WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3034/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. SLIM: a Pilot Project
Date: 1997-10-01
Institutions: AMADEO, European Parliament
Subjects: EC Directive, EU control, EU law - national law, application of EU law, national implementing measure, single market

C 134/62

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

30. 4. 98

The intergovernmental conference, after examining this possibility, agreed to add, in the Amsterdam Treaty, a
paragraph  1  to  Article  F  of  the  Treaty  on  European  Union  stipulating  that  the  Union  was  founded  on  the
principles  of  freedom,  democracy,  respect  for  human  rights  and  fundamental  freedoms  and  the  rule  of  law,
principles which were common to the Member States. This Article comes on top of paragraph 2 of Article F of
the Treaty on European Union, under which the Union (cid:145)shall respect fundamental rights, as guaranteed by the
European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ...(cid:146).

Moreover, a new Article F.1 was inserted into the Treaty on European Union and a new Article 236 into the EC
Treaty  on  the  measures  to  be  taken  if  a  Member  State  is  in  breach  of  the  principles  on  which  the  Union  is
founded.

Under the new Article 6a, the Council can take any necessary measures to combat discrimination based on sex,
race or ethnic origin, religion or convictions, a handicap, age or sexual orientation.

(98/C 134/77)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3034/97

by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission

(1 October 1997)

Subject: SLIM: a Pilot Project

With  reference  to  the  Commission  Communication  to  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament  ›  Simpler
legislation for the internal market (SLIM): a pilot project (COM(96) 0204 final), will the Commission adopt an
incisive  and  vigorous  approach  to  monitoring  the  Member  States(cid:146)  transposal  and  application  of  Community
legislation with the specific aim of preventing the cohesion of the Community market from being undermined,
either by an inadequate level of transposal into national legislation, or by other factors?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(17 November 1997)

The proper enforcement of common rules across the entire single market is the major priority of the Commission,
as set out in Chapter 5.1 of its communication to the Parliament and the Council on the impact and effectiveness
of the single market (1). The simplification of Community directives was also highlighted as an area for priority
action.

The Commission followed up its report on the single market by means of an action plan for the single market (2)
which was endorsed by the European Council.

The  first  of  four  strategic  objectives  contained  in  the  Commission(cid:146)s  action  plan  is  (cid:145)Making  the  rules  more
effective(cid:146). It contains five actions to put agreed single market legislation into force, establish a framework for
enforcement  and  problem-solving,  provide  better  access  for  business  to  the  right  information,  simplify  and
improve national and Community rules and tackle weaknesses in the existing legal framework.

The  first  action  required  Member  States  to  provide  by  1  October  1997  a  detailed  timetable  showing  their
programmes of transposition to tackle urgently all delays and to ensure that transposition deadlines falling due
before 1 January 1999 are respected. Almost all the Member States have now provided these timetables. The
Commission will be monitoring Member States(cid:146) performance against these timetables.

(1)  COM(96) 520 final.
(2)  Communication of the Commission to the European Council, CSE(97) 1 final.