WRITTEN QUESTION E-0841/00 by Ioannis Marínos (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Community legislation on the internal market and its transposition into national legislation.
28. 12. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 374 E/167 3. a) b) Average implementation of Poseidom and Poseican programmes, over the last five years were: Poseidom: supply 70 % ü other measures 69 % ü total 70 % Poseican: supply 98 % ü other measures 61 % ü total 86 %. These outturns (actual expenditure as a percentage of the appropriations provided) are based on budgetary data. Detailed quantitative data and data for each measure will be presented soon in the Commission Reports to the Council and to Parliament on the implementation of these programmes. (1) OJ C 225 E, 8. 8. 2000, p. 125. (2000/C 374 E/197) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0836/00 by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission (21 March 2000) Subject: Environmental damage inflicted on the Danube and neighbouring regions by NATO bombing The Romanian Minister for the Environment has alleged that the Danube has suffered greater environ- mental damage from NATO bombing which destroyed bridges, oil refineries and chemicals plants than from the recent cyanide spill. The environmental, economic and cultural damage to the Danube and the local population extends beyond Serbia and affects all the regions through which the Danube flows and will have distressing consequences for many years to come. Will the Commission say whether it is aware of the extent of the damage and, if so, what measures it proposes to assist the countries concerned, so that the environment, the economy and the culture of this sensitive region rapidly recover? Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission (18 April 2000) During the Kosovo conflict the Commission financed a preliminary assessment of the environmental impact of the conflict. This was performed by the Regional environment centre (REC) for Central and Eastern Europe and is available on their Internet site (http://www. rec. org). A further, more detailed assessment of the war was performed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Balkan Task Force and is also available at their site on the Internet (http://www. grid. unep. ch). Both reports concluded that the Kosovo conflict did not cause an environmental catastrophe affecting the Balkan region as a whole. the environmental consequences of Looking ahead, the Commission is supporting a regional environmental reconstruction programme in the framework of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe that will assist in environmental reconstruction and capacity building across the Balkan Region as a whole. (2000/C 374 E/198) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0841/00 by Ioannis Marínos (PPE-DE) to the Commission (21 March 2000) Subject: Community legislation on the internal market and its transposition into national legislation The Commission has correctly pointed out that the transposition of the rules governing the internal market into the legislation of the Member States is essential if the common market is to function properly. C 374 E/168 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 28. 12. 2000 Will the Commission say what it considers to be the chief impediments to the smooth functioning of the internal market in all fifteen Member States, what is the main problem encountered by undertakings in the Union, whether these undertakings face any additional costs or have marketing difficulties due to the incompatibility of Community goods and services and national standards which may vary from country to country and what progress Greece has made in transposing Community legislation on the internal market into its national law, compared with other EU Member States? Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission (17 April 2000) Over the past 15 years enormous progress has been made in removing barriers to the free movement of goods, services, capital and persons in the internal market. This is confirmed by the business survey conducted in September 1999 among 4000 businesses, which was published in the single market scoreboard (1). The majority of interviewees perceived a reduction in barriers to doing business in other Member States. In answer to the question, In the last two years, how have obstacles developed in the Internal Market?í the results were as follows: Disappeared/no obstacles Significantly reduced Tended to decrease Unchanged Tended to increase Donít know (%) 20 19 25 27 7 2 In the Commissionís view, it is difficult to reduce the remaining problems to a single main one. Although business confidence in the internal market remains high, firms still perceive a wide range of problems. The Honourable Member will find in the following table the most frequent obstacles in the internal market cited in the business survey: SME + 20 (2893) (1) Majors (502) (1) Total (3395) (1) (%) Additional costs to render products or services compatible with national specifications Unusual testing, certification or approval procedures State aids favouring competitors Difficulties related to the VAT system and VAT procedures Restrictions on market access; existence of exclusive net- works Costly financing arrangements for cross-border transactions- (1) The number in brackets indicates the number of interviews. 36 31 28 27 22 18 41 34 36 30 29 20 37 31 29 27 23 18 As most of the rules for the internal market are now in place, the focus is on ensuring that the rules function optimally and that they are adjusted to take account of new market and technological develop- ments. This emerges strongly from the communication which the Commission adopted on 24 November 1999 setting out a new strategy for the internal market over the next five years (2). The strategy establishes an annual cycle of evaluation and priority-fixing, taking into account the actual functioning of product and capital markets and feedback received from citizens and business on their experiences with the internal market. 28. 12. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 374 E/169 Greeceís relative position in relation to the transposition of internal market rules has deteriorated in the last two years. According to the December 1999 Scoreboard statistics, 90 directives that should have been implemented by Greece by 15 November 1999 had not been transposed, compared to 19 directives overdue for Denmark, the best performing Member State and compared to an average of 52 directives taking all Member States together. (1) SEC(1999) 2043. (2) COM(1999) 624 final. (2000/C 374 E/199) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0846/00 by Marie-Arlette Carlotti (PSE) to the Commission (21 March 2000) Subject: Action of the European Union against anti-personnel landmines The Commission has adopted a proposal for a regulation on anti-personnel mines. ü In the budgetary domain, horizontal line B7-661 has had its legitimacy strengthened. Does this mean that anti-personnel mine action programmes in all their diversity are to be financed exclusively from this line? In view of the particular approach adopted vis-à-vis humanitarian mine clearance by the NGOs, which favour integrating mine clearance in an overall development approach, what measures will be taken to ensure the actual access of NGOs to Union financing? ü For the purposes of implementing EU actions against anti-personnel mines, the principle of aid being conditional on accession to and observance of the Ottawa Convention is accepted. This principle is subject to exceptions in the case of assistance to victims and is coupled with a proposal to assist the applicant countries in applying the Conventionís provisions. What will be the relevant criteria and detailed arrangements, which should not bring about on the ground a ádouble victimisationí of certain vulnerable communities? ü In the context of stepping up EU action for the actual implementation of the Convention and its universalisation, how large has been the place given to anti-personnel mines in the political dialogue with the Unionís partners and, more especially, with the countries applying for accession? Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission (26 April 2000) 1. The communication and proposal for a regulation recently presented by the Commission are aimed, on the one hand, at enabling the EU to devise a more active and consistent strategy on anti-personnel mines, and on the other, at giving the necessary legal basis and both a horizontal and specific purpose to budget heading B7-661, which was created by Parliament in 1996 but had no legal basis until now. The approach adopted was to formulate an overall policy framework for EU action on anti-personnel mines, within which the relevant sectoral and regional/local measures could be situated. The projects undertaken may be financed by the horizontal budget line, or by existing regional/local programmes. This approach will enable us to integrate into the overall strategy a number of projects of common interest to any mine clearance activity, for example systematic plans to assess past or ongoing operations, the evaluation of the needs of both the population and the mine clearance units, the drafting of regional and multiannual plans, verification of the aims pursued, rationalisation of instruments and interventions, and guarantees that EU operations are consistent with its commitments under the Ottawa Convention