WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1692/98 by Kirsi PIHA to the Commission. The EU's northern dimension
11. 12. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 386/155 Answer given by Mr Oreja on behalf of the Commission (10 July 1998) The Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its answer to her Written Question E-3899/97 (1). (1) OJ C 187, 16. 6. 1998. (98/C 386/212) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1692/98 by Kirsi Piha (PPE) to the Commission (29 May 1998) Subject: The EUís northern dimension At the Luxembourg summit it was decided at Finlandís initiative to place the European Unionís northern dimension on the agenda. How, and on what time-scale, will the Commission start preparations to move this initiative forward? In what way will the reform of the TACIS programme take into account the objectives of the northern dimension with regard to the environment, security, energy and cooperation in border regions? Answer given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission (29 June 1998) The Commission, invited by the Luxembourg and Cardiff European Councils, will present an interim report at the Vienna European Council in December 1998. Preparatory work has started. Equally, the preparation for a new Tacis regulation is currently underway. During this process the Commission will surely reflect on the place of the Northern Dimension in the new programme. (98/C 386/213) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1704/98 by Viviane Reding (PPE) to the Commission (29 May 1998) Subject: The social dialogue in the post and telecommunications sector In a draft communication on the adaptation and promotion of the social dialogue at Community level, the European Commission is apparently considering replacing the joint committees consisting of employers and trade unions in a given sector, in this specific instance in the postal services and telecommunications sector, with a wider dialogue structure extending beyond sectoral limits. Can the Commission confirm that this is so? Can the Commission indicate the grounds which are prompting it to recommend the abolition of structures which › according to the employers and trade unions › have produced excellent results since their recent establishment (1994 in the case of the Committee for Postal Services and Telecommunications)? How does the Commission justify the establishment of a wider structure which will have to deal simultaneously with problems which may differ fundamentally from sector to sector? Why does not the Commission envisage instead the establishment of other joint committees for other sectors, given the excellent results achieved by the structures currently in place?