WRITTEN QUESTION No. 132/99 by Klaus-Heiner LEHNE Year 2000 problem
12. 11. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 325/73 The Union has repeatedly expressed its condemnation of such lax standards regarding human rights, both publicly in appropriate international fora as well as through diplomatic channels with the Israeli government. (1999/C 325/092) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0132/99 by Klaus-Heiner Lehne (PPE) to the Commission (2 February 1999) Subject: Year 2000 problem It is a requirement in the USA that every product carry an indication as to whether it can cope with the changeover from 1999 to the year 2000, i. e. every electronic appliance, be it a computer or television set, must be marked to indicate whether or not it is year-2000 compatible. So far there is no such requirement in Europe. What deliberations have taken place within the Commission with a view to resolving this problem in the light of the need to protect consumers? Answer given by Mrs Bonino on behalf of the Commission (11 March 1999) The Commission gave an initial analysis of the Year 2000 problem in its Communication of 25 February 1998 (1). In the context of the attention which must be paid to the various consequences of the problem, the Commission is particularly interested in the possible repercussions for consumers. An ad hoc working party of the Consumer Committee 1 the Commission’s advisory body for the management of consumer policy 1 has discussed the problem and issued an opinion on the identification of situations which consumers are likely to face and recommendations seeking to minimise the impact of the Year 2000 on the economic interests, health and safety of consumers. Labelling schemes are voluntary initiatives of manufacturers or distributors, sometimes in collaboration with the public authorities. The Consumer Committee believes that they can help protect consumers, especially when linked to the statutory guarantee regulations which already exist in the Member States. For example, in the Danish scheme ‘2000 Ready’, the seller declares that a particular product can cope with all dates in the 20th and 21st centuries and promises to deal with any complaints arising until 31 January 2001 (whatever the expiry date of the guarantee). However, in the absence of a universal standard demonstrating that a product is 2000-compliant and given the difficulty of obtaining certification of products by an independent or public-sector body 1 because no-one wants to the assume the consequent legal responsibility 1 labelling should not be seen as the only response to the Year 2000 problem. For the same reasons, the Commission does not envisage any proposals on a European-level labelling scheme. (1) COM(98) 102 final