WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3385/98 by John IVERSEN to the Commission. EU classification of building materials' reaction to fire
Date: 1998-11-17
Institutions: European Parliament, IVERSEN
Subjects: European standard, building materials, classification, fire protection, heat-resisting materials, quality control of industrial products, quality standard, safety standard, technical standard, testing

28.6.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 182/73

time they actually need, depending on the means of transport chosen, to go and perform their electoral duty
on the date of the election and to return.

One day’s special leave is therefore granted only if the election takes place on a working day. Likewise,
travelling time is granted on certain conditions. For distances of over 2 000 kilometres, the time actually
needed is set at 3 days (1,5 for the outward journey and 1,5 for the return journey) if the member of staff
travels by car, train or boat. If the member of staff travels by plane, the travelling time allowed is 2 days (1 day
for the outward journey and 1 for the return). In order to allocate the appropriate travelling time, the
Commission requests copies of tickets and other supporting documents. The same conditions apply when
there are two rounds of voting.

The Commission considers that the measures in place are adequate to allow all staff to exercise their electoral
rights and duties.

(1999/C 182/094)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3367/98

by Nikitas Kaklamanis (UPE) to the Commission

(16 November 1998)

Subject: Bathroom goods from third countries marketed in the EU

The Panhellenic Association of Sanitary Goods Dealers alleges that thousands of boxes of tiles manufactured in
Turkey and Egypt are being marketed in Greece as products of EU Member States. The illegality of this
operation consists in the falsification of the information concerning the origin of the tiles and sanitary goods
imported from the above countries so that they appear as EU products: this severely damages the interests of
EU manufacturers.

Will the Commission say whether it is aware of the above state of affairs, what action it intends to take to
identify those responsible and whether the necessary recommendations will be made to the authorities of the
countries of origin of the above-mentioned sanitary goods?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(29 January 1999)

The Commission is collecting the information it needs to answer the question. It will communicate its findings
as soon as possible.

(1999/C 182/095)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3385/98

by John Iversen (PSE) to the Commission

(17 November 1998)

Subject: EU classification of building materials’ reaction to fire

The Commission is about to finalise common fire classification methods for building materials. If building
materials are to be tested realistically, this must be done in large-scale tests such as the ISO-approved Room
Corner test and not just using the Single Burning Item (SBI) method, a medium-scale test without ceiling, with
small gas burners and with means of extraction.

1. What specific changes does the Commission intend to make to the SBI method to increase its reliability
and so that a material cannot be classified as non-flammable if a producer sends it to one test laboratory, when
it would have been classified as flammable if it had been tested in another?