WRITTEN QUESTION E-1583/01 by Anne Jensen (ELDR) to the Commission. EU-wide invitation to tender for church organs.
Date: 2001-06-01
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Denmark, award of contract, church, competition, musical instrument, public financing

C 340 E/240

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.12.2001

In this connection the Commission, together with the Italian chairmanship of Corridor No VIII (cid:129) the
Italian Minister for Transport and Navigation (cid:129) has actively participated, during the previous months in
the activities enabling the memorandum of understanding of that Corridor to be finalised. Those activities
have aimed, particularly, at helping the countries involved (cid:129) namely Albania, the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia (FYRM), Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Turkey (cid:129) to reach a final compromise on the
wording of the MoU.

A agreement on virtually all of the wording was reached in Rome in early July 2000. Some differences still
remain and a memorandum of understanding has still not been signed despite the Commission(cid:146)s urging the
countries concerned to do so.

In view of the absence of a memorandum of understanding it has not been possible so far to launch any
specific study for Corridor III.

Hitherto each country, acting at national level, has implemented projects on Corridor VIII, which are
funded from various sources. However, those projects do not currently form part of any joint effort that is
coordinated by an MoU.

When the MoU has been signed and the technical study launched it will be possible to have an overall,
detailed knowledge of the situation as regards the Corridor VIII projects, including the nature and amounts
involved in the financial support.

(2001/C 340 E/276)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1583/01

by Anne Jensen (ELDR) to the Commission

(1 June 2001)

Subject: EU-wide invitation to tender for church organs

Danish organ manufacturers are in difficult economic circumstances, one reason for this being that they
are not competing on a level playing field. The Danish national church is inviting tenders for church
organs from throughout the EU, while the churches in Sweden and Germany, for instance, will not be
doing so.

The Danish national church buys organs by means of small contributions from members of the church
via a special church tax which is set in line with the church(cid:146)s financial requirements in the relevant
deanery. The local tax administration is responsible for collecting the church tax which is divided between
the individual parishes. The locally elected parish council in practice decides and administers the purchase
of the organs within the constraints set by the authorities, e.g. having regard to historical values. In
principle, the same process applies in Germany and Sweden, where a church tax is levied and administered
by the public tax authorities, the funds being distributed to the individual parishes, which are responsible
for purchasing organs.

This practice of inviting tenders throughout the EU often prevents Danish organ manufacturers from
bidding for contracts in Sweden and Germany, while they are exposed to competition on the domestic
market from foreign producers who may have a home market with no free competition.

In the Commission(cid:146)s view, is this situation in keeping with the philosophy underlying the development of
the internal market in the EU?

Can the Commission explain why this discrimination occurs? Will the Commission take steps to ensure
that competition takes place on equal terms in this sector?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(18 July 2001)

Whether contracts for the purchase of organs, the value of which is above the threshold, are subject to
Council Directive 93/36/EEC of 14 June 1993 coordinating procedures for the award of public supply

4.12.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 340 E/241

contracts (1) (hereafter (cid:145)the Directive(cid:146)) depends on whether these contracts are awarded by a (cid:145)contracting
authority(cid:146), most often in the form of a (cid:145)body governed by public law(cid:146) within the meaning of the Directive.

Such bodies are defined as any body:

(cid:129) established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial

or commercial character, and

(cid:129) having legal personality, and

(cid:129) financed, for the most part, by the Member State, or regional or local authorities, or other bodies
governed by public law, or subject to management supervision by those bodies, or having an
administrative, managerial or supervisory board, more than half of whose members are appointed by
the Member State, regional or local authorities or by other bodies governed by public law;

Given the legal and financial situation of the Danish Church (Folkekirken), it is clear that it meets the
conditions for being a contracting authority.

As can be seen from the definition, public financing is not necessarily sufficient to bring the receiving
entity within the scope of the Directive; it is necessary to verify that this public financing constitutes the
(cid:145)most part(cid:146), cf. the judgment of 3 October 2000 in Case C-380/98, (cid:145)Cambridge(cid:146). If that condition is not
met, it would still be necessary to verify whether the two other alternative conditions of the definition(cid:146)s
third indent are met.

As regards Germany, the Commission does not have sufficient information to assess whether churches in
Germany are subject to the Directive. This information will be sought and evaluated as soon as possible.

As regards Sweden, it should be noted that the relations between the Swedish State and the Swedish
Church have been changed and that, as a result thereof, the Swedish law on public procurement has
recently been changed to provide that churches are contracting authorities only in respect of purchases
related to their role as burial authorities. This legislative change is being evaluated.

The Commission will keep the Honourable Member informed of the results of these actions.

However, an analysis, based on a search in the relevant database, of tender notices specifically mentioning
the supply (or construction) of organs, whether published by churches or other bodies, shows that a total
of 24 tender notices was published over the period 1995-2000: ten from Finland, four from Denmark,
three from France, two each from Austria and Sweden and one each from Germany, Portugal and the
United Kingdom. Of these 24 notices, nine were published in 2000 (four from Finland, three from
Denmark and one each from France and the United Kingdom). In addition there may have been other
award procedures involving organs, which were not found because the supply of organs was part of, for
instance, an integrated contract for the construction or refurbishment of a church.

(1) OJ L 199, 9.8.1993.

(2001/C 340 E/277)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1593/01

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(21 May 2001)

Subject: Funding for car-parks in Athens under the second and third CSF

What operations under the second Community Support Framework related to the construction of carparks
in Athens, what was actually achieved by comparison with the original
forecasts, what sums were
antincipated and what actually spent? What plans for the construction of carparks in Athens are covered
by the third CSF?