Translation of "Central Hardwoods Joint Venture " (French → English) :

Improvements still insufficient Although, as the Commission points out, substantial improvements have been made to the legal and administrative environment by most of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (particularly for joint ventures), much remains to be done.

THE COUNCIL CALLS UPON THE COMMISSION 1. to facilitate industrial cooperation with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe by supporting the development of a climate and a regulatory framework favourable to enterprises and to inter- enterprise agreements; to that end, and in order to overcome barriers to industrial cooperation and to greater integration in the European economy, the following are deemed priorities: (a) increased support for those countries to improve the framework conditions for investment, and in particular transparency and legal security for investors, and the alignment of investment protection rules on those obtai ...[+++]ning within the Community; (b) technical assistance for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to take over the acquis communautaire on competition, which is a necessary condition for setting up an internal market and developing trade and industrial investment; (c) increased technical assistance to bring standards and conformity evaluation procedures into line with those in force within the Community, including environmental protection standards, in particular by encouraging the CCEE to join the relevant international standardization organizations; (d) a significant increase in the organization of round tables between Community and East European industrialists on technological and market trends to boost the development of industrial cooperation; (e) a special effort to strengthen scientific and technological cooperation, particularly in terms of the information society and to improve links between research and industrial development in those countries; 2. to promote cooperation between industrial operators by means of flanking and support measures for the implementation of projects, namely: (a) development of management training initiatives carried out in particular by Community industrial operators, notably for East European company executives; (b) increased support for feasibility and profitability studies of specific pr ...

- Joint ventures will be developed to promote cooperation with the audiovisual industries in Central and Eastern Europe.

The Joint Ventures Programme was launched in 1991 in the context of the Phare programme to assist the development of joint ventures in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and has recently been extended to cover Russia through the Tacis programme.