WRITTEN QUESTION E-3486/00 by Luis Berenguer Fuster (PSE) to the Commission. New data in the state aids to the electricity sector proceedings against Spain.
Date: 2000-11-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Spain, aid to undertakings, competition, electrical industry, fact-finding mission, income in addition to normal pay, liberalisation of the market

C 163 E/136

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2001

the
fleet with the body of Community law on maritime safety. As regards the (cid:145)Express Samina(cid:146),
information included copies of the safety certificates, proofs concerning the good functioning of the
registration system for passengers and the respect of the requirements on the training of the seafarers.

The Commission is currently evaluating the information submitted by the Greek government and, once the
facts are established, will adopt the appropriate measures.

(1) COM(2000) 582.

(2001/C 163 E/151)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3485/00

by Timothy Kirkhope (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(10 November 2000)

Subject: Charter of Fundamental Rights

Following the informal meeting of the Council in Biarritz on 13/14 October 2000 and the discussions that
took place on the second day thereof, would the Commission please confirm that it was always its
intention that the Charter of Fundamental Rights should be legally justiciable? In the event of this not
being achieved, what status in legal/constitutional terms would it wish the Charter to have?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(11 December 2000)

The Commission would draw the Honourable Member(cid:146)s attention to the communication it presented on
11 October 2000 on the legal nature of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (1). This
communication has been transmitted to Parliament and the Council.

In this communication, the Commission takes the view that the end purpose of the Charter, given its
content, its rigorous legal formulation and its high political and symbolic value, is to be incorporated,
sooner or later, into the Treaties with binding legal force.

It mentions a number of possible ways of inserting the Charter into the Treaties and suggests the timetable
to be set for that purpose.

The Commission finds that the question now arises as to whether Article 6(2) of the Treaty on European
Union should be amended within the framework of the ongoing Intergovernmental Conference, in order to
acknowledge the existence of the Charter.

The Commission feels, however, that irrespective of the ultimate form of the EU Charter of Fundamental
Rights, it will make an impact in many areas, including the legal sphere, as the Union(cid:146)s institutions will
obviously find it difficult to ignore the Charter(cid:146)s existence in future.

(1) COM(2000) 644 final.

(2001/C 163 E/152)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3486/00

by Luis Berenguer Fuster (PSE) to the Commission

(10 November 2000)

Subject: New data in the state aids to the electricity sector proceedings against Spain

The Spanish electricity company(cid:146)s transition to competition cost proceedings include the report of a
London consultancy, which gives estimates of the transition costs.

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Why was this commissioned from an outside expert? Are the Commission services incapable of carrying
out this task themselves?

How was the consultancy chosen?

What fees were paid, and who paid them?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(20 December 2000)

Law 54/1997 of 27 November 1997 on the electricity sector identified the cost of
transition to
competition in the Spanish electricity sector in relation to the loss of revenue anticipated as a result of
the changeover from a non-liberalised to a partially liberalised electricity market. To give a clearer view of
the Spanish system, the Spanish authorities then presented some (cid:145)stranded costs(cid:146) based on the methodol-
ogy for the analysis of State aid relating to stranded costs. It was then necessary to check that the
assumptions on which the calculations of
internationally
recognised standards. In view of the extremely technical nature of this task, the Commission deemed it
appropriate to use the services of an outside expert.

the Spanish authorities were based met

The Commission(cid:146)s criteria were that the firm chosen must be universally recognised as an expert in the
field concerned and must be demonstrably independent. Another criterion was the ability to work in
Spanish. These requirements led the Commission to award the contract directly to OXERA.

The total fee was € 10 000, which was defrayed in full by the Commission, from budget line A-352
((cid:145)Operations relating to competition, including merger control(cid:146)).

(2001/C 163 E/153)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3490/00

by Sebastiano Musumeci (UEN) to the Commission

(10 November 2000)

Subject: Cuts in durum wheat production in Sicily

The Commission has decided to transfer durum wheat production quotas from Sicily to France, which will
cost the Sicilian economy around ITL 1 400 billion.

The decision is supposed to be the result of the short and medium term objective to allocate 5 % of
agricultural resources to facilitating the entry of the Eastern European countries.

In view of the fact that Sicily cannot be penalised because it is an underdeveloped region eligible under
Objective 1 of the structural funds,

can the Commission say:

1. what considerations (cid:129) apart from the indirect aid to the countries of Eastern Europe (cid:129) induced the

Commission to decide on the above transfer of funds;

2. whether, before taking this decision, it assessed the seriousness of the damage it will cause to the

Sicilian economy;

3. whether it envisages (cid:129) as an alternative to producing less durum wheat (cid:129) encouraging other types of

farming, such as organic farming?