WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2964/97 by Doeke EISMA to the Commission. Possible departure of Director-General Enthoven
30. 4. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 134/45 (98/C 134/53) WRITTEN QUESTION P-2964/97 by Doeke Eisma (ELDR) to the Commission (10 September 1997) Subject: Possible departure of Director-General Enthoven According to reports in the press, the Director-General of the Commissionís DGXI, Mr Enthoven, will have to cease his duties. 1. 2. Is this true? If so, what are the reasons for his departure? 3. Does the Commission feel it makes for continuity in European environmental policy if the Director- General is removed from his post after only three years, given that a new Commission is expected to take office in two yearsí time? Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission (7 November 1997) On 1 October 1997 the Commission decided to appoint Mr Enthoven, Director-General of the Directorate- General for the Environment, Nuclear Safety and Civil Protection (DG XI), to the post of Adviser hors classe to the Secretary-General and to appoint Mr James Currie, Director-General in the Directorate-General for Customs and Indirect Taxation, to the post of Director-General of DG XI. (98/C 134/54) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2965/97 by Niels Sindal (PSE) to the Commission (17 September 1997) Subject: Bull bars A survey carried out by the British transport research laboratory (TRL) has examined a series of police reports of accidents involving cars fitted with bull bars and pedestrians or two-wheeled road- users. It was clear from some of these accidents that injuries and deaths were directly related to the bull bars. Bull bars are a feature of four-wheel drive vehicles and are specifically intended to provide protection in special off-road driving conditions although in our part of the world it is difficult to see that there is a need for them. Has the Commission started to look into this problem? Does it intend to ban this kind of pointless decoration on four-wheel-drive vehicles? Has it contemplated tabling a proposal requiring these special bars to be approved prior to fitting? Answer given by Mr Bangemann on behalf of the Commission (29 October 1997) In 1996 the Commission consulted its panel of experts on motor vehicles with regard to the suitability of introducing requirements concerning the component type-approval of bull bars into Directive 74/483/EEC of 17 September 1974 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to external projections from motor vehicles (1). The intended aim was to ensure that only non-aggressive ábull barsí were placed on the market