WRITTEN QUESTION E-2668/99 by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission. Regulations on advertisements during election campaigns.
C 280 E/98 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 3. 10. 2000 Reply (16 March 2000) The Council fully supports the objective of Azerbaijan to become a member of the Council of Europe. However, neither the Council nor the High Representative is involved in this accession process and is therefore not in a position to comment on it. in support of developing closer relations The High Representative will continue to assist the Council between the European Union and Azerbaijan. The European Union has contractual relations with Azerbaijan through a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement which provides for, amongst other things, enhanced trade relations, financial cooperation, and a political dialogue. The first meeting of the EU-Azerbaijan Cooperation Council established under this agreement took place in October 1999 and a further meeting is planned later this year. The political dialogue provides the European Union with the opportunity to raise a number of issues of interest including human rights, regional cooperation and the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. (2000/C 280 E/100) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2668/99 by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission (12 January 2000) Subject: Regulations on advertisements during election campaigns In Italy one of the great topics of debate at the moment is equal opportunities in the field of television advertising during election campaigns; in fact, for parties and individual politicians, a ban on interrupting television programmes with advertisements could be in force as early as the next local elections. According to the proposal television advertising slots would be granted. For national television, on the other hand, the parties would be granted self-managed slots for transmission between television programmes. for legislation submitted by the Italian Government, only private local In the light of the above: 1. Can the Commission say how the other Member States deal with television advertising during election campaigns? 2. Are there any relevant EU directives? 3. What is the Commissionís assessment of the issue? Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission (29 February 2000) includes provisions relating to advertising, sponsorship and teleshopping. However, Council Directive 89/552/EEC of 3 October 1989 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities (1), as amended by Directive 97/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 1997 (2), these provisions do not govern political broadcasts or political advertising, but relate to advertising spots without distinction in terms of time. The Commission has not received any complaints concerning arrangements in the Member States similar to those described by the Honourable Member. The Commun- ity rules in force in this area do not make provision for any examination of national regulations at the draft stage, such as the proposal referred to, unless the text contains provisions relating specifically to information society services, which are subject to the prior notification obligation under Directive 98/34/EC 3. 10. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 280 E/99 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations (3) (as amended by Directive 98/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 July 1998 (4)). (1) OJ L 298, 17. 10. 1989. (2) OJ L 202, 30. 7. 1997. (3) OJ L 204, 21. 7. 1998. (4) OJ L 217, 5. 8. 1998. (2000/C 280 E/101) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2669/99 by Benedetto Della Vedova (TDI) to the Commission Subject: State aid to Philipp Holzmann AG (12 January 2000) It has been announced that restructuring of Philipp Holzmann AG, the construction group. the German Government is to take various measures to facilitate the The Commissionís recent notice on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid in the form of guarantees clarifies the circumstances in which State guarantees fall under the heading of State aid and how far they are compatible with Article 87 of the EC Treaty. The provisions announced, loans amounting to DEM 150 million and guarantees of a further DEM 100 million, constitute State aid (specifically, aid for rescuing and restructuring, as defined in the Community guidelines published in OJ C 368, 23. 12. 1994) falling within the scope of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty. In view of the above, does the Commission not consider that these measures taken by the German Government constitute a serious distortion of competition within the Community and breach the provisions on State aid in Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty? In the light of the statements by the Commissioner responsible for competition and the Governor of the European Central Bank on the ácoincidenceí of measures and proposals for State interference in the markets and the euroís weakness, does the Commission intend to take steps to reduce the number of possible exceptions to the prohibition on State aid contained in Article 87 of the EC Treaty? In particular, does the Commission not think it advisable to take action to modify, if not tighten up, the above-mentioned Community guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficultyí, which are characterised by an excessively general and broad approval system? Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (9 February 2000) Whether or not the measures of the German government constitute a serious distortion of competition has to be assessed on the basis of a detailed analysis taking into account the criteria of the Guidelines on state aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty (1). These guidelines which came into force on 9 October 1999 amended the previous guidelines from 1994 and have stricter criteria, for instance, with respect to the avoidance of undue distortions of competition and the áone time, last timeí principle. After a preliminary examination of the notification the Commission found that the aid raised doubts as to its compatibility with the common market. Therefore, on 18 January 2000 the Commission initiated proceedings in order to launch an in-depth investigation of the aid measures. (1) OJ C 288, 9. 10. 1999