WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3716/98 by José GARCÍA-MARGALLO Y MARFIL Counterfeiting and piracy
Date: 1998-12-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: administrative cooperation, computer piracy, customs inspection, illicit trade, industrial counterfeiting, intellectual property, market supervision, penalty, right to justice, single market

11.10.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 289/77

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-3714/98 and E-3715/98

(29 March 1999)

Article 27, paragraph 2, of Protocol No 3 on the Statute of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and
the European Central Bank (ECB) limits the intervention of the Court of Auditors in this respect to the
examination of the operational efficiency of the management of the ECB.

A further role of the Court of Auditors would require an amendment of the Treaty, since each Community
Institution is bound to act within the limits of the powers conferred upon it by the Treaty (Article 4 of the
Treaty establishing the European Community).

(1999/C 289/102)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3716/98

by José García-Margallo y Marfil (PPE) to the Council

(11 December 1998)

Subject: Counterfeiting and piracy

On 22 October 1998 the Commission announced the publication of a Green Paper on combating counter-
feiting and piracy in the single market, with which it launched wide-ranging consultations on the matter with
interested parties in the Member States.

The Green Paper pursues four lines of thought: (a) support for monitoring activities by the private sector; (b)
the legal protection of authenticating and security devices; (c) an assessment of the sanctions and other means
capable of ensuring that intellectual property rights are enforced; and (d) the establishment of appropriate
administrative cooperation between the Member States’ competent authorities.

Will the Council specify what rules the EU has at its disposal to inspect goods for their authenticity at its
external borders?

Reply

(29 March 1999)

On 25 January 1999 the Council adopted Council Regulation No 241/1999 (1) amending Regulation (EC)
3295/94 of 22 December 1994 (2) laying down measures to prohibit the release for free circulation, export, re-
export or entry for a suspensive procedure of counterfeit and pirated goods. That Regulation is the act on
which controls on entering and leaving the customs territory of the European Community concerning
counterfeit and pirated goods are based.

The purpose of Council Regulation No 241/1999, on which the Parliament delivered its Opinion on 17 June
1998 (3), is to extend the scope of Regulation No 3295/94 to encompass patents and the Community trade
mark.

(1) OJ L 27, 2.2.1999, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 341, 31.12.1994, p. 8.
(3) OJ C 210, 6.7.1998, p. 123.

(1999/C 289/103)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3717/98

by José Valverde López (PPE) to the Commission

(11 December 1998)

Subject: Methyl bromide and the Commission proposal on substances that deplete the ozone layer

The proposal for a Council Regulation on substances that deplete the ozone layer seeks to phase out the
agricultural fumigant, methyl bromide, by the year 2001. This provision would bring the ban forward from
2005, the date provided for in the Montreal Protocol of September 1997.