WRITTEN QUESTION E-0928/00 by Malcolm Harbour (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Publication of business accounts.
Date: 2000-03-25
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU Member State, Germany, United Kingdom, common commercial policy, infringement of EU law, publication of accounts, restriction on competition

28.12.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 374 E/187

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(12 May 2000)

The non-profit-making organisation mentioned by the Honourable Member received, under the
1.
(cid:145)young people(cid:146) partnership programme, assistance of € 30 000 (10 % of
for the co-
production of the cassette (cid:145)The euro, it(cid:146)s child(cid:146)s play(cid:146). At the initiative of the Parliament and the Economic
and Social Committee, and in the presence of the President of the Parliament, the Chairman of the
Economic and Social Committee and a member of the Commission, a presentation to the press was
organised. This event was very well received, including by the Anglo-Saxon press.

the total cost)

Given the success of this video production and in order to meet the many requests from associations and
the educational world, in 1997 the Commission purchased 8 200 cassettes in various language versions for
a total amount of € 41 000. They are distributed upon request only. Several Member States of the euro
zone have incorporated this tool into the official teaching materials distributed in the educational networks
to prepare teachers and pupils for the introduction of the euro into the everyday life of each citizen.

In order to allow the Honourable Member to appreciate herself the purely educational nature of this video,
a copy is being sent to her directly and to the Secretariat-General of the Parliament.

2.
Under the Prince programme, a budget heading created at the initiative of the Parliament in order to
finance information and communication measures on the euro, the Commission developed a programme
of partnership with civil society, organised on the basis of a call for proposals. This is the context in which
transnational projects targeted at school and youth circles have been selected.

For 1999, seven information projects about the euro for young people were selected for a total amount of
€ 519 166. Over the past five years, the Commission has counted eleven different projects for an amount
of € 767 275. The beneficiaries of this assistance are all non-profit-making associations, the list of which is
being sent to the Honourable Member and to the Secretariat-General of the Parliament.

No direct measures among children have been conducted in the United Kingdom over the past

3.
twelve months.

4.
The authorities of the Member States that belong to the euro zone decide on the priority target
groups within the framework of the bilateral agreements signed with the Commission and the Parliament.
The educational world and young people are among the priority target groups. This objective is clearly
stated in the communication concerning the communication strategy to be adopted in the final stages of
the introduction of economic and monetary union, which was approved by the Commission in
early February 2000 (1). The draft report on the euro communication strategy, which is currently being
drafted and whose rapporteur is the Honourable Member Mr Karas, also contains a very strong focus in
this area, stating that young people, and especially school pupils, form a very precious target group
because many of them are open about the euro and are therefore a well-defined target group.

To date, the Commission has signed no bilateral agreements on the euro with the United Kingdom. It

5.
is nevertheless willing to respond to any request for information that it may receive.

(1) COM(2000) 57 final.

(2000/C 374 E/220)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0928/00

by Malcolm Harbour (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(25 March 2000)

Subject: Publication of business accounts

In the United Kingdom a private limited company is required by law each year to publish its accounts and
file them so that they are readily available to anyone who wishes to see them. As a result, its competitors
are able to gain valuable commercial information on which to plan their marketing strategy.

C 374 E/188

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

28.12.2000

In Germany, the law also states that a private company or partnership is required to publish its accounts,
but if it does not, it is subject to a small fine. It appears that many German companies prefer to pay the
fine and not publish their accounts, because they do not wish to give their competitors a commercial
advantage.

Can the Commission please advise:

1. Whether it considers this discrepancy in national legislation to contravene internal market principles,

since it provides an unfair competitive advantage to certain categories of company?

2. Whether the competitive disadvantage of UK private companies is reflected in other countries, apart

from Germany?

3.

If the answer to 1 is affirmative, what action it proposes to take to address the problem?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(14 April 2000)

The Commission does view as a breach of internal market principles the failure by national authorities to
ensure the publication of annual accounts by limited companies (as required by the First Council Directive
68/151/EEC of 9 March 1968 on co-ordination of safeguards which, for the protection of the interests of
members and others, are required by Member States of companies within the meaning of the second
paragraph of Article 58 of the Treaty, with a view to making such safeguards equivalent throughout the
Community (1) and Fourth Council Directive 78/660/EEC of 25 July 1978 on Article 54(3)(g) of the Treaty
on the annual accounts of certain types of companies (2)).

For this reason,
infringement proceedings were launched against Germany in relation to its failure to
impose appropriate sanctions against companies which fail to file their annual accounts as required by
Articles 2(1)(f), 3 and 6 of Council Directive 68/151/EEC and Article 47(1) of Council Directive 78/660/
EEC.

The Court of justice gave a judgement in the Commission(cid:146)s favour on the 28 September 1998 (Case C-191/
95) stating that (cid:145)(cid:133) by failing to provide for appropriate penalties in cases where companies limited by
shares fail to effect compulsory disclosure of their annual accounts as prescribed, in particular, by Articles
2(1)(f), 3 and 6 of the First Directive, in conjunction with Article 47(1) of the Fourth Directive, the Federal
Republic of Germany has failed to fulfil its obligations under those directives(cid:146). Consequently, Germany is
currently adopting legislation which will rectify the situation.

The Commission is not aware of this problem existing in any other Member State.

(1) OJ L 65, 14.3.1968.
(2) OJ L 222, 14.8.1978.

(2000/C 374 E/221)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0931/00

by Eija-Riitta Korhola (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(22 March 2000)

Subject: Participation of research partners from developing countries in environmental research pro-

grammes funded by the EU

The key to the development of developing countries is for those countries themselves to have the
opportunity to participate in development work, i.e. both in defining problems and in seeking solutions
to them. Hitherto the EU has not, on the whole, pursued this approach with regard to projects in the field
of science and technology which relate to developing countries.