/L-Bank/Hornschuch)

Candidate case for simplified procedure

(2006/C 40/06)

(Text with EEA relevance)

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(1)OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1.

(2)OJ C 56, 5.3.2005, p. 32.

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Non-opposition to a notified concentration

(Case COMP/M.3865 — Trinecke/VVT)

(2006/C 40/07)

(Text with EEA relevance)

On 21 September 2005, the Commission decided not to oppose the above notified concentration and to declare it compatible with the common market. This decision is based on Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004. The full text of the decision is available only in English and will be made public after it is cleared of any business secrets it may contain. It will be available:

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Notice of the expiry of certain anti-dumping measures

(2006/C 40/08)

Further to the publication of a notice of impending expiry (1), following which no request for a review was received, the Commission gives notice that the anti-dumping measures mentioned below will shortly expire.

This notice is published in accordance with Article 11(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 384/96 of 22 December 1995 (2) on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Community.

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(1)OJ C 139, 8.6.2005, p. 2.

(2)OJ L 56, 6.3.1996, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 2117/2005 (OJ L 340, 23.12.2005, p. 17).

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III Notices

Commission

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CALL FOR PROPOSALS — eTEN 2006/1

(2006/C 40/09)

1.   OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION

eTEN is the European Community Programme designed to help the deployment of telecommunication networks based services (e-services) in the common interest with a trans-European dimension. Information on the eTEN Programme can be found on the internet site of the eTEN programme:

http://europa.eu.int/eten

Pursuant to the eTEN Workprogramme 2006, the Commission hereby invites consortia to submit proposals of the following action types and covering one or more of the following themes:

Action Types:

Themes:

Proposals must address one or more of the following themes identified for 2006 in the eTEN Workprogramme

2.   ELIGIBILTY OF CONSORTIA

This call is open to proposals from legal entities in the 25 EU Member States, Bulgaria and Romania, and may be open to proposals from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as contracting parties to the EEA Agreement subject to timely establishment of the relevant legal base (1). Legal entities from other countries may participate on a case by case basis if such participation is considered to be of special interest. They will not receive Community funding.

3.   EVALUATION AND SELECTION

Proposals received will be evaluated by the Commission with the assistance of independent experts. The criteria used in the evaluation are defined in the eTEN Workprogramme. Proposals that pass the evaluation will be ranked in terms of quality.

The evaluation process of applications for grants by the Commission is set out in the Financial Regulation applicable to the General Budget of the European Communities.

4.   COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Funding for selected proposals will take the following forms:

Further information on cost models and funding limits can be found in the eTEN Guide for Proposers 2006.

In all cases Community funding must not have the effect of creating a profit for a recipient.

5.   CALL BUDGET

The total budget for this call for proposals is EUR 45,6 million.

The initial deployment proposals deemed appropriate for funding will have priority for funding over market validation proposals up to an indicative amount of 60 % of the total call budget.

6.   DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION

Proposals shall be submitted by electronic means exclusively, using the facility made available by the Commission for this purpose.

Proposal submission must be completed before the deadline of

19 May 2006, 16:00 hours (Brussels local time).

Proposals submitted after this deadline will not be accepted for evaluation.

In the case of successive submissions of the same proposal, the Commission will examine the last version received before the deadline.

7.   TIME TABLE

The Commission aims to inform proposers of the outcome of the evaluation and selection process within five months after the deadline for submission and to finalise negotiations with the selected proposers within eight months after the deadline for submission. Execution of projects will start after the finalisation of negotiations.

8.   ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Detailed information on how to prepare and submit proposals is given in the eTEN Guide for proposers 2006. This document, along with the eTEN Workprogramme 2006 and any other information relating to this call and the evaluation process can be downloaded from the website indicated below.

http://europa.eu.int/eten

All correspondence relating to this call must cite the call identifier eTEN 2006/1.

All proposals received will be treated in strict confidence.

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(1)  See the eTEN web site for further information.

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