WRITTEN QUESTION E-3275/01 by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Taxation of used cars purchased within the Community.
Date: 2001-11-26
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: VAT, intra-EU trade, single market, tax system, used goods, vehicle

18.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 172 E/31

to consolidate democratic
The Commission will continue to support Georgia in its commitment
institutions, the rule of law, the respect of human rights and the market economy. Freedom of the press
remains at the very heart of such commitment.

(2002/C 172 E/033)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3269/01

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Controls on anthrax laboratories in Europe

(23 November 2001)

In the United States Iowa State University has destroyed its stocks of anthrax. According to the World
Federation for Culture Collections, a number of European countries apart from the UK, Germany, France
and Italy possess anthrax, namely Turkey, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Switzerland.

In view of the above and bearing in mind the problems caused by the cases of anthrax that have occurred,
will the Commission say:

1. Does it

intend,

in co-operation with the Member States,

to register the laboratories (military,
university, veterinary and pharmaceutical) on the territory of the 15 where bacteria of anthrax and
other diseases, such as smallpox, plague, cholera, diphtheria, tuberculosis, typhus, leprosy, polio, etc.
are kept?

2. What measures does it intend to take to restrict stocks of anthrax in these laboratories and establish

strict controls to protect them?

3. Does it also intend to take the same measures in respect of the EU applicant countries?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(11 January 2002)

As indicated in its communication to the Council and to the Parliament (1) in response to the European
Council request at Ghent on 19 October 2001, the Commission intends to create a Union-wide capability
for the timely detection and identification of biological and chemical agents that might be used in attacks
and for the rapid and reliable determination and diagnosis of relevant cases. A review of the capacity of
laboratories in the Member States to respond to these challenges will be part of this action, which will be
extended to the Union applicant countries in due course.

(1) COM(2001) 707 final.

(2002/C 172 E/034)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3275/01

by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(26 November 2001)

Subject: Taxation of used cars purchased within the Community

With reference to question P-0964/01 (1) and Commissioner Bolkestein’s answer, it should be noted that
there has been no reaction from the relevant authorities in the Italian Ministries of Finance and Transport,
even though several reports on the subject have appeared in the Italian media, for example in ‘Il Sole 24
Ore’.

The Ministry of the Economy has still not made a clear and definite statement on the subject. A huge
number of second-hand cars are therefore still being imported without the appropriate VAT being paid.

C 172 E/32

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.7.2002

Is the Commission aware of these facts, and if so, does it intend to take any action?

(1) OJ C 318 E, 13.11.2001, p. 164.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(22 January 2002)

In the reply to written question P-0964/01 (1) from the Honourable Member, the Commission outlined the
VAT arrangements applicable to used cars. As these arrangements have been transposed into national law
since 1995, the Commission does not find it unusual that there was limited reaction to its reply.

The control of Value Added Tax is a matter for Member States. Nevertheless, the Commission was
conscious of the particular problems created in the control of transactions relating to used cars. In this
context, a seminar was held under the Fiscalis programme (2) in 1999 for the purpose of examining these
problems in detail. One of
the conclusions from that seminar was that VAT control officials had
experienced difficulty in establishing whether intra-Community supplies of used cars were made using the
margin scheme or the normal VAT arrangements.

It was for this reason that the Commission, when making its proposal on simplifying, modernising and
harmonising the conditions laid down for invoicing in respect of value added tax (3), proposed that one of
the obligatory details to be mentioned on an invoice would be a reference to Article 26a of the Sixth VAT
Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States
relating to turnover taxes D Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment (4) in cases
where the margin scheme was applied. This proposal was retained by the Council, and it will therefore be
obligatory from 1 January 2004 for taxable persons, where the margin scheme is applied, to make
reference to Article 26a, to the corresponding national provisions, or to any other indication that the
margin scheme has been applied.

(1) OJ C 318 E, 13.11.2001.
(2) Decision No 888/98/EC of the Parliament and the Council of 30 March 1998 establishing a programme of
Community action to ameliorate the indirect taxation systems of the internal market (Fiscalis programme). OJ L 126,
28.4.1998.

(3) OJ C 96 E, 27.3.2001.
(4) OJ L 145, 13.6.1977, Directive as last amended by Council Directive 2001/44/EC of 19 January 2001 (OJ L 22,

24.1.2001).

(2002/C 172 E/035)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3277/01

by Hiltrud Breyer (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(26 November 2001)

Subject: Nuclear power stations as potential targets for terrorist attacks

Is the Commission also of the opinion that nuclear power stations are in principle potential targets

1.
for terrorist attacks like those on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the USA?

2.
In the event of a plane being deliberately crashed into a nuclear plant, the possibility cannot be ruled
out that in unfavourable circumstances (full fuel tank, large plane, high speed, specific angle of impact) the
reactor building would be damaged or pierced, even in the case of a modern nuclear power station. Has
the Commission investigated the possible consequences of such an event for Europe?

3.
The transport of nuclear material presents a particular security risk, as even the crash of a small
plane or other forms of terrorist attacks could lead to large areas of Europe becoming contaminated by