WRITTEN QUESTION No. 981/98 by Hugh McMAHON to the Commission. Implementation of the Parental Directive in the UK
C 323/102 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 21. 10. 98 This means, in practice, that operators wishing to export to another Member State must be members of the inspection authority in the importing Member State and pay that inspection body. No account is taken of the fact that the necessary inspection has already been carried out in the exporting Member State, which increases exportersí costs in a situation where the product fulfills the criteria for organic produce in both the country of production and the importing country. The present system, therefore, has genuinely discriminatory effects and constitutes an obstacle to trade in the internal market. Presumably the Commission would agree that an inspection carried out in one Member State should not need to be repeated when the product is exported to another Member State? (1) OJ L 198, 22. 7. 1991, p. 1. Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (30 April 1998) The Commission is of the opinion that any product which has been produced in a Member State or imported from a third country in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 of 24 June 1991 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs can be placed on the market in any Member State. Member States may therefore not impose barriers to imports of such products for other Member States. However, the marketing of organic products in certain Member States or regions thereof is traditionally strongly linked with certain private marks, which in these countries or regions have a very high attraction to the consumer. In certain cases the holders of such marks set supplementary requirements with regard to production standards or inspection requirements. Such supplementary requirements are regulated by private law. A producer using this mark has only to respect such supplementary requirements if he brings his products on the market with the particular mark they have been set for. (98/C 323/153) WRITTEN QUESTION P-0981/98 by Hugh McMahon (PSE) to the Commission (23 March 1998) Subject: Implementation of the Parental Directive in the UK Can the Commission inform Parliament of the precise date by which the UK is required to implement the 1996 Directive on Parental Leave? Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (16 April 1998) Directive 96/34/EC on the framework agreement on parental leave concluded by the Union of industrial and employersí confederation of Europe (UNICE), Centre europe·en de líe·conomie publique (CEEP) and the European trade union confederation (ETUC) (1) was adopted under the social protocol and did not apply to the United Kingdom. The other Member States must transpose the provisions of this Directive by 3 June 1998, this being two years from adoption, although they can ask for an extension of one year, if this is necessary to take account of special difficulties or implementation by a collective agreement (Article 2/2). Directive 97/75/EC (2) extends to the United Kingdom Directive 96/34/EC, and the United Kingdom must transpose its provisions by 15 December 1999, this being two years from adoption, as for the other Member States. The United Kingdom could also avail itself of the possibility of a one year extension, on the same basis as above. (1) OJ L 145, 19. 6. 1996. (2) OJ L 10, 16. 1. 1998