# CE2004070EN.01017801.xml

| 20.3.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | CE 70/178 |
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20.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 70/178

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(2004/C 70 E/186)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2958/03

by Armando Cossutta (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(8 October 2003)

Subject:   Price rises in the eurozone countries

Subject:

On 16 September 2003, a consumer boycott was held in Italy in protest against the continual and uncontrolled rise in consumer prices. The Italian consumers' association Adiconsum estimates that the average household has lost EUR 1 000 in purchasing power in 2003. The average inflation rate in the eurozone is 2,1 %, with the highest rate (3,9 %) in Ireland. The rates for Italy, Greece and Portugal have risen to 2,9 %, 3,5 % and 3,7 % respectively.

Italy's inflation rate has returned to the level of last January, and the general trend clearly implies a constant rise in consumer prices.

| 1. | What detailed information does the Commission intend to provide on the plans for action on the matter of the governments concerned, especially the Italian government? |
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1.

What detailed information does the Commission intend to provide on the plans for action on the matter of the governments concerned, especially the Italian government?

| 2. | What action will the Commission take, as a matter of urgency, to protect consumers' purchasing power? |
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2.

What action will the Commission take, as a matter of urgency, to protect consumers' purchasing power?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(14 November 2003)

(14 November 2003)

The Commission would like to point out that the responsibility for price stability in the euro area as a whole lies with the European Central Bank and that, as the single monetary policy is not in a position to address country-specific inflation developments, it is up to the Member States concerned to address national inflation developments that are deemed to be unwarranted.

The latest data available for the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) shows that consumer prices have risen by 2,1 % for the euro area as a whole between September 2002 and September 2003, 3,8 % for Ireland, 3,3 % for Greece (August to August), 3,2 % for Portugal, 3,0 % for Spain and 3,0 % for Italy. These are the five Member States with the highest annual rates.

The Commission draws the attention of the Honourable Member to the section on the euro area in the 2003-2005 Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (BEPG) adopted by the Council in June 2003. In that section, it is recognised that inflation differences in a monetary union are a matter of fact and that the inflation differences observed between euro area Member States largely reflect differences in economic structures and growth performance. The BEPG recommends policy actors at the national level to ‘analyse the causes of inflation differences to identify instances when they are undesirable, with a view to Member States addressing them through using the levers available to them’. As usual, the Commission will continue to closely monitor the macroeconomic situation in all the Member States and report on the implementation of the BEPG.

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