WRITTEN QUESTION E-0571/00 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Council. Accountability.
26. 1. 2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 26 E/63 Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission (11 April 2000) At the moment, the Commission is not able to cite the data requested by the Honourable Member. However, following a mandate of the Council, the Commission is currently undertaking a study on the effective level of company taxation in the Member States. This study will be finalised in the second half of the current year. The report will contain information concerning the effective levels of corporate taxation in the Member States. These rates will be compared to the statutory rates. As far as other recent estimates are concerned, the Dutch government commissioned three studies in 1999 on the effective tax burden in the Community. These studies contain tables concerning the statutory rates and the effective rates and are available through Internet at http://www. minfin. nl/,select British flag, select átax competition in the European Unioní. (2001/C 26 E/077) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0569/00 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Council (2 March 2000) Subject: Council secrecy Will the Council please name any other legislative body in any other state or legislative area, other than itself, which meets in secret with the results that those affected by a decision are unable to know the considerations that led to a decision, or which representatives on the legislature took which point of view? If it agrees that the only two such legislatures are those of Cuba and North Korea, how does it justify its practices being placed in the same category as two pariah states? (2001/C 26 E/078) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0571/00 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Council (2 March 2000) Subject: Accountability Does the Council agree that it is an essential part of the democratic process for those affected by decisions to know how their representatives voted when such decisions were taken so that their electorates can hold them to account? (2001/C 26 E/079) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0572/00 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Council (2 March 2000) Subject: Transparency How does the Council intend to implement the various commitments which it has given concerning EU transparency, particularly with regard to its own decisions?