WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2445/97 by Graham WATSON to the Commission. British Telecom Internet provision
C 102/42 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 3. 4. 98 (98/C 102/60) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2445/97 by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission (16 July 1997) Subject: British Telecom Internet provision As part of the election manifesto, the British Labour Party pledged to provide Internet access across the length and breadth of the United Kingdom. An agreement was struck with British Telecom accordingly. Now that Labour is the governing party in the UK, does the Commission agree that any such deal will effectively give British Telecom a monopoly in backbone provision of the Internet? Will the Commission undertake an investigation to clarify whether this agreement contravenes EU competition law? Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission (15 September 1997) No discussions have been held with the Commission about any possible competition implications of any such agreement, either on behalf of the United Kingdom government, British Telecom (BT), or interested third parties. If such an agreement were to be implemented, the Commission would, if appropriate wish to examine its implications in the light of Articles 85 and 86 of the EC Treaty, and, also possibly, Articles 5 and 90 of the EC Treaty. Any party adversely affected by any such agreement can, of course, make representations to the Commission or the appropriate national regulatory authority. In the Internet field, the Commission has already opened an investigation into the issue of access to facilities controlled by public telecoms operators for Internet service providers in the United Kingdom and some other Member States. (98/C 102/61) WRITTEN QUESTION P-2463/97 by Ernesto Caccavale (UPE) to the Commission (8 July 1997) Subject: VAT levy on European Funds for SMUs The global grant › an instrument aimed at providing funding for local development projects › is granted by the Commission to intermediary bodies responsible for identifying, selecting and assisting the final beneficiaries, such as small and medium-sized undertakings. Following complaints to the Ombudsman and protests submitted by individuals to the offices of the Commission and the European Parliament, it appears that taxation on global grant funds varies from country to country and, in particular, that the Italian Government imposes VAT on such funds. This in effect deprives SMUs of a large proportion of the funds granted by the Commission, which are of course subject to tax exemption. Will the Commission provide detailed information on the provisions contained in contracts signed with intermediary bodies in respect of global grants in the various Member States? Will it state what tax provisions are applied by each Member State in which the Commission has granted the global grant? Can it state whether Italy has in fact obtained unjustified funds to the detriment of SMUs by taxing amounts paid under the global grant? Lastly, will it provide a detailed list of intermediaries which to date have signed contracts with the Commission for global grants?