WRITTEN QUESTION P-2583/99 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission. Travel insurance bundling.
C 225 E/174 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 8. 8. 2000 The Commission has also established the business test panel project, within the single market action plan, which is a mechanism whereby proposed Community legislation can be critically reviewed directly by individual businesses in the Member States. This review process complements the BIA system, helps to see whether proposals will result in new increased compliance costs and administrative burdens for business, and gives an idea of their scale and magnitude. The business test panel is a pilot project, which will be reviewed in the year 2000. A BIA appears as part of the documentation accompanying every legislative proposal which is likely to have a significant impact on business. This is published as part of a COM document which is submitted to the Council, the Parliament and the Economic and social committee. These documents are distributed by the Office of publications, they are available to outside interests, and scrutiny of their content is welcome. Proposals to improve the BIA system are under active consideration within the Commission at a time of substantial changes and re-organisation of directorates-general. This review will assess the effectiveness of the current procedures against the background of the Commissionís commitment to á better regulationí. This will also be done in close co-ordination with other Commission work and initiatives on the simplification of internal market legislation, such as simplification of legislation for the single market (SLIM), and the business test panel pilot project. To answer the specific questions posed by the Honourable Member: 1. Due to the complexity of the decision making process, it is difficult to say how many legislative proposals have been dropped over the years directly as a result of a BIA. This would need to be considered on a case by case basis, and would take up considerable resources. 2. Up to now no quantification of the impact of BIAs on reducing or preventing costs has been carried out. However, the Commission published in 1997 a report on Improving the quality of legislation for business: The European Commissionís business impact assessment systemí. This report outlined the history and the development of the business impact assessment system along with a comprehensive collection of business impact assessments over the last years. 3. This question will need to be evaluated in the context of the review of the system. 4. The Commission agrees that it is important that BIAs are undertaken in respect of proposals that could impose costs on enterprises, but the system in itself should not become an unnecessary burden and a purely bureaucratic exercise. For these reasons BIAs should be limited to those proposals with a significant impact on businesses. 5. More detailed guidance on BIAs is being considered and the work will be taken forward as part of the review of the system. 6. A BIA is already required for all legislative proposals with a significant impact on business. 7. The new unit on Regulatory co-ordination ü simplification and impact of legislation on SMEsí became operational on 1st January 2000 and works in close co-operation with other directorates- general responsible for bringing forward legislative proposals. (1) SEC(90) 2188. (2000/C 225 E/192) WRITTEN QUESTION P-2583/99 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission (16 December 1999) Subject: Travel insurance bundling Is the Commission aware of the practice widespread in the United Kingdom, of travel agents bundling insurance with travel packages? Practices which require consumers to purchase the travel agentís in-house 8. 8. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 225 E/175 insurance with package holidays include travel agents offering so-called áfree insuranceí as part of the travel package and tour operators refusing to confirm a holiday booking until the customer provides evidence of an equivalent alternative policy. Is the Commission aware of such practices in other Member States, and does it consider that such practices are compatible with EU law? Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission (2 February 2000) The Commission has no specific information nor has it received complaints relating to the practices mentioned by the Honourable Member. The matter is, in Community law, regulated by Council Directive 90/314/EEC of 13 June 1990 on package travel, package holidays and package tours (1). Article 4(1)(b) requires the organiser or retailer to provide the consumer, in writing or any other appropriate form, with áinformation on the optional conclusion of an insurance policy to cover the cost of cancellation by the consumer or the cost of assistance, including repatriation, in the event of accident or illness. í. In case the practices referred to by the Honourable Member appeared prima facie to infringe upon the implementing measures ü for example by Directiveís provisions as complemented by the national imposing compulsory instead of optional insurance ü it would appear appropriate that the issue be taken up with the national authorities. In addition, it would seem advisable for consumers confronted with dubious contractual arrangements to contact a consumer organisation, with a view to assessing the legitimacy of the practices in question and considering the most effective course of action. With regard to competition law, the practice of making the sale of one product conditional upon the purchase of another unrelated product, or átyingí as this is also known, can constitute an infringement of the Community competition rules if the undertaking carrying out this practice enjoys a dominant position on the market, or if the practice arises as a result of an agreement between undertakings. The Honourable Member does not allege that travel agents in the United Kingdom have agreed among themselves to oblige consumers to combine the purchase of insurance with a travel package, while the Commission has no reason to believe that any travel agent or tour operator enjoys a dominant position in the United Kingdom. Under these circumstances, there would appear to be no reason for the Commission to open an investigation under the competition rules. (1) OJ L 158, 23. 6. 1990. (2000/C 225 E/193) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2584/99 by Herbert Bösch (PSE) to the Commission (11 January 2000) Subject: BSE pathogens in meat-and-bone meal According to a report on 26 August 1999 on Swiss German language television, there is evidence that EU provisions on the destruction of any BSE pathogens during the production of meat-and-bone meal were disregarded in Switzerland up to the end of 1997. The report indicates that the Swiss producers at that time were unable in purely technical terms to heat the meat-and-bone meal as prescribed at pressure of 3 bar for 20 minutes at 133o C. Nonetheless, official export papers were issued, on the basis of which thousands of tonnes of meat-and-bone meal were exported from Switzerland into the EU area