WRITTEN QUESTION No. 852/98 by Danielle DARRAS to the Commission. European child labour directives
Date: 1998-03-11
Institutions: DARRAS, European Parliament
Subjects: France, German Democratic Republic, Germany, Portugal, United Kingdom, child labour, child protection, disclosure of information, national implementing measure, youth employment

19. 11. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 354/31

In that letter, the Commission expressed its concerns to the Finnish government that it had formally abolished the
exclusive rights of the incumbent local telephone operators, without taking the necessary measures to prevent
the relevant companies to entrench, even after liberalisation, their dominant market position by continuing to link
the  remuneration  of  their  members  with  their  actual  usage.  In  order  to  give  new  entrants  a  fair  chance,  this
remuneration  should  not  (cid:145)bind(cid:146)  the  customer  to  only  one  service  provider  which  has  secured  its  position.
The Commission believes that the Finnish authorities may need to take further action in this respect.

There is nothing in the Commission(cid:146)s letter which distinguishes between limited companies and cooperatives.
It would  certainly  be  incorrect  to  say  that  the  Commission  believes  that  only  limited  companies  should  be
allowed  to  exist  in  the  Community.  On  the  other  hand,  cooperatives  are  not  immune  from  Community
competition rules. If a dominant limited company would not be allowed to give rebates to its shareholders in
circumstances like those of the Finnish local enterprises, then a cooperative is not free to do so.

(1)  ECR p. 3 461.

(98/C 354/63)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0852/98

by Danielle Darras (PSE) to the Commission

(11 March 1998)

Subject: European child labour directives

Can the Commission report on current progress in the implementation of the European directives on child labour
legislation?

Is data available for the various Union Member States? In particular, what is the current situation in France, the
United Kingdom, Germany and Portugal?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission

(11 May 1998)

The  Commission  cannot  yet  take  stock  of  the  application  in  the  fifteen  Member  States  of  the  provisions  of
Council Directive 94/33/EC of 22 June 1994 on the protection of young people at work.

Not all national measures have been communicated to the Commission. Procedures have been initiated against
several Member States under Article 169 of the EC Treaty, on the grounds of non-communication or incomplete
communication.

Concerning the Member States specifically mentioned by the Honourable Member, the situation is as follows:

(cid:150)  France has communicated a large part of its legislation in force and has pointed out that the Community
Directive still necessitates a number of adjustments to existing regulations, which will take place in the near
future;

(cid:150) 

the United Kingdom has communicated only part of its regulations;

(cid:150)  Germany  and  Portugal  have  communicated  their  national  provisions  on  this  subject,  which  are  currently

being scrutinised.

Only  when  it  has  received  all  the  communications  from  the  Member  States  will  the  Commission  be  able  to
examine the overall situation as regards application of the provisions on this subject in the Member States.