WRITTEN QUESTION E-2080/99 by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Availability of official documents.
Date: 1999-11-12
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU law, Internet, access to EU information

C 203 E/130

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.7.2000

The Commission regrets that it cannot as requested make a preliminary assessment of compatibility of the
measures with the common market. To do so would be to anticipate its final position.

(1) OJ C 283, 19.9.1997.
(2) OJ L 83, 27.3.1999.

(2000/C 203 E/165)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2080/99

by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(12 November 1999)

Subject: Availability of official documents

Is the Commission prepared, in the interests of transparency and to lower the costs of businesses operating
in Europe, to make all Commission directives, European Union legislation and European Union treaties
available on the internet either free or at minimal cost, and, if not, can it explain why these documents
cannot be made available in this way?

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(6 December 1999)

In answer to the Honourable Member(cid:146)s question, the Commission is indeed prepared to provide access to
Community legislation on the Internet, free of charge and in a user-friendly format, and has already done a
great deal of work in this connection.

The EUR-Lex site (http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/) has been open to the public since April 1998. It gives
access to the Official Journal (OJ) in the eleven Community languages on the day it is published. Initially
the site was opened up for a 20-day period, subsequently extended to 45 days owing to popular demand.
It also provides free access to Community legislation previously available only through the CELEX
database, for which a fee is charged. EUR-Lex users can also access recent judgments of the Court of
Justice free of charge.

The Commission plans to make further improvements in the near future: it aims to create better synergies
between existing Community-law information systems (such as EUR-Lex, EUDOR and CELEX), to make
them more user-friendly and to increase consistency. The first results, which will offer a single gateway for
the various systems, are expected in the first quarter of 2000.

In most cases, the information will be provided to the public at no charge, in so far as the resources
needed to develop and maintain the IT systems are made available. Under current plans, charges for the
above services and for access to old legislation no longer in force will be retained only for users making
complex searches for professional purposes.

(2000/C 203 E/166)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2081/99

by Concepci(cid:243) Ferrer (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(12 November 1999)

Subject: Study on the impact of the Asian and Russian financial crisis on the fashion sector

On 15 January 1999 Parliament adopted a resolution on the economic and social impact of the global
financial crisis on European industry (B4-0024/1999) (1), urging the Commission to provide a detailed
report on the economic and social effects of increased competition on the various sectors of the European
economy, especially in terms of output and employment.