WRITTEN QUESTION E-0286/00 by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission. Difficulties affecting the Rome newspaper Il Tempo.
C 280 E/206 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 3. 10. 2000 Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission (20 March 2000) The collections of postage stamps that post offices may currently have in stock form part of their assets. Should a Member State decide to privatise its public postal service, it must also determine, as for its other assets, what happens to these collections, taking into account the market for them. As the Commission is responsible neither for determining ownership arrangements in Member States nor it cannot intervene regarding what is done with these stamp for organising how stamps are issued, collections when such a change of status occurs. (2000/C 280 E/243) WRITTEN QUESTION P-0283/00 by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission (3 February 2000) Subject: CITES ü Listing of basking sharks The UK Government has proposed that Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. the basking shark should be listed in Appendix II of the 1. Will the Commission list other Member States which have indicated to date that they also support the listing of the basking shark? 2. Will the Commission indicate whether it intends to support such a listing at the next Conference of the Parties in April 2000? Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission (25 February 2000) There are good scientific arguments for supporting the proposal to list the basking shark in Appendix II of Convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora (CITES). However, the Commission itself has yet to adopt a formal position on this point. Member States will in due course determine the Communityís common position on the basis of a proposal from the Commission for the CITES conference of the parties. indicate their views in the Council, which will (2000/C 280 E/244) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0286/00 by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission (11 February 2000) Subject: Difficulties affecting the Rome newspaper Il Tempo The difficulties of Il Tempo, a well-known Rome newspaper which has not been on the news-stands for several days, have recently been causing quite a stir. The controversy has arisen because the publisher is continuing to take a hard line with those who are calling for negotiations, also involving the trade unions, in an attempt to resolve the problem of the jobs being jeopardised by the publisherís restructuring policy. The publisher, however, apparently does not intend to abide by union agreements or the employment contracts drawn up by the journalistsí and printersí professional representatives. In addition, the proprietor- ship situation is shrouded in mystery because the sum paid by the present publisher, Bonifaci, for the Società Editrice Romana seems to have consisted largely of money belonging to the Società Editrice Romana, in other words the company whose shares were the subject of the deal. 3. 10. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 280 E/207 In the light of the foregoing, does the Commission not believe that it should: 1. 2. intervene in order to ascertain that the sale of the Società Editrice Romana was lawful and has not damaged free competition; call on the Italian authorities to take steps to protect a leading daily and freedom of expression, which is possibly being endangered by Bonifaciís strategies; 3. express a general view on the matter? Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission (20 March 2000) The Commission thanks the Honourable Member for sharing her concerns regarding the current situation of the Il Tempo newspaper. However, the matters referred to in the question do not have any cross-border dimension liable to come under the principles of freedom of movement or the rules on competition within the internal market. This being the case, the Commission cannot comment on the matter. (2000/C 280 E/245) WRITTEN QUESTION P-0305/00 by Jens-Peter Bonde (EDD) to the Commission (4 February 2000) Subject: Social benefits Will the Commission say whether the Danish practice of allocating old-age pensions and government education grants on the basis of citizenship is consistent with EU law? Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission (28 February 2000) Each Member State is responsible for its own social security system and decides which benefits shall be provided, the conditions for eligibility and the value of these benefits. There are, however, Community provisions for the co-ordination of these systems in Council Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 of 14 June 1971 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons and their families moving within the Community (1) and Council Regulation (EEC) No 574/72 of 21 March 1972 fixing the procedure for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 (2) in order to ensure that employed persons, self-employed persons and members of their families do not lose their social security protection when moving within the Community and also to ensure that the basic principles of equality of treatment and non-discrimination are respected (3). According to Article 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71, people resident in the territory of one Member State shall be subject to the same obligations and enjoy the same benefits under the legislation of any Member State as the nationals of that State. Should nationals of other Member States not be granted the peopleís pension under Danish legislation on an equal footing with Danish nationals this would constitute a breach of Community law. The Honourable Member refers also to education grants. In this respect, the principle of áequality of treatmentí means that the university or college where a citizen of the Union wishes to study must accept students under the same conditions as nationals. Therefore, if a grant is paid to nationals of the Member