WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3047/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. Green paper on commerce
Date: 1997-10-02
Institutions: AMADEO, European Parliament
Subjects: EU institution, distribution business, domestic trade, handicrafts, public administration, single market, small and medium-sized enterprises, trade cooperation

C 117/138

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

16. 4. 98

In the case of centrally managed actions, decisions on grant awards are taken by the Commission on the basis of
an analysis carried out by the national agencies, independent experts and evaluators from the technical assistance
office.  Before  being  adopted,  the  list  of  grants  is  submitted  to  the  Commission  for  consultation,  and  the
committee referred to in the Decision is asked for its opinion.

(1)  OJ L 87, 20.4.1995.

(98/C 117/185)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3047/97

by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission

(2 October 1997)

Subject: Green paper on commerce

The debate prompted by the Green Paper on commerce (COM(96) 530 final) should make it possible to identify
the measures that can be taken by companies and by the public authorities in the Member States or the EU to
enable  the  sector  to  meet  the  challenge  of  maintaining  competitiveness  and  contributing  to  employment  and
social cohesion.

With this in view, will the Commission set up a European body with the participation of senior officials from the
Commission and the national governments to examine the factors holding back the development of an integrated
single market for commercial activities in the European Union?

Answer given by Mr Papoutsis on behalf of the Commission

(10 November 1997)

The Commission is aware of the need to hold regular meetings with representatives of the public authorities in
the Member States in order to examine questions relating specifically to commercial activities. This is why a
body known as the (cid:145)Internal Trade Group(cid:146) was set up at the same time as the Community itself. This group is
made up of officials from the national authorities responsible for commerce: the directors-general of national
ministries of trade, and government experts from these same ministries who have particular responsibility for
European affairs.

The members of this group meet regularly. In addition, the directors-general are generally asked to take part in
the annual plenary meetings of the Committee on Commerce and Distribution (CCD), which are attended by the
Member of the Commission responsible for the trade and distribution sector.

The  Internal  Trade  Group  allows  the  Commission  to  inform  and  consult  the  Member  States  on  projects
concerning  internal  trade,  and  to  find  out  their  position  on  such  projects.  It  also  provides  an  opportunity  for
valuable exchanges of experience and good practice between Member States, an action which features in the
integrated programme in favour of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the craft sector.

This  group  fulfils  the  request  made  by  the  Council  in  its  Resolution  of  14  November  1989  to  strengthen
(cid:145)cooperation between the Commission and the Member States through meetings between officials responsible
for  internal  trade(cid:146).  It  cooperated,  for  example,  with  the  Commission  in  implementing  the  communication
(cid:145)Towards a single market in distribution(cid:146) (1), tackling the issue of obstacles to cross-border development and thus
contributing to the Council(cid:146)s conclusions on this matter.

Its most recent meetings have been devoted to the specific topic of drafting, disseminating and following up the
Green Paper on Commerce. The follow-up activities on the Green Paper will include further meetings to allow
the Committee members to continue their deliberations on what actions could be taken to enable the sector to
meet the challenges facing it.

(1)  Doc. COM(91) 41 final.