WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2591/97 by Hilde HAWLICEK to the Commission. Complaint about fixed book prices in the German- speaking area
Date: 1997-07-29
Institutions: European Parliament, HAWLICEK
Subjects: Austria, Germany, book trade, complaint to the Commission, fixing of prices, frontier region

16. 4. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 117/27

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(7 October 1997)

Council Regulation (EC) No 1292/96 on food-aid policy and food-aid management and special operations in
support of food security (1) states that food aid products must reflect as closely as possible the dietary habits of
the recipient population. The choice of products is therefore determined by need and not by availability.

The products supplied as Community food aid, for which the Commission is responsible, are normally those
requested by the country in question or the organisation through which the aid is routed. Tinned beef is rarely
asked for and over the last two years less than 400 tonnes has been supplied. The Commission was recently asked
to supply tinned beef or pork for use in North Korea but the conclusion from assessments on the spot by both the
World Food Programme (WFP) and the Commission was that these products were not the most appropriate to the
primary  needs  of  this  famine-affected  country.  On  23  May  1997  the  Commission  announced  significant
emergency aid to the people of North Korea. Part of this is some 155 000 tonnes of food aid, to be delivered in
close collaboration with the WFP, mainly in the form of cereal products, and part is a nutritional and public
health programme. The total value of the aid is ECU 55.8 million.

The  Commission  has  no  up-to-date  calculations  showing  that  provision  of  tinned  beef  is  less  costly  than  the
conventional intervention procedure. In any case the supply of products as food aid for the sole reason that they
are in surplus and in intervention storage runs counter to the thinking behind the abovementioned Regulation.

(1)  OJ L 166, 5.7.1996.

(98/C 117/35)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2591/97

by Hilde Hawlicek (PSE) to the Commission

(29 July 1997)

Subject: Complaint about fixed book prices in the German-speaking area

The Austrian chain of bookshops Libro-Diskont has lodged a complaint with the Commission concerning the
fixing of book prices in the German-speaking area.

What is the present state of this procedure, when are decisions likely to be taken, and how is the Commission
taking account of Article 128(4) of the EC Treaty in this connection?

Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission

(1 October 1997)

The Commission is still in the process of examining both the notification of the Austro-German book resale price
maintenance arrangement based on the collective agreement known as the (cid:145)Sammelrevers’ and the complaints
which have been lodged against it. It is unable to say at this stage exactly when further steps will be taken in the
proceedings.

In  the  light  of  Article  128  of  the  EC  Treaty,  the  Council  (Culture  Affairs)  has  requested  the  Commission,
pursuant  to  Article  152  of  the  Treaty (1),  to  examine  the  significance  of  Article  128(4)  for  the  application  of
Treaty  articles  relating  to  cross-border  resale  price  maintenance  systems  and,  if  necessary,  to  indicate  what
changes  are  needed  if  such  book  resale  price  maintenance  agreements  are  to  remain  in  force  in  individual
language areas. The Commission is currently examining this matter as well, in accordance with the Council’s
request. At the moment it is unable to say precisely when this investigation will be concluded.

(1)  OJ C 305, 7.10.1997.