WRITTEN QUESTION E-0264/01 by Lord Inglewood (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Right of Resale.
Date: 2001-02-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: VAT, artist's resale right, tax system, work of art

C 187 E/210

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

3.7.2001

(2001/C 187 E/229)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0260/01

by Lord Inglewood (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 February 2001)

Subject: Right of Resale

What provisions will the natural or legal persons referred to in Article 9 of the draft Directive on the Right
of Resale be required to make for payment of the potential right in the case of unknown and unknowable
claims?

(2001/C 187 E/230)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0262/01

by Lord Inglewood (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 February 2001)

Subject: Right of Resale

Does the sale price net of tax, on which basis the right is to be claimed in accordance with the draft
Directive, include capital gains tax or its equivalent, and how is this to be calculated in a resale involving
several different national tax laws?

(2001/C 187 E/231)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0264/01

by Lord Inglewood (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 February 2001)

Subject: Right of Resale

In the event of a resale involving persons liable to two or more national VAT and/or sales tax regimes,
how is the sale price net of tax to be calculated for the purposes of the draft Directive on the Right of
Resale? In the event that the VAT/sales tax treatment rules have yet to be agreed, on what basis will the
right be calculated?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-0256/01, E-0260/01, E-0262/01 and E-0264/01
given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(26 March 2001)

On 13 December 2000, Parliament approved several amendments to the Council(cid:146)s common position of
19 June 2000 on the resale right for the benefit of the author of an original work of art (1). Under
Article 251(3) (formerly Article 189b(3)) of the EC Treaty,
it is for the Council to decide on those
amendments. The Commission will therefore take the common position as amended by Parliament as the
basis for its answers to the Honourable Member(cid:146)s questions on certain specific provisions.

The Honourable Member is concerned about the obligations under which this Directive will place the
persons mentioned in Article 9 who, under Article 1(4), will often be liable for the payment of the resale
right if several persons think they are entitled to it, or if the resale right is not claimed.

The procedures for paying the resale right will depend on the way it is managed. According to the
common position as amended, this question is a matter for the Member States, which may adopt specific
solutions. For example, if a Member State opts for compulsory collective management of resale rights, it
will be for the bodies responsible for collective management to deal with these questions.

3.7.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 187 E/211

In any event, the question of payment of a debt when the identity of the creditor is uncertain arises in
many other areas apart from resale rights, and the Member States have well established rules. The persons
referred to in Article 9 will therefore only have to follow the procedures prescribed in their national
legislation.

Establishing a centralised European register of all qualifying artists and their heirs would therefore seem to
be a pointless administrative formality, and the Commission has no such intention.

The Honourable Member also wonders about the scope of Article 5. The Commission confirms that the
selling price taken as the basis for calculating the resale right must not include any of the taxes, such as
VAT, normally added to the net price. This Directive is therefore without prejudice to the tax systems in
force in the Member States.

(1) OJ C 300, 20.10.2000.

(2001/C 187 E/232)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0275/01

by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(2 February 2001)

Subject: Noise Regulations in the European Union

Will the Commission say whether there are any European regulations covering noise emanating from
domestic premises which would protect domestic residents from excessive noise coming from their
neighbours(cid:146) residences?

Answer given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behalf of the Commission

(9 March 2001)

At this time there are no regulations at Community level against neighbourhood noise, as raised by the
Honourable Member.

The Member States do not currently apply harmonised indicators of noise that relate to so-called
environmental or man-made noise. This aspect will be covered by the proposal for a Directive of the
Parliament and the Council relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise (1) adopted
by the Commission on 26 July 2000.

The legislative proposal is currently under discussion in the Parliament and Council.

(1) OJ C 337 E, 28.11.2000.

(2001/C 187 E/233)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0278/01

by Jean-Charles Marchiani (UEN) to the Commission

Subject: European Union subsidies to twinned towns

(2 February 2001)

In 1989, the European Parliament took the initiative of creating a budget heading designed to support
town-twinning in Europe; as well as promoting relations between citizens of EU countries, this European
Union aid is more crucial than ever both for regular endeavours at a local level and for exchanges between
people of different countries, areas and cultures.