WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1005/98 by Caroline JACKSON to the Council. Draft directive on the advertising of tobacco products
Date: 1998-03-31
Institutions: European Parliament, JACKSON CAROLINE
Subjects: Council of the European Union, EC Directive, advertising, legal adviser, opinion, proposal (EU), sponsorship, tobacco industry

C 323/104

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

21. 10. 98

Answer

(6 July 1998)

The statement in the press, to which the Honourable Members refer, has been disclaimed both by Slovenia(cid:146)s
Ambassador to Italy and by the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Ljubljana.

(98/C 323/156)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1005/98

by Caroline Jackson (PPE) to the Council

(31 March 1998)

Subject: Draft directive on the advertising of tobacco products

The  Council  adopted  a  Common  Position  on  the  above  draft  directive  on  12  February  1998.  The  Common
Position  goes  further  than  the  previous  draft  Directive  published  in  1992,  in  that  it  introduces  a  ban  on
sponsorship as well as all forms of commercial communication for tobacco products. It is believed that, in 1993,
the Council(cid:146)s Legal Service concluded that the 1992 draft directive could not be validly based upon Article 100a
of the Treaty, or any other Treaty article.

1.

Could the Council confirm whether this is the case?

If it is the case, could the Council confirm whether the Legal Service has been asked for, or has offered of

2.
its own accord, an opinion upon the text of the current proposal?

If it has not, could the Council explain how the provisions of the current proposals are so different from the

3.
1992 draft as to make the Legal Service(cid:146)s opinion no longer applicable?

Answer

(13/14 July 1998)

The Council is assisted in its deliberations by a Legal service, the role of which is to provide independent
1.
legal advice to the Council. These opinions are given in written or oral form either to the Council itself or to its
preparatory bodies. They are internal to the Council.

2.
In the particular case to which the Honourable Member refers, it would be inappropriate either to confirm or
deny the existence of an opinion such as the one referred to in the question, or whether such an opinion was
modified  or  supplemented  in  writing  or  orally,  in  the  light  of  the  actual  text  adopted  by  the  Council  on
12 February 1998.

(98/C 323/157)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1010/98

by Ernesto Caccavale (UPE) to the Commission

(6 April 1998)

Subject: Infringement by the Commune of Naples of rules relating to the award of public contracts

The Commission has brought an action against Italy for infringement of its obligations in relation to the award of
public contracts. In particular, the Commission has recently accused the Commune of Naples in connection with
the award of a public service contract for the collection of urban waste. The invitation to tender was incomplete
and  in  flagrant  breach  of  Directive  92/50/EEC  on  public  service  contracts.  The  various  blatant  breaches  and
omissions discovered included failure to provide certain compulsory information concerning selection criteria,
provisions that discriminated against foreign potential operators, delays in providing contract specifications and
the  fact  that  the  deadline  set  for  the  submission  of  tenders  was  shorter  than  the  minimum  prescribed  by
Community rules.