Dailies and periodicals” “

On the day of the “three-man summit” in Berlin between Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac and Gerard Schroeder, the main international dailies examine the scope of the meeting and its possible impact on the new European framework, in the light of imminent enlargement. “Europe and the Berlin-London-Paris axis”, is the front-page headline carried by Le Monde […]

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Galileo Project” “

The European Union has selected the three international Consortia that will participate in the final phase of the competitive tender for the management of the Galileo Project of satellite navigation. The Consortia in question are Etelsat, Inmarsat/Eads/Thales and Alcatel Space/Vinci. The winning Consortium will work in partnership with the EU and the European Space Agency […]

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EU to help the developing world” “

The process of legislative re-definition of EU commitments in the sector of cooperation in development continues. Last week the European Commission adopted a series of measures aimed at helping the developing countries to improve the income generated by their exports and reduce their economic dependence on agricultural products (in particular cotton, sugar, cocoa and coffee), […]

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Committee of the Regions: new chairman” “

The German Christian-Democrat Peter Straub has been elected Chairman of the EU’s Committee of the Regions for a two-year term. The Committee, meeting in plenary session in Brussels last week, voted by a large majority in favour of Straub, currently President of the Land of Baden-Wuertemberg. He will succeed Sir Albert Bore, Mayor of Birmingham. […]

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Biodiversity” “

The seventh world Conference on biological diversity opened in Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia, on 9 February. Its 188 participants are the delegates of the States, international organizations and NGOs of the sector that signed the International Convention on Biodiversity. Focal point of the Conference, that will end on 20 February, is the adoption of the […]

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Refugees: Amendments to EU Directive on asylum ” “

The draft European Directive on asylum “does not ensure adequate protection to genuine refugees” and “violates the right of asylum seekers to have each of their applications evaluated individually”. The allegation is made by five Christian organizations, which have appealed to the Council of Ministers of the European Union for this draft to be amended […]

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COMECE: European congress in Spain” “

“Saying ‘Europe’ must be equivalent to saying ‘openness'”: these words from the Apostolic Exhortation “Ecclesia in Europa” (no. 111) sum up the challenge of the European Union at a time when it is about to open its borders to ten new member states. The challenge will also be examined by the European congress being held […]

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ccee-comece" "

CCEE: the bishops of South-East Europe meet in Belgrade” “

The presidents of the Episcopal Conferences of South-East Europe are due to meet in Belgrade from 20 to 22 February. The seven countries represented at the meeting are all countries in which the Catholic Church forms a minority, while the majority is either Orthodox or Moslem: Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia Herzegovina, Greece, Serbia and Montenegro, Romania, […]

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England: Cardinal O’Connor, "the scandal of poverty"” “

“Poverty is the greatest scandal and scourge of mankind”: so declared Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, president of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, in his speech to the Conference on globalization promoted by the UK’s Ministry of the Treasury on 16 February. The summit was attended by government representatives, members of international financial institutions, NGOs […]

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Switzerland: the Bible written by hand” “

On 12 February, an ecumenical delegation delivered to the highest authorities of the Swiss Confederation the “manuscript Bible”, a 6-volume opus running to 3,500 pages, all written by hand by over 2,000 people in 2003. Launched by the Christian Churches during Bible Year, the project was supported by large numbers of people who agreed to […]

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