WRITTEN QUESTION E-1245/00 by Raffaele Costa (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Turin-Lyon railway line.
C 53 E/112 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 20. 2. 2001 Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission (12 May 2000) The Commission position on Swedenís statutory relationship to the EC Treaty remains unchanged. The status for Sweden in relation to economic and monetary union is at present a Member State with a derogation. In the convergence report of 1998, Sweden and Greece were assessed as not fulfilling the necessary conditions for the adaptation of the single currency and are therefore referred to as Member States with a derogation. A new convergence report for Sweden and Greece will be published in May 2000. Article 122(2) (ex Article 109k) of the EC Treaty lays down provisions and procedures for re-examining the situation of Member States with a derogation. At least every two years, or at the request of a Member State with a derogation, the Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) are required to prepare new convergence reports on such Member States. Two other Member States, Denmark and the United Kingdom, do not yet participate in the euro. They negotiated opt-out arrangements before the adoption of the Treaty on European Union (Protocols No 26(ex 12) and 25 (ex 11), respectively). Until these Member States indicate that they wish to participate in the third stage to join the single currency, they are not subject to an assessment by the Council as to whether they fulfil the necessary conditions. (2001/C 53 E/142) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1245/00 by Raffaele Costa (PPE-DE) to the Commission (14 April 2000) Subject: Turin-Lyon railway line On 21 February 2000 François Lamoureux, Director in the Commissionís Directorate-General for Energy and Transport, wrote to the Secretary-General of the development committee of the European Lyon-Turin- Milan/Genoa-Venice-Trieste-Ljubljana railway line, Professor Bruno Bottiglieri, saying that he fully agreed with the analysis of the benefits of the project in terms of capacity, safety and reliability. Given that, despite the more than € 60 million allocated by the Community to the Trans-Alpine link between Turin and Lyon over the past ten years, the project is far from having a certain and stable future, can the Commission say what it is doing to ensure that a clear political decision is finally taken this year on the next stages of implementation of the project and to clarify the responsibilities and degree of involvement of the competent Ministry and Italian regions and local authorities in respect of completion of the Lyon-Turin-Milan-Ljubljana rail link? Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission (25 May 2000) In the Commissionís view, the key short-term objective for accelerating the implementation of the Lyon- Torino-Milano-Venezia-Trieste-(Ljubljana) project is the achievement of a political decision on construction trans-Alpine section. At the Franco-Italian summit in Nîmes in 1999, the two of the international governments committed themselves to taking a definitive decision on the construction of the international Mont Cenisí tunnel in the autumn of 2000. The Commission will continue to urge both Member States to reach a positive conclusion on this front, and to make commensurate planning statements concerning the adjacent sections between Lyon and St Jean-de-Maurienne on the French side, and between the Susa valley and Torino on the Italian side. The decision on the tunnel must be taken on a sound basis. The Commission therefore expects that the results of environmental, economic and technical studies undertaken by the international economic interest group Alpetunnelí should be delivered in time during the summer 2000. 20. 2. 2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 53 E/113 It is important not to pre-empt the final results of the studies described above. However, the Commission has supported these studies and associated activities on the basis that the projectís socio-economic viability is strong, and that it will contribute substantially to re-balancing the distribution of Alpine traffic between the different transport modes. This in turn should help to reduce problems of safety, environment and congestion in existing trans-Alpine traffic. Regarding developments on the Italian side, the Commission notes with approval the commitment by the Italian authorities to implementation of key sections. In particular, with regard to the Torino ü Trieste part (460 km of new line, bringing the axis up to 4 tracks), works have started on some key nodes and their respective access lines. On the Torino-Milano and Padova ü Mestre sections, works are expected to start in 2000/2001, with opening aimed at for around 2006. The Commission is willing to play an active role in animating and co-ordinating discussions on the phasing and financing of the projects in question, once the outstanding political decisions have been taken, whether these discussions are at international level or between national authorities and those at local or regional level. Regarding the financing of the international section, the Commission is particularly aware of the need to take account of suggestions made by some regions concerning the use of public-private partnerships and the need to consider the impact of infrastructure pricing policy on possible sources of revenue. (2001/C 53 E/143) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1258/00 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (19 April 2000) Subject: Patients influenced by the pharmaceuticals industry through unacceptable advertising for prescrip- tion medicines 1. Is the Commission aware of a report in the Dutch press (Trouw, 31 March 2000) which shows, on the basis of information from the advertising inspectorate, that the pharmaceuticals industry in the Netherlands is guilty of large-scale infringement of European rules on the advertising of prescription medicines? 2. The reports refer to áhuge abusesí, in particular by infringing the rules on prescription medicines targeted at consumers. Does the Commission agree that this form of advertising must be vigorously stamped out? The report gives the specific example of the drug Xenical manufactured by Roche. Is the Commission 3. prepared to conduct an inquiry into this companyís advertising campaign aimed at patients? 4. Is the Commission prepared to push for effective implementation and enforcement of the rules of the European Union which ban advertising targeted at patients and which include means of dealing with companies in this respect? Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission (14 June 2000) The Commission has not been directly aware of the information published in the Dutch press. Chapter II, on advertising for public purposes in Directive 92/280/EC (1) on advertising states that such advertising must be banned where this applies to medical products that can only be supplied on medical prescription. It is thus for the Member States to ensure that the market is monitored in terms of advertising in accordance with the provisions of that Directive. They will also lay down the penalties to be imposed where there is any infringement