WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1880/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. Standardization and the information society
Date: 1997-06-02
Institutions: AMADEO, European Parliament
Subjects: European standard, drafting of EU law, information policy, information technology, public contract, technical regulations, telecommunications

25. 2. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 60/61

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(18 June 1997)

The Commission fully appreciates the Honourable Member(cid:146)s concern regarding the final report of the Panel on
bananas published recently.

At this stage all means of redress within the World Trade Organization have not yet been exhausted and the
Commission has notified its intention to appeal.

The Commission is aware how important banana production is for the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries
concerned and is ready to take all steps necessary to abide by its international commitments.

(98/C 60/93)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1880/97

by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission

(2 June 1997)

Subject: Standardization and the information society

In  its  Communication  to  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament  on  (cid:145)Standardization  and  the  global
information society: the European Approach(cid:146) (COM(96) 0359 final), the Commission is right to conclude that,
within the scope of the New Approach directives, recognition of PAS (Publicly Available Specifications) could
only be relevant to the specific aims of the Telecommunications Terminal Equipment Directive, in the area of
public procurement.

Will  the  Commission  therefore  amend  this  directive  to  enable  the  Community  to  take  the  role  of  PAS  into
account when the various directives on public procurement, concerning supplies, labour and public services, are
next revised?

Answer given by Mr Bangemann on behalf of the Commission

(16 July 1997)

The issue of publicly available specifications has various aspects which are currently under examination by the
Commission,  taking  into  consideration  the  opinion  on  the  communication  given  by  the  Parliament  and  the
Economic and social committee, and in the light of discussions within various committees such as those set up
under Directive 83/189/EEC laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical
standards and regulations (1) and under Council Decision 87/95/EEC of 22 December 1986 on standardization in
the field of information technology and telecommunication (2).

In this context, discussions concentrate on the question to what extent the Directives themselves in relation with
Council Decision 87/95/EEC already allow for specifications which do not have status of standard, to be taken
into consideration for purposes of procurement. Other possibilities under examination concern the creation, if
need  be,  of  mechanisms  or  criteria  in  order  to  create  transparency  in  the  selection  of  specifications  publicly
available on the market for use by public authorities.

(1)  OJ L 109, 26.4.1983.
(2)  OJ L 36, 7.2.1987.

(98/C 60/94)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1888/97

by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission

(2 June 1997)

Subject: Community trademark/international registration of marks

With reference to the (cid:145)Proposal for a Council Decision approving the accession of the European Community to
the Protocol relating to the Madrid Agreement concerning the International Registration of Marks, adopted at