WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2675/97 by Joaquim MIRANDA to the Commission. Data relating to Portugal in the Commission's 'First Report on Economic and Social Cohesion - 1996'
C 102/88 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 3. 4. 98 The Commission would however remind the Honourable Member that, when its Members address another Community institution, their only obligation is to use one of the official languages of the Community. (98/C 102/127) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2673/97 by Leonie van Bladel (UPE) to the Council (1 September 1997) Subject: Free trade in burglarsí tools On Saturday, 12 July 1997, the Dutch daily newspaper De Telegraafí ran an article on the firm of Adalbert Wendt in Bergheim (Germany), which is selling anyone interested the latest equipment needed for burglaries and robberies. The article referred, for example, to instruction videos on breaking into cars and safe-cracking, for which the necessary equipment was also on offer. The equipment includes the most advanced technical devices that can currently be supplied to the underworld › thermal lances, electronic safe-cracking equipment, Auto-Killer cases, etc. , etc. and also instruction books and videos. Is the Council aware of this and, given this shocking information, is its President considering proposing in the near future ways of controlling and monitoring this trade within the European Union? Answer (7 November 1997) The Council has no knowledge of the information quoted by the Honourable Member. In any event, the Council does not comment on articles in the press. (98/C 102/128) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2675/97 by Joaquim Miranda (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (1 September 1997) Subject: Data relating to Portugal in the Commissionís First Report on Economic and Social Cohesion › 1996í In a recent report of the Portuguese Economic and Social Council on Implementation of the Community Support Framework › 1995í, Prof. Dr Jose· da Silva Lopes, author of the report, expresses doubts regarding certain figures quoted in the Commissionís First Report on Economic and Social Cohesion › 1996í, in particular the 13% increase in Portugalís per capita GDP relative to the European average between 1983 and 1993 and especially the 8. 6% increase in the period 1990-1993. More specifically, the report states the following: The abnormal per capita GDP percentage increase relative to the EU average is most probably due to the changes introduced by Eurostat in 1990 in methods for calculating PPP (purchasing power parity). í In view of the importance of this matter, which is not merely statistical, will the Commission clear the doubts raised in the report of the Portuguese Economic and Social Council and, in particular, provide figures concerning the actual trend in Portuguese per capita GDP in the aforementioned periods, should it be confirmed that the published figures are the result of changes in calculation methods?