WRITTEN QUESTION E-0689/00 by Robert Goebbels (PSE) to the Commission. Possible amendment of Article 105(6) of the EC Treaty.
C 26 E/86 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 26. 1. 2001 (2001/C 26 E/105) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0670/00 by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission (9 March 2000) Subject: Borage honey and the 1976 honey regulations Honey produced from the borage plant (borage honey) naturally contains a higher level of sucrose than the 5 % limit stipulated by the 1976 honey regulations. However, the Local Authority on Trading Standards in the UK has advised Trading Standards (UK) to accept the sucrose level in borage honey, following detailed analytical work by the European Federation of Honey Importers, Packers and Distribu- tors (which liases closely with the European Commission). Will the Commission accept that borage honey naturally contains a high level of sucrose and therefore ought to be exempt from the current regulations? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (31 March 2000) In 1996, the Commission presented a proposal to the Council to simplify the Directive relating to honey (1). In Annex II of this proposal were included certain new criteria concerning apparent sucrose content. In February 2000 during its last meeting, the Food and agriculture organisation (FAO) codex committee on sugars agreed a draft revised standard for honey. The new text of that draft revised standard includes sucrose content for Borage (Borago officinalis) honey of not more than 15 g/100 g. It seems probable that the next meetings of experts in the Council on the proposal relating to honey will take into account the conclusions of the codex committee. (1) OJ C 231, 9. 8. 1996. (2001/C 26 E/106) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0689/00 by Robert Goebbels (PSE) to the Commission (9 March 2000) Subject: Possible amendment of Article 105(6) of the EC Treaty Article 105(6) of the EC Treaty stipulates that the Council may confer upon the ECB specific tasks concerning policies relating to the prudential supervision of credit institutions and other financial institutions áwith the exception of insurance undertakingsí. However, the large European market in financial services being established calls for global prudential supervision, particularly following the countless mergers or acquisitions, not to mention the acquisition of cross holdings, among banks, insurance undertakings, investment funds and other professionals in the financial sector. Several EU Member States have already introduced single national prudential supervision for the financial sector as a whole, including insurance undertakings, or are in the process of doing so. Would it not be wise to take the opportunity offered by the intergovernmental conference to propose that Article 105(6) be amended so as to provide the legal basis necessary to enable the Council to confer upon the ECB certain specific tasks, including those relating to prudential supervision of insurance undertakings? Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission (19 April 2000) The EC Treaty expressly excludes insurance companies from the prudential supervision tasks which could be conferred on the European Central Bank (ECB) under the procedure provided for in Article 105(6) of the EC Treaty. There are many grounds for this. The insurance industry does not risk significant contagion which could lead to a systemic crisis. Insurance companies are not covered as last resort lenders by the 26. 1. 2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 26 E/87 central banks. Insurance companies operate mainly on the long-term capital markets (bonds and shares) and accordingly are less sensitive to monetary policy decisions. Prudential regulation of insurance companies is based on specific techniques, very different from the rules applied to banking. These facts explain why no central bank in the Community should be responsible for the prudential supervision of insurance companies. The emergence of financial conglomerates combining credit, investment and insurance firms obviously challenges the traditionally sectoral organisation of prudential supervision of the finance industry. Community legislation, which has liberalised the exchange of prudential information between regulatory authorities, has encouraged closer cooperation between the three sectors. In a number of countries, áintegratedí authorities have been put in place to ensure prudential supervision of the three sectors, namely, the banks, investment services and insurance companies. It should be noted that these authorities are framework encourages the exchange of clearly distinct information with the monetary authority. from the central banks, although the legal In its Communication Implementing the framework for financial markets: action planí (1), the Commission undertook to propose a prudential framework to ensure effective supervision of financial conglomerates. For that purpose, a joint technical group consisting of experts from the three sectors was set up to draft proposals in the fields of capital adequacy; intra-group transactions and risk concentration; the evaluation of shareholders and directors, in particular at the time of merger-acquisition operations; the exchange of information between competent authorities; and the identification of a coordinator from among the supervision authorities and the definition of his tasks. At the same time, the Commission is the originator of the conference of supervision authorities which groups the various European bodies with responsibility for the rules and prudential supervision of the three sectors (2). By encouraging concerted action on matters of common interest, the Commission hopes to take into account the multi-sectoral dimension of financial conglomerates and to maximise cooperation between the various prudential supervision techniques. The Commission feels that it is unnecessary to introduce into the Treaty a legal basis conferring on the ECB certain specific tasks in the prudential supervision of insurance. (1) COM(1999) 232 final. (2) Banking: Banking Advisory Committee, Banking Supervisory Committee, Contact Group. Securities: Forum of European Securities Commissions (FESCO). Insurance: European Insurance Committee, Conference of Insurance Supervisors. (2001/C 26 E/107) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0691/00 by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Commission (9 March 2000) Subject: Application of the Leader programme in the Autonomous Region of the Azores On 18 February 2000, at the invitation of Adeliaçor I had the opportunity of visiting a series of projects developed by this association with financial support from the Leader programme in the rural district of Capelo on the island of Faial in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, where many of the 293 projects already approved by this association have been developed. The projects visited included a vast range of activities, for example the rebuilding of homes destroyed by the Capelinhos volcano for the development of rural tourism projects, improvements in small tourist centres, the restoration of buildings for the promotion of handicrafts, the construction of viewing points and the preparation of waymarked routes for walkers, recreational centres for children, tourist leaflets and videocassettes, the marketing of agricultural products, etc