WRITTEN QUESTION E-3552/01 by Brigitte Langenhagen (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Labelling regulations for the sale of fish, crustaceans and molluscs.
Date: 2002-01-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: consumer information, fishery product, labelling, packaging

C 147 E/200

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.6.2002

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on gehalf of the Commission

(8 February 2002)

First of all the Commission has to recall that the competencies of the Union in the nuclear field are laid
down in the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom Treaty), whose
Chapter 3 (Title II) ‘deals with health and safety’.

Subsequently, sets of regulations, directives, etc, have been developed with the aim of protection against
possible health detriments resulting from exposure to ionising radiation.

All the above provisions are related to the area of radiation protection, since the safety of nuclear
installations is the responsibility of the operators under the control of safety authorities in the framework
of national legislation. In other words, the responsibility to grant licences and regulate the siting, design,
construction, operation and decommissioning of nuclear installations rests within the responsibility of
Member States and in particular within their Nuclear Regulatory Authorities.

Therefore, and based on the foregoing considerations,
equipment associated to coolant systems is a national responsibility.

the design of

instrumentation and control

(2002/C 147 E/210)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3552/01

by Brigitte Langenhagen (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Labelling regulations for the sale of fish, crustaceans and molluscs

Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 104/2000 (1) sets out the comprehensive information for consumers that
must appear on labels of fisheries products. The subsequent paragraphs of Article 4 and the relevant
implementing regulation stipulate that the provisions will enter into force on 1 January 2002.

I understand from a number of fish processing companies in Germany and in other European countries
that their resources are tied up completely in the changeover to the euro. For this reason, and because of
the late publication of the implementing provisions, it will not be technically possible to produce the new
label complying with the regulations until 1 July 2002.

Would it be possible to postpone the entry into force of the labelling provisions until 1 July 2002?

Does the Commission consider that the period of time between the publication of the implementing
regulation in the Official Journal (second half of November 2001) and the entry into force of the consumer
information provisions is reasonable?

(1) OJ L 17, 21.1.2000, p. 22.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(24 January 2002)

The Honourable Member’s question refers to a postponement in the date of application of Commission
Regulation (EC) No 2065/2001 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC)
No 104/2000 as regards informing consumers about fishery and aquaculture products (1). Article 43 of
Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 on the common organisation of the markets in fishery and
aquaculture products (2) states that the provisions on consumer information shall apply from 1 January
2002 and the Commission has no power to alter that date.

20.6.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 147 E/201

Some considerable time ago, the Directorate-General for Fisheries warned the sectors concerned about
Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 104/2000, the implementing rules for which were approved early in
September 2001 by the Management Committee for Fisheries Products.

At the request of those sectors, the Commission agreed to introduce into the Regulation on information
for consumers the possibility of marketing until stocks were exhausted products marketed or labelled
before that date or in packaging which did not comply with the Regulation.

(1) OJ L 278, 23.10.2001.
(2) OJ L 17, 21.1.2000.

(2002/C 147 E/211)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3558/01

by Carlos Candal (PSE) to the Commission

(4 January 2002)

Subject: Excessive household debts in the Member States

In view of the significant increase in the levels of household debt in all the Member States, and given the
interest which Parliament has expressed in this subject being examined at Community level in the context
of helping make the single market a reality, it now emerges that the Commission has asked independent
experts to draw up two studies, on, respectively, the statistical and the legal aspects of this phenomenon
(see the documentation for the call for proposals No 2000/A5/0007).

Can the Commission confirm:

@ that these studies have already been supplied, and, if so, state on what dates they were received?

@ can it explain what use it intends to make of them, and, in particular, what further action it intends to

take, and through which of its DGs, on the basis of these studies?

@ can it indicate whether and when it intends to submit a proposal for a Community measure on the

subject, and what scope such a proposal would have?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(7 February 2002)

The study on the statistical aspects was submitted for final agreement on 22 October 2001. The study on
the legal aspects has not yet been drawn up. The contract concerned was terminated because the interim
reports were not of sufficient quality. The procedure will have to be restarted in the course of 2002.

The actions to be taken would be the responsibility of the Employment and Social Affairs DG (EMPL),
particularly as regards the development of over-indebtedness indicators as part of the open method of
coordination on social inclusion, and the Health and Consumer Protection DG (SANCO) with respect in
particular to the inclusion of preventive measures in the draft directive on consumer credit.

A set of Community measures for following up the problem in the Member States, and its cross-border
statistical and legal aspects, was announced in the Council resolution of 26 November 2001 on consumer
credit and indebtedness.