WRITTEN QUESTION No. 855/98 by Michl EBNER to the Commission. Restriction of imports of apples into the Czech Republic from the EU
9. 10. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 310/139 In order to redress, as far as was possible, the effects of this discriminatory behaviour the Commissionís services asked the CFO to make available all remaining 160,000 unsold tickets exclusively to residents outside France. The CFO indicated on 23 March 1998 that it could not agree to such a request, but would instead offer these tickets to French and non-French residents alike on a non-discriminatory basis. In view of the CFOís refusal to allocate the remaining tickets exclusively to residents outside France, Commissioner Van Miert recently announced that his services were preparing formal legal proceedings against the CFO in relation to tickets already sold under the above-mentioned discriminatory arrangements. While having regard to the necessary procedural requirements, the Commission intends to conduct these proceedings speedily. While recognising the importance of taking into account issues of safety in the implementation of any system of ticket distribution for the World Cup, the Commission, at the present stage of its proceedings, does not consider that the ticket distribution system of the CFO can be justified for reasons of security. (98/C 310/189) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0855/98 by Michl Ebner (PPE) to the Commission (26 March 1998) Subject: Restriction of imports of apples into the Czech Republic from the EU Seeing that the Czech Republic decided on 29 January 1998 to impose restrictions on the import of apples from the EU, this measure is incompatible with the provisions of the Europe Agreement between the EU and the Czech Republic, since it is inconsistent with the ístandstillí clause relating to customs treatment and appears discriminatory because it concerns only imports of apples from the EU, 1. 2. 3. the Commission is asked to state what action is being taken against this discriminatory decision, whether negotiations have already been launched by the appropriate services and, if so, what stage they have currently reached. Answer given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission (20 April 1998) The Commission is fully informed about the issue and has already been in close contact with the Czech authorities since the first reports about the measure. On 2 February 1998 the Commission explained to the Czech government that its measure was not in conformity with the Europe Agreement. It therefore asked for its immediate withdrawal and for urgent bilateral consultations. These consultations, which took place on 17 February 1998, made clear that the Czech authorities did not intend to withdraw the measure in the short term. The Commission therefore proposed counter measures which were adopted by the Council on 17 March 1998. The Community will suspend certain agricultural trade concessions (apple juice, meat products, dairy products) which are currently granted to the Czech Republic on an autonomous basis. It aims at reducing Czech preferential exports by an amount which corresponds to the losses which the Community suffers in its apple exports. The Commission will continue its efforts to resolve the matter in a manner which also safeguards the interests of Community exporters