WRITTEN QUESTION E-1548/00 by Jaime Valdivielso de Cué (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Internal market.
Date: 2000-05-18
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, bank charges, euro, single monetary policy

20.2.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 53 E/161

The ESDSC has been attached to the European marine and polar sciences board of the European science
foundation, 1 quai Lezay MarnØsia, F-67080 Strasbourg Cedex which could provide the Honourable
Member with more information such as current membership. According to information available to the
Commission, the SDSC has not yet met.

(2001/C 53 E/209)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1539/00

by Hanja Maij-Weggen (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(18 May 2000)

Subject: Arrests in Irian Jaya

Can the Commission confirm that nine Papuan leaders were arrested in Irian Jaya on 17 March 2000?

Is the Commission aware that the arrests were made on the grounds that those arrested had taken part in
certain events, although those events had been authorised by the authorities?

Is the Commission prepared to seek clarification from the Indonesian authorities as to the purpose of, the
grounds for and legal basis of the accusations?

Is it also prepared to seek clarification from the Indonesian authorities as to how these arrests fit in with
President Wahid(cid:146)s undertaking to initiate a political dialogue about the future of Irian Jaya?

What can the Commission do to help prevent an increase in tension between the people of Papua and the
Indonesian authorities?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf on the Commission

(8 June 2000)

The Commission is aware of the arrests of some Papua leaders in March 2000. According to reports, it is
not clear whether these arrests were made in connection with the demonstration to which the Honourable
Member refers.

this stage,

At
this matter has not been raised in the Common foreign and security policy (CFSP)
framework. However, the Union is keen to establish a political dialogue with Indonesia, which will touch
on the question of unrest in several Indonesian provinces and offer an occasion to discuss the situation in
Irian Jaya.

In the Commission(cid:146)s view, the Indonesian government is making praiseworthy efforts to give more
autonomy to the provinces and the districts. These efforts should help to overcome ethnic tensions in
Indonesia.

The Commission is intervening through its humanitarian aid office (ECHO) to mitigate the effects of these
tensions.

(2001/C 53 E/210)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1548/00

by Jaime Valdivielso de CuØ (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(18 May 2000)

Subject: Internal market

The Commission announced on 5 April 2000 that legal proceedings were being opened against banks in
four European Union countries (cid:129) Germany, France, Italy and Spain (cid:129) which are suspected of increasing
commission on the exchange of banknotes within the euro zone after the euro(cid:146)s entry into force.

C 53 E/162

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.2.2001

What steps will the Commission take to prevent such practices?

What mechanisms exist to compensate consumers?

When can we expect to see a (cid:145)single payment and exchange area(cid:146) in the European Union?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(30 June 2000)

The Honourable Member(cid:146)s question is based on an agency despatch released on 5 April 2000. The
Commission cannot confirm the information contained in the question.

In February 1999, the Commission conducted a number of inquiries at banks to check whether any
pricing agreements had been reached when the euro was introduced. The Member of the Commission
responsible for competition announced to a Parliamentary Committee in February 2000 that signs of an
agreement had been discovered and that proceedings would be initiated. At this stage in the procedure, it
is simply not possible to give any information on the Member States or bodies concerned.

In its communication on retail payments in the internal market (1), the Commission gave its ideas on the
gradual introduction of the single payments area, the objective being to make cross-border payments as
quick, cheap and secure as domestic payments. A considerable amount of work needs to be carried out on
the infrastructure to automate these payments and this will take time, but the Commission does expect
steady progress to be made, resulting in substantial improvements by 1 January 2002.

(1) COM(2000) 36 final (http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/fr/finances/payment/2k-108.htm).

(2001/C 53 E/211)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1554/00

by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Commission

(18 May 2000)

Subject: Comparison between the market value of products in the same monetary area

In its reply to Written Question E-0273/00 (1),
the Commission sets out detailed and interesting
considerations on comparisons between the market value of products within the same monetary area.
Leaving aside the major differences between an economic and monetary union and the use of a common
monetary standard (whether it be gold, silver, gold-standard pounds, gold-standard dollars or dollars), the
examples given by the Commission (a comparison between Argentina and the US and Belgium and
Luxembourg) are of interest in seeking to understand the issue.

Nevertheless, I would draw the Commission(cid:146)s attention to a number of other examples which are closer to
hand and indeed more significant. If we compare prices for equivalent accommodation in different parts of
Brussels in accordance with existing methods for recording statistical data, differences in market value of a
factor of 200, 300 or even 400 percentage points will quickly become apparent. Carrying out the same
exercise on a selection of every-day consumer goods (in particular fruit and vegetables, clothing and shoes)
in various parts of Brussels will also reveal extremely significant differences in market values.

In fact, if anyone were to devote themselves to comparing market values in the various parts of Brussels by
means of the methods and statistical techniques used by Eurostat to calculate PPPs for the various
countries, I am fully convinced that they would find variations which are just as or even more significant
than those found by Eurostat when comparing the various countries of the European Union.

Supposing an analysis of this kind concluded that the difference in market values between the richest and
least rich areas of Brussels stood at around 50 %, would the Commission consider the Brussels authorities
to be justified if they were to adjust the distribution of funds between the various areas of the city by the
same indicator?