The requirement that an audit opinion should state whether the annual or consolidated financial statements give a true and fair view in accordance with the relevant financial reporting framework does not represent a restriction of the scope of that opinion but clarifies the context in which it is expressed. The annual financial statements of micro and small undertakings should not be covered by this audit obligation, as audit can be a significant administrative burden for this category of undertaking, whilst for many micro and small undertakings the same persons are both shareholders and management and therefore have limited need for thi ...[+++]rd party assurance on the financial statements.

Besides other positive aspects such as the satisfaction of travellers and the symbolic effect of showing the EU as open to the world, Automated Border Control systems could significantly increase cost-effectiveness as more passengers would be processed at the borders by a smaller number of border guards, thereby reducing overall costs for Member States faced with continuously increasing passenger flows.

– Mr President, I think many of the recent incidents and the shocking pictures that we have seen of a small boat towing people in its net, are the result – as we have been hearing – of a catalogue of failures, many of them absolutely avoidable with a bit of forward planning. We assume that the next Justice and Home Affairs Council will be doing some of that.

A limited number of other indicators, while not directly related to any of the selected goals, are included to give a fuller picture.

The IDO seeks to achieve eight inter-related economic development objectives for the Strathclyde economy, namely to : - Assist the development of industries which offer the most promissing opportunities for growth in the context of the post 1992 emergence of the Single Market in the Community. - Encourage the formation and subsequent growth of local enterprise, in particular small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), and especially in growth sectors. - Assist local industry to introduce new technology into its products and production processes, in particular through better links with the higher education and research organisations in the ...[+++] region. - Build on successes in attracting and expanding inward investment, particularly by overseas companies seeking a European manufacturing base, and by raising levels of research and product authority in existing international facilities in the Region/. - 2 - - Develop a vigorous tourist industry for the urban as well as rural parts of the area, attracting significantly larger numbers of international events and tourists. - Improve external communications to help industry meet the challenges and opportunities of the single market, and to reduce access costs to the market. - Create a modern "metropolitan heart", building on the established business, tourist and cultural centre of Glasgow as a source of growth for the whole region. - Reinforce efforts to change the region's image from that of a rundown, declining industrial region to that of a region with technologically progressive industries, strong cultural and environmental attractions, and a labour force equipped with the skills required for the 1990s.

In fact, the combination of the spectrum auction rules, as well as the foreign ownership changes, really look like they are being driven to allow one large foreign player to gobble up some of the existing smaller players and perhaps invest heavily in spectrum and try to become a viable fourth player that can grow beyond that 10 per cent restriction.