WRITTEN QUESTION E-0507/00 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission. Measurement of regional living standards.
Date: 2000-02-28
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: economic analysis, gross domestic product, gross regional product, region, standard of living, statistical method

21.11.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 330 E/177

Moreover, the Secretary-General has also set up a Task Force, which offers temporary back-up from
officials who are provisionally seconded away from their regular duties in order to cope with any non-
routine and exceptional needs of the Institution, such as IGCs or negotiations on successive enlargements.

The General Secretariat of the Council sets great store by there being a degree of flexibility with regard to
redeployment in order to be able to be able to deal with new and urgent matters whenever necessary.

(2000/C 330 E/202)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0506/00

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(28 February 2000)

Subject: Use of intelligence services to gather information about commercial activities

In the Commission(cid:146)s view, would the use of intelligence services by Member States to gather information
about the commercial activities of companies from another Member State constitute a legitimate state aid?
Does it have any evidence that any Member States are directing their intelligence efforts in this way? Is it
concerned about reports that Member States are using intelligence services in this way (e.g. Sunday Times,
23 January 2000)?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(29 March 2000)

So far, the Commission does not have any evidence of the use by Member States of intelligence services to
gather sensitive commercial
information from companies of other Member States. Whatever the legal
qualification of these alleged practices, the Commission will of course never support them. As regards the
legal instruments to combat these alleged practices, the Commission does not consider that the state aid
provisions constitute the most appropriate solution. This kind of practice should normally be dealt with at
national level by penal jurisdictions.

(2000/C 330 E/203)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0507/00

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(28 February 2000)

Subject: Measurement of regional living standards

Further to the answer to Written Question E-2223/99 (1) in which the Commission detailed real per capita
gross domestic product and real per capita gross regional product figures for the Union, is it convinced
that these figures represent the best guide to regional living standards that is available? Is there a means of
taking into account the income earned in one region by a resident of another (cid:129) for example, a commuter
from South East England working in London (cid:129) to produce series based on personal incomes rather than
gross regional product?

(1) OJ C 203 E, 18.7.2000, p. 150.

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(3 April 2000)

Gross domestic product (GDP) is the value of the production generated by resident production units. The
production value is equal to the sum of the incomes (salaries, rents and profits) generated by the
production activity. Regional GDP is therefore an overall indicator of the production activity in a region
and is well suited to measuring a region(cid:146)s level of economic development.

C 330 E/178

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

21.11.2000

However,
difference results from taxes and transfers.
production, while disposable income should be estimated for the households(cid:146) place of residence.

it is true that income from production is not the same as citizens(cid:146) disposable income: the
the place of

In addition, regional GDP is estimated at

level.
The Commission does not yet have information on households(cid:146) disposable income at regional
However, as part of the 1995 revision of the European System of Accounts (ESA), methodological
principles for the drawing up of regional household accounts have been established. This work, carried
out with the assistance of the national statistical institutes, will produce the first data in this area from
2001. The data will be published regularly and will provide users with an additional indicator to measure
regional differences.

(2000/C 330 E/204)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0509/00

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(28 February 2000)

Subject: Assessment of inflation differentials

In the answer to Written Question E-2228/99 (1) given by Mr Solbes Mira on 20 December 1999, the
Commission says that it will assess inflation differentials in view of the overall economic situation in order
to avoid any harmful divergence in inflation. Given that it also states that (cid:145)it would be fraught with
difficulty to provide a quantitative assessment of the scope for sustained inflation differentials across the
euro area(cid:146), how does it propose to (cid:145)assess(cid:146) such inflation differentials? Would the Commission(cid:146)s proposed
assessment be more credible if it were based on a study of this issue ex ante rather than ex post? Will the
Commission publish such a study albeit with any necessary emphasis on the uncertainties involved in the
assumption?

(1) OJ C 219 E, 1.8.2000, p. 127.

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(27 March 2000)

The Commission and the Council constantly monitor economic developments in the euro area and in each
of the Member States. This monitoring takes place inter alia in official documents, such as the annual
review of
the Community economy, and in surveillance discussions in the economic and financial
committee, the economic policy committee, the Euro-11 group and the Ecofin Council. Monitoring of
inflation differences and cyclical divergence across the euro area is a crucial aspect of economic
surveillance.

The Commission recognises that sustained inflation differentials may occur in the Economic and monetary
union (EMU). Recent empirical studies based on the Balassa-Samuelson framework are useful in stressing
this fact and they form an important background element in the assessment of actual inflation develop-
ments. Nevertheless, a review of the assumptions underlying these numerical simulations suggests that it is
fraught with difficulty to quantify ex ante the scope for sustained inflation differentials across the euro
area. This cannot be done with any great confidence.

The Commission does not apply a static framework for assessing inflation differences across EMU and it
will not do so in future. Rather, a variety of
factors which may justify differences in economic
performances have to be considered. The Commission currently assesses cyclical divergence and inflation
differences on the basis of a wide range of indicators, including output gaps, economic growth, wages, unit
labour costs, inflation, price movements for traded and on-traded goods, and movements in real exchange
rates relative to long-run purchasing power parity (PPP)-levels.