WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1379/98 by Richard CORBETT to the Commission. La Laguna Dogs' Home, Tenerife
22. 12. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 402/121 (98/C 402/159) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1379/98 by Richard Corbett (PSE) to the Commission (7 May 1998) Subject: La Laguna Dogsí Home, Tenerife Is the Commission aware of the situation in the La Laguna Dogsí Home in Tenerife? Does the Protocol on Animal Welfare, annexed to the Treaty of Amsterdam, give additional scope for the Commission to investigate alleged breaches of animal welfare in such a situation where neither religious rights, cultural traditions nor regional heritage can provide an excuse for failing to respect the welfare requirements of animals? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (11 June 1998) The animal welfare protocol annexed to the Treaty of Amsterdam covers only agriculture, transport, internal market and research. The welfare of dogs within a dogs home, therefore, falls outside the scope of the protocol and is purely within the competence of the national authorities. (98/C 402/160) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1382/98 by Spalato BellerØ (NI), Cristiana Muscardini (NI) and Roberta Angelilli (NI) to the Commission Subject: Lira-euro conversion costs (7 May 1998) The present Italian Government has collected 12 000 billion Lira from taxpayers in the form of a áeuro-taxí. Now the government is preparing, via a decree from the Ministry of Finance, to make Italian citizens meet the costs of all compulsory lira-euro conversions, by imposing additional bank charges for all operations. In addition, it is requiring conversions to be carried out at the level of individual securities rather than portfolios and is not accepting the Commissionís suggestion for dealing with the problem of currency divisions, fixing a minimum unit of transaction equal to one hundredth of a euro. As a result, the burden of the transition to the single currency will be borne entirely by the public, since the Ministry of Finance has no intention of making it compulsory for these transactions to be free of charge. In the light of these considerations, will the Commission say what urgent measures it intends to take to ensure that Community citizens are not required to bear the full costs of the transition to the single currency as a result of such practices? Answer given by Mr de Silguy on behalf of the Commission (24 June 1998) The Commission supports the Honourable Membersí views that the introduction of the euro has to be as efficient and smooth as possible and that consumers should not be penalised. In order to identify the most efficient means to achieve that objective the Commission has examined in depth the practical aspects of the introduction of the euro with the help of expert groups. Particular attention has been given to the issue of banking charges for conversion. On 23 April 1998 the Commission adopted a recommendation which sets out a standard of good practice on banking charges for conversion to the euro. This standard covers both those practices that the Commission considers to be legally required on the basis of the euro regulations (i. e. the conversion of incoming payments during the transitional period and of accounts at the end of the transitional period) and other recommended