WRITTEN QUESTION P-0810/00 by Pasqualina Napoletano (PSE) to the Commission. Situation of dentists in Italy.
Date: 2000-03-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Italy, dentist, national implementing measure, occupational status, recognition of diplomas, recognition of vocational training qualifications

21.11.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 330 E/215

within the Community (1) provides that (cid:145)A worker who is a national of a Member State may not, in the
territory of another Member State, be treated differently from national workers by reason of his nationality
in respect of any conditions of employment and work, in particular as regards remuneration, dismissal,
and should he become unemployed, reinstatement or re-employment(cid:146).

According to the information available to the Commission, the protection against individual dismissals in
Belgium depends, in some cases, on the earnings of the individual employee. For employees above a
certain earnings ceiling the protection against dismissal is agreed in the individual contract of employment.

(1) OJ L 257, 19.10.1968.

(2000/C 330 E/250)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0809/00

by Harlem DØsir (PSE) to the Commission

(10 March 2000)

Subject: Condemnation by the WTO(cid:146)s body of appeal of the tax treatment of foreign sales corporations

(FSCs) in the USA

On 24 February 2000 the WTO(cid:146)s body of appeal published its report on the tax treatment of foreign sales
corporations (FSCs) in the USA. This report upholds the condemnation of the tax arrangements under
which some 50 % of American exports benefit from a tax refund which is tantamount to an export subsidy
totalling some $ US 4 billion annually. Although European companies are not the only ones affected, they
are among those hardest hit.

Will the Commission say why, having condemned these practices, the WTO has not fixed the amount of
compensation due to the European Union and why the Commission itself which is responsible for
protecting the Union(cid:146)s commercial interests has failed to take any action vis-(cid:224)-vis the United States to
obtain compensation, bearing in mind that the latter is continuing to take retaliatory measures against the
European Union over bananas and beef treated with hormones and the WTO itself has acknowledged that
the commercial losses incurred by the EU are far higher?

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(30 March 2000)

Under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling on Foreign Sales Corporations (FSC), the United States
have until 1 October 2000 to bring their legislation into line with the conclusions of the panel and the
appelate body. If, at that date, the United States have not abolished the FSC status or amended it so as to
bring it into line with WTO regulations, the Community will be able to exercise its rights as laid down in
article 22 of the memorandum on dispute settlement, and either obtain compensation from the United
States, or suspend equivalent concessions, as the United States themselves have done in the cases of
hormone-treated beef and bananas.

(2000/C 330 E/251)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0810/00

by Pasqualina Napoletano (PSE) to the Commission

(10 March 2000)

Subject: Situation of dentists in Italy

In 1985 Italy transposed the 1978 EU directive on dentistry by means of Law 409/85, which was to apply,
inter alia, to graduates in medicine who had registered at university prior to 28/1/1980. This gab between
1978 and 1985 meant that thousands of young people took up medical studies after 1980 with the
to do so by the 1985 law
intention of becoming dentists and were retroactively denied the right

C 330 E/216

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

21.11.2000

transposing the directive. The rights of these young medical graduates who were working as dentists were
reinstated by means of Law 471/88, which was challenged by the European Court of Justice following an
appeal. On 8 October 1998 the Italian Government approved a legislative decree requiring dentists who
were registered at university between 1980 and 1985 to sit an aptitude test as a precondition for
continuing to work as dentists despite the fact that they had already been active in the profession for
10 years.

The dentists in question feel that they are being unjustly penalised for Italy(cid:146)s failure to transpose the
directive on time.

Replying to a question put to the Commission in November 1998, Commissioner Monti stated on
14 January 1999 that the aptitude test requirement had not been imposed by the Commission, but was
the result of negotiations between the Commission and the Italian authorities.

Failure to pass the test leads to automatic exclusion from the dentists(cid:146) register for qualified dentists who
have been practising for more than ten years.

1. Would the Commission have any objections to tackling the problem facing these dentists by
organising training and refresher courses without any selective final examination (a procedure applied to
other professional persons, such as psychotherapists and lawyers (cid:129) Law 93/16 (cid:129) and general practitioners
(cid:129) Law 277/91)?

2. More generally, does the Commission not agree that the rights of qualified dentists who have been
practising for more than ten years should be properly protected?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(3 April 2000)

As stated in the reply to Mrs Muscardini(cid:146)s written question E-3352/98 (1), which was quoted by the
Honourable Member, the aptitude test as a means of recognising those medical graduates called into
question by the Court of Justice judgment of 1 June 1995 (2) was the result of negotiations between the
Commission and the Italian authorities, held at
In the absence of such
negotiations, and on the basis of Article 228 (ex Article 171) of the EC Treaty, Italy would have had to
take all necessary measures to comply with the above judgment and, as a result, would have had simply to
withdraw the licence to practise dentistry from all those involved.

the request of

the latter.

The Commission has agreed to authorise the medical graduates concerned to practise dentistry (cid:129) notably
on the basis of an aptitude test (cid:129) and has presented a proposal to amend to this effect Directive 78/686/
EEC on the mutual recognition of dentists(cid:146) qualifications (3) in view of the proposal, as part of the SLIM
initiative, for a European Parliament and Council Directive of 2 December 1997 (4). This proposal is being
discussed by the European Parliament and the Council under the codecision procedure. This will allow
these medical graduates to retain the right to practise dentistry.

(1) OJ C 182, 28.6.1999.
(2) European Court Reports 1995, page I-1319.
(3) OJ C 233, 24.8.1978.
(4) OJ C 28, 28.1.1998.

(2000/C 330 E/252)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0828/00

by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission

(10 March 2000)

Subject: Television set fire safety

Is the Commission aware that a recent report from the Swedish National Testing and Research Institute
allegedly shows that, as a result of the lowering of fire safety levels for TV set enclosures during the 1990s,
televisions sold in Europe pose a greater fire risk than those sold in the United States?