WRITTEN QUESTION E-0981/00 by Hartmut Nassauer (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Discriminatory provisions in the law of property of the Czech Republic.
C 72 E/12 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 6. 3. 2001 (2001/C 72 E/013) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0980/00 by Hartmut Nassauer (PPE-DE) to the Commission (31 March 2000) Subject: Discriminatory provisions in the law on property of a number of applicant countries On their accession to the European Union the current applicant countries will have a law on property which corresponds to the acquis communautaire. Accordingly, any discriminatory provisions ü in particular in respect of restitution and privatisation ü must be regarded as an infringement of Community law. Hitherto the Commission has not expressed an opinion on the question of the lawfulness of legislation on privatisation, compensation and restitution in countries seeking membership of the European Union. Does the Commission share the views that if it were to publish a white paper on these issues, which affect almost all the candidate countries, this could make for greater legal certainty? (2001/C 72 E/014) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0981/00 by Hartmut Nassauer (PPE-DE) to the Commission (31 March 2000) Subject: Discriminatory provisions in the law of property of the Czech Republic Is it true that, on a recent visit to the Czech Republic, Mr Verheugen, member of the Commission responsible for enlargement, said that the Commission would ensure that the continued existence of certain laws and decrees dating from 1945 and 1946 in the Czech Republic does not have a discriminatory effect in any current or future cases, in particular in the area of restitution? (2001/C 72 E/015) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0982/00 by Hartmut Nassauer (PPE-DE) to the Commission (31 March 2000) Subject: Political developments in the law on property of individual applicant countries Does the Commission believe that the law on the restitution of expropriated property currently valid in the Czech Republic and the draft law on reprivatisation recently adopted by the Polish government are compatible with Community legislation, in particular with regard to the exclusion clauses, notably the provisions on citizenship? Joint answer to Written Questions E-0980/00, E-0981/00 and E-0982/00 given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission (15 May 2000) The EC Treaty states that it shall in no way prejudice the rules in the Member States governing the system of property ownership (Article 295 ü ex Article 222). The Commission thus has no competence for intervening in questions relating to restitution of property in a current or future Member State. For this reason, the Commission does not foresee publishing a white book on this matter. For the reasons mentioned above, it is not for the Commission to take a position on the specific cases raised by the Honourable Member