WRITTEN QUESTION E-0611/00 by Raffaele Costa (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Quarterly calculation of bank interest payable by account-holders.
Date: 2000-03-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Italy, bank charges, consumer protection

21.11.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 330 E/191

(2000/C 330 E/219)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0611/00

by Raffaele Costa (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(3 March 2000)

Subject: Quarterly calculation of bank interest payable by account-holders

Does the European Union consider it admissible that up until July 2000, Italy will continue to tolerate
(i.e. consider legal) (cid:145)anatocisms(cid:146), i.e. the quarterly calculation of interest payable by account-holders (be
they private individuals or companies), while the interest payable by banks is calculated on an annual
basis?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(7 April 2000)

In its reply to Written Question No 0532/00, the Commission pointed out that under Article 4 of the
EC Treaty the Community(cid:146)s economic policy is based on the internal market and is conducted in
accordance with the principles of an open market economy with free competition. Only by adhering to
this principle is it possible to achieve an optimum allocation of economic resources in the interests of both
firms and consumers. In this connection, the Commission observed that, in its view, it was neither possible
nor expedient to intervene regarding the interest rates applied by credit institutions. This also applies to
methods of calculating interest payable; it is up to each credit institution to offer services to clients in the
light of its assessment of the market and the associated risks, and this, of course, in compliance with the
rules on competition and transparency in financial transactions.

(2000/C 330 E/220)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0613/00

by Jan Mulder (ELDR) to the Commission

(3 March 2000)

Subject: Vaccination against IBR in the European Union

Thousands of Dutch farmers are suffering losses on account of an unknown cattle disease ((cid:145)slijters(cid:146)). It is
suspected that
IBR (Infectious Bovine
Rhinotracheitis).

this disease may be caused by a defective vaccine against

1.

Does the Commission have any view about the causes of these phenomena?

Are similar losses occurring elsewhere in the Union and if so, what precautions has the Commission

2.
taken on this account?

Has the Commission instituted a special inquiry or taken any measures with regard to IBR vaccines

3.
in order to prevent a recurrence of the problem?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(25 April 2000)

The Commission has been informed by the Dutch authorities about the disease occurring in dairy cattle
farms in the Netherlands.

These authorities state that in a number of dairy cattle farms emaciation of milking cows has been
reported. Investigations have been carried out to identify the precise causes of this disease. The results of
these investigations suggest that in some farms the symptoms appeared after the use of a vaccine against
infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), which was contaminated with bovine viral diarrhea virus. This is a
well-known virus of ruminants widespread in most countries in the world, for which there is no evidence