WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3047/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. Green paper on commerce
C 117/138 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 16. 4. 98 In the case of centrally managed actions, decisions on grant awards are taken by the Commission on the basis of an analysis carried out by the national agencies, independent experts and evaluators from the technical assistance office. Before being adopted, the list of grants is submitted to the Commission for consultation, and the committee referred to in the Decision is asked for its opinion. (1) OJ L 87, 20. 4. 1995. (98/C 117/185) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3047/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (2 October 1997) Subject: Green paper on commerce The debate prompted by the Green Paper on commerce (COM(96) 530 final) should make it possible to identify the measures that can be taken by companies and by the public authorities in the Member States or the EU to enable the sector to meet the challenge of maintaining competitiveness and contributing to employment and social cohesion. With this in view, will the Commission set up a European body with the participation of senior officials from the Commission and the national governments to examine the factors holding back the development of an integrated single market for commercial activities in the European Union? Answer given by Mr Papoutsis on behalf of the Commission (10 November 1997) The Commission is aware of the need to hold regular meetings with representatives of the public authorities in the Member States in order to examine questions relating specifically to commercial activities. This is why a body known as the Internal Trade Groupí was set up at the same time as the Community itself. This group is made up of officials from the national authorities responsible for commerce: the directors-general of national ministries of trade, and government experts from these same ministries who have particular responsibility for European affairs. The members of this group meet regularly. In addition, the directors-general are generally asked to take part in the annual plenary meetings of the Committee on Commerce and Distribution (CCD), which are attended by the Member of the Commission responsible for the trade and distribution sector. The Internal Trade Group allows the Commission to inform and consult the Member States on projects concerning internal trade, and to find out their position on such projects. It also provides an opportunity for valuable exchanges of experience and good practice between Member States, an action which features in the integrated programme in favour of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the craft sector. This group fulfils the request made by the Council in its Resolution of 14 November 1989 to strengthen ácooperation between the Commission and the Member States through meetings between officials responsible for internal tradeí. It cooperated, for example, with the Commission in implementing the communication Towards a single market in distributioní (1), tackling the issue of obstacles to cross-border development and thus contributing to the Councilís conclusions on this matter. Its most recent meetings have been devoted to the specific topic of drafting, disseminating and following up the Green Paper on Commerce. The follow-up activities on the Green Paper will include further meetings to allow the Committee members to continue their deliberations on what actions could be taken to enable the sector to meet the challenges facing it. (1) Doc. COM(91) 41 final