WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1528/98 by Niels SINDAL to the Commission. Road accidents involving lorries in the EU
C 402/140 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 22. 12. 98 The Commission considers that this is a commonsense practice which should receive Parliamentís approval. Parliamentís own rules recognise the need for concision (see e. g. annexe II point 7 concerning question time). As a budgetary authority, and responsible for publication of the answers in the Official journal (see article 42 of Parliamentís rules), Parliament will appreciate the need to economise resources. However in the case of the Honourable Memberís written question P-3277/97 the Commission has now decided to remedy the situation by a new transmission of the complete answer. (98/C 402/185) WRITTEN QUESTION P-1522/98 by Antonio Tajani (PPE) to the Commission (11 May 1998) Subject: Funding for the Marches and Umbria following the earthquake Italian legislation provides for financial measures in support of the ástricken and damaged areasí of the Marches and Umbria following the earthquake of 26 September 1997. In circular No 234425 of 29 December 1997 the Italian Ministry for Industry laid down the arrangements for drawing up two further special categories for the acceptance of applications for the aid to businesses referred to in Law No 428/1992, subject to approval by the European Commission. When does the Commission intend to issue the directives concerning aid to the Italian regions hit by the earthquake? Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission (5 June 1998) The Commission is able to inform the Honourable Member that it is in the process of investigating the aid scheme for businesses in Marche and Umbria introduced by Law No 364/97, which was notified on 23 December 1997, amending Law No 488/92. In its investigation, it asked for the schemeís detailed implementing rules to be notified. To date, no notification has been made but it is probable that those rules are in fact set out in the Circular referred to by the Honourable Member. The Commission must therefore await the information it has requested before it can decide whether the scheme is compatible with Articles 92 et seq. of the EC Treaty. (98/C 402/186) WRITTEN QUESTION P-1528/98 by Niels Sindal (PSE) to the Commission (11 May 1998) Subject: Road accidents involving lorries in the EU 1. Will the Commission state how many accidents involving lorries (vehicles over 3 500 kg) occur annually in the EU? 2. What measures have individual EU Member States introduced to reduce the number of road accidents involving lorries, and what effects have they had, in particular the Dutch law prohibiting overtaking by lorries on certain stretches of road?