WRITTEN QUESTION E-0256/01 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

3.7.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 187 E/209

(2001/C 187 E/227)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0254/01

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(8 February 2001)

Subject: Redundancies

The C. & J. Clark footwear manufacturers in Arouca (Portugal) intend to make 368 workers redundant on
the grounds that orders have fallen off.

However, according to the footwear workers(cid:146) union (Sindicato dos OperÆrios da Indœstria de Cal(cid:231)ado,
Malas e Afins) of the Aveiro and Coimbra districts, the company has transferred various pieces of modern
equipment from that plant to other manufacturing plants which it owns in Castelo de Paiva.

It would appear that
the company has received national and Community subsidies towards plant
modernisation, job creation and professional training, which has also been used to support another of
the company(cid:146)s manufacturing units in India.

Can the Commission answer the following:

1. What Community aid has the company received?

2.

If the company received subsidies aimed at creating or maintaining jobs, what measures will it take to
defend the jobs of workers at the C. & J. Clark plant in Arouca, Portugal?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(29 March 2001)

The Honourable Member(cid:146)s question concerns the management of projects cofinanced by the Structural
Funds.
In accordance with Community rules and in line with the principle of subsidiarity, project
management is the responsibility of the Member States.

The Commission does not currently have sufficient information to reply to this question. It will ask the
Portuguese authorities for the necessary information and forward it directly to the Honourable Member as
soon as it has been received.

(2001/C 187 E/228)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0256/01

by Lord Inglewood (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 February 2001)

Subject: Right of Resale

Does the Commission 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?

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.