WRITTEN QUESTION E-1318/01 by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Council. System of licensing radio stations in the Attica basin.
Date: 2001-05-04
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, broadcasting, competence of the Member States, trade licence

20.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 364 E/83

on paying agents inevitably will entail some additional administrative costs for the market operators
concerned and may require them to adapt their administrative procedures and computerised systems.
However, every effort has been made to keep additional compliance costs for market operators to
a minimum. It may be noted that a Council working group is currently examining the technical details of
the information exchange system.

3.
The Commission is preparing a new proposal for a Directive on taxation of savings income, which
will replace its 1998 proposal, taking into account the conclusions of the Feira European Council of
19/20 June 2000 and the Ecofin conclusions of 26/27 November 2000. The Commission intends to
present its new proposal to the Council, the Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee in the
coming months.

(1) OJ C 212, 8.7.1998.

(2001/C 364 E/088)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1317/01

by Theresa Villiers (PPE-DE) to the Council

(4 May 2001)

Subject: Directive on the taxation of savings

Could the Council please state what progress has been made in negotiations with the US and key third
countries, including Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Andorra and San Mar(cid:237)no, with a view to securing
the introduction of (cid:145)equivalent measures(cid:146) in those countries before the directive on the taxation of savings
is adopted?

Reply

(27 September 2001)

The Council wants, in the first instance, to draw the Honourable Parliamentarian(cid:146)s attention to the fact
that, at present, no negotiations with third countries are being conducted in this field.

According to the conclusions of the European Council in Nice, the Commission and the Presidency are
currently undertaking discussions with the United States and other third countries in order to encourage
the adoption of equivalent measures on the taxation of savings. The Commission and the Presidency have
reported on these discussions to the Council at its meeting on 5 June 2001 (Ecofin) and the Council, then,
concluded to agree, at its meeting in October, on a mandate for negotiations with third countries, on this
topic. This meeting provided an opportunity for the Council to take stock of the progress reached so far in
these discussions.

(2001/C 364 E/089)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1318/01

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Council

Subject: System of licensing radio stations in the Attica basin

(4 May 2001)

After many years of ambiguity in the law governing radio stations in Greece, the Greek Government
adopted a licensing system. In the Attica basin, it issued licences for 20 radio stations which, in its view, is
the maximum number that can operate on the available radio frequencies.

However, it did not issue licences to many stations with high audience ratings, a high turnover and a large
number of staff. Following a number of protests, therefore, and a technical recommendation which met
certain requirements laid down by the government itself, it raised the number of licences provisionally
to 28. Again, however, several stations of recognised quality with high audience figures were not included.
Meanwhile, reports by professors at the Athens Institute of Technology maintain that the number of
frequencies can be increased to 35 without difficulty.

C 364 E/84

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.12.2001

The Greek Government uses the National Broadcasting Council as a vehicle for issuing opinions based on
various government technical recommendations, a situation which even led a pro-government member of
the NBC to resign in protest against interference by the minister responsible.

1.
In the light of Article 6(1) and (2) of the Treaty on European Union concerning fundamental human
rights, and Article 11 of the Charter of Human Rights concerning freedom of the media, does the Council
consider that the Greek Government(cid:146)s actions are consistent with European law?

2. Will the Council address a recommendation to the Greek Government?

Reply

(27 September 2001)

The Council would remind the Honourable Member
that under Article 151 (ex Article 128) TEC
Community action in the audiovisual sector consists in encouraging cooperation between Member States
and, if necessary, supporting and complementing their action in this area.

The issues raised do not fall within the Council(cid:146)s sphere of competence.

(2001/C 364 E/090)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1321/01

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(3 May 2001)

Subject: General census in Greece

On 18 March 2001, a general census of the population was carried out in Greece. The questionnaire
issued by the National Statistical Office contained questions which were obviously hangovers from
a previous era (such as whether the home has a toilet), while there were also significant gaps such as the
lack of questions on key factors such as possession of a car and the use of new technologies in Greece
(e.g. the number of computers per household, access to the Internet etc.). Doubts were also expressed from
several quarters about the overall organisation of the census and, therefore, the accuracy of the data that
will ultimately be produced.

Is the Commission satisfied with the overall organisation of the census, and with the questionnaire used by
the National Statistical Office to collect data from the population?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(31 July 2001)

The content of a general census of population and housing usually reflects a combination of national
data needs, international recommendations and, in the case of a Member State, the Community data needs
expressed in the Community Census Programme. The Statistical office of the European Communities
is not in a position to judge how well the Greek 2001 census satisfies Greece(cid:146)s national
(Eurostat)
data needs. However, it should be noted that a general census is a huge and extremely costly operation.
Therefore, the contents of censuses are usually restricted to the very basic structural variables of population
and housing conditions, this data being needed either at a very detailed regional level or at a detailed level
of classification. Obtaining a broader spectrum of variables is usually achieved by means of sample surveys,
which enable a great variety of data to be produced at reasonable cost.

In terms of its questionnaire, the content of the Greek general census is fully in line with the United
Nations/Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) (cid:129) Eurostat recommendations for the 2000 censuses
of population and housing in the ECE region, and with the Community Programme for Population and
Housing Censuses in 2001, as agreed by the Statistical Programme Committee and published by Eurostat