WRITTEN QUESTION No. 4131/97 by Wayne DAVID to the Commission. Protection of children
C 323/8 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 21. 10. 98 (98/C 323/10) WRITTEN QUESTION P-4130/97 by Leoluca Orlando (V) to the Commission (5 January 1998) Subject: Possible incompatibility of Decree law 395/97 of the Region of Sicily on loans for the book publishing industry with Article 93 of the Treaty of Rome In Decree law 395/97 the Sicilian Regional Assembly has amended Regional Laws 15 of 11 May 1993, 25 of 1 September 1993, 66 of 20 September 1995 and 68 of 27 September 1995 governing loans for small businesses in the industrial and service sectors, extending their validity from 31 December 1994 to 31 December 1996 for book publishing companies only and changing the type of aid from interest-rate subsidies on bank loans to a one-off grant linked to titles produced by the publishers over the three-year period 1994-1996. The proposed appropriation under this law is ITL 7 billion, with a ceiling of ITL 3 billion per individual company. The law has been widely opposed by Italian and Sicilian professional associations and is seen as damaging to the interests of many publishers, in so far as the smallness of the total appropriation compared to the ceiling for an individual company could lead to discrimination within the industry concerned. Moreover, by linking payments to the titles that publishers have produced, the law will not be guaranteeing equal conditions. Does the Commission not consider it desirable to investigate the compatibility of Decree law 395/97 of the Region of Sicily with Article 93 of the Treaty of Rome? Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission (3 February 1998) The Commission would inform the Honourable Member that, in accordance with Article 93(3) of the EC Treaty, the Italian authorities notified it on 7 November 1997 of draft Law No 395/97 on measures to assist the publishing industry. The Commission is in the process of examining whether, in the light of the objections made by the Italian association of publishers in question, the proposed aid is compatible with the Community rules on competition. It was informed of those objections by the association itself. (98/C 323/11) WRITTEN QUESTION P-4131/97 by Wayne David (PSE) to the Commission (5 January 1998) Subject: Protection of children Can the Commission indicate if it plans to introduce any initiatives to protect children from accidents? Answer given by Mrs Bonino on behalf of the Commission (2 February 1998) In addressing the general problem of child safety, the Community has already put in place a regulatory framework designed to ensure a rapid, reasonable and consistent response to the problems encountered. On the one hand, there are specific harmonised rules for certain products (such as toys (1) and dangerous imitations of foodstuffs (2)) and, on the other, horizontal rules designed to create a genuine general safety requirement applicable to consumer products, focusing notably on the safety of products intended for children (the Directive on general product safety (3)) and professional liability (the Directive on liability for defective products (4))