WRITTEN QUESTION P-1413/00 by Carlos Coelho (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Internal market: validity of certificates of origin in another Member State.
Date: 2000-05-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Community certification, Italy, Portugal, infringement of EU law, piping

C 46 E/190

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.2.2001

A list of all the main products developed can be found in the annex to the Commission Communication
on communications strategy in the last phases of the completion of EMU (1), approved on 2 February
2000.

(1) COM(2000) 57 final.

(2001/C 46 E/225)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1413/00

by Carlos Coelho (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(3 May 2000)

Subject: Internal market: validity of certificates of origin in another Member State

For the purposes of a civil construction project currently under way in Lisbon, the Portuguese company
Brimexo decided to install a particular type of tube for conducting hot and cold water, originating in Italy.
The tube used is made of (cid:145)reticulated polycthylene PE-X(cid:146) and is manufactured by Unidelta IdrosanitÆria
Savallesse SPA. The brand name is Ultrapex; the tube is accompanied by a certificate of origin issued by
the Italian Institute of Plastics (the official Italian certifying authority).

The Portuguese authority (EPAL) responsible for approving the project decided to withhold its approval, on
the grounds that this tube had not been certified by the National Civil Engineering Laboratory. In its turn,
the Laboratory said that the correct process concerning the tube was not certification but approval, under
Article 17 of Portuguese Decree-Law 38/382 of 7 August 1951.

Can the Commission state whether this decision is compatible with the internal market, given that it
implies that products received on the market of a Member State (in this case, a tube for conducting hot
and cold water) have to be certified by the Member State in which they are located (notably, here, under a
decree-law dating from 1951), or whether, in fact, it is sufficient that a product has been certified by the
relevant authority in its Member State of origin? Is the principle of mutual recognition being duly
respected? Is this decision compatible with the work which the Commission has undertaken in this area?
Is it compatible with European Court of Justice case-law?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(5 June 2000)

The facts related by the Honourable Member agree with those given in a complaint referred to the
Commission.

The Commission is investigating this complaint as a matter of urgency in the light of the principle of
mutual recognition, as defined by the European Court of Justice(cid:146)s case law (see in particular the ruling of
20 February 1979, Rewe, known as (cid:145)Cassis de Dijon(cid:146)). This principle, as cited in the Commission
communications of 15 June 1989, on a global approach to certification and testing (1), and of 16 June
1999, on mutual recognition in the context of the follow-up to the action plan for the single market (2),
must be implemented by the national authorities at several
In terms of the rules of design,
manufacture and operation of products lawfully produced or marketed in another Member State, the
Member State of destination must accept products that meet technical specifications which, while different
from those applied at national level, nevertheless allow an equivalent level of health and safety. In terms of
procedures to assess product conformity with certain fundamental requirements, the Member State of
destination must accept the documents provided by the operators as issued by the relevant bodies which
have been accredited by the Member State where they were produced; further checks are not justified if the
results of the checks carried out in the Member State of origin meet the requirements of the Member State
of destination. In terms of testing and analysis, the Member State of destination must take into account the
analysis and testing carried out in another Member State, where these are equivalent to those it requires
itself, and must not require them to be repeated. Finally, the national authorities implement systems to
assess the bodies responsible for testing and certification of products.

levels.

13.2.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 46 E/191

By investigating the complaint, the Commission will have access to all the information it needs in order to
determine whether the principle of mutual recognition has been observed in this case. If, on concluding
this investigation, the Commission considers the principle in question to have been breached, it will not
hesitate to initiate infringement proceedings.

(1) OJ C 267, 19.10.1989.
(2) COM(1999) 299 final.

(2001/C 46 E/226)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1418/00

by Bill Miller (PSE) to the Commission

(5 May 2000)

Subject: Import penetration

Would the Commission list percentage import penetration within each Member State since 1988, in the
following areas:

(cid:129) high research-intensity goods;

(cid:129) medium research-intensity goods;

(cid:129) low research-intensity goods?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(27 June 2000)

The Commission collects and stores external trade data using the combined nomenclature, a classification
of goods for tariff and statistical purposes. Using correspondence tables, the data can be analysed using
several other nomenclatures, such as the standard international trade classification or the Community
production statistics. It does not however have an analysis of products by research intensity, which would
allow the data requested to be provided. The Commission is working on an analysis of trade in high
technology products, using correspondence tables drawn up by the Organisation for economic cooperation
and development.

(2001/C 46 E/227)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1419/00

by Bill Miller (PSE) to the Commission

(5 May 2000)

Subject: Fixed investment

Would the Commission list the latest percentage share of gross domestic product each Member State is
spending on fixed investment?