WRITTEN QUESTION E-3616/01 by Yasmine Boudjenah (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Processing of personal data.
Date: 2002-01-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: France, credit, data processing, discrimination on the basis of nationality, loan, nationality, personal data

20.6.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 147 E/211

(2002/C 147 E/221)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3610/01

by Herbert Bösch (PSE) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Cross-border provision of services involving Austria and Italy

The Italian management of the Brenner Autobahn AG prohibits Austrian undertakings from performing
contracts for the recovery of broken-down vehicles on the Italian side. Only authorised Italian vehicle
recovery firms may recover broken-down vehicles on the Italian side. On the other hand, vehicles are
recovered on the Austrian side by Italian organisations such as the ACI (Italian Automobile Association).

1.

Is such prohibition of the cross-border provision of services lawful?

2. What steps will the Directorate-General for Competition take to prohibit this restriction on the
freedom to provide services?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(22 February 2002)

Up until now, the Commission had no knowledge of this type of obstacle.

The Commission regrets that it is not able to give an answer at present due to the absence of details on the
nature of the arrangements in question and on their legal source (is this, for example, a legislative,
regulatory or administrative text, or a decision taken under an exclusive concession or contract for the
exercise of a public service activity, etc.?).

If it had these details, the Commission could examine the problem from the viewpoint of which provisions
of Community law may be applicable.

(2002/C 147 E/222)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3616/01

by Yasmine Boudjenah (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Processing of personal data

The French Council of State recently ruled that banks can use nationality as a criterion when considering
applications for bank loans or credit. The decision to do so, which is completely discriminatory, was
sharply criticised in December 1998 by the National Commission for Information Technology and Civil
Liberties (CNIL), which had adopted the following provisions ‘… nationality cannot be a variable that is
used in such calculations [computerised calculation of risk evaluation], whether expressed as one of
’French, EEC national, other’ or, in particular, if specified precisely’; ‘… only information on the stability of
the credit applicant’s residence on French territory is of relevance’.

Does the Commission take the view that this decision of the Council of State, which nullified the CNIL’s
recommendation, is incompatible with Community legislation on the protection of natural persons with
regard to the processing of personal data?

What steps does it intend to take to put an end to such discrimination?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(26 February 2002)

The Honourable Member inquires about the Commission’s view on the differences of view between the
Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL) and the Association Française des Sociétés
Financières about the inclusion of nationality as a factor in the automatic calculation of the risk (credit
scoring) when considering credit applications. The Commission does not consider it appropriate to take a
view on the application of national law in the specific case in question.

C 147 E/212

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.6.2002

is not

As a general rule, the effect of Article 12 of the EC Treaty, making illegal any discrimination on grounds of
nationality,
in the Commission’s view to preclude entirely the processing of personal data
concerning nationality for purposes of credit agreement. From the data protection point of view there is
some room for nationality to be a relevant factor and therefore for its processing (together with other
many factors) to be adequate, relevant and not excessive within the meaning of Article 6.1.c) of Directive
95/46/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with
regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (1).

For example, a person’s nationality may be relevant to that person’s capacity to conclude a valid contract
in certain limited circumstances, and may also be relevant to questions of devolution of property on
marriage or death. In these limited circumstances, the possible incidence of foreign law is something that
creditors might need to consider as an additional risk for the credit operation and the processing of
nationality information could therefore be lawful.

However, taking into account the limited incidence that data about nationality may have, the Commission
takes the view that companies and institutions should make all possible efforts to avoid the processing of
this personal data of individuals, in particular because scoring by nationalities might conceal scoring on
the basis of race or origin, special categories of data for which the Directive’s rules are much stricter.

Finally, the Commission would recall that Directive 95/46/CE provides specific safeguards as regard
decisions based solely on the automatic processing of personal data, in Article 15 and Article 12 (a) third
indent.

(1) OJ L 281, 23.11.1995.

(2002/C 147 E/223)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3618/01

by Dorette Corbey (PSE) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Comparisons of prices of important medicines

Prices of medicines are not transparent, and are difficult to compare.

Can the Commission provide a comparative overview of the price differences for:

1. 20 major medicines for cardiovascular diseases in the 15 Member States of the European Union?

2. 10 major medicines for diabetes in the 15 Member States of the European Union?

3. 10 major medicines for psychiatric diseases in the 15 Member States of the European Union?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(7 February 2002)

The Commission does not collect information on the prices of medicinal products. Some Member States
are in the process of developing databases of comparative international prices. In addition, the World
Health Organization has recently collected pricing data in 29 European countries for 25 innovative
medicines. The results are set out in the brochure ‘Policies on Pricing and Reimbursement of Medicines in
Europe J Networking for Information Exchange among Policymakers, 16-17 November 2000. Annex:
Comparative Review of Drug Prices’.