WRITTEN QUESTION No. 418/99 by Michl EBNER Bank charges on exchange transactions
21. 12. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 370/39 (1999/C 370/050) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0416/99 by Jens-Peter Bonde (I-EDN) to the Commission (1 March 1999) Subject: Rights of Greenlanders and Danes What rights do Danes resident in Denmark have that Danes and Greenlanders in Greenland do not under the provisions on Union citizenship and the fundamental rights in the EU recognised by the Court of Justice? Supplementary answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (30 June 1999) Any special provisions concerning Greenland and affecting the rights of the residents of Greenland under Community law were originally provided by the act of accession of Denmark to the Communities as well as the treaties establishing the Communities and the secondary legislation giving them effect. The Treaty amending, with regard to Greenland, the treaties establishing the Communities entered into force on 1 February 1985 (1). Pursuant to this treaty proposed by Denmark, the treaties establishing the Communities ceased to apply to Greenland and the provisions of the treaty applicable to overseas countries and territories (OCT) were chosen as the new framework for the relations between the Communities and Greenland. Since 1 February 1985 Greenland has been one of the overseas countries and territories to which Articles 182 to 187 of the EC Treaty (ex Articles 131 to 136) apply and which are listed in Annex II of the EC Treaty. According to Article 188 of the EC Treaty (ex Article 136a) the provisions of Articles 182 to 187 shall apply to Greenland, subject to the specific provisions for Greenland set out in the Protocol on special arrangements for Greenland annexed to the EC Treaty. Article 17 of the Treaty establishing the European Union (ex Article 8) provides that every person holding a nationality of a Member State shall be a citizen of the Union. Therefore, any person resident in Greenland, who is a national of a Member State, is also a citizen of the Union. Article 5(1) of the act of accession of Denmark to the Schengen Convention provides that the Convention does not apply to Greenland. However, according to Article 5(2) people travelling between Greenland and the Schengen countries (and Iceland and Norway) will not be controlled at the frontiers. This will apply once Denmark has implemented the Schengen Convention. However, it should be noted that there are no controls at the frontiers between Greenland and the countries of the Nordic Passport Union. (1) OJ L 29, 1. 2. 1985. (1999/C 370/051) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0418/99 by Michl Ebner (PPE) to the Commission (1 March 1999) Subject: Bank charges on exchange transactions Since the beginning of this year the exchange rates of the EU-11 currencies have been fixed, so that banks have lost the profits resulting from fluctuating exchange rates. In order to offset this loss, banks have apparently raised the rate of commission they charge on exchange transactions. As a result it is now not unusual for banks to charge 3 % or more in commission