WRITTEN QUESTION No. 493/98 by Nikitas KAKLAMANIS to the Commission. Impact on countries outside the euro zone
Date: 1998-03-02
Institutions: European Parliament, KAKLAMANIS
Subjects: Economic and Monetary Union, currency area, economic convergence, economic policy, economic stabilisation, euro, exchange rate, interest, monetary integration

17. 7. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 223/175

Answer given by Mr Bangemann on behalf of the Commission

(24 March 1998)

1.
The choice of a technology is an internal strategic decision of an enterprise, based on a number of elements
which include actual and potential demand for the services to be supported by the technology in question, the
undertaking(cid:146)s financial capacity and the expected rate of return over investment. Telecom Italia(cid:146)s decision to
replace only partially the existing copper wires by optical fibres for the city of Rome and, instead, to use ADSL
technology with a view to improving the transmission capacity of the existing wires, has to be considered in this
context.  As  to  the  advertising  campaign,  the  Commission  does  not  have  enough  factual  elements  to  assess
whether Directive 84/450/EEC has been infringed. The Commission will, however, consider requesting further
information from Telecom Italia to finalise its assessment.

2.
The  Commission  is  aware  that,  since  the  regulatory  framework  currently  in  place  in  Italy  has  been
completed  only  recently,  Telecom  Italia(cid:146)s  campaign  should  be  monitored  with  particular  attention  so  as  to
ascertain any potential pre-emptive effect on competition in the infrastructure market. In case of complaints such
investment  announcement  could  be  examined  both  by  the  national  competition  and  telecoms  regulatory
authorities and the Commission and could lead to formal decisions, if it would be established that they pre-empt
competition.

(98/C 223/228)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0463/98

by Allan Macartney (ARE) to the Commission

(27 February 1998)

Subject: Administration costs of the Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowance

What  level  of  administration  fees  do  respective  Member  States  charge  for  handling  applications  for  the  Hill
Livestock Compensatory Allowance, and can these be indicated for the most up-to-date figures available?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(17 March 1998)

The  Commission  does  not  have  this  type  of  information  on  the  administrative  costs  of  managing  the
compensatory allowance scheme for farmers in less-favoured areas. Such information is not contained in the
legislative  provisions  notified  by  the  Member  States  and  approved  by  the  Commission.  The  Commission  is
therefore unable to provide the data requested by the Honourable Member. In this context, it should be stressed
that administrative costs are not eligible for part-financing by the Community.

(98/C 223/229)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0493/98

by Nikitas Kaklamanis (UPE) to the Commission

(2 March 1998)

Subject: Impact on countries outside the euro zone

In May 1998, the decision will be taken on which countries will be included in the (cid:145)euro zone(cid:146).There are a great
many questions in the minds of the public regarding the implications for the countries which will not be taking
part from the outset in this (cid:145)zone(cid:146), which may be summarized as follows:

1.  What will be the impact on the currencies of the countries not participating immediately in the (cid:145)euro zone(cid:146)?

2.  How will interest rates be affected within those countries?

3.  Will it be compulsory for those countries(cid:146) currencies to enter the new Exchange Rate Mechanism?

4.  What will be the impact on their small and medium-sized businesses?