WRITTEN QUESTION E-2455/00 by John McCartin (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Car pricing in Ireland and the EU.
Date: 2000-07-24
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU Member State, Ireland, assessment of prices, competence of the Member States, motor car, price disparity

C 81 E/202

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.3.2001

(2001/C 81 E/257)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2452/00

by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Freedom of movement for notaries within the EU

(24 July 2000)

Does the Commission regard the insistence by certain Member States that nationals of other EU States who
wish to practise as notaries must first take up the nationality of the country where they wish to work as an
infringement of the European Treaties and, if so, what steps have been taken to remedy the situation?

Answer by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(13 September 2000)

The nationality condition, which is required by some Member States for the profession of notary on the
basis of Article 45 of the EC Treaty (ex Article 55), raises some doubts as to its compatibility with the
article in question, even though there is little case law concerning the article (1). The Commission has
therefore approached the Member States. Portugal has repealed this requirement, whereas Spain and Italy
have indicated readiness to open the profession to nationals of other Member States. The lengthy and
reasoned replies from seven other Member States (cid:129) Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Luxem-
bourg and the Netherlands (cid:129) are being thoroughly examined, with the aim of taking the necessary
decisions without delay.

(1) See in particular the judgment in Case 2/74 (Reyners), concerning the profession of avocat. The judgments in
Cases 42/92, C-114/97 and C-355/98 concern professions involving even greater differences than the profession of
notary.

(2001/C 81 E/258)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2455/00

by John McCartin (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(24 July 2000)

Subject: Car pricing in Ireland and the EU

Is the Commission aware of the exorbitant cost of motor vehicles in Ireland by comparison with other
EU Member States and can it state how much of this price difference is due to government tax and how
much due to the failure of competition in the market?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(13 September 2000)

The current block exemption regulation Commission Regulation (EC) No 1475/95 of 28 June 1995 on the
application of Article 85(3) of the Treaty to certain categories of motor vehicle distribution and servicing
agreements (1) provides,
in Article 11, that the Commission regularly evaluates the application of this
Regulation, with a particular view on price differentials between the different Member States and on the
quality of service to final users. To this end, the Commission has, since 1993, monitored car price
differences in the Community in its biannual report on car prices. Article 11 also requires the Commission
to draw up a report on the evaluation of the Regulation before 31 December 2000. In this report, the
Commission will analyse the different factors leading to car price differentials.

In contrast to what has been observed by the Honourable Member, the Commission(cid:146)s regular reports on
car prices have not revealed that car prices before tax in Ireland are particularly high in comparison to
other Member States, except perhaps for certain models (2). In this respect, the Commission has found that

13.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 81 E/203

in Member States with a high taxation on car purchase, such as Ireland, prices before tax are relatively low.
With regard to prices after tax, it has to be noted that car purchase taxation has remained an issue on
which the Member States decide, as they have so far excluded this issue from Community actions
concerning fiscal harmonisation in the single market.

(1) OJ L 145, 29.6.1995.
(2) See for example the most recent press release IP/00/781 of 13 July 2000.

(2001/C 81 E/259)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2473/00

by Esko Sepp(cid:228)nen (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(12 July 2000)

Subject: Information or knowledge society?

In the English language versions of the Commission(cid:146)s documents the two terms (cid:145)information society(cid:146) and
(cid:145)knowledge society(cid:146) occur. In Finnish, both are translated by the same word (cid:145)tietoyhteiskunta(cid:146). It is not
possible to tell from the translation that different things are being referred to. Or does the Commission
consider that (cid:145)information(cid:146) is really the same as (cid:145)knowledge(cid:146)? If they are not, the translators have been
neglecting their duties.

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(31 July 2000)

The Honourable Member states that in Commission documents in Finnish, the English terms (cid:145)information
society(cid:146) and (cid:145)knowledge society(cid:146) have both been translated by the same Finnish word (cid:145)tietoyhteiskunta(cid:146). He
asks whether the Commission considers that (cid:145)information(cid:146) is really the same as (cid:145)knowledge(cid:146).

The Commission does not consider the concepts (cid:145)information(cid:146) and (cid:145)knowledge(cid:146) as synonymous, nor are
they treated as such in Finnish translations of Commission documents.

An analysis of the English and Finnish versions of several hundred Commission documents in which these
terms occur, reveals no case where the two terms have been treated as synonymous.

In almost all cases (cid:145)information society(cid:146) has been translated into Finnish as (cid:145)tietoyhteiskunta(cid:146) and (cid:145)knowl-
edge society(cid:146) as (cid:145)osaamisyhteiskunta(cid:146). This is also the agreed current standard for translating these words
into Finnish in Commission documents. The practice may be slightly different in other Community
institutions.

In a few older Commission documents, other Finnish translations may have been used inadvertently, but
the two terms have never been treated as synonymous.

If the Honourable Member has found Commission documents where the contrary is true, they are
exceptional and not representative of the Commission(cid:146)s current translation practice.