WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1008/98 by Ernesto CACCAVALE to the Commission. Levy of a charge on the pharmaceutical sector in the event of spending limits for 1998 being exceeded
22. 12. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 402/57 3. The nationality of the successful candidate in competition EEA/B/97/3 is Dutch. 4. The composition of the staff, broken down by nationality, at 1 April 1998 is as follows: Nationality Number of staff Belgian Danish German Greek Spanish French Irish Icelandic Italian Dutch Portuguese Finnish Swedish British 7 10 3 1 4 3 1 1 4 7 4 3 1 7 (1) OJ L 120, 11. 5. 1990. (98/C 402/069) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1008/98 by Ernesto Caccavale (UPE) to the Commission (6 April 1998) Subject: Levy of a charge on the pharmaceutical sector in the event of spending limits for 1998 being exceeded The Italian Parliament has adopted a Government amendment to the 1998 budget bill to the effect that if by the end of the year national expenditure on pharmaceuticals exceeds the limits set in the fifteenth paragraph of Article 36 of the bill (i. e 10 % more than the Lit 11 091 billion provided for), firms authorized to trade in medicinal products (the manufacturers), distributors (the wholesalers) and retail chemists will have to pay the national health service a charge equivalent to 60 % of the surplus and will also have to make a provisional payment covering the remaining 40 %, which will be refunded to them subsequently by the State. It should be pointed out that retail chemists are already obliged to pay the national health service a percentage contribution (ranging from 3. 75 % to 12. 5 %) determined by the price of medicinal products dispensed at the expense of the Italian State to persons eligible for such assistance. Does the Commission agree that the rules in question, by transferring part of the financial burden of national expenditure on pharmaceuticals to manufacturers, wholesalers and retail chemists, could so alter the overall balance of national finances as to call into question Italyís compliance with the Maastricht convergence criteria, since they have the effect of unfairly making the private sector meet the cost of a public sector obligation? Answer given by Mr de Silguy on behalf of the Commission (13 May 1998) Choices about funding public expenditure on health care fall under the full responsibility of the Member State in the same way as, more generally, any other decision concerning the distribution of the fiscal burden among tax- payers. The payment in question originates from a safeguard clause in the budget, which specifies how to finance a possible excess of health care expenditure on pharmaceuticals over the targeted amounts, in the years 1998, 1999 and 2000. Accordingly, it is not certain that the payment will be due