[109317] in Cypherpunks
European Union commissioners all quit
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Bill Stewart)
Thu Mar 18 08:45:23 1999
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 05:12:32 -0800
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
From: Bill Stewart <bill.stewart@pobox.com>
Reply-To: Bill Stewart <bill.stewart@pobox.com>
Wonder if this will affect Wassenaar or data privacy negotiations?
=========================================
EU SHAKE-UP - [Wall Street Journal, A20.]
The mass resignation of the European Commission, the European Union's
20-member executive body, could delay resolutions of some long-simmering
trade disputes with the U.S. ranging from beef to postal regulations.
The commission resigned early yesterday following a scathing report
that charged it with financial bungling and widespread neglect in
its handling of billions of dollars of EU business.
Perhaps the closest equivalent in the U.S. would be if the president's
entire cabinet stepped down at once. The EU Commission negotiates trade
and other agreements on behalf of the 15-nation EU. Beyond those powers,
the commission has sweeping regulatory authority over big mergers and
corporate alliances. Currently, there are several big mergers or
alliances before the commission involving U.S. or multinational companies,
including the proposed global telephone alliance between BT and AT&T.
======================================== end wsj..
Thanks!
Bill
Bill Stewart, bill.stewart@pobox.com
PGP Fingerprint D454 E202 CBC8 40BF 3C85 B884 0ABE 4639
