WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2820/98 by Umberto BOSSI to the Council. Repayment by the Italian Government of the 'Europe Tax'
C 118/150 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 29. 4. 1999 Answer given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission (21 October 1998) The 1996/1999 indicative programme for Kazakhstan is covered by two action programmes. The first covered the period 1996/1997. The second one, which is under preparation, covers the period 1998/1999. In the first action programme Kazakhstan participated in the programme called European expertise servicesí. Through this project the Kazakh government received advice on how to proceed in order to accede to the World trade organisation (WTO). Conscious that the entry into the WTO needs strong support, the Kazakh representative requested this at the joint committee meeting held in June 1998 in Brussels between the Kazakhstan and the Commission. During the TACIS programming mission which took place after the above mentioned joint committee meeting, the request was further discussed and, as a result, a project called Implementation of the partnership and co-operation agreementsí is now under preparation. A major part of the activities of this project will be devoted to the WTO accession. (1999/C 118/187) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2820/98 by Umberto Bossi (NI) to the Council (18 September 1998) Subject: Repayment by the Italian Government of the Europe Taxí In its 1997 budget the Italian Government levied the so-called Europe Taxí in order to bring public finances into line with the criteria set out in the Maastricht Treaty for moving to the third phase of the single currency. The Italian Ministry of Finance has recently stated that 60 % of this tax will be repaid to taxpayers by the end of 1998. Some Member States have several times expressed doubts about the legitimacy of this tax, precisely because of the commitment made to repay it. If the Italian Government were to repay, as promised, part of the Europe Taxí to taxpayers, does the Council not consider that this alleged átaxí would in reality be compulsory lending imposed on the Italian people? Reply (27 November 1998) During its meeting on 1 May 1998, the Council abrogated its previous decision on the existence of an excessive deficit in Italy. Italy consequently fulfilled the convergence criterion of having achieved a sustainable government financial position as mentioned in the second indent of Article 109 j, paragraph 1. When abrogating its above mentioned decision on the existence of an excessive deficit, the Council took note of the commitment of the Italian government to keeping the primary surplus, which reached over 6 % of GDP in 1997, at a level that contributes strongly to the decline of the debt ratio. The Council underlined in this respect that this primary surplus is essential to maintaining the debt ratio on its sustainable downward path. The Council will monitor future developments concerning the government financial position of Italy within the framework of the Stability and Growth Pact Regulations