WRITTEN QUESTION E-2967/00 by Mariotto Segni (UEN) to the Commission. Regulations Nos 2408/92 and 3577/92.
Date: 2000-09-20
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: civil aviation, derogation from EU law, economic and social cohesion, freedom to provide services, island region, maritime transport, services of general interest, transport company, transport regulations

8.5.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 136 E/143

Lastly, the Honourable Member raises the issue of value dates. The Commission takes the view that these
arrangements are an element of competition and that therefore the customer should be informed of them.
It does not have any information on interest losses or gains as a result of this mechanism. If credit
institutions have agreed between themselves to apply the same value dates, this may constitute an
infringement of Community competition rules.

(1) COM(2000) 36 final.
(2) OJ L 43, 14.2.1997.

(2001/C 136 E/167)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2964/00

by Richard Howitt (PSE) to the Commission

(20 September 2000)

Subject: Access to information

Does the Commission agree that information for EU citizens, for example as that provided under the
Europe Direct Programme, should always be available in alternative formats, such as Braille, audio tape and
large print, for the many EU citizens, including 7,4 million blind and partially-sighted people, who cannot
read standard print?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(30 October 2000)

The Commission has taken several steps to improve access to information for blind and partially sighted
people.

Europe Direct itself represents a move away from the traditional reliance on printed information, in that it
is designed in the first instance as a free phone enquiry service based on a call centre with trained staff
specialising in Community questions.
thus gives the citizens free choice as how to receive the
information they are looking for.

It

The Commission has also moved much of its information provision onto the Internet, notably via the
Europa site, where partially sighted readers can generally use an options menu to increase the font size.
Making better use of digital technology in this context, including voice recognition and text-to-speech
software is one of the points currently being examined by the Commission with a view to improving and
developing the Europa web site.

The Commission(cid:146)s information in connection with the preparations for the euro in defining the technical
characteristics of the Euro coins and notes is available in braille, and sign language projects, for instance,
will be eligible for support under the 2001 European year of languages initiative.

(2001/C 136 E/168)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2967/00

by Mariotto Segni (UEN) to the Commission

(20 September 2000)

Subject: Regulations Nos 2408/92 and 3577/92

The aim of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 (1) of 23 July 1992 on access for Community air carriers
to intra-Community air routes and Council Regulation (EEC) No 3577/92 (2) of 7 December 1992 applying
the principle of freedom to provide services to maritime transport within Member States (maritime

C 136 E/144

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

8.5.2001

cabotage) is to aid in the creation of an area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of
goods, persons, services and capital is guaranteed.

The adoption of those two regulations was followed by the entry into force of the Treaties of Maastricht
and Amsterdam, under which the Union(cid:146)s objectives include not just the completion of the internal market
but also the strengthening of economic and social cohesion.

Under the terms of those treaties, the Union and the Member States cannot work towards the completion
of the internal market without at the same time pursuing the goal of economic and social cohesion.

Furthermore, Article 158 of the Amsterdam Treaty states that,
in the pursuit of economic and social
cohesion, the Union shall aim at reducing disparities between the levels of development of the various
regions and the backwardness of the least favoured regions or islands.

Notwithstanding this provision, neither Regulation 3577/92 nor Regulation 2408/92 takes account of the
acknowledged structural disadvantages from which islands suffer, and which hamper the pursuit of
economic and social cohesion.

Given that Community law, as established by the Court of Justice, requires the secondary legislation set out
in regulations to comply with the provisions of the Treaties, what practical steps are currently being
considered with a view to revising at the earliest opportunity these two regulations, which, in laying down
provisions governing public service requirements for air and sea transport, fail to comply with the
founding treaties by taking due account of the specific economic and social problems of island regions?

(1) OJ L 240, 24.8.1992, p. 8.
(2) OJ L 364, 12.12.1992, p. 7.

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(31 October 2000)

The Commission shares the Honourable Member(cid:146)s concern with economic and social cohesion in Europe
and agrees that it is important to ensure that the specific problems faced by island regions are adequately
addressed.

Nevertheless, the Commission believes that these problems can be dealt with effectively without having to
revise either Council Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 of 23 July 1992 on access for Community air carriers
to intra-Community air routes (1) or Council Regulation (EEC) No 3577/92 of 7 December 1992 applying
the principle of freedom to provide services to maritime transport within Member States (maritime
cabotage) (2).

In the Commission(cid:146)s opinion, neither of these Regulations constitutes an obstacle to economic and social
cohesion.

On the contrary, the Commission wishes to point out that the specific nature of islands was recognised in
Regulation (EEC) No 3577/92 on maritime transport, and special dispensations from the principle of the
free provision of services were made in their favour. In particular, the Regulation allows Member States to
impose a public service obligation on maritime transport companies serving islands within their national
territory to provide an adequate number of regular connections between these islands and the mainland, or
between the islands in question and other neighbouring islands.

The same is true for air transport. The provisions of Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 allow
Member States to impose a public service obligation on scheduled air services to airports serving outlying
areas and development areas, and on services linking areas with a low volume of traffic to a regional
airport within their own territory. Islands are a classic case of (cid:145)outlying areas(cid:146) in the sense intended by
these provisions, and several Member States have made extensive use of Article 4. Moreover, independently
of or in addition to Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92, several Member States have used aid of a social nature,
as authorised by Article 87(2)(a) of the EC Treaty, to facilitate the development of air transport routes
serving island regions within Community territory.

(1) OJ L 240, 24.8.1992.
(2) OJ L 364, 12.12.1992.