WRITTEN QUESTION P-1748/99

by Wolfgang Kreissl-Dörfler (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(30 September 1999)

Subject: Understanding with respect to disciplines for the strengthening of investment protection of 18 May 1998 between the EU and the USA

On 8 January 1999, Benjamin A. Gilman, Chairman of the US House of Representatives' Committee on International Relations, sent a questionnaire to Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan, in which Mr Gilman requested the trade commissioner, with regard to the granting of the waiver under paragraph II.4 of the Understanding, to clarify certain ambiguous formulations.

1. Has the Commission answered the above questionnaire and, if so, is it prepared to make it available immediately to the members of the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy (INDU)? Irrespective of whether the questionnaire has been answered, can the Commission give a brief summary of the progress made in this matter between EU and US institutions?

2. Has the Understanding entered into legal force and, if so, on what legal basis and/or by what authority? Have the national parliaments expressed their views on the Understanding?

3. Has the US Congress granted the waiver in respect of Titles III and IV of the Helms-Burton Act and, if so, for how long? What commitments has the Commission entered into in return?

4. What implications does the Understanding have for any prospective accession of Cuba to a post-Lomé Convention? What effects will it have within the European Union?

5. Does the Understanding imply that the Commission accepts US extraterritorial legislation if European firms are not affected thereby?

6. What is the new Prodi Commission's position on the problematic issue of extraterritorial legislation?

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(21 October 1999)

The former member of the Commission in charge of trade replied by letter of 4 June 1999 to Mr Gilman's letter. A copy of this letter has been sent, at their request, to the members of the committee on industry, external trade, research and energy.

Since the understanding on, inter alia, the Helms-Burton Act, reached with the United States on 18 May 1998 at the Community and United States Summit in London, the Commission has consistently pressed the American Administration on the question of the waiver to Title IV of the Helms-Burton Act which is the prime condition for the entry into force of the understanding. The Commission remains very concerned that no tangible progress has so far been made on this, without which the Community cannot of course deliver its side of the bargain.

The understanding is of a political nature and does not in any way give validity to the illegal provisions of the Helms-Burton Act. On 25 May 1998, the General Affairs Council took note of the decisions and statements made at the 18 May Community and United States summit. As far as the Commission knows, no national parliament has expressed any opinion on the understandings.

Accession to the Lomé Convention is a matter of negotiation between the applicant country and the other members of the Lomé Convention. The Community supports Cuba's request to join the Lomé Convention negotiations as an observer, without prejudice to any future decision on Cuban membership.

As is made clear in the Commission's reply to Mr Gilman, the Commission is opposed both in law and in principle to the imposition of secondary boycotts and legislation with extraterritorial effect and retroactivity. The understandings do not alter the Commission's conviction that the Helms-Burton Act is contrary to international law and World trade organisation rules. This remains the Commission's position.