WRITTEN QUESTION E-2541/00 by Theresa Villiers (PPE-DE) to the Commission. European car market.
Date: 2000-07-28
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: United Kingdom, common commercial policy, competition policy, motor car

20.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 89 E/205

(2001/C 89 E/232)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2537/00

by John McCartin (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(28 July 2000)

Subject: Safety of television casings

Does the Commission agree that fire safety standards for television casings being applied in the United
States and in other parts of the world are much more stringent than those applied within the European
Union and does the Commission believe that many lives could be saved each year in the EU if television
casings were manufactured to the same standards as those enforced in the US and has the Commission
considered this problem?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(27 September 2000)

Directive 73/23/EEC of 29 February 1973 on the harmonization of the laws of Member States relating to
electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits (1) (low voltage Directive (LVD)) regulates
the safety of television sets. Aspects relating to fire safety are more specifically addressed in harmonised
(cid:145)Audio, video and similar apparatus (cid:129) Safety requirements(cid:146) adopted by the
standard EN 60065:1998,
European committee for the coordination of electrical standards (Cenelec). The Commission does not
develop standards, as this is a matter left by the low voltage Directive to the European standardisation
bodies.

The fire safety requirements of EN60065 are identical to those in the international standard International
electrotechnical commission (IEC) 60065. This reflects European commitment to use, whenever possible,
international standards provided that such standards are in line with Community legislation.

To-date, the Commission has not received any information from Member States regarding shortcomings in
the above standard in relation to fire safety. The Commission is aware of studies being carried out in
Sweden and the United Kingdom. According to the authorities of those Member States, the final reports
will be available by the end of this year. The issue of data on television sets being a cause of domestic fires
has already been raised by the Commission with national authorities in charge of the enforcement of the
Directive during meetings held on 26/27 April 2000 and 14 June 2000. At that time the Commission
asked Member States to provide more detailed information on this subject. The Commission took note that
Member States, are following the matter. During discussion with Member States, no request was made
along the lines of the Honourable Member(cid:146)s question.

The Honourable Member may rest assured that the Commission attaches a high priority to issues of fire
safety. The need for action will be assessed on the basis of data received as a result of this request for
information from national authorities, the findings of the aforementioned studies and any other pertinent
information made available.

(1) OJ L 77, 26.3.1973.

(2001/C 89 E/233)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2541/00

by Theresa Villiers (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(28 July 2000)

Subject: European car market

Could the Commission indicate when it intends to publish its review on the functioning of the European
car market?

Could the Commission list any documents or communications issued so far on the review of the
competition rules applicable to the European car market?

C 89 E/206

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.3.2001

Does the Commission believe that the competition exemptions granted to the car industry, in particular
those relating to dealerships, increase prices or contribute in any way to the difference in prices between:

(cid:129) the UK and mainland Europe?

(cid:129) the EU and the rest of the world?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(22 September 2000)

The Commission is currently preparing an evaluation report of the 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), the current block exemption regulation concerning car distribu-
tion, with a particular regard to price differentials between the Member States and on the quality of service
to final users. This evaluation report will be published by the end of this year.

The Commission has not issued any document or communication on the evaluation of the current block
exemption and will not do so before the adoption and publication of its evaluation report.

Many factors contribute to price differentials between the United Kingdom and the other Member States,
such as the strength of the British Pound, and the additional cost for the (cid:145)right hand drive(cid:146) specification of
the cars sold in the United Kingdom. High taxation in some Member States (such as Denmark, the
Netherlands and Finland) induces car manufacturers to decide to sell their cars at lower prices in these
Member States, and this factor may also generate high price differentials between those Member States and
the United Kingdom, where no specific tax is imposed on car purchase.

The evaluation report of the current block exemption concerning car distribution will assess, among other
points, the issue of price differentials and the role of the current distribution system in this respect.

Price differentials do not as such constitute a violation of European competition rules. The Commission(cid:146)s
task is to ensure that parallel trade, which is an important factor for reducing price differentials, is not
hindered by restrictive practices from car manufacturers, practices incompatible with Community competi-
tion rules. The Court of first instance confirmed the Commission(cid:146)s decision establishing that such practices
constitute very serious infringements and imposing a fine in its judgement of 6 July 2000 delivered in the
Volkswagen case. Various ex-officio proceedings have been opened against other car manufacturers in this
regard and some of them should be finalised before the end of the year.

The British competition commission recently carried out an extensive investigation with regard to the
situation of the British market. The minister for trade and industry, published a report in April 2000 and
also announced some remedies aiming at increasing competition in the supply and selling of cars. These
remedies should enter into force in the near future.

As for price differentials between the Community and the rest of the world, in line with Commission
Regulation (EC) No 1475/95 the Commission will draw up a report on the evaluation of the exemption
granted concerning the distribution of cars within the Community. Price differentials between the rest of
the world and the Community are therefore not part of the analysis carried out.

(1) OJ L 145, 29.6.1995.