12. Services of general interest in Europe
A5-0361/2001
European Parliament resolution on the Commission communication ‘Services of General Interest
in Europe’ (COM(2000) 580 Ndash C5-0399/2001 Ndash 2001/2157(COS))
The European Parliament,
4dash having regard to the Commissioncommunication (COM(2000)580 4dash C5-0399/2001),
4dash having regard toArticle36ofthe European Union’sCharter ofFundamentalRights concerning access
to services of general economic interest,
4dash having regard to Articles2, 5, 16, 73, 81(3), 86, 87, 88 and 295 of the EC Treaty,4dash having regard to its previous resolutions on general interest services, in particular its resolution of
17December 1997(
1) on the communication from the Commission on services of general interest
in Europe (COM(1996)443 4dash C4-0507/96) and its resolution of 18 May 2000 on the draft directiveamending Commission Directive 80/723/EEC on the transparency of financial relations betweenMember States and public undertakings(
2) (SEC(1999)404 4dash C5-0102/2000 4dash 2000/2065(COS)),
4dash having regard to the conclusions of the Nice European Council concerning general interest services
and the statement of 11December 2000 on general interest services,
4dash having regard tothehearing onthissubjectconductedbythe CommitteeonEconomicandMonetary
Affairs on 6March 2001,
4dash having regard to Rule 47(1) of its Rules of Procedure,
4dash having regard tothe report ofthe CommitteeonEconomicandMonetary Affairs andthe opinionsof
the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport, the Committee on Employmentand Social Affairs and of the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy (A5-0361/2001),
A. whereas general interest services are to be seen as part of the European Social Model,
B. whereas the policy of liberalising various services of general interest may have both positive and
negative effects on members of the public/users, and whereas therefore this policy requires a precise
and comparative evaluation of the quality of the services provided before embarking upon furtherliberalisation,
C. whereas, under Article16 of the EC Treaty, general interest services in Europe occupy an important
place in the Community and play an essential role in promoting social and territorial cohesion,
D. whereas, pursuant to Article36 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the
Union recognises and respects access to services of general economic interest as provided for innational laws and practices, in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community, inorder to promote the social and territorial cohesion of the Union,
E. whereas, having regard to the principle of subsidiarity, pursuant to Article5(2) of the EC Treaty, it
will, in certain conditions strictly laid down by Community provisions, be for the Member States andtheir local authorities to decide which services are of general economic interest and the appropriatemethod of management,
F. whereas the development of the single market has led to more intense competition between public
and private undertakings, and it is therefore important and right for competition rules to be appliedfairly and effectively,
(1) OJ C 14, 19.1.1998, p. 74.
(2) OJ C 59, 23.2.2001, p. 238.13.6.2002 EN C140E/153 Official Journal of the European Communities
Tuesday 13 November 2001
G. whereas the judgments of the Court of Justice in the cases of Corbeau of 9May 1993 and the
municipalityofAlmeloof17April1994statetheconditionssubjecttowhich certainexclusive rightsassigned to a service of general interest may be exempted from competition rules,
H. whereas, pursuant to Article295 of the EC Treaty, the EU must be neutral with regard to systems of
property ownership,
I. whereas public undertakings and undertakings which have been granted special or exclusive rights,
pursuant to Article86(1) of the EC Treaty, or entrusted with services of general economic interest,pursuant to Article86(2) of the EC Treaty, are an important economic factor in the Community andthe Member States,
J. whereas the introduction of the European single currency and increasing globalisation will mean in
future that competition law in the EU must be applied uniformly to prevent or remove cross-borderdistortions of competition,
K. whereas definingandstructuringgeneral interestservices remainsinprinciple theresponsibilityofthe
appropriatelevelofauthoritywhileatthesametimecomplyingwiththelawonstateaidappliedonauniform basis, guaranteed through verification by the Commissionunder the supervision ofthe Euro-pean Court of Justice,
L. whereas development of general interest services on the basis of the social market economy model
must be a key element of European economic, financial and social policy,
M. whereas compliance with the provision of services of general interest in the countries applying for
accession, and the process of their development, is an important aspect that must be taken into con-sideration in the course of accession negotiations,
N. whereas compliance with the specific situation in rural areas (socially disadvantaged regions, remote
locations, etc) must be given special consideration,
I. The concept of general interest services in the EU
1. Notes the Commission’s communication on general interest services and agrees with the statement
thereinthatwhat‘istoberegardedasaserviceofgeneralinterestandhowitshouldbeoperatedareissuesthat are first and foremost decided locally’; notes also that European citizens should receive high-qualityservices at affordable prices and, where justified by the social situation, free of charge;
2. Calls on the Commission to perform without delay a precise and comparative evaluation of the real
impact ofthe policy ofliberalisationofservices ofgeneral interest before embarking upon further liberali-sation;
3. Approves the option chosen by the Commission, which regards the Cardiff process as a framework
forregular evaluation ofthe functioning ofservices ofgeneral economic interest within the single market;
4. Points out that services of general economic interest must ensure equality of access, security of
supply, continuity, high quality and democratic accountability;
5. Supports the common aim of the Heads of State and Government and the Commission to ensure
that the application of competition law in connection with general interest services results in greaterpredictability and increased legal certainty;
6. Calls on the Laeken European Council to support vis-à-vis the Commissionits proposal for a frame-
work directive on the objectives and organisational arrangements of services of general interest based onArticle95oftheECTreaty; thisdirective shouldcreate alegalframeworkwhichguarantees theavailabilityof services of general interest to the public, particularly pursuant to Article16 of the EC Treaty;C140E/154 EN13.6.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Tuesday 13 November 2001
7. Expects, therefore, the Commission to define in the framework directive the common principles on
which services of general interest are based at an appropriate tier ofsubsidiarity, to specify and define thecommonprinciples ofdemocratic andtransparent regulation, toensure active involvement ofcitizens andusers in the process of definition, evaluation and contract appraisal and to institutionalise a commonpluralist appraisal procedure;
8. Calls on the Commission to ensure consistency between the principles set out in its framework
directive and the provisions governing specific industries already adopted;
9. Notes that, after an initial phase of implementing the internal market, by opening up national net-
works to competition, a phase which has not yet been completed, the Union is now entering a secondphase in which the expansion of cross-border trade and the emergence of pan-European operators andnetworks makes it necessary to define powers and responsibilities at European Union level for services ofgeneral interest;
10. Is aware that the Lisbon European Council set the EU the goal of becoming the world’s most
dynamic economic area and notes that this presupposes rewarding all economic operators for innovation
and ideas;
11. Pointsoutthat effective state controlover subsidies, provided that it is tailored tothe requirements
and characteristics of services of general interest, is reasonable and necessary;
12. Notes that the European Union is entitled to control abusive practices only to determine whether
there is a serious breach of fair competition, which is guaranteed to Union citizens, throughout EUterritory with a cross-border impact at the same time;
13. Stresses the importance of non-profit organisations, as organisations springing from civil society
(working with volunteers, non-commercial, form of organisation which is responsive to citizens, noowners), as a third pillar in addition to the market and the State, and points to their importance forcitizens’ ability to organise self-help;
14. Emphasisesfurtherthatthedecisivefactorisnotwhoperformsthegeneralinterestservicesbutthat
quality is improved, accountability, affordability and sustainable development are maintained, and effi-ciency, security of provision and continuity are used as criteria for the award of contracts; welcomes theCommission’s announcement that it will not lay down any preconditions as to whether general interestservices are to be provided by public or private undertakings;
15. Notes that the European Treaties serve both aims, as they commit both the EU and the Member
States to a policy of fair competition, and they also emphasise the need to guarantee access to generalinterest services;
16. Notes that general interest services in general should be taken to mean services that are important
for people’s daily lives, including therefore transport, postal services, telecommunications, education, hos-pitals, social services, drains, refuse collection and water and energy supply, particularly electricity;
17. Assumes that the Commission’s competition policy will comply with Article151 of the EC Treaty,
andthattheEuropeanUnionwilldoitsutmosttomakeallowancefortheculturalinterestsoftheMember
States andtake the particularities ofthe cultural sector, anditsdiversity, intoaccount, with due regard forthe principle of subsidiarity;
18. Points out that, pursuant to Article16 of the EC Treaty, the Community and the Member States
have an obligation to define the tasksof services of general economic interest as well as the way they arecarried out, and therefore must impose obligations to provide certain services on the service providers,
whether public or private, on terms enabling them to carry out their tasks;
19. Stresses the importance of reliable conditions for the provision of general interest services
(high quality, wide availability, optimum price, social balance and lasting security of provision);
20. Emphasises that a good many general interest services can be provided on the basis of fair com-
petition,andstressesthatprivate andpublicundertakingsmust,asamatterofprinciple, betreatedequallyin that connection;13.6.2002 EN C140E/155 Official Journal of the European Communities
Tuesday 13 November 2001
21. Considers that the co-responsibility of private and public operators for services of general interest
will also have to be clarified within the framework of work on the social responsibility of businesses,which is on the European social agenda agreed at Nice;
22. Notes that general interest services can be provided most beneficially for the citizens if they are
publicly and clearly defined and there are economic-efficiency criteria to be complied with; considers that
where these services involve economic activities, as many providers as possible must, as a matter of prin-ciple,begiventheopportunitytocarryoutthesetaskscompetitivelythroughapublicinvitationtotender;
23. NotesthatifthepublicauthoritiesintheMemberStatesimposeserviceobligationsonundertakings
and grant financial compensation from public funds for imposing these obligations, this does not consti-tuteaid,aslongasthecompensationdoesnotgobeyondwhatisneededtoevenouttheburdenimposedby the public authorities;
24. Welcomes the fact that the Commission advocates a very comprehensive range of general interest
services andin achieving thisaim recognises the principle ofsubsidiarity andthe Member States’freedom,subject to certain conditions, to define and control general interest services;
25. Pointsoutthatlocalauthoritiesmustremainfreetochoosethemethodofmanagingtheservicesof
general interest for which they are responsible pursuant to the provisions of their respective MemberStates, and that such discretion includes the right to use direct management or to delegate the manage-mentofthoseservices; stresses,however, thatwhere alocalauthority decides todelegate the managementof the services of general interest for which it is responsible, it must be required to use systematic com-petitive tendering, in accordance with Community law; stresses also that the entities which manage ser-vices of general interest under a direct management arrangement should not be in a position to take overexternal markets, outside their territorial area of activity, but this must not prevent inter-communality;
26. Welcomes the Commission’sstatement that services of general economic, social and regional inter-
est should be provided in the EU even when the market does not provide sufficient incentives;
27. Shares the Commission’s view that to fulfil public service obligations, special or exclusive rights
may be granted without infringing competition law, and special funding mechanisms for the additionalobligations may be devised;
28. Agrees with the Commission that so-called ‘non-economic activities’, mainly prerogatives of the
State and its local authorities, such as internal and external security, the administration of justice and theconduct of foreign relations, are not subject to EU competition rules;
29. Supports the Commission in its view that services in connection with national education, public
healthandcompulsorybasicsocialsecurityschemes,activitiesthatareamatterofgovernment,suchasair
trafficcontrolauthoritiesorbodiesresponsibleforpreventingpollutionatsea,andthoseprovidedbynon-profit organisations, in particular social, charitable and cultural institutions, should be excluded from theapplication of competition and internal market rules;
30. Emphasises that apart from the issue of competitive neutrality in the provision of general interest
services, important aspects of the provision of these services must be, in particular, whether they areeconomically, socially and environmentally beneficial for citizens, users and tax-payers, their quality,financing 4dash including the transparency thereof 4dash reliability and monitoring;
31. Assumesthatinfurther consultationstheCommissionwilluseexamples,guidelines, andcommuni-
cations, together with proposals for regulations on exemptions, to provide further clarification of thecontroversial questions with regard to legal clarity and the areas of application of European competitionlaw;C140E/156 EN13.6.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Tuesday 13 November 2001
32. Considers that, within the framework of the WTO negotiations, the Commission should seek cla-
rification of certain provisions of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) in order to make itclearthatWTOrulesdonotaffecttherightofMemberStatestoregulateservicesofgeneralinterestandtoadopt measures in this field;
II. Need for action at European level
33. Endorses the Commission’s views with regard to the principles of neutrality, freedom of definition
and proportionality and emphasises that by virtue thereof the Member States are free to determine thetasks and management of general interest services and that it is the Commission’s task to ensure that therules on the single market and competition are observed;
34. SupportstheNiceEuropeanCouncil’scallsfortherulesonthesinglemarketandcompetitiontobe
applied insuch away thatgeneral interest services are able tocarry outtheir taskseconomicallyandwithlegal certainty;
35. Considers it necessary, in view of the successes and problems to date in liberalising important
service areas under the single market programme, to perform a better assessment of the impact on socialand regional cohesion before deciding whether it would be appropriate to proceed further with the lib-eralisation which has been introduced in the areas of transport, electricity, gas and postal services;
36. Takes the view that progressive liberalisation of services sectors in the European Union must go
hand in hand with maintenance of universal service;
37. Notes that public and private undertakings should always be given equivalent access to the provi-
sion of services of general interest where that is not specifically excluded by Member State regulations;stressestheimportanceofcompetitionandeconomic-efficiency testing,particularly bywayofbenchmark-ing, for optimum service provision;
38. Pointsoutthatrespect forthechoice ofandcriteria applyingtoservices ofgeneral interestrequires
moredemocratic governance, i.e. legislationadoptedunderthe codecisionprocedure, appliedbytheCom-mission subject to scrutiny by the European Parliament;
39. Stresses, in the context of the subsidiarity principle, that Member States, regional and local auth-
orities are free to define and choose the service provision they want;
40. Calls on the Commission, to ensure greater legal clarity, to make clear in which cases intra 4dash
Community trade is not affected (local application) and to improve the transparency of the decision-mak-ingprocessthroughagraduatedexaminationprocess,andcallsontheCommissiontodecidemorerapidly
on standard cases and simple complaints in the interests of transparency and greater legal certainty;
41. Welcomes warmly the fact that the Commission in recent months has issued regulations clarifying
and further developing its former guidelines and has thus clarified the situation with regard to aid forSMEs, the ‘de minimis’ rule and aid for training and environmental protection, and emphasises that aidsto private and public undertakings are admissible only under strict conditions;
42. Calls on the Commission to clarify how a distinction is to be made between economic and non-
economic activities and what is meant by ‘transparency monitoring’ in conceptual terms in relation to‘proportionality testing’ in operational terms; stresses that the competition rules do not in any circum-stances apply to non-economic activities;
43. Hopes that the Commission will coordinate a regular and pluralist evaluation of the way in which
the tasks of general interest service provision are fulfilled, particularly with regard to the contribution tothe social and territorial cohesion of the Union, quality of services, accessibility on a equal footing and abalanced and transparent pricing system;
44. Considers it vital to devise pluralist assessment procedures involving all parties; suggests that the
European Parliament should organise the debate within the various existing forums (Economic and SocialCommittee, Committee of the Regions, consultative bodies, associations involved in services of generalinterest initiatives and consumer associations); calls for this process to result in consultation before anydecisions are taken;13.6.2002 EN C140E/157 Official Journal of the European Communities
Tuesday 13 November 2001
45. Asks the Commissionto produce a report assessing the present state and the requirements of SGIs
in the candidate countries;
II. Need for action at Member State level
46. Considers that the Member States and their subsidiary levels (regions, provinces and local auth-
orities) shouldin future have greater freedom todraw up their own definitions of general interest serviceswithin the terms of the EU competition rules;
47. Affirms the EU’s competence in relation to competition policy, which, in view of the challenges of
the single currency, the European single market, globalisation of the economy and technological devel-opment has assumed all the greater importance, but considers necessary a broad political debate on thelimits of competition policy when it collides with other core policy areas of the EU or on national,regional or local level;
48. Takes the view that it is necessary for the Commission to exercise supplementary control over
abuses;
49. Takes the view that in a parliamentary democracy the structures and a cost/benefit analysis of
modes of service provision must be presented transparently and clearly to citizens and taxpayers togetherwith competitive alternatives, including the long-term implications for the quality of life of citizens;
50. Takes the view that there is a fundamental problem with generalised subsidies to all providers of
services in the general interest, as this prevents the services provided from being presented correctly, inline with demand and need;
51. Considers therefore that it is legally possible and politically sensible that the additional cost of
services which are to be offered to the public on particularly favourable terms can be offset if necessaryfrom tax revenue but that the transparency of such financing must be guaranteed;
52. Considers that the EU transparency directive which was adopted in 2000 and is soon to be imple-
mentedistheappropriateinstrumenttoassistpublicunderstandingoftheproblemofgeneralisedsubsidies
in undertakings which perform services in the free market as well as in the public service and thus tocreate more clarity and honesty with regard to the use of tax revenues and other aid;
53. Endorses the Commission’s position to the extent that awarding contracts to private-sector third
parties even in areas of enterprise which have not yet been liberalised is subject to the principle of aninvitation to tender being issued beforehand by the public sector;
54. Takes the view that wherever services of general interest can be provided competitively, access
should always be open to public and private undertakings on equal terms; draws attention in that con-nection to the local-economy subsidiarity principle;
55. Considersit basically incompatible with the principle ofcompetitive neutrality forpublic undertak-
ings to be exempted from turnover tax in areas where both private and public undertakings operate, e.g.the supply of water, gas, electricity, thermal energy or refuse disposal, and takes the view that unilateralpreferential taxtreatmentofpublicundertakingsisnotcompatiblewithEUlawandthereforethereshouldbe a principle that public and private undertakings are treated equally with regard to tax legislation;
56. Recalls that in line with the Copenhagen criteria the candidate countries too may not deliberately
favour their industries and shouldtake advantage of the transitional provisions toreform the statusof theenterprises concerned, reconstruct efficient andfair services ofgeneral interest anddevelop the capacity towithstand the general pressure of competition;
57. Stresses that the basic obligation on the public authorities to issue fair and correct invitations to
tenderpursuanttoEuropeanandMemberStates’lawscanbeaneffectiveinstrumenttopreventdistortionsof competition, at the same time allowing the state to define and monitor conditions with regard toquality, availability and environmental compatibility;C140E/158 EN13.6.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Tuesday 13 November 2001
58. Takes the view that the abolition of state monopolies should not lead to the establishment of
private monopolies;
59. Takes the view that with regard to the right to define general interest services, both the Member
Statesandsubsidiarylevelsmusthavesufficientrightsofdemocraticparticipationandpowerstoensurean
optimum supplyforthe public even in competitive circumstances, in particular with regard todescriptionof services, procedure for invitations to tender and control of service provision;
IV. With regard to particular sectoral cases
60. Stresses that the EU’s internal market policy has basically led to better quality, lower prices and
better availability at a high level of technology, as is demonstrablythe case, for example, in telecommuni-cations;
61. Regrets that the Commission and the Member States were incapable of anticipating and managing
the award of UMTS licences as a service of general interest;
62. Notesthat the Commissionhas clearly setoutin itsproposalforadirective amending the directive
on the internal market in electricity and gas that the Member States have complete legal freedom todetermine importantservices in the general interest andthat this includes, forexample, protecting sociallyweaker customers from unjustifiable exclusion from provision, transparency of contract conditions forconsumers, reasonably-priced and transparent settlement mechanisms, supply to remote areas at reason-ablepricestopromotesocialandterritorialcohesion,regardforenvironmentalprotectionandmaintainingand developing infrastructure;
63. Callsforthe Member Statestobe obliged touse the transparentaward procedure laid downby the
Commissionfornew provision capacities, when thisneed developsas a resultofsupply anddemandwitha view to guaranteeing security of supply;
64. Calls on the Commission to submit expert opinions and proposals with regard to waste manage-
ment to ensure that waste is disposed of safely and recycled ecologically even without obligations for
tendering and permits by establishing a market economy framework;
65. Callsonthe Member Statestoconsider, in conjunctionwith localandregional authorities, whether
the opening up of water supply and waste-water services to private enterprise would contribute to animprovement in the functioning of these services;
66. Takes the view that benchmarking, economic-efficiency testing, cooperation and efficiently struc-
tured undertakings should also be sought in water management, and that a good many specific measuresproviding limited openings to the market short of full liberalisation will impact favourably on security ofsupply, price structures and the protection of ground water and the environment;
67. Takestheviewthatdespitethespecialcircumstances,watersupplyandwaste-waterservicesneedto
be operated on the basis of economic criteria, and calls on the Member States to stimulate this and toinvestigate 4dash where applicable 4dash whether the privatisations carried out so far have contributed toadequate improvements in the functioning of the water services concerned;
68. Stresses the need for public banks which contribute to the provision of services of general interest
bymakingaccountsavailabletoall,providingacomprehensiverangeoffinancialservicestothecommun-ity, facilitating loans for small businesses and promoting a wide range of other public-spirited activities;
69. Takes the view that the transparency directive must be implemented in the area of public banksas
well, so that the public obligation and actual costs of carrying out this public obligation can be moreclearly delimited,assessedfromthe pointofview ofcompetitionandif necessary financially compensated;13.6.2002 EN C140E/159 Official Journal of the European Communities
Tuesday 13 November 2001
70. Takes the view that the Commissioncommunication on services of general interest in Europe does
not give sufficient recognition to the significance of independent welfare associations and independentagencies which offer a range of services in some Member States on the basis of solidarity, ethics, religion,charity or cultural diversity;
71. Therefore stresses the need to grant a block exemption for social and cultural facilities which are
important for the community to allow citizens in future to take advantage of such facilities under specialconditions and at competitive prices, and thus it must be permissible also for public funding to be pro-vided openly and transparently for that purpose so long as competition is not massively distorted;
72. Calls for non-commercial activities, e.g. of a social, cultural or charitable nature, like sovereign
activities in general to be exempted from control of subsidies and in principle from the application ofEU competition law and for relevant guidelines to be developed;
73. Considers that a list of criteria should be drawn up with regard to the Commission’sdefinitions of
economic and non-economic activities, when decisions must be made in doubtful cases;
74. Takes the view that public broadcasting institutions under the public service obligations are not
covered by the European Treaties’ competition rules;
75. Considersthat,inthecontextofservicesinthegeneralinterest,aspecificapproachshouldbetaken
to audiovisual services 4dash irrespective of the type of audiovisual broadcast, whether public service televi-sion, private television, video streaming, etc. 4dash and culture in order to achieve objectives such as theprotection of fundamental rights and democratic principles, pluralism, access for all to culture and tech-
nological progress, the right of reply, cultural and linguistic diversity and the protection of users and, in
particular, of minors;
76. LooksfavourablyontheconclusionsoftheLilleColloquyof19/20 July2000onthepublicservice
function of broadcasting, and calls on the Commission to cooperate with the Member States with a viewto considering possible ways of applying the principles of Protocol32 to the Treaty of Amsterdam;
77. Confirms that within a Community framework to regulate services of general interest and ensure
their capacity to achieve their objectives, the Member States have a duty, in accordance with the above-mentioned Protocol, to define the tasks of public service broadcasting organisations and to specify theirfinancial structure;
78. Calls on the Commission, the Council and the Member States to create legal certainty for public
service broadcasting and the cultural industries in the implementation of the right of competition;
79. Callson the Commission,the Council and the Member States tocoordinate their effortsto guaran-
tee users and operators of audiovisual services and the media, by means of a clear and predictable regula-tory framework, fair and non-discriminatory access to infrastructures and contents;
80. Affirms the need, in connection with media markets and audiovisual content, for an objective
definition of a dominant position which takes account of the rapid development of these markets and ofthe accompanying dangers of denying access;
81. Stresses the need to maintain services of general interest, even where providers are operating in a
liberalised market on the basis of general authorisations rather than individual licences alone;
82. Considers that the assessment of general interest in the field of audiovisual and cultural content
should be subject, at European level, to a high-level, thorough and regular political debate;
83. Stresses that opening the markets in former state monopolyareas, which is favoured by all the EU
institutions including the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament, should in principle sat-isfy the model of fair and socially-responsible competition which serves the interests of citizens and takesaccount of their changing needs;C140E/160 EN13.6.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Tuesday 13 November 2001
84. Isconvinced thatthe modelofthe socialmarket economyis the European modelofthe future and
the most likely to prove itself strong and sustainable in international competition;
85. Takes the view that an amendment of Article16 of the Treaty is not necessary to achieve greater
legal certainty and clarity in the area of general interest service provision and in this connection endorses
the conclusion of the Nice summit that the area of general interest services should not be closely defined;
stresses that in such a dynamic area as general interest services, over-regulation would result in robbingoperators of opportunities and development possibilities which would primarily benefit citizens and tax-payers;
*
**
86. InstructsitsPresidenttoforwardthisresolutiontothe Council,the Commission,the Economicand
Social Committee and the parliaments of the Member States.13.6.2002 EN C140E/161 Official Journal of the European Communities
Tuesday 13 November 2001