WRITTEN QUESTION E-0331/00 by Karla Peijs (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Blockades by French road haulage operators.
Date: 2000-02-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European undertaking, France, common commercial policy, competence of the Member States, free movement of goods, indemnification

24.10.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 303 E/177

(2000/C 303 E/199)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0331/00

by Karla Peijs (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(11 February 2000)

Subject: Blockades by French road haulage operators

The blockades by French road haulage operators on 10 January 2000 have had a huge adverse impact on
goods transport by road to and through France. Some fifty blockades of large and small border crossing-
points with Belgium, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg, as well as of a number of port
areas, were set up for the purpose of restricting the free movement of goods within the Union.

The effect of the blockades was to completely disrupt many road-transport operators(cid:146) planning.
addition, many operators took the precaution of taking their vehicles off the road.

In

It is one of the duties of the Institutions to guarantee the free movement of goods, Pursuant to Regulation
(EC) No 2679/98 on the operation of the internal market as regards the free movement of goods between
Member States, the Member States have five days time assigned by the Commission to take the necessary
action to remove the obstacles.

Does the Commission not agree that the interval of five days is too long for an intervention mechanism?
The damage done to economic interests was, after all, already enormous right from day one of the so-
called (cid:145)obstruction(cid:146)

How will the Commission act on future occasions to intervene more quickly and more effectively to
counteract such (cid:145)obstruction(cid:146) of the free movement of goods between Member States?

The total damage caused to non-French transport undertakings by the blockade is estimated at around
€ 30 million. Only damage suffered on French territory will be eligible for compensation. But one
consequence of the information available to operators was that much of the damage was suffered outside
of French territory.

What action will the European Commission take in this connection?

How can compensation be paid for the damage suffered?

Is the Commission considering changes to Regulation (EC) No 2679/98 with a view to reducing the non-
intervention period significantly?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(20 March 2000)

The Honourable Member has drawn the Commission(cid:146)s attention to the serious economic impact on
Community businesses of the border blockades by French lorry drivers, in particular over recent weeks,
and to the Commission(cid:146)s powers of intervention, as per Regulation (EC) No 2679/98 (1).

The Commission would firstly like to stress that under Community law it is the responsibility of the
Member States to take all necessary and proportionate measures to restore the free movement of goods in
their territory when events of this nature occur.

Under Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 2679/98, the Commission may send a notification to the Member
State in which an obstacle is occurring, requesting the Member State to restore freedom of movement. This
notification stipulates the period within which the Member State must meet
its obligations under
Community law. This time period is determined by the Commission with reference to the urgency of the
case (Article 5(1)) and may be less than five days. Article 5(4), however, does stipulate that the Member
State must send an official reply to the Commission within a period of five working days after receipt of
the text.

The Commission believes, in view of the results of the exchanges of information (Article 3 of Regulation
(EC) No 2679/98) with the French authorities during the disputes of January and February 2000, that the
implementation of Regulation 2679/98 contributed greatly to the rapid lifting of the border blockades. The
Commission does not therefore currently intend to amend the Regulation in any way.

C 303 E/178

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

24.10.2000

As regards compensation for the damage suffered, the Commission wishes to inform the Honourable
Member that, during the above mentioned exchanges of information, the French authorities announced
their intention to take the necessary measures to allow any requests for compensation to be lodged at a
later date, as per Article L.2216-3 of the General Code for local authorities.

In this regard, the Commission would like to draw the Honourable Member(cid:146)s attention to the fact that, in
accordance with the case law of the Court of Justice, Member States are responsible for compensating
damage suffered by economic operators as a result of infringements of Community law for which the
Member States are held to be responsible. The Commission also believes that this right to compensation
should not be limited only to material damage suffered on French territory. Such an interpretation would
call into question Member States(cid:146) fundamental responsibility for infringements of Community law, which
ensures the full effectiveness of Community legislation and the effective protection of the rights recognised
therein.

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 2679/98 of 7 December 1998 on the functioning of the internal market in relation to

the free movement of goods among the Member States, OJ L 337, 12.12.1998.

(2000/C 303 E/200)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0339/00

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(14 February 2000)

Subject: Infringement of provisions of Directive 89/391/EEC on the introduction of measures to encourage

improvements in the safety and health of workers

framework Directive 89/391/EEC (1) on the introduction of measures to encourage
Article 4(2) of
improvements in the safety and health of workers states that (cid:145)Member States shall ensure adequate controls
and supervision(cid:146). In view of numerous allegations that Member States are failing to comply with the
directive and ensure that it is properly implemented, what measures will the Commission take to ensure
that Member States do in fact ensure adequate controls and supervision in accordance with the directive?
What
information does the Commission have concerning monitoring procedures and the penalties
imposed by the national authorities on companies which fail to comply with the provisions of Directive
89/391/EEC?

(1) OJ L 183, 29.6.1989, p. 1.

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(28 March 2000)

The Commission shares the Honourable Member(cid:146)s opinion in attaching particular importance to the
effective application in all Member States of the national provisions implementing Council Directive 89/
391/EEC of 12 June 1989 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and
health of workers at work.

In this context and in accordance with Article 4(2) of Framework Directive 89/391/EEC, any practical
breach of the national provisions implementing this directive must be brought to the attention of the
national authorities, who must organise and conduct the necessary inspections and controls to ensure
correct application of the measures.

If specific data should reach the Commission, showing that national administrations have failed in their
obligations in this respect, the Commission would take appropriate action, notably by opening infringe-
ment proceedings under Article 226 (ex Article 169) of the EC Treaty, if required by the results of the
investigation of the specific case.

With regard to figures relating to monitoring procedures and penalties imposed by the national authorities
the Commission is currently
on companies which infringe the provisions of Directive 89/391/EEC,
collecting this information from the national
the
Commission will send it directly to the Honourable Member and to the Parliament(cid:146)s Secretariat.

labour inspectorates. As soon as it

is available,