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ATTENTION will invariably be turned inwards in the coming 12 months as the EU starts to lay the foundations of a modernised home suitable for more occupants and for the next century.

DESPITE the usual round of condemnation which greeted the fifth in the current series of French nuclear tests in the South Pacific, President Jacques Chirac seems to have weathered the storm surrounding his decision last September to resume testing.

TWENTY years from now, the December summit in Madrid might well be remembered as the crucial meeting where Europe finally embarked on the biggest process of peaceful transformation the continent has ever witnessed.

As 1996 opens, Rory Watson reviews a selection of books on the EU which may be useful sources of interest, reference or entertainment for readers.

CHANGES and complexity in companies and markets challenge traditional ways of achieving differentiation and profile, or of influencing corporate culture.

“Some in Europe do not hide their fear of seeing it increasingly dominated by Federal Germany. Others arouse this anxiety to encourage the failure of European construction, to which they are hostile. Helmut Kohl knows all that and that is why he constantly repeats that he wants a European Germany and not a German Europe.”Former Commission President Jacques Delors speaking at the presentation of the European of the Year Award for 1995 to Chancellor Kohl.

LIKE a well-known credit card, the Maastricht Treaty is turning into a flexible friend.

THE UK and Irish governments have struck a last-minute deal on how to subsidise the privatisation of Ireland’s only steel-maker.

From the start, European Voice has been dedicated to bringing you comprehensive news and analysis of what is happening in the EU, free of national bias.

THE Finnish markka looks to be the prime candidate for membership of the Exchange Rate Mechanism in the New Year, but even it will not enter the grid before the spring, according to top officials.

ANIMAL welfare lobbies are mounting a fresh campaign for EU action to improve standards in zoos across the Union.

UK Prime Minister John Major’s defeat in the House of Commons over the level of EU fish quotas for 1996 is unlikely to make much practical difference when fisheries ministers meet in Brussels to thrash out the final accord.

THE European Parliament is planning to embarrass EU member states early next year over their continued failure, against a background of rising crime, to adopt the legislation needed to make the Europol police agency fully operational.

A historic currency decision and a clear strategy on enlargement were agreed at the Madrid summit. Rory Watson reports on what German Chancellor Helmut Kohl described as a “breakthrough”

From Felipe González MárquezI have received and read with interest the copies you have sent me of the weekly European Voice.

THE past year has been a period of self-analysis for the European Union. Like any adult approaching a 40th birthday, it has been time to take stock. Reminiscences, as actual achievements are measured against earlier ambitions, were inevitable. But the Union, despite its uneven development, has not wallowed in nostalgia. New ambitions have also been set.

NO wonder EU telecoms ministers were angry. It had been a humiliating year for them.

FOR the dozen countries waiting on the European Union’s doorstep, 1995 has been a year of mixed signals.

THE year ended on an upbeat note for supporters of a strong EU social policy, with the signing of the ground-breaking agreement between the social partners under the Maastricht Protocol.

THE past year has been something of a watershed for the European Commission.

THE European Parliament opened and closed the year on a political high.

EU environment ministers reached a political agreement to extend the range of projects requiring environmental impact assessments (EIAs) before they are approved for development. The updated rules, which are due to come into force from the start of 1998 but still require European Parliament approval, extend the number of project categories requiring mandatory EIAs. Development requests submitted before 1 January 1998 will continue to be assessed according to the old rules. New sectors covered by the directive will include road-widening schemes, non-hazardous waste dumps, water abstraction and diversion schemes, petrol and gas extraction and pipeline projects and dam construction. The Council also agreed on a long list of projects for which EIAs will not be mandatory, but could be required depending on the results of initial assessments. These cover sectors such as forestry, mineral extraction, energy, chemical processing, food, textiles and tourism.

THE European Commission this week ratified the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development agreement on shipbuilding. This accord – agreed between the EU, the US, Japan, Korea and Norway – phases out direct production subsidies for shipbuilders. Anti-competitive practices, such as price-fixing, bid-rigging and predatory acts, will be banned.

THE European Commission has told seven member states that they may no longer block cheap pharmaceutical exports from Spain.