WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1010/98 by Ernesto CACCAVALE to the Commission. Infringement by the Commune of Naples of rules relating to the award of public contracts
C 323/104 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 21. 10. 98 Answer (6 July 1998) The statement in the press, to which the Honourable Members refer, has been disclaimed both by Sloveniaís Ambassador to Italy and by the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Ljubljana. (98/C 323/156) WRITTEN QUESTION P-1005/98 by Caroline Jackson (PPE) to the Council (31 March 1998) Subject: Draft directive on the advertising of tobacco products The Council adopted a Common Position on the above draft directive on 12 February 1998. The Common Position goes further than the previous draft Directive published in 1992, in that it introduces a ban on sponsorship as well as all forms of commercial communication for tobacco products. It is believed that, in 1993, the Councilís Legal Service concluded that the 1992 draft directive could not be validly based upon Article 100a of the Treaty, or any other Treaty article. 1. Could the Council confirm whether this is the case? If it is the case, could the Council confirm whether the Legal Service has been asked for, or has offered of 2. its own accord, an opinion upon the text of the current proposal? If it has not, could the Council explain how the provisions of the current proposals are so different from the 3. 1992 draft as to make the Legal Serviceís opinion no longer applicable? Answer (13/14 July 1998) The Council is assisted in its deliberations by a Legal service, the role of which is to provide independent 1. legal advice to the Council. These opinions are given in written or oral form either to the Council itself or to its preparatory bodies. They are internal to the Council. 2. In the particular case to which the Honourable Member refers, it would be inappropriate either to confirm or deny the existence of an opinion such as the one referred to in the question, or whether such an opinion was modified or supplemented in writing or orally, in the light of the actual text adopted by the Council on 12 February 1998. (98/C 323/157) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1010/98 by Ernesto Caccavale (UPE) to the Commission (6 April 1998) Subject: Infringement by the Commune of Naples of rules relating to the award of public contracts The Commission has brought an action against Italy for infringement of its obligations in relation to the award of public contracts. In particular, the Commission has recently accused the Commune of Naples in connection with the award of a public service contract for the collection of urban waste. The invitation to tender was incomplete and in flagrant breach of Directive 92/50/EEC on public service contracts. The various blatant breaches and omissions discovered included failure to provide certain compulsory information concerning selection criteria, provisions that discriminated against foreign potential operators, delays in providing contract specifications and the fact that the deadline set for the submission of tenders was shorter than the minimum prescribed by Community rules