EUROPEAN DIARY.

* Transatlantic relations Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, former French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, and the head of France's UDF party Francois Bayrou will take part in this debate at on May 6-7 at the Institut des relations internationales et strategiques (IRIS) in Paris. The conference will examine the threats to the relationship, the new challenges to international security, trade relations, and cultural values. For more information, contact IRIS, tel +33 1 53 27 60 60, fax: +33 1 53 27 60 70, or check out the website: www.iris-france.org

*World Free Zone Convention More than 60 countries are expected to take part in the World Free Zone Convention at Brussels' Renaissance Hotel on June 3 and 4. The meeting will gather officials, businessmen and others interested in the experience of special business zones - usually ports - set up to encourage enterprise by exempting them from taxes, customs, or able to benefit from special grants. For more information, contact the World Free Zone Convention, tel 00 44 207 839 1334, fax: 00 44 870 131 9578, e-mail: info@freezones.org or check out the website: www.freezonesorg

* A conference on the safety of work equipment and strategies for improving technical standards will be held in Brussels on June 12-13. The joint conference hosted by the TUTB (the European Trade Union Technical Bureau for Health and Safety) and the Swedish SALTSA Programme on 'Working Life Research in a European Perspective', sets out to present current practices, trends and prospects in safety. The idea is to look at how working practices can be used by European and...