WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2554/98 by Marjo MATIKAINEN-KALLSTRÖM , Raimo ILASKIVI , Jyrki OTILA to the Commission. Equal treatment in respect of certain services
5. 2. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 31/149 Nevertheless, for the time being the Union has unanimously chosen to give its support to the on-going United States mediating efforts to bring the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations back on track, in the belief that the United States proposal is the best way out of the present impasse. It is a fact that despite its initial reservations the Palestinian Authority accepted the American proposal some time ago. The Commission is of the opinion that no efforts should be spared to convince Israel to do likewise and accept what constitutes a compromise proposal in its own interest and in that of peace in the region. It goes without saying that the American mediation has a limited time span and that the Union would be forced to re-evaluate the situation in the event that it fails to achieve a long-awaited breakthrough. (1999/C 31/214) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2537/98 by Marie-Noºlle Lienemann (PSE) to the Commission (1 September 1998) Subject: The CrØdit Mutuel and state aid How does the Commission envisage the future of public savings promotion products which are used to finance social, industrial and local development projects? In the absence of any such plans, notably as regards the necessary harmonization measures, will these products, for instance the A Bookletí, the Codevií or the Blue Bookletí in France, simply be allowed to disappear in the face of the imperatives of economic competition? Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission (11 September 1998) Public savings promotion products which are used to finance social, industrial and local development projects do not pose any problems in terms of the Communityís interest and may of course continue to exist. In some instances, however, problems may be posed by the way in which the collection of savings is organised if an incidental effect of such organisation might be ultimately to confer an indirect advantage on the body responsible for carrying out the task. In one instance, CrØdit Mutuelís Blue Bookletí in France, the Commission has initiated proceedings under Article 93(2) of the EC Treaty in order to examine this aspect. (1999/C 31/215) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2554/98 by Marjo Matikainen-Kallström (PPE), Raimo Ilaskivi (PPE) and Jyrki Otila (PPE) to the Commission (1 September 1998) Subject: Equal treatment in respect of certain services The Commission quite rightly pays close attention to the issue of the equal treatment of persons. In that connection, the advantages granted to shareholders in telephone companies have been declared invalid on the grounds that they represent a breach of the directive. However, in Finland different policies are applied to summer and permanent residents as regards postal services, real estate taxes and refuse collection charges. An additional charge is levied for the delivery of mail to summer residents, whose monthly refuse collection charges may be as much as the annual costs paid by permanent residents. Does the Commission not regard this as a breach of the legislation on equal treatment? If so, what measures does it plan to take to remedy the situation?