WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3535/98 by Richard CORBETT to the Council. The Council's assessment of legal base of proposals
28. 6. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 182/95 (1999/C 182/126) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3535/98 by Richard Corbett (PSE) to the Council (25 November 1998) Subject: The Council’s assessment of legal base of proposals Since the entry into force of the Single European Act, on how many occasions has the Council changed the legal base proposed by the Commission? On how many of these occasions did the proposal to change the legal base originate in the Council’s own legal service and on how many occasions did the proposal come from one or more of the members of the Council? Reply (8 February 1999) The examination by the Council of the legal basis for a Commission proposal is an integral part of the examination of the proposal as a whole. It sometimes happens that the Council considers that the legal basis proposed by the Commission is not correct and decides to change it. In such cases, because the legal basis is an essential part of an act, the Council re-consults the European Parliament. When discussing the legal basis for a proposed act the Council very often asks its Legal Service for its opinion. The Council does not have the data requested by the Honourable Member: to keep such statistics would necessitate numbers of staff which it does not currently have. (1999/C 182/127) WRITTEN QUESTION P-3544/98 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission Subject: Transposition by Greece of telecommunications directives (18 November 1998) Through a series of presidential decrees and laws Greece has transposed a number of directives relating to telecommunications into national law, notably Directives a) 95/51/EC (1) on the abolition of the restrictions on the use of cable television networks: Presidential Decree 123/Gov. Journal A 103/15. 5. 98; b) 96/2/EC (2) on mobile and personal communications: Presidential Decree 124/ Gov. Journal A 103/15. 5. 98; c) 93/97/EEC (3) on satellite earth station equipment: Presidential Decree 122/Gov. Journal A 103/15. 5. 98; d) 94/46/EC (4) on satellite communications: Presidential Decree 212/Gov. Journal A 166/25. 8. 97; and e) 96/19/EC (5) on the implementation of full competition in telecommunications markets: Law 2578/98. Given reports that the Commission is concerned about the correct transposition of the above directives, will it say: 1. Does it consider that Greece has failed fully and properly to transpose the above directives? 2. Has the transposition of these directives posed problems in any Member States? If so, which Member States are involved and which problems have arisen? 3. What measures has the Commission taken in respect of individual Member States to encourage them to transpose the directives correctly?. (1) OJ L 256, 26. 10. 1995, p. 49. (2) OJ L 20, 26. 1. 1996, p. 59. (3) OJ L 290, 24. 11. 1993, p. 1. (4) OJ L 268, 19. 10. 1994, p. 15. (5) OJ L 74, 22. 3. 1996, p. 13