WRITTEN QUESTION No. 245/98 by Petrus CORNELISSEN to the Commission. Car-jacking
Date: 1998-02-13
Institutions: CORNELISSEN, European Parliament
Subjects: approximation of laws, fight against crime, illicit trade, intergovernmental cooperation (EU), market protection, motor vehicle, organised crime, safety device, technological change

C 310/44

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

9. 10. 98

2.  There are no Community rules on the number of passengers carried in trains since this matter is not one of

Community legal competence.

3. 

In designing rolling stock, the load bearing capabilities are calculated and they are in excess of what a fully
laden  carriage  would  weigh.  There  is  therefore  no  physical  limit,  other  than  space,  on  the  number  of
passengers a carriage may carry. Of course individual operators are free to impose their own limits.

(98/C 310/54)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0245/98

by Petrus Cornelissen (PPE) to the Commission

(13 February 1998)

Subject: Car-jacking

Is the Commission aware of an audacious new type of car theft in Europe, that of car-jacking in which

1.
drivers are forced to hand over the keys of their vehicle and the car-jacker then drives off with it?

2. Will  the  Commission  examine,  possibly  in  conjunction  with  the  police,  car  manufacturers,  consumer
organizations and insurance companies, what ways there are of tackling this new type of cross-border crime?

3. Will the Commission also pay particular attention to new technical options such as satellite tracking or
remote immobilization of stolen vehicles?

Answer given by Mrs Gradin on behalf of the Commission

(17 March 1998)

The Commission is aware through the reports echoed in recent months in the international press of the increasing
number of cases of car-jacking in Europe and in particular in Brussels.

In  the  framework  of  the  cooperation  in  the  field  of  justice  and  home  affairs  the  Commission  is  managing
programmes aimed at reinforcing police cooperation (OISIN programme) and has presented a proposal (1) for a
programme  of  exchange  and  training  aimed  at  reinforcing  the  capabilities  to  fight  organised  crime  (Falcone
programme).

Moreover, the Commission is closely associated with the work taking place within the Council addressing the
issue of law enforcement requirements for the development of technical measures to counter trafficking in stolen
vehicles.

On  the  basis  of  current  expert  studies  on  the  subject,  the  Commission  may  also  consider  ways  to  adapt  to
technical  progress  Council  Directive  74/61/EEC  of  17  December  1973  relating  to  devices  to  prevent  the
unauthorised use of motor vehicles (2).

(1)  OJ C 352, 20.11.1997.
(2)  OJ L 38, 11.2.1974.

(98/C 310/55)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0247/98

by Christoph Konrad (PPE) to the Commission

(13 February 1998)

Subject: Exploitation of a dominant market position in telephone communications between mobile and fixed

telephone networks

The prices for telephone conversations between GSM mobile telephones and fixed telephone networks are set at
widely differing levels in the various European Union Member States. Moreover, in some markets these prices
have remained stable in spite of a considerable drop in the cost of expanding the network.