As regards designation group policies resulting from a company agreement, the Commission considers that there is no reason to think that the nature and intensity (and consequently the fluctuation) of the risk of loss is significantly different from the situation in which this same type of policy is concluded outside joint negotiations between trade unions and employers (and therefore outside the designation process).

concerning the risk management process referred to in Article 51(1), in particular criteria for assessing the adequacy of the risk management process employed by the management company and the risk management policy and processes and the arrangements, processes and techniques for risk measurement and management relating to such criteria.

(Return tabled) Question No. 182 Ms. Chris Charlton: With respect to mental health support in prisons and other detention facilities operated by Correctional Services Canada (CSC): (a) what progress has been made since 2004 in the implementation of the CSC Mental Health Strategy; (b) what plans are in place for the operation of the Community Mental Health and Institutional Mental Health initiatives over the next five years; (c) what plans are in place to act on the recommendations in the 2008-2009 Annual Report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator; (d) what is the total amount of funds allocated to all types of mental health support by CSC for the upcoming fiscal year, broken down by program type; (e) what percentage of overal ...[+++]l CSC funds are allocated to mental health support for the upcoming fiscal year; (f) what percentage of overall CSC funds are allocated to security, risk management and control for the upcoming fiscal year; (g) how many offenders have access to intermediate mental healthcare units in the region in which they are incarcerated; (h) what processes are in place to review the effectiveness of existing mental health programs and identify gaps in services; (i) what recommendations have arisen from such reviews in the last two years; (j) what progress has been made in conducting an independent review of long-term segregation cases; (k) what progress has been made in the creation of a measurable set of performance indicators to evaluate CSC’s response to offender mental health concerns; (l) what guidelines does CSC provide to operational staff on the use of segregation placements with offenders who have mental health concerns; (m) what progress has the National Population Management Committee made in reviewing specific cases of the use of lengthy periods in segregation and treatment alternatives for offenders with mental health concerns; (n) what progress has been made on the creation of a national strategy for managing chronic se ...

Noting differences between various Directives currently in force as to the restrictions posed on investments by institutional investors, the Council invites the Commission to evaluate the effects of the current rules for investing in private equity/venture capital in the Life Assurance Directive and to take into account the possibilities for investing in venture capital in the review of the UCITS Directive, which is foreseen in the Directive for 2005; welcomes the intention of the Commission to review state-aid policy for risk capital; finds tha ...[+++]t the new EU framework of capital adequacy rules implementing the Basel II accord should appropriately take into account the EU lower risk-profile specificity of risk-capital investments via sufficiently diversified portfolios and stresses that it shall give special consideration to this factor in the legislative process leading to the new Capital Adequacy Framework".

* On the first point, the Commission feels that special attention should be paid to risk analysis, staff training and greater standardisation of verification equipment and procedures, which underpin all genuinely effective policies.

4. RECOGNISES that life sciences and biotechnology offer a considerable potential in areas such as health care, agriculture/food, industrial products and processes and environmental protection, and may contribute to sustainable development. UNDERLINES that this potential should be continuously assessed on the basis of benefits and risks anticipating health, economic, social and environmental consequences and ethical aspects and that the successful development of a competitive biotechnology sector in the European Union requires a compr ...[+++]ehensive and coordinated approach covering all major areas of application of biotechnology;