WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3645/97 by Clive NEEDLE to the Commission. The rise in the incidence of tuberculosis
Date: 1997-11-13
Institutions: European Parliament, NEEDLE
Subjects: Estonia, Latvia, Russia, infectious disease, medical research, public health, research programme

8. 6. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 174/89

The Commission has published a Green Paper dealing with the application of the competition rules to vertical
restraints, and in particular distribution agreements (2). The Green Paper looks at a range of options as part of an
extensive review of the approach that competition policy ought to be taking towards agreements of this kind. It
has provided the basis for a wide-ranging debate with interested parties. The conclusions will serve as guidance
to the Commission when it comes to draft the measures that will be needed, not least in order to replace the block
exemption mentioned above, which is to expire at the end of 1999 (3).

The Commission does not believe that consumers would necessarily be deprived of proper information or that
the interests of the supplying company would be damaged if service stations were to distribute goods under their
own trade name.

(1)  OJ L 173, 30.6.1983; corrigendum: OJ L 281, 13.10.1983.
(2)  Green Paper on Vertical Restraints in EC Competition Policy: COM(96) 721 final.
(3) 

Its  validity  was  extended  by  Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No  1582/97  of  30  July  1997  amending  Regulations  (EEC)  No  1983/83  and
No 1984/83 on the application of Article 85(3) of the Treaty to categories of exclusive distribution agreements and exclusive purchasing
agreements respectively: OJ L 214, 6.8.1997.

(98/C 174/140)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3645/97

by Clive Needle (PSE) to the Commission

(13 November 1997)

Subject: The rise in the incidence of tuberculosis

The  World  Health  Organization  has  just  published  a  worrying  and  unprecedented  report  on  the  rise  in  the
incidence of tuberculosis. This specifies a number of developing countries plus Latvia, Estonia and the Russian
Federation as (cid:145)hot spots(cid:146) where tuberculosis is resistant to antibiotics and treatment is described as (cid:145)therapeutic
anarchy(cid:146).

Clearly this has implications for several aspects of EU policy and practice in the context of its public health
competence as established in Article 129 of the Treaty on European Union.

Will the Commission therefore set out urgently its approach to tackling tuberculosis with particular reference to
research and development of new anti-tuberculosis drugs and treatment?

Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission

(13 January 1998)

Research into tuberculosis is one of the priorities of the research programme in the field of biomedicine and
health.

During the 4th Framework Programme for RTD (1), six European research networks were set up, mainly to carry
out research into resistance to medication, the development of new vaccines, and also molecular epidemiology,
which particularly involves partners in developing countries and in Eastern Europe.

The fight against re-emerging infectious diseases, including tuberculosis, is explicitly outlined in the objectives
of the 5th Framework Programme for RTD (2) proposed by the Commission, particularly in the objective entitled
(cid:145)Unlocking the resources of the living world and the ecosystem(cid:146), key action (cid:145)control of viral and other infectious
diseases(cid:146).

(1)  OJ L 117, 8.5.1990.
(2)  COM(97) 142 final.