WRITTEN QUESTION E-1526/00 by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. World-wide acceleration of the liberalisation of the textile sector.
Date: 2000-05-12
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: clothing industry, impact study, international negotiations, liberalisation of trade, tariff negotiations, textile industry

C 81 E/52

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.3.2001

The Commission is asked in particular to indicate what legal personality (private individual, company,
joint-stock company, etc) must be enjoyed by the purchaser, and what ceilings are applicable to such land
purchases? The Commission is also asked to indicate whether the current legal situation in Bulgaria and
Romania in this connection is comparable with that in the EU Member States, or if approximations will
still be required in this connection as part of the accession process before the legislation applicable in
those two countries becomes compatible with EU law?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(20 June 2000)

Community companies established in Bulgaria,
including those with 100 % foreign participation are
entitled to buy real estate including agricultural land for business purposes. Foreign individuals and legal
entities may also acquire buildings and limited property rights on Bulgarian land, subject to authorisation
by the Bulgarian authorities. No ceilings apply to the value of the purchase. Any other acquisition of land
by foreigners is forbidden by the constitution.

According to the Romanian constitution, foreign citizens have no right to acquire land. In general, non-
residents (legal or natural) cannot buy real estate. According to Law No 18/1991 on land assets, (cid:145)those
individuals who are not Romanian citizens and are not domiciled in Romania as well as those legal entities
which have not Romanian nationality and have not their headquarters in Romania cannot acquire property
of any kind(cid:146). However, Community companies, established in Romania, can acquire land necessary for the
conduct of the economic activities for which they are established. No ceilings are applied to the value of
land purchases by Community companies.

The current legal situation on the acquisition of real estate is therefore not comparable with that in the
Member States and is not compatible with the acquis. To make the legislation compatible with the acquis,
by the time of accession, Romania and Bulgaria will have to grant national treatment to Community
citizens with regard to the purchase of land.

(2001/C 81 E/061)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1526/00

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(12 May 2000)

Subject: World-wide acceleration of the liberalisation of the textile sector

In view of reports that bilateral and multilateral negotiations are to be launched to speed up the world-
wide liberalisation of the trade in textiles and clothing, so that this objective is attained before the expiry in
2005 of the quotas provided for in the Marrakech accords of April 1994,

Will the Commission say:

1. What stage have these negotiations reached?

2. What steps are being taken to safeguard the interests of countries such as Portugal in which the textile
and clothing industries are very important, notably as regards employment and regional development?

3. What studies exist on the impact of the liberalisation of the textile trade in the European Union and
Portugal, notably as regards employment, the protection of small and medium-sized undertakings,
regional development, etc.?

13.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 81 E/53

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(15 June 2000)

At a discussion between the Commissioner responsible for trade and representatives of Euratex on
1.
14 April 2000 in Brussels on the Community(cid:146)s policy in the textiles and clothing sector, the Commission
agreed to explore the possibilities of achieving improved market access through bilateral negotiations, in
view of the expiry of quantitative restrictions under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Marrakech
agreements. These negotiations would seek improved and tangible market access for exports, in exchange
for possible quota increases or their elimination for certain supplier countries, and should be mutually
beneficial for both supplier countries and the Community. In this context, the Commission will be putting
forward a proposal for a mandate for negotiations to enable it to enter into discussions with certain third
countries.

These negotiations will aim at

improving export opportunities to third countries from which
2.
European industry (cid:129) including Portugal(cid:146)s industry (cid:129) should benefit.
Improved market access for
Community exports aims at outweighing any adverse impact of increased import possibilities to the
Community market for a limited number of countries. All quotas will be eliminated by the year 2005, and
any improvement that could be obtained from third countries as a result of such negotiations will be
permanent even after the expiry of the quotas.

3.
In 1995 an examination by the Commission of the impact of trade liberalisation after the Marrakech
agreements concluded that the impact of liberalisation at that stage was fairly limited. For a detailed
analysis of the impact of trade liberalisation, the Honourable Member may refer to the Commission(cid:146)s
communication on the impact of international developments on the Community(cid:146)s textile and clothing
sector (1).

(1) COM(95) 447 final.

(2001/C 81 E/062)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1552/00

by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Commission

(18 May 2000)

Subject: Contradictory results produced by the various methods of calculating purchasing power parities

(PPPs)

In its reply to written question E-0276/00 (1) the Commission confirmed that the various methods of
calculating PPPs produce contradictory results with regard to relative price levels in different countries and
put forward a number of explanations for those differences.

if different
Even if these explanations are valid, they in no way detract from the conclusion that,
applications of PPPs made by equally credible institutions produce contradictory results, it is not acceptable
to apply PPPs for the purposes for which the Commission has used them in the past.

As regards the explanations given, it should be borne in mind that, in contrast to the impression given in
the reply, written question E-0276/00 did not refer to comparisons between GDP but only to comparisons
between consumer prices by Eurostat and the Wiesbaden institute.

However, the remarks made on rents in Portugal and Germany are highly interesting and provide an
objective basis on which to test Eurostat(cid:146)s results.

Is the Commission prepared to promote a rigorous and independent study of market housing prices in
Germany and Portugal and the influence of administrative factors on non-market prices in the two
countries?