WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1982/98 by Allan MACARTNEY to the Council. Commission document on measures to compensate the abolition of duty-free sales
Date: 1998-06-17
Institutions: European Parliament, MACARTNEY
Subjects: common commercial policy, duty-free sale, exemption from customs duties, frontier region, market approval

18.1.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 13/129

(1999/C 13/182)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1982/98

by Allan Macartney (ARE) to the Council

(17 June 1998)

Subject: Commission document on measures to compensate the abolition of duty-free sales

Will the Council ensure that the Commission(cid:146)s document outlining possibilities for measures to compensate the
regions hardest hit by the abolition of intra-EU duty- and tax-free sales after 1999, as agreed at the May Ecofin
Council, is presented to and debated at an Ecofin Council this autumn?

Reply

(24 September 1998)

At the outcome of the discussion at the Ecofin Council on 19 May 1998, it appeared that there was no consensus
to call for a Community-wide study on the impact of the abolition of intra-EU tax- and duty-free sales on 30 June
1999.

However, in the light of the various national studies and the comments made during this meeting, the
Commission will clarify in a working document the instruments available to Member States for addressing
the consequences of such abolition.

(1999/C 13/183)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1983/98

by Klaus-Heiner Lehne (PPE) to the Commission

(30 June 1998)

Subject: Staff of the European Schools appointed by the Headmaster, generally known as (cid:145)part-time teachers(cid:146)

Article 3(2) of the Conditions of employment for part-time teachers in the European Schools (97 › D-422) clearly
stipulates that Article 80(1) of the Regulations for members of the seconded staff of the European Schools
applies. Article 80(1) reads:

The Board of Appeal shall have sole jurisdiction in the first and final instance in any dispute between the
management organs of the School and members of staff regarding the legality of an act adversely affecting them.
Where such appeals are of a financial character, the Board of Appeal shall have unlimited jurisdiction.

Article 3(4) (Legislation of the country in which the School is situated) of the Conditions of employment for part-
time teachers in the European Schools is equally clear in stipulating:

The conditions of appointment and of dismissal of part-time teachers, teachers of religion and temporary staff
shall be governed by the legislation of the country in which the School is situated with respect to employment
relationship, social security and taxation regulations, without prejudice to the provisions above.

The courts of the country in which the School is situated shall have jurisdiction in any dispute to be resolved.

The members of the legal profession are therefore divided in their opinions on which of these provisions takes
precedence. In view of the decision of a German court to declare that it does not have jurisdiction in a case
involving dismissal it must be assumed that the inconsistency between Article 3(2) and Article 3(4) results in
some uncertainty as to what the law is.

As the Commission is represented on the Board of Governors of the European Schools and as such has accepted
the Regulations for members of the seconded staff of the European Schools and the Conditions of employment
for part-time teachers, could it consider this problem and explain

› what are the respective areas of responsibility of the Board of Appeal and the local courts with respect to the
Conditions of employment for part-time teachers in disputes with the management of the European Schools,
especially in the event of dismissal and of annual reappointment followed by termination,