WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2664/98 by Ilona GRAENITZ to the Commission. Ecological energy tax
29. 4. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 118/115 2. At present the use of languages remains subject to Regulation No l of 1958, as amended following successive accessions. The rules can be amended in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 217 of the EC Treaty. In the preparation of its Agenda 2000 proposals the Commission implicitly assumed that the languages of the applicant countries would be included in the language rules. A training plan was established to meet new translation requirements. In the case of interpretation, the Commission is convinced of the feasibility of an enlarged interpretation service, in particular by using modular booths combined with asymmetric interpreting, by providing adequate and intensive training and by targeted recruitment. In this context, the reorganisation of the Joint Interpreting and Conference Service that began in the second half of 1996 has enabled interpreting to be provided from an additional 500 passive languages for the same cost; interpretation of the future new Community languages will be provided at minimum cost within five years. The Commission is accordingly making a special effort to train interpreters in the languages of Central and Eastern Europe. 3. The negotiating languages used by the WTO are English, French and Spanish. The position with regard to the languages used in accession negotiations with Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia is as follows. Negotiations started with an analysis of the Community acquis. It involved negotiations chapter by chapter. At meetings, the applicant countries could use their own language. In this case, interpretation was provided into English, French and German. When a negotiated chapter was reviewed, the applicant countries presented their formal negotiating positions. So far these documents have always been drafted in English. (1999/C 118/142) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2664/98 by Ilona Graenitz (PSE) to the Commission (1 September 1998) Subject: Ecological energy tax On 5 June 1998 the Swiss Parliament adopted an energy tax featuring a system for utilization of the proceeds to promote renewable energies. What scope does the Commission see for such an energy tax in the current debate on a future adaptation and ecological overhaul of the taxation system of the Member States? Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (2 October 1998) The Commission would refer the Honourable Member to the proposal it made in 1997 for a Council directive restructuring the Community framework for the taxation of energy products (1). This proposal would extend the current harmonised system of excise duty to cover all fuels, whilst allowing Member States to exempt renewable sources of energy from taxation. There is no legal basis in the Treaty for requiring the Member States to use the resulting revenues for any particular purpose, although the Commission is encouraging Member States to use the revenues to reduce the statutory charges on labour, thereby assisting employment. The Council and the Parliament are examining the Commissionís proposal. (1) OJ C 139, 6. 4. 1997