WRITTEN QUESTION E-0337/01 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission. Tariff levels.
Date: 2001-02-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Union, Japan, United States, customs duties, exchange of information, import

21.8.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 235 E/179

(2001/C 235 E/209)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0336/01

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(13 February 2001)

Subject: Legislation to curb acid rain

1. Will the Commission state which pieces of EU legislation aim to curb the incidence of acid rain?

2. Would, in the Commission(cid:146)s view, national legislation be able to have equivalent effect?

Can the Commission estimate the trans-boundary impact of acid rain? For example, where would the

3.
pollution affecting acid rain the United Kingdom be generated?

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

(2 April 2001)

1.
The proposal for a Parliament and Council Directive on national emission ceilings for certain
atmospheric pollutants (1) currently before Parliament (second reading) is designed in part to reduce by
half the area within Community with exceedance of critical loads for acidity by 2010 compared with the
1990 situation. Sectoral measures controlling emissions, for example from transport, and Large Combus-
tion Plants (2) will help to achieve this objective, as will Directive 96/61/EC on integrated pollution
prevention and control (3).

Acid rain is a large scale transboundary problem. It cannot be effectively controlled by national

2.
action alone.

3.
The following tables being sent direct to the Honourable Member and to the Parliament Secretariat
show the extent to which Member States, the candidate countries and emissions in the North Sea and the
Baltic contributed to the deposition of pollutants responsible for acidification (oxidised sulphur and
oxidised nitrogen) in each Member State in 1997 (4).

(1) OJ C 56 E, 29.2.2000, Common Position (OJ C 375, 28.12.2000).
(2) Directive 88/609/EEC (OJ L 336, 7.12.1988), Common Position OJ C 375, 28.12.2000, on proposal for revision.
(3) OJ L 257, 10.10.1996.
(4) Estimation by the Meterological Synthesizing Centre West (MSC-West) of the European Monitoring and Evaluation

Programme (EMEP).

(2001/C 235 E/210)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0337/01

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(13 February 2001)

Subject: Tariff levels

1. Will the Commission state the weighted average tariff level for non-agricultural
European Union, Japan and the United States for the last available year?

imports in the

2. Will it also estimate the equivalent for each year prior to major international trade liberalisation
agreements since the formation of the Communities?

C 235 E/180

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

21.8.2001

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(19 March 2001)

1.

The weighted average tariffs for non-agricultural products in 1998 were as follows:

On all items

On dutiable items

Community

3 872

5 191

Japan

1 979

6 569

(%)

United States

3 436

4 828

Source: World trade organisation (WTO) Integrated Database.

2.

The information required to answer the second part of the question is not available.

(2001/C 235 E/211)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0338/01

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(13 February 2001)

Subject: Commodity prices

Further to Mr Fischler(cid:146)s answer to Written Question E-2730/00 (1) on 11 October, will the Commission
explain why there are not more up-to-date figures for what should be market information available to the
regulators of these markets?

(1) OJ C 113 E, 18.4.2001, p. 159.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(16 March 2001)

In his Written Question E-2730/00, the Honourable Member asked for the Commission(cid:146)s estimate of the
percentage difference between the prices of the five most significant farm products within the Community
at the end of each year for the last five years and the prices for the same commodities quoted on the world
markets. In the answer provided to this question, reference was given to price information extracted from
the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Producer Support Estimate data
base (a data base established by the OECD Secretariat on the basis of a commonly agreed methodology
within the OECD countries) for the 1995-1998 period.

For the management of the common market organisations, the Commission relies on specific and updated
information on prices both on internal markets and on world markets. This information may vary every
day or every week depending on, among other factors, the specific market, the product specification, its
final use and country of origin. It is available to market regulators, including officials in Member States,
through the regular management committees.

(2001/C 235 E/212)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0339/01

by Marielle De Sarnez (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: World summit for children in September 2001

(13 February 2001)

At a meeting on 20 November 2000 in Paris, European ministers responsible for child welfare discussed at
length issues relating to children and the family, and agreed that a European day for children(cid:146)s rights is to
be held annually.