WRITTEN QUESTION No. 4130/97 by Leoluca ORLANDO to the Commission. Possible incompatibility of Decree law 395/97 of the Region of Sicily on loans for the book publishing industry with Article 93 of the Treaty of Rome
Date: 1998-01-05
Institutions: European Parliament, ORLANDO
Subjects: Sicily, aid to undertakings, budgetary control, competition law, publisher, publishing, restriction on competition, small and medium-sized enterprises

C 323/8

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

21. 10. 98

(98/C 323/10)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-4130/97

by Leoluca Orlando (V) to the Commission

(5 January 1998)

Subject: Possible incompatibility of Decree law 395/97 of the Region of Sicily on loans for the book publishing

industry with Article 93 of the Treaty of Rome

In Decree law 395/97 the Sicilian Regional Assembly has amended Regional Laws 15 of 11 May 1993, 25 of
1 September 1993, 66 of 20 September 1995 and 68 of 27 September 1995 governing loans for small businesses
in the industrial and service sectors, extending their validity from 31 December 1994 to 31 December 1996 for
book publishing companies only and changing the type of aid from interest-rate subsidies on bank loans to a
one-off grant linked to titles produced by the publishers over the three-year period 1994-1996. The proposed
appropriation under this law is ITL 7 billion, with a ceiling of ITL 3 billion per individual company.

The law has been widely opposed by Italian and Sicilian professional associations and is seen as damaging to the
interests of many publishers, in so far as the smallness of the total appropriation compared to the ceiling for an
individual company could lead to discrimination within the industry concerned. Moreover, by linking payments
to the titles that publishers have produced, the law will not be guaranteeing equal conditions.

Does  the  Commission  not  consider  it  desirable  to  investigate  the  compatibility  of  Decree  law  395/97  of  the
Region of Sicily with Article 93 of the Treaty of Rome?

Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission

(3 February 1998)

The Commission would inform the Honourable Member that, in accordance with Article 93(3) of the EC Treaty,
the  Italian  authorities  notified  it  on  7  November  1997  of  draft  Law  No  395/97  on  measures  to  assist  the
publishing industry.

The  Commission  is  in  the  process  of  examining  whether,  in  the  light  of  the  objections  made  by  the  Italian
association of publishers in question, the proposed aid is compatible with the Community rules on competition.
It was informed of those objections by the association itself.

(98/C 323/11)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-4131/97

by Wayne David (PSE) to the Commission

(5 January 1998)

Subject: Protection of children

Can the Commission indicate if it plans to introduce any initiatives to protect children from accidents?

Answer given by Mrs Bonino on behalf of the Commission

(2 February 1998)

In  addressing  the  general  problem  of  child  safety,  the  Community  has  already  put  in  place  a  regulatory
framework designed to ensure a rapid, reasonable and consistent response to the problems encountered.

On  the  one  hand,  there  are  specific  harmonised  rules  for  certain  products  (such  as  toys (1)  and  dangerous
imitations  of  foodstuffs (2))  and,  on  the  other,  horizontal  rules  designed  to  create  a  genuine  general  safety
requirement applicable to consumer products, focusing notably on the safety of products intended for children
(the Directive on general product safety (3)) and professional liability (the Directive on liability for defective
products (4)).