WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3034/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. SLIM: a Pilot Project
C 134/62 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30. 4. 98 The intergovernmental conference, after examining this possibility, agreed to add, in the Amsterdam Treaty, a paragraph 1 to Article F of the Treaty on European Union stipulating that the Union was founded on the principles of freedom, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, principles which were common to the Member States. This Article comes on top of paragraph 2 of Article F of the Treaty on European Union, under which the Union áshall respect fundamental rights, as guaranteed by the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. í. Moreover, a new Article F. 1 was inserted into the Treaty on European Union and a new Article 236 into the EC Treaty on the measures to be taken if a Member State is in breach of the principles on which the Union is founded. Under the new Article 6a, the Council can take any necessary measures to combat discrimination based on sex, race or ethnic origin, religion or convictions, a handicap, age or sexual orientation. (98/C 134/77) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3034/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (1 October 1997) Subject: SLIM: a Pilot Project With reference to the Commission Communication to the Council and the European Parliament › Simpler legislation for the internal market (SLIM): a pilot project (COM(96) 0204 final), will the Commission adopt an incisive and vigorous approach to monitoring the Member Statesí transposal and application of Community legislation with the specific aim of preventing the cohesion of the Community market from being undermined, either by an inadequate level of transposal into national legislation, or by other factors? Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (17 November 1997) The proper enforcement of common rules across the entire single market is the major priority of the Commission, as set out in Chapter 5. 1 of its communication to the Parliament and the Council on the impact and effectiveness of the single market (1). The simplification of Community directives was also highlighted as an area for priority action. The Commission followed up its report on the single market by means of an action plan for the single market (2) which was endorsed by the European Council. The first of four strategic objectives contained in the Commissionís action plan is Making the rules more effectiveí. It contains five actions to put agreed single market legislation into force, establish a framework for enforcement and problem-solving, provide better access for business to the right information, simplify and improve national and Community rules and tackle weaknesses in the existing legal framework. The first action required Member States to provide by 1 October 1997 a detailed timetable showing their programmes of transposition to tackle urgently all delays and to ensure that transposition deadlines falling due before 1 January 1999 are respected. Almost all the Member States have now provided these timetables. The Commission will be monitoring Member Statesí performance against these timetables. (1) COM(96) 520 final. (2) Communication of the Commission to the European Council, CSE(97) 1 final