WRITTEN QUESTION E-3591/01 by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Luís Elvas company and the textile and clothing sector in Portugal.
Date: 2002-01-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Portugal, Structural Funds, World Trade Organisation, claim, company in difficulties, liberalisation of the market, textile industry

C 277 E/10

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

14.11.2002

(2002/C 277 E/008)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3591/01

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Luís Elvas company and the textile and clothing sector in Portugal

The Luís Elvas LDA company (confecçoes Montebela), based in Belmonte, in an inland area of Portugal
where there are few jobs, even in industry, is going through a difficult period. It currently has a workforce
of 200 workers, compared to an earlier figure of 300.

Following a major investment about five years ago, the company went through a difficult period as a result
of significant bad debts, amounting to ESC 150 million, after clients in France and the United Kingdom
went bankrupt.

The tough competition from third countries in the sensitive textile and clothing sector is making the
situation even worse and jeopardising the company’s future, with all the consequences this can have for
employment, mainly among women and the development of this inland area of Portugal.

Can the Commission answer the following:

8 What support has the Community given the Luis Elvas company?

8 What aid does the Commission intend to provide for companies in the textile and clothing sector

affected by the bilateral agreements between the European Union and third countries?

8 How does it intend to support SMEs, especially in such sensitive sectors as the clothing trade, which

are affected by bad debts in other EU countries?

Supplementary answer
given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(8 May 2002)

The Union supports firms by providing part-finance from the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund for
training, innovation and research. The Commission would, however, point out that the choice of projects
is a matter for the Member States. According to information received from the Portuguese authorities, Luis
Elvas Lda has received no part-finance from these Funds.

The Commission would also point out that when negotiating textiles agreements with non-member
countries it seeks to strike a balance between opening up the markets of those countries and the
concessions which it is willing to grant, so that any opening up of the Union market is accompanied by
market opportunities in the non-member countries. In its decisions on the opening up of the textiles and
clothing sector in 1995-2004, as required by the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Union
is acting gradually to ease the transition towards open import arrangements. As a result, the Commission
believes that it would be inappropriate to provide individual aid to firms or to a particular sector because
of those agreements. However, Community appropriations for programmes part-financed by the Structural
Funds could be used to enhance the competitiveness of regions and promote job creation. The whole of
Portugal is eligible under the Structural Funds during the current programming period (2000-2006).

No financial support is provided for at Community level for firms solely on account of irrecoverable debts
in other countries of the Union. However, since the entry into force on 1 March 2002 of Council
Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil
and commercial matters (1), a more rapid and semi-automatic mechanism permits each Member State to
speed up the recovery of claims from firms established in other Member States. This Regulation simplifies
the formalities for the simple and rapid enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters by the
Member States in order to ensure the smooth operation of the internal market. Hence a judgment secured
in one Member State will be fully recognised without any further formalities, unless it is disputed. This

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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means that the procedure required to enforce in one Member State a judgment issued in another will be
considerably simplified and hence made more effective.
the Commission is currently
completing preparation of a proposal to introduce a European enforcement order for uncontested claims,
which would do away with exequatur for certain claims.

In addition,

(1) OJ L 12, 16.1.2001.

(2002/C 277 E/009)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3598/01

by Ilka Schröder (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: So-called ‘troublemaker letters’ from the police to persons deemed likely to take part in protests

against the Laeken Summit

According to media reports, e.g. in the issue of the Berliner Zeitung of 10 December 2001, during the first
half of December, in the run-up to the Laeken Summit, persons in a number of German Länder deemed
likely to take part in protests against the summit were warned not to leave the country or even prevented
from so doing. For example, in Baden-Württemburg individuals were banned from leaving the country and
required to report to the police, and in Berlin passports and identity cards were withdrawn.

In Göttingen, the police sent persons presumed to be anti-EU protesters a document headed ‘troublemaker
letter’. The letter urges the recipient not to take part in ‘demonstration-like events’ during the period from
13 to 15 December 2001, stating that only in this way could the person concerned avoid police measures
in the context of risk prevention (up to and including a ban on crossing into Belgium from Germany) or
criminal proceedings in response to offences committed during such events. The Göttingen police
authority referred to a file on violent offenders, set up in November 2000, as the basis for the measures.

In the light of previous answers to Members’ questions, it should be pointed out that the protests were to
take place in connection with an EU Summit. Since there is no such thing as a European police force, the
relevant police measures are carried out by national or regional forces.

Should the Commission not feel responsible for the issues raised below, could it please give reasons in
each case:

8 Is the Commission aware of the legal basis which the German authorities have used in setting up this
file which clearly includes details of persons who must be regarded as innocent of any offence?

8 What view does the Commission take of this restriction on individuals’ fundamental rights, which
represents, for example, a breach of Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights and
Articles 11 and 12 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union?

8 This practice prevents people from exercising their fundamental rights as European citizens. What

steps does the Commission plan to take in order to put a stop to this practice?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(12 February 2002)

The questions raised by the Honourable Member primarily concern the compatibility with Community law
of measures restricting freedom of movement taken by one Member State on the grounds of public policy.