WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2401/98 by Marjo MATIKAINEN-KALLSTRÖM to the Commission. Compulsory use of winter tyres in Finland and road safety
Date: 1998-07-27
Institutions: European Parliament, MATIKAINEN-KALLSTROEM
Subjects: Finland, motor car, pneumatic tyre, road safety

C 135/50

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

14.5.1999

(1999/C 135/057)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2401/98

by Marjo Matikainen-Kallström (PPE) to the Commission

Subject: Compulsory use of winter tyres in Finland and road safety

(27 July 1998)

In Finland it is compulsory to use winter tyres, and accordingly every vehicle registered in Finland must
during the winter months use either studded tyres or non-studded friction tyres for winter driving.
However, Finland has no right to prevent vehicles arriving in Finland without winter tyres during the
period when these are compulsory if they are registered in a country other than Finland. However
Germany, for example, is allowed to prevent a Finnish-registered car from entering Germany with studded
tyres.

Should not such prohibitions and freedoms be applied uniformly throughout the EU, applying to all
countries? Each country should have the right to enact road safety provisions and to insist that all EU
nationals travelling on its territory comply with those provisions. How does the Commission justify the
current discrimination between the Member States?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(6 October 1998)

The compulsory use of winter tyres in Finland for safety reasons under specific climatic conditions is a
matter of national competence. It is imposed, as the Honourable Member says, on all road users, regardless
of the Member State of registration of the motor vehicle and does not, therefore, constitute a case of
discrimination. In this context it should be mentioned that in some areas in other Member States there are
requirements for all motor vehicles to use snow chains for safety reasons.

Forbidding winter tyres with studs on roads also falls under the competence of the national authority
responsible for the roads. The reason for this prohibition is the excessive wear of roads caused by such
tyres.

(1999/C 135/058)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2402/98

by Olivier Dupuis (ARE) to the Council

(28 July 1998)

Subject: Financial transactions carried out by Mr Karadzic

According to a report which appeared in the Banja Luka weekly Nezavisne Novine and which was taken
up by the Corriere della Sera of 22 June 1998, DM 17 million (the equivalent of Lire 17 billion) were
transferred in March 1997 from the National Bank of the Republika Srpska (the Serb Republic) to the
Nuova Banca di Credito di Trieste (also known under the Slovene name of Trzaska Kreditna Banka); this
transfer of funds seems to have been carried out by henchmen of the war criminal Radovan Karadzic
shortly before they were obliged to hand over the government of the Serb Republic to the ‘moderates’ of
the current Prime Minister, Milorad Dodik. The enormous capital sum transferred is assumed to consist
either of the proceeds of the looting carried out by the Bosnian Serbs in the course of their ‘ethnic
cleansing’ drive or of funds misappropriated from the Serb Republic.

− what information can the Council obtain concerning the activities of the Liechtenstein-based
company Sarnos Establishment, which seems to be used by the ‘Karadzic clan’ as a cover for capital
transfers?

− what information can the Council obtain concerning the activities of the Rome-based International
institute for political and economic research on cooperation and development (Ispeco), headed by
Mr Gianfranco Oliverio, which appears to have emerged in June 1995 as a political and economic
pressure group lobbying on behalf of Radovan Karadzic in Italy?