WRITTEN QUESTION E-2219/01 by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. The Euro changeover and small businesses.
Date: 2001-07-24
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU Member State, EU aid, Portugal, consumer information, euro, public awareness campaign, small and medium-sized enterprises, small retailer

18.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 93 E/79

(2002/C 93 E/097)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2216/01

by Adriana Poli Bortone (UEN) to the Commission

(24 July 2001)

Subject: Consumer choices

Since products manufactured from animal organs or using child labour are being sold in the EU, does the
Commission not consider that such products should be clearly labelled, so that consumers can choose
whether or not to buy products made from animal organs or made by children?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(2 October 2001)

There are specific provisions relating to the exclusion of Specified Risk Material including animal organs in
food and foodstuff laid down in Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 (1) and it’s implementing provisions. In
addition, the Commission recently submitted a proposal to the Member States in the Standing Committee
on Foodstuffs to make the labelling of meat based products more transparent and precise. The definition of
‘meat’ will be improved and other parts of animals for human consumption, such as offal (heart, intestine,
liver etc.) or fat, will have to be labelled.

The Commission is aware of a growing number of ethical or social labels originating from individual
manufacturers, industrial sectors, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or governments. Such labels can
assist the consumer in making informed choices. However, they need to be independently verified to
ensure that the product has been manufactured without exploiting and abusing e.g. children and that
consumers are not being misled. This verification is difficult and complex to carry out.

The Commission has published a Green Paper on Corporate Social Responsibility (2) which aims to launch
a debate on the best means to develop, evaluate and ensure the effectiveness and reliability of corporate
social responsibility instruments such as ethical or social labels. Consumer organisations will have the
opportunity to contribute to this debate.

(1) Regulation (EC) 999/2001 of the Parliament and the Council laying down the rules for the prevention, control and

eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopothies. OJ L 147, 31.5.2001.

(2) COM(2001) 366 final.

(2002/C 93 E/098)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2219/01

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: The Euro changeover and small businesses

(24 July 2001)

As the commercial sector closest to the grass roots, small businesses have a fundamental rôle to play in
explaining the changeover to the euro on 1 January 2002 to the public. Indeed, small businesses are a key
element in the entire process of replacing national currencies with the euro, which imposes an extra effort
over and above all the enormous changes in terms of book keeping, internal and external documentation,
data processing, etc. …

Since we are talking about small and micro-undertakings, and specifically, in Portugal, it is essential that
small businesses be given proper assistance in shouldering this enormous effort and making this major
economic and social contribution ? support which strikes me as currently rather underfunded to say the
least.

C 93 E/80

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.4.2002

Can the Commission answer the following:

? What assistance has been granted to small businesses in Portugal and the other EU Member States in

this connection? How many businesses received such assistance in Portugal?

? What other support measures is the Commission contemplating with a view to minimising the costs

of the changeover to the euro the sector is having to bear?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(22 October 2001)

In order to help enterprises prepare for the euro, the Commission has been working closely with Member
States and various organisations to support several communication and awareness-raising actions targeted
at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

In the framework of the Prince programme / 2nd and 3rd calls for proposals on information and
communication on the euro, published in 1999 and 2000, 12 selected projects targeting SMEs had
Portugal as a partner, details are sent direct to the Honourable Member and to the Parliament’s Secretariat.

A dedicated Website on the euro, which is regularly updated and accessible to everyone, has been set up
(http://europa.eu.int/euro/html/home6.html?lang=6) and a publication titled Europapers made available at
the following Website: http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/document/europap/eupidxen.htm.

A booklet titled ‘Your business and the euro, A strategic guide’, containing a CD-ROM was published and
widely disseminated through the network of Euro Info Centres and Euro Info Points in 1999 and beyond
(some 1,000,000 copies).

Partnership agreements have been signed with Member States in order to co-finance their national
information campaigns on the euro, aimed at various target groups, among which SMEs are a priority. In
the case of Portugal, the total budget amounts to € 3 110 000 in 2000 and € 2 100 000 in 2001, of which
the Commission has contributed 50 % each time.

The Commission also conducts regular FLASH Eurobarometer surveys on the SMEs and the euro which
enables it to follow their state of preparation on a regular basis via trends by country, sector and size.

In addition, the network of Euro Info Centres (EIC’s) offers valuable assistance and advice. Most of them
provide preparation tools such as booklets, diskettes or CD-ROMs, and are running awareness-raising
campaigns targeted at SMEs.

From asking for or receiving information material, consulting a dedicated website on the euro to
participating in seminars, it is clearly impossible to figure out the number of small businesses which have
been reached by the above initiatives. Their main thrust consists of enhancing the impact of the various
tools used by maximizing the synergy between the main actors (banks, accountants, auditors, chambers of
commerce and business organisations), the network effect, by fostering such pilot actions which can be
extended to other associations, partners, regions and countries, and by disseminating good practices
through all available channels.

The Commission does not provide any direct financial support to companies for their changeover to the
euro and is not contemplating support measures with a view to minimising the sector’s changeover costs.
Support to business is generally provided by Member States or business organisations, but consists mainly
of information and advice, rather than financial assistance.