WRITTEN QUESTION P-0305/00 by Jens-Peter Bonde (EDD) to the Commission. Social benefits.
Date: 2000-02-04
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Denmark, competence of the Member States, discrimination on the basis of nationality, education grant, infringement of EU law, pension scheme

3.10.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 280 E/207

In the light of the foregoing, does the Commission not believe that it should:

1.

2.

intervene in order to ascertain that the sale of the Societ(cid:224) Editrice Romana was lawful and has not
damaged free competition;

call on the Italian authorities to take steps to protect a leading daily and freedom of expression, which
is possibly being endangered by Bonifaci(cid:146)s strategies;

3.

express a general view on the matter?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(20 March 2000)

The Commission thanks the Honourable Member for sharing her concerns regarding the current situation
of the Il Tempo newspaper.

However, the matters referred to in the question do not have any cross-border dimension liable to come
under the principles of freedom of movement or the rules on competition within the internal market.

This being the case, the Commission cannot comment on the matter.

(2000/C 280 E/245)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0305/00

by Jens-Peter Bonde (EDD) to the Commission

(4 February 2000)

Subject: Social benefits

Will the Commission say whether the Danish practice of allocating old-age pensions and government
education grants on the basis of citizenship is consistent with EU law?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(28 February 2000)

Each Member State is responsible for its own social security system and decides which benefits shall be
provided, the conditions for eligibility and the value of these benefits.

There are, however, Community provisions for the co-ordination of these systems in Council Regulation
(EEC) No 1408/71 of 14 June 1971 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons and
their families moving within the Community (1) and Council Regulation (EEC) No 574/72 of 21 March
1972 fixing the procedure for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 (2) in order to ensure that
employed persons, self-employed persons and members of their families do not lose their social security
protection when moving within the Community and also to ensure that the basic principles of equality of
treatment and non-discrimination are respected (3).

According to Article 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71, people resident in the territory of one Member
State shall be subject to the same obligations and enjoy the same benefits under the legislation of any
Member State as the nationals of that State. Should nationals of other Member States not be granted the
people(cid:146)s pension under Danish legislation on an equal footing with Danish nationals this would constitute
a breach of Community law.

The Honourable Member refers also to education grants. In this respect, the principle of (cid:145)equality of
treatment(cid:146) means that the university or college where a citizen of the Union wishes to study must accept
students under the same conditions as nationals. Therefore, if a grant is paid to nationals of the Member

C 280 E/208

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

3.10.2000

State where a citizen of the Union wishes to study, to cover course fees (tuition fees), he or she must be
able to receive it.

However, the (cid:145)equality of treatment(cid:146) principle does not apply to support or maintenance grants intended to
help the students pay their daily living expenses, unless the student is a migrant worker or a family
member of a migrant worker. In this last case, he is entitled under Community law, namely Articles 7 and
12 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 of 15 October 1968 on freedom of movement for workers
within the Community (4), also to social advantages in the same conditions as the nationals. In conse-
quence and as stated above, if the Danish legislation cited by the Honourable Member concerns these kind
of grants, citizens from other Member States, which fulfil the requirements of Regulation (EEC) No 1612/
68, should benefit from those education grants.

(1) OJ L 149, 5.7.1971 as last modified by OJ C 6, 10.1.1998.
(2) OJ L 74, 27.3.1972 as last modified by OJ L 323, 13.12.1996.
(3) OJ L 28, 30.1.1997.
(4) OJ L 257, 19.10.1968.

(2000/C 280 E/246)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0333/00

by Barbara Weiler (PSE) to the Commission

(4 February 2000)

Subject: Rules governing the award of public contracts

1. What rules does the Commission intend to adopt to protect national labour markets from social
dumping in connection with the award of public contracts?

2. What is the Commission(cid:146)s assessment of the national laws on the posting of workers and what
political action does it consider should be taken in the light of experience hitherto?

Does the Commission intend to take measures to stem the proliferation of pseudo-independent

3.
businesses?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(28 February 2000)

1.
The Commission would like to remind the Honourable Member, with regard to the transnational
context, that on 16 December 1996 the Council and Parliament adopted Directive 96/71/EC concerning
In terms of Community
the posting of workers in the framework of
employment law, it is this Directive which, through the protection it provides for workers, makes the
most significant contribution towards establishing fair competition among businesses. It lays down a
nucleus of mandatory rules on minimum protection to be observed in the host country by employers who
post workers to perform temporary work in the territory of a Member State where services are provided.
The Directive applies without distinction to the public and private sectors.

the provision of services (1).

2.
The deadline for incorporation of Directive 96/71/EC into national law was 16 December 1999. In
view of this date, and taking account of a number of delays in communicating national laws, it would
appear to be too early for an assessment of experience hitherto.

3.

For the moment the Commission does not intend to take measures in this connection.

(1) OJ L 18, 21.1.1997, pp. 1-6.