WRITTEN QUESTION No. 275/98 by Gary TITLEY to the Commission. Satellite jamming and the EC Trade Barrier Regulation
2. 10. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 304/67 (98/C 304/94) WRITTEN QUESTION P-0272/98 by Danielle Darras (PSE) to the Commission (5 February 1998) Subject: Abolition of sales of duty-free products within the Community as from 1 July 1999 Can the Commission say whether it is thinking of carrying out an impact study as soon as possible to assess the economic and social consequences of abolishing duty-free sales? As an elected member for Nord-Pas de Calais, I would point out to the Commission that that region is directly affected by the problem, since ferry traffic will be one of the worst-hit areas. The fact is that duty-free sales account for close to 60% of the turnover of some shipping lines (e. g. Sea France). Furthermore, the Commission will doubtless be aware that about half of trippers who spend one or two days in France do so because their tickets are inexpensive. Abolishing duty-free sales will entail price rises of some 25 to 30% and a fall in traffic, however. Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (9 March 1998) The decision to abolish intra-Community tax-free sales, taken by the Council in 1991 in the context of the establishment of the single market, allows such sales to continue until 30 June 1999, enabling all the economic sectors concerned to adjust gradually to the new situation over a transitional period of more than seven years. In the Commissionís view, the Council took this decision because tax-free sales constitute an anomaly in the single market. Such sales give rise to distortions of competition in the field of transport and relative to ordinary retail sales. Moreover, they confer an unjustified advantage on regular flyers and ferry passengers, who are subsidised at the taxpayerís expense. Furthermore, since rail transport and other services are being developed further, such anomalies will have an increasingly negative impact on these transport sectors. The Commission does not intend to call the Councilís decision into question or to conduct an impact study to assess its economic and social consequences. (98/C 304/95) WRITTEN QUESTION P-0275/98 by Gary Titley (PSE) to the Commission (5 February 1998) Subject: Satellite jamming and the EC Trade Barrier Regulation From 1 to 23 July 1997, the transmissions of MED-TV on the EUTELSAT satellite provider, were continuously jammed. The station broadcasts in Kurdish from London under licence from the UK Independent Television Commission. In November 1997, I tabled a question to the Commission asking if it could confirm that the jamming of MED-TV violated the European Communityís Trade Barrier Regulation. I was informed that further information would be required to enable the Commission to carry out the necessary evaluation. Does the Commission intend to investigate this potential infringement of the ECís Trade Barrier Regulation? If not, why not? Could the Commission provide information as to how long such an evaluation would take?