WRITTEN QUESTION No. 852/98 by Danielle DARRAS to the Commission. European child labour directives
19. 11. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 354/31 In that letter, the Commission expressed its concerns to the Finnish government that it had formally abolished the exclusive rights of the incumbent local telephone operators, without taking the necessary measures to prevent the relevant companies to entrench, even after liberalisation, their dominant market position by continuing to link the remuneration of their members with their actual usage. In order to give new entrants a fair chance, this remuneration should not ábindí the customer to only one service provider which has secured its position. The Commission believes that the Finnish authorities may need to take further action in this respect. There is nothing in the Commissionís letter which distinguishes between limited companies and cooperatives. It would certainly be incorrect to say that the Commission believes that only limited companies should be allowed to exist in the Community. On the other hand, cooperatives are not immune from Community competition rules. If a dominant limited company would not be allowed to give rebates to its shareholders in circumstances like those of the Finnish local enterprises, then a cooperative is not free to do so. (1) ECR p. 3 461. (98/C 354/63) WRITTEN QUESTION P-0852/98 by Danielle Darras (PSE) to the Commission (11 March 1998) Subject: European child labour directives Can the Commission report on current progress in the implementation of the European directives on child labour legislation? Is data available for the various Union Member States? In particular, what is the current situation in France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Portugal? Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (11 May 1998) The Commission cannot yet take stock of the application in the fifteen Member States of the provisions of Council Directive 94/33/EC of 22 June 1994 on the protection of young people at work. Not all national measures have been communicated to the Commission. Procedures have been initiated against several Member States under Article 169 of the EC Treaty, on the grounds of non-communication or incomplete communication. Concerning the Member States specifically mentioned by the Honourable Member, the situation is as follows: - France has communicated a large part of its legislation in force and has pointed out that the Community Directive still necessitates a number of adjustments to existing regulations, which will take place in the near future; - the United Kingdom has communicated only part of its regulations; - Germany and Portugal have communicated their national provisions on this subject, which are currently being scrutinised. Only when it has received all the communications from the Member States will the Commission be able to examine the overall situation as regards application of the provisions on this subject in the Member States