Industrial new orders down by 0.3% in euro area

Industrial new orders down by 0.3% in euro area
Down by 0.1% in EU27

In June 2008 compared with May 2008, the euro area¹ (EA15) industrial new orders index² fell by 0.3%. In May³ the index dropped by 5.4%. In the EU27¹ new orders decreased by 0.1% in June 2008, after falling by 5.4% in May³. Excluding ships, railway & aerospace equipment⁴ industrial new orders grew by 0.6% in the euro area and by 1.8% in the EU27.

In June 2008 compared with June 2007, industrial new orders fell by 7.4% in the euro area and by 6.6% in the EU27. Total industry excluding ships, railway & aerospace equipment dropped by 1.5% in the euro area and by 0.8% in the EU27.

These estimates are released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.

Monthly changes

In June 2008 compared with May 2008, new orders for textiles & textile products grew by 2.2% in the euro area and remained stable in the EU27. Electrical & electronic equipment increased by 1.4% in the euro area, but fell by 0.6% in the EU27. Manufacturing of chemicals & chemical products rose by 1.0% and 2.0% respectively. Basic metals & fabricated metal products increased by 0.8% in the euro area and by 1.6% in the EU27. Machinery & equipment fell by 1.1% in the euro area, but gained 2.2% in the EU27. Transport equipment decreased by 3.7% and 6.0% respectively.

In June 2008, among the Member States for which data are available, total manufacturing working on orders rose in nine and fell in nine. The highest increases were recorded in Latvia (+31.0%), Portugal (+8.0%) and Hungary (+6.1%), and the largest decreases in Denmark (-21.8%), Ireland (-9.7%) and Germany (-3.5%).

Annual changes

In June 2008 compared with June 2007, new orders for basic metals & fabricated metal products increased by 4.6% in the euro area and by 6.1% in the EU27. Manufacturing of chemicals & chemical products rose by 3.8% and 3.2% respectively. Machinery & equipment decreased by 2.8% in the euro area and by 0.6% in the EU27. Manufacturing of electrical & electronic equipment dropped by 3.7% and 3.0% respectively. Textiles & textile products declined by 9.6% in the euro area and by 8.0% in the EU27. Transport equipment fell by 29.8% and 26.2% respectively.

In June 2008, among the Member States for which data are available, total manufacturing working on orders rose in eleven and fell in seven. The highest increases were registered in Romania (+27.8%), Latvia (+26.9%) and Lithuania (+22.9%), and the most significant falls in France (-16.9%), Spain (-6.5%), the Czech Republic and Germany (both -6.0%).

1.   The euro area (EA15) consists of Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia and Finland.

The EU27 includes Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), the Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Ireland (IE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), France (FR), Italy (IT), Cyprus (CY), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Hungary (HU), Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK), Finland (FI), Sweden (SE) and the United Kingdom (UK).

2.   The new orders index measures the value of future deliveries of products and services (which are directly linked to these products) to be provided by a producer to a third party on the domestic and non-domestic market. The total manufacturing aggregate includes only those NACE levels required by the STS Regulation to be supplied by the Member States (NACE 17, 18, 21, 24, 27-35) and is referred to as “total manufacturing working on orders”. The euro area and EU aggregates normally do not include Member States for which no data is available. For methodology see News Release 135/2003 of 26 November 2003.

The seasonally adjusted euro area and EU series are calculated by aggregating the unadjusted series from individual Member States and performing an adjustment for seasonal effects on these series. Therefore the seasonally adjusted figures for the European aggregates are based directly on the unadjusted series coming from the Member States and not on an aggregation of the seasonally adjusted indices from the Member States. The euro area and EU seasonally adjusted growth rates might differ from the weighted growth rates of the individual Member States. This procedure also implies that the aggregation of the overall figures is not based on the published details.

3.   Data of previous months have been revised compared to those issued in the News Release 106/2008 of 23 July 2008. The figures for May 2008 were -3.5% in the euro area and -4.7% in the EU27 for the monthly changes, and -4.4% in the euro area and -2.8% in the EU27 for the annual changes.

4.   Transport equipment includes NACE 34 (motor vehicles) and NACE 35 (other transport equipment, which includes ships, railway and aerospace equipment). New orders for NACE 35 tend to be very volatile with a limited immediate impact on production. The new aggregate “Manufacturing working on orders excluding NACE 35″ is less erratic. The share of NACE 35 in total manufacturing working on orders is 3.9% for the euro area and 4.3% for the EU.

5.   When shown as confidential in the table, data for Italy, Cyprus, Malta, Finland and the United Kingdom are included in the European aggregates. They are not published at the national level and are therefore still confidential.

6.   Data for Ireland are working day adjusted figures.

 

New Satellites for Europe

New Satellites for Europe: Commission starts selection procedure for operators of pan-European mobile satellite services

A competition for providers of communication services via satellite across Europe has been launched today by the European Commission. Satellite operators will for the first time be able to offer services such as high speed data, mobile TV, disaster relief and remote medical services under a single European selection procedure instead of under 27 different national systems. This is made possible by a new EU decision on mobile satellite services that entered into force this July. Mobile satellite systems use radio spectrum to provide services between a mobile earth station and one or more stations either in space or on the ground at fixed locations. They have the capability to cover a large territory and reach areas where such services were economically unviable before. The new European selection procedure could allow companies to offer innovative wireless services throughout Europe over a specifically reserved spectrum as of 2009.

“Mobile satellite services have the tremendous advantage of being able to cover most of the EU’s territory thereby reaching millions of EU citizens across borders. They represent an unprecedented opportunity for all Europeans to access new communication services, and this not only in metropolitan areas, but also in rural and less populated regions,” said EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding. “However, these satellite services depend on substantial investment and therefore need simple and swift procedures as well as long-term legal certainty. This is why the Commission, in close cooperation with the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, set up, in a record time of only ten months, a single EU procedure for selecting interested operators of mobile satellite services. There is now one market, not 27 in Europe for mobile satellite services. Henceforth, the ball is in the camp of the industry. I expect intense competition among operators offering satellite-based communication services reaching consumers from the North of Sweden to the South of Spain. This could pave the way for first satellite launches already in the course of 2009.”

The satellite industry is a €77 billion market worldwide, growing at 16% in 2007. Of this, satellite services alone generated approximately €38 billion in global revenue. European companies represent an important force on this market: the European space industry holds 40% of world markets for manufacturing, launching, and operating satellites. Furthermore, Europe is home to three of the five largest satellite system operators in the world.

The competition among satellite operators launched today by the European Commission is a first, as it takes place under a single European selection procedure. Until now, in spite of the clear cross-border dimension of satellite services, existing national rules obstructed the creation of a single market for mobile satellite services by leaving the selection of operators to each Member State. The result was a divergence in national approaches that created a patchwork of procedures, legal uncertainty and a substantial competitive disadvantage for the satellite industry in Europe.

To remove these obstacles, the Commission proposed on 22 August 2007, on the basis of its single market competences, a new EU decision under which a single selection procedure for mobile satellite services can be organised at European level (IP/07/1243). This decision was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council and entered into force on 5 July 2008. It establishes common EU rules for the use of the 2 Ghz bands by mobile satellite services. This will not only simplify and speed up licensing procedures for operators – encouraging investment and the roll out of mobile satellite services – but at the same time make sure that these services cover at least 60% of the EU’s territory – an important step towards gradually achieving coverage of all EU Member States.

Interested companies have until 7 October 2008 to present their applications to the European Commission. During the first phase of the selection process, technical and commercial ability of the candidates to launch their systems in time will be assessed. The criteria in the second selection phase include, among other things: the speed at which all Member States will be covered; the range of services, including in rural areas, and the number of end-users to be served and the capacity of the system to fulfil public policy objectives and spectrum efficiency. All Member States must ensure that selected candidates have the right to operate in their country. Depending on the number of candidates, the Commission expects that the selection procedure can be completed in the first part of 2009. First satellite launches could take place in 2009.

For further information:

The full text of the call organised by the Commission and further background information are published at:

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/ecomm/current/pan_european/index_en.htm