WRITTEN QUESTION E-0125/01 by Lord Inglewood (PPE-DE) to the Council. Droit de suite.
Date: 2001-02-01
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: application of EU law, approximation of laws, artist's resale right, interpretation of the law, national law, secondary legislation

C 235 E/126

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

21.8.2001

Reply

(14 May 2001)

The Council Human Rights working group is examining ways to reinforce the EU(cid:146)s policy against torture
and has engaged in the process of drafting guidelines for an EU policy towards third countries on torture
and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The Swedish Presidency aims at adoption
of the draft guidelines by the Council before July 2001.

(2001/C 235 E/131)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0125/01

by Lord Inglewood (PPE-DE) to the Council

(1 February 2001)

Subject:

(cid:145)Droit de suite(cid:146)

Is the proposal for a directive on (cid:145)Droit de Suite(cid:146) compatible with Article 295 of the EC Treaty as
amended?

(2001/C 235 E/132)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0255/01

by Lord Inglewood (PPE-DE) to the Council

(14 February 2001)

Subject: Right of Resale

Does the Council envisage the establishment of a centralised European register of all qualifying artists and
their heirs under the draft Directive? If not, how are the natural or legal persons referred to in Article 9
supposed to determine the rights to a work in the event of a claim from two or more persons from
outside the jurisdiction of the Member State concerned?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-0125/01 and E-0255/01

(14 May 2001)

The Council considers that Article 295 ECT which provides that the (cid:145)Treaty shall in no way prejudice
1.
the rules in Member States governing the system of property ownership(cid:146), is an exception provision in the
form of a genuine reservation of sovereignty. Like all exceptions in Community law, Article 295 is strictly
interpreted. Thus the Court of Justice has held that Article 295 permits the Community to adopt rules
about the disposal or use of property rights including the exercise of national intellectual property rights.
In particular the Court of Justice has held that the Community rules on competition, which do not allow
the improper use of rights under national trade-mark law in order to frustrate the Community law on
cartels, are compatible with Article 295 (1).

Likewise the Council considers that the proposed Directive on the resale right for the benefit of the author
of an original work of art is compatible with Article 295 of the EC Treaty inasmuch as its purpose is to
approximate national provisions in order to eliminate inter alia distortions of competition within the
internal market and in order to allow the artist(cid:146)s resale right to be exercised without discrimination on the
grounds of nationality.

2. With regard to the question of the establishment of a centralised European register the Council
would point out that the Commission has not included in its proposal for a Directive on the resale right
for the benefit of the author of an original work of art any proposal concerning a register of the nature
mentioned by the Honourable Member, nor has the European Parliament proposed any amendment to this
effect at either first or second reading.