WRITTEN QUESTION E-2429/00 by Gorka Knörr Borràs (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. EU enlargement and the regions.
Date: 2000-07-18
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Parliament, Spain, competence of the Member States, composition of parliament, enlargement of the Union, region-EU relationship

22.5.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 151 E/5

The Directive stipulates that, unless otherwise specified, all charges must be borne by the originator and
yet in 25 % of cases the beneficiary is charged. It also states that the transfer must take place within six
days. However, in just over 4 % of cases this deadline was not met. Consequently, on 22 June 2000 at a
meeting of Member States(cid:146) legal experts held to discuss application of the relevant Community directives,
the Commission pointed out that the Member States were responsible for applying Community directives
law. The Member States undertook to prepare
correctly once they had been transposed into national
detailed reports on how the rules on double charging and the deadline for completing transactions were
being implemented.

The Commission has no intention of setting the level of charges. As it explained in its communication of
31 January 2000 on retail payments in the internal market (1), the banks must improve the charging
structures for small-value cross-border transfers. Numerous studies are under way into such matters as the
international bank account number (IBAN) and the international payment instruction (IPI). The Commis-
sion hopes to see a substantial improvement in the situation by 1 January 2002.

(1) COM(2000) 36 final.

(2001/C 151 E/006)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2429/00

by Gorka Kn(cid:246)rr Borr(cid:224)s (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(18 July 2000)

Subject: EU enlargement and the regions

In the first paragraph of its reply to Written Question E-1178/00 (1) on the same subject, the Commission
refers back to its reply to a question by Mrs Evans (H-666/99) (2). As the Commission rightly points out,
Article 190 (2) of the EC Treaty states that (cid:145)(cid:133) each Member State must ensure appropriate representation
of the peoples of the States brought together in the Community(cid:146).

Does the Commission consider that (cid:145)appropriate(cid:146) representation is possible in view of the negotiations
currently under way aimed at reducing Spain(cid:146)s representation from 64 to 46 seats, bearing in mind the
single-constituency system used in Spain for elections to the European Parliament?

(1) OJ C 46 E, 13.2.2001, p. 139.
(2) Written reply of 16 November 1999.

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(17 October 2000)

The Commission points out that the issue of parliamentary representation was settled at Amsterdam
(Article 189 EC), where the maximum number of Members of Parliament was set at seven hundred.

In its Resolution of 13 April on the Intergovernmental Conference (Dimitrakopouloulos/Leinen Report),
Parliament establishes the criteria for distributing seats when enlargement takes place. The Commission can
only abide by Parliament(cid:146)s recommendations. It obviously cannot prejudge the positions that Member States
may take during the IGC.

In addition, the electoral system in each Member State is currently governed by national legislation.