WRITTEN QUESTION P-2543/00 by Adriana Poli Bortone (UEN) to the Commission. Television programme Report.
Date: 2000-07-25
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Commission, FAO, World Trade Organisation, extra-EU trade, interest group

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 103 E/177

Consequently, the Commission endorses the report and will respond to the main challenges it raises in the
fields falling within Community competence. On that last point, it has to be recalled that many pieces of
Community legislation as well as coordinated Community activity in various international fora contribute
either directly or indirectly to the improvement of the marine environment protection.

(2001/C 103 E/202)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2539/00

by William Newton Dunn (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(28 July 2000)

Subject: Commission(cid:146)s review of active substances in herbicides and pesticides

A small business in the English region which I represent manufactures and sells and environmentally-
friendly weedkiller. They wrote to me to complain that they have been obliged to participate in the EU(cid:146)s
review. A coordinating authority in Germany has demanded € 5000, otherwise their product must be
taken off the market. Later they will be informed by the German authority which Member State will
conduct the review of their product but they have no choice in the matter. If it is Greece, they will be
charged a further € 90 000, if it is the United Kingdom the extra charge will be € 180 000, if it is Sweden
it will be nearly € 500 000. Are these facts correct? If so, why are the charges so different across different
EU states? Why is there so little concern for a small growing business which is likely to be forced out of
business by these unfair and apparently ridiculous rules?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(4 October 2000)

Whilst the Commission does not want to penalise small innovative enterprises operating in the field of
plant protection, it has, in Council Directive 91/414/EEC of 15 July 1991 concerning the placing of plant
protection products on the market (1), a responsibility to review the safety of all plant protection products,
in a timely and efficient manner, so as to ensure the highest level of human and environmental safety.

It is true that there is a high cost in carrying out a review for a plant protection product. Nevertheless this
high cost should be seen against a background of highly complex work, demanding teams of experts to
assess, in a careful and professional way, all the possible impacts which plant protection products could
have.

As to the amounts charged in the different Member States for doing this work, it is true that the cost
structures are not the same. It is therefore not possible to completely harmonise the amount of such fees.
Nevertheless, the amount of the fee has to be established in a transparent way and has to correspond to
the real cost of the examination.

The Commission is currently collecting information on the range of fees charged by the Member States.

(1) OJ L 230, 19.8.1991.

(2001/C 103 E/203)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2543/00

by Adriana Poli Bortone (UEN) to the Commission

(25 July 2000)

Subject: Television programme (cid:145)Report(cid:146)

On 13 June 2000 a television programme entitled (cid:145)Report(cid:146) was broadcast by RAI 3 in Italy containing
disturbing revelations about the WTO and its underhand dealings with the Commission and the FAO.

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Dr Susan George, Director of the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam, even went so far as to state during
the programme that (cid:145)the Commission is in the service of multinationals and the lobbies representing them(cid:146).

In this connection, countless secret documents were shown revealing the existence of an organisation
known as the Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TABD), to which the following multinationals belong:
Siemens, Monsanto, Ford, La Roche, Ericsson, Philips, Deutsche Telekom, Boeing, Michelin, Goodyear,
Glaxo, Time Warner, Cofide&Cir and America on Line. A whole series of documents were shown revealing
that the TABD regularly brings pressure to bear on the Commission to secure the adoption of rules which
are to its liking in various sectors ranging from the agri-foodstuffs industry to mobile telephones.

Reference was also made in the same programme to another lobbying organisation called the Business
Investment Network, to which FIAT and Pirelli allegedly belong. The programme also alleged that FAO
scientists are in the pay of major multinationals in the agri-foodstuffs sector. The programme also revealed
the existence of a sophisticated computerised system known as SIS (Service Information System), which is
apparently used by the EC to consult multinationals directly in order to agree on the drafting of
regulations in various areas (it is alleged that this system was used for the adoption by the EU of
Regulations (EC) 49/2000 (1) and 50/2000 (2) concerning the marketing of GMO.

Does the Commission intend to investigate the disturbing allegations contained in this programme so as to
safeguard the reputation of the Community institutions and the other international organisations con-
cerned?

(1) OJ L 6, 11.1.2000, p. 13.
(2) OJ L 6, 11.1.2000, p. 15.

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(12 October 2000)

The Honourable Member refers to allegations and insinuations apparently contained in a television
broadcast. Honourable Members familiar with trade matters will no doubt be astonished at the way in
which legitimate activity can be made to appear sinister and well-known bodies can be presented as
clandestine or underhand.

The Trans-Atlantic business dialogue (TABD) to which the broadcast in question apparently referred, is one
of a number of organisations, including the Trans-Atlantic consumer dialogue (TACD), the Trans-Atlantic
labour dialogue (TALD) and the Trans-Atlantic environmental dialogue (TAED), which were set up in
response to a public declaration of the Commission and the American government at their summit
meeting in Madrid in 1995. This set out the new transatlantic agenda, which covers co-operation on issues
such as trade and investment. Among its objectives is to (cid:145)build bridges across the Atlantic(cid:146), in particular by
encouraging private actors and policy makers in the Community and the United States to establish
concrete links.

These bodies make public recommendations to the Commission and the American government. They are
invited on a rotating basis to make a presentation to leaders at Community-United States summits. The
Commission considers the input from all of these dialogues to be of equal importance and very valuable
input in its efforts to develop and strengthen a balanced and sound transatlantic relationship. Participation
in these bodies is open to those concerned in the relevant areas, and participation in the TABD goes far
beyond those companies listed by the Honourable Member.

The recommendations of the TABD are all to be found on its website (http://www.tabd.com). The
Commission(cid:146)s reactions to them are likewise in the public domain. Honourable Members who follow
Community-United States trade matters will be entirely familiar with the work of the TABD, and are
invited to participate in it.

As to the so-called (cid:145)Business investment network(cid:146), the Commission is indeed holding meetings with many
interested parties, European and other, including representatives of European business, for the purpose of
receiving input from investors in order to identify the specific problems they face when investing abroad,

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and how these problems could be solved. These meetings are not secret. Honourable Members as well as
representatives from civil society have been invited to attend some meetings with European investors.
Reports of its meetings are available on the Commission website
(http://www.cc.cec:8082/comm/trade/miti/invest/civil.htm).

The services information system (SIS) is part of the information system of the Commission. Through its
website (http:www.europa.eu.int/comm/trade/misc/register.htm, any interested person can receive informa-
tion about trade policy and trade issues from the viewpoint of the Commission. It also provides specific
issue groups to facilitate discussion between Commission officials and interested parties on different
aspects of trade policy.

Far from being evidence that
(cid:145)the Commission is in the service of multinationals and the lobbies
representing them(cid:146), the Honourable Member will see how interested parties and civil society are actively
involved in European policy making. The allegations made regarding the Commission are not such as to
warrant investigation. The Commission suggests that the Honourable Member addresses her questions
concerning the World Trade Organisation and the Food and Agriculture Organisation to the bodies in
question.

(2001/C 103 E/204)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2552/00

by Sebastiano Musumeci (UEN) to the Commission

Subject: Construction of a bridge over the Straits of Messina

(28 July 2000)

After decades of pointless and unproductive debate, the Italian Government has still not decided formally
on the construction of a bridge over the Straits of Messina to provide a fixed link between Sicily and the
European mainland.

Because of its nature and function, this project is not merely in the interests of the Italian State.

1.
Does the Commission not consider that the building of a fixed link across the Straits of Messina
should be included as one of the projects forming part of the network of transport infrastructures of
Community interest?

2.
Does the Commission not think that a bridge between Sicily and Calabria would be a logical
extension of the trans-European road network which should cross the Union, stretching from the Baltic
Sea to the tip of Sicily?

3. What studies does the Commission have available concerning the Community interest of this
infrastructure?

Are there obstacles or objections of any kind remaining on the part of the Commission that might

4.
stand in the way of this important project?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(11 September 2000)

The Commission is aware of a project to build a bridge across the Straits of Messina between Sicily and
Calabria. However, this project is not one of the links shown on the maps in Annex I to Decision No 1692/
96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 1996 on Community guidelines for the
development of the trans-European transport network (1).

As part of its examination of economic and technological changes which might justify reviewing the
guidelines, the Commission has asked the Member States which projects they think should appear on the
maps of the trans-European network. If the Italian Government asks the Commission to examine the
project for a bridge across the Straits of Messina, the Commission will give it all due attention, though it
has yet to receive any studies relating to the project.