WRITTEN QUESTION P-2278/99 by Carlos Westendorp y Cabeza (PSE) to the Commission. Aid to the shipbuilding industry.
C 225 E/84 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 8. 8. 2000 Although the limitations on games of chance prevent certain economic operators from gaining access to this field of activity, their underlying principles were found by the Court of Justice to be compatible with the principle of the freedom to provide services set out in Article 49 (formerly Article 59) of the EC Treaty (see the judgment of 21 September 1999 in case C-124/97). The Court found that the considerations of public interest mentioned above were sufficient justification for leaving the Member States to decide which restrictive measures were necessary to provide protection on their territory. It is the Commissionís view that the various systems of regulation and national control exercised in the different Member States are all based on public interest grounds and follow the same principles, which are compatible with the Community principle of the freedom to provide services. In this context and in the absence of substantial differences between the laws of the various Member States, the Commission has no intention of drafting any secondary legislation on games of chance. (2000/C 225 E/084) WRITTEN QUESTION P-2278/99 by Carlos Westendorp y Cabeza (PSE) to the Commission Subject: Aid to the shipbuilding industry (24 November 1999) The European shipbuilding sector is in serious difficulty. One of the EUís priorities should be to secure the future of a competitive shipbuilding industry which will contribute to social and economic development by maintaining a certain level of employment in a number of regions, many of which have a high level of unemployment. In its report to the Council on the situation of shipbuilding in the world, the Commission acknowledges that South Koreaís public aid scheme for shipbuilding is destabilising the world market in that sector. With a view to planning measures which will remedy this state of affairs, has the Commission quantified the amount of such aid? Council Regulation (EC) No 1540/98 (1) of 29 June 1998 lays down new rules on state aid to the shipbuilding sector up to December 2000. Is the Commission planning to extend the provision of such aid to European production beyond that date as a precautionary measure whilst it pursues its investigation into shipbuilding aid in South Korea? (1) OJ L 202, 18. 7. 1998, p. 1. Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (20 December 1999) The Commission fully shares the Honourable Memberís concerns about the difficult market situation, which is characterised by very low prices and serious over-capacity caused by Korea. So far as alleged subsidisation of Korean shipbuilding is concerned, at this stage it is not possible to quantify the possible forms of public support being used to assist Korean yards. More information is required. The Commission will continue its investigations and present its findings to the Council. As regards the Communityís aid regime, Council Regulation (EC) No 1540/98 of 29 June 1998 establish- ing new rules on aid to shipbuilding, provides for a range of various aids to shipbuilding up until 2003. The only aids that are due to be abolished at the end of 2000 are contract-related operating aids. There are no plans at this stage to prolong such aids. In accordance with Article 12 of the Regulation, the Commission is obliged to keep the market situation under regular review and will, if appropriate, propose measures to address the situation if it is found that Community yards are suffering injury from unfair competition practices. The Commissionís recent report to the Council (1) was the first such report. 8. 8. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 225 E/85 At its meeting on 9 November 1999, the Industry Council noted with concern the reportís findings and called for a series of actions to address the situation. It wanted the Commission to pursue its efforts to establish a level playing field for the sector by immediately engaging Korea in constructive consultations with a view to halting the unfair competition. Further it called upon industry, Member States and the Commission to seek as much detailed evidence as possible of the alleged anti-competitive behaviour, in order to take appropriate action under the World trade organization (WTO). It wanted Member States to urge the International monetary fund (IMF) and World Bank to continue to investigate whether the conditions and assumptions for IMF rescue packages are fully respected. Finally Member States and the Commission were to pursue their efforts to establish a level playing field for the sector in the appropriate in international fora, order to enforce fair competition rules. The Council also welcomed the Commissionís determination to continue to meet its obligations under Article 12 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1540/98 and to report on developments as soon as necessary. including the Organisation for economic cooperation and development (OECD), (1) COM(1999) 474 final. (2000/C 225 E/085) WRITTEN QUESTION P-2281/99 by Ursula Stenzel (PPE-DE) to the Commission (24 November 1999) Subject: Enlargement strategy and nuclear safety The European Commission has changed its negotiating strategy and now seeks to enable accession negotiations with all applicant states in order to avoid a division into two groups. Is a deadline for decommissioning reactors Nos 1 and 4 at precondition for opening negotiations with Bulgaria? the Kozloduy nuclear power plant a What line is being taken on Slovakia, which, to comply with Austriaís requirements, could only accede to the EU if it had closed down its Bohunice nuclear power plant by the year 2006? What timetable does it propose for opening negotiations with the countries of the second group in relation to this problem? Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission (9 December 1999) The Community attaches particular attention to nuclear safety in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The European Council in Cologne stressed the importance of nuclear safety in the context of enlargement and called on the Commission to examine this issue thoroughly in its next regular reports on the progress of candidate countries towards accession. Nuclear safety will be subject to continued scrutiny and supportive action by the Commission in the pre-accession period. As for reactors in candidate countries that are not upgradeable to international safety standards at a reasonable cost (Ignalina in Lithuania, Bohunice V1 in Slovakia and units 1-4 of the Kozloduy in Bulgaria), the Commission, in line with the positions taken by the Council and the Parliament, has been seeking their earliest practicable closure through commitment of the concerned countries on realistic closure timetables, consistent where applicable with assumed international obligations. The Commission has also declared its willingness to assist these countries in implementing such timetables both technically and financially. Following discussions with the Commission, Lithuania and Slovakia recently took decisions for closure of older reactors, and have been revising their energy strategies accordingly. In the case of Slovakia, the two Bohunice V1 reactors will be closed by 2006 and 2008, respectively