WRITTEN QUESTION E-3400/00 by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission. CD-ROM published by the Commission.
Date: 2000-11-07
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU publication, Italy, linguistic group, young person

22.5.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 151 E/157

coal industry. The great majority of these investigations concern aid schemes for which the names of the
benefiting companies are not known to the Commission. As for direct investigations into companies,
reference is made to the Commission(cid:146)s annual reports on competition policy. It is not possible for the
Commission to indicate the extent to which the undertakings concerned are connected to the water
industries and manufacturing linked to them.

(2001/C 151 E/178)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3392/00

by Helena Torres Marques (PSE) to the Commission

(25 October 2000)

Subject: Taxation of Community aid to farmers

Is it the case that the income support made available to farmers from Community funds may be taxed in
the country of residence and hence be partially (cid:145)clawed back(cid:146) by the Member State concerned?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(21 November 2000)

The Commission is of the opinion that income support made available to farmers from Community funds
may be subjected to national duties, taxes and charges, although not to taxes specifically levied on income
support. The taxation in the Member State of residence and hence a possible (cid:145)claw back(cid:146) by the Member
State concerned is determined by the relevant national tax laws and, in cross-border situations, by the
bilateral tax agreements between the Member States. Member States(cid:146) taxation systems vary considerably
both in scope and in levels of taxation. In cross-border situations, the bilateral tax agreements apply a
range of different rules to prevent double taxation between the two Member States involved in the case of
income arising in one Member State and paid to a resident of another.

(2001/C 151 E/179)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3400/00

by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission

(7 November 2000)

Subject: CD-ROM published by the Commission

In the CD-ROM (cid:145)Hello Europe (cid:129) A youth guide to Europe and the European Union(cid:146) published by the
Commission, Directorate-General for (cid:145)Information, Communication, Culture and Audiovisual(cid:146), (cid:145)Publications(cid:146)
Unit, and distributed by the Official Publications Office of the European Communities, there is a difference
in the way that minority languages in the Member States are treated.

One need only go to the description of Spain and Italy and click on (cid:145)If you want to know more(cid:146) and then
on (cid:145)Listen to the language(cid:146) to see this difference:

(cid:129) Spain:

(cid:145)The official

language is Castilian, often simply called (cid:147)Spanish(cid:148). In some regions Catalan,

Basque and Galician are also official languages(cid:146);

(cid:129) Italian: (cid:145)Our language is Italian and the capital is Rome(cid:146).

Why does the CD-ROM not describe the linguistic diversity of Italy, exemplified by the use of French in
Valle D(cid:146)Aosta and German in South Tyrol?

C 151 E/158

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

22.5.2001

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(7 December 2000)

The Commission produced the (cid:145)Hello Europe(cid:146) CD-ROM in order to provide information for young
Europeans on all aspects of the Union which might interest them. An introduction to the various Member
States provides general information to enable the users of the CD-ROM to familiarise themselves with the
different Member States making up the Union.

This introduction includes firstly the official language(s) spoken in each Member State, usually laid down in
their constitutions. For example, Spain(cid:146)s official
the Spanish
Constitution, which includes the languages of the Autonomous Communities as official languages. Italy(cid:146)s
official language is Italian.

languages are set out

in Article 3 of

Incidentally, linguistic diversity in Italy is described in the (cid:145)population(cid:146) section of the CD-ROM in question.

(2001/C 151 E/180)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3401/00

by Nicole Thomas-Mauro (UEN) to the Commission

(7 November 2000)

Subject: Status of spouses of self-employed workers

In 1997 the European Parliament adopted the report by Mrs Astrid Lulling (A4-0005/97) (1) on
(cid:145)the situation of spouses assisting self-employed workers(cid:146),
in which, while giving due regard to the
subsidiarity principle, it proposed the adoption of some useful measures aimed at improving the situation
of women working with their husbands in agriculture, crafts, commerce and the professions.

The report proposed remedies for the inadequacies of the 1986 Directive, which had fallen far short of its
declared objective of (cid:145)giving assisting spouses a clearly defined professional status and establishing their
social security entitlements(cid:146).

The French association that represents spouses of self-employed workers estimates the number of people
concerned at 8,2 million in the whole of the European Union. The Commission(cid:146)s estimate in 1995 was 3,3
million.

Does the Commission have recent studies on the social situation of spouses of self-employed workers in
the European Union?

Does it envisage recommending to the Member States that they adopt the measures, particularly those of a
fiscal nature, needed to give spouses of self-employed workers a stable social status?

(1) OJ C 85, 17.3.1997, p. 186.

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(14 December 2000)

The Commission does not have any statistical information or recent studies on the social situation of
spouses of self-employed workers and is not currently planning to make any specific proposals of a fiscal
nature relating to the situation of spouses of self-employed workers.

However, the situation of this category of people could be tackled as part of the more general debate
which has started at European level on the modernisation and improvement of social protection in Europe.