WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2591/97 by Hilde HAWLICEK to the Commission. Complaint about fixed book prices in the German- speaking area
16. 4. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 117/27 Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (7 October 1997) Council Regulation (EC) No 1292/96 on food-aid policy and food-aid management and special operations in support of food security (1) states that food aid products must reflect as closely as possible the dietary habits of the recipient population. The choice of products is therefore determined by need and not by availability. The products supplied as Community food aid, for which the Commission is responsible, are normally those requested by the country in question or the organisation through which the aid is routed. Tinned beef is rarely asked for and over the last two years less than 400 tonnes has been supplied. The Commission was recently asked to supply tinned beef or pork for use in North Korea but the conclusion from assessments on the spot by both the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Commission was that these products were not the most appropriate to the primary needs of this famine-affected country. On 23 May 1997 the Commission announced significant emergency aid to the people of North Korea. Part of this is some 155 000 tonnes of food aid, to be delivered in close collaboration with the WFP, mainly in the form of cereal products, and part is a nutritional and public health programme. The total value of the aid is ECU 55. 8 million. The Commission has no up-to-date calculations showing that provision of tinned beef is less costly than the conventional intervention procedure. In any case the supply of products as food aid for the sole reason that they are in surplus and in intervention storage runs counter to the thinking behind the abovementioned Regulation. (1) OJ L 166, 5. 7. 1996. (98/C 117/35) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2591/97 by Hilde Hawlicek (PSE) to the Commission (29 July 1997) Subject: Complaint about fixed book prices in the German-speaking area The Austrian chain of bookshops Libro-Diskont has lodged a complaint with the Commission concerning the fixing of book prices in the German-speaking area. What is the present state of this procedure, when are decisions likely to be taken, and how is the Commission taking account of Article 128(4) of the EC Treaty in this connection? Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission (1 October 1997) The Commission is still in the process of examining both the notification of the Austro-German book resale price maintenance arrangement based on the collective agreement known as the Sammelrevers’ and the complaints which have been lodged against it. It is unable to say at this stage exactly when further steps will be taken in the proceedings. In the light of Article 128 of the EC Treaty, the Council (Culture Affairs) has requested the Commission, pursuant to Article 152 of the Treaty (1), to examine the significance of Article 128(4) for the application of Treaty articles relating to cross-border resale price maintenance systems and, if necessary, to indicate what changes are needed if such book resale price maintenance agreements are to remain in force in individual language areas. The Commission is currently examining this matter as well, in accordance with the Council’s request. At the moment it is unable to say precisely when this investigation will be concluded. (1) OJ C 305, 7. 10. 1997