WRITTEN QUESTION E-0174/02 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Abuse of dominant market position concerning school software licences.
Date: 2002-02-05
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: competition law, dominant position, patents licence, selling price, software

5.12.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 301 E/27

So far, the reconciliation process is proving successful: the national reconciliation forum led to consensual
recommendations on the ways and means to stabilise the political situation. It also led to talks between the
main political figures of Côte d’Ivoire. Observers predict that the Ivorian nationality of Mr Ouattara, an
issue identified as a major source of political tension, should soon be recognised. Measures have also been
taken to deal with the other three issues.

The Commission believes that a full re-launch of Community co-operation should be agreed shortly.

The foreseen recognition of Mr Ouattara’s Ivorian nationality should by itself provide a solution to the
eligibility issue as regards the parliamentary elections. It is sufficient to hold Ivorian nationality to be
eligible at these elections. However, the nationality requirements for the presidential elections are more
stringent, according to the new constitution. A candidate should not only be Ivorian, but also both his
parents should be Ivorian and he should not ‘have availed himself’ of another nationality in the past.
President Gbagbo himself acknowledged during the reconciliation forum that this provision was personally
aimed at preventing Mr Ouattara from standing for election. President Gbagbo has decided to create a
lawyers’ committee to make recommendations on possible ‘clarifications’ of the current constitution. The
issue is on the agenda of current negotiations between the four main political leaders.

Human rights training of Côte d’Ivoire’s armed forces is indeed planned under the coordination of United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) within the programme for the reform of the army of the Ivorian
Government. This programme is part of a wide reform of the army which is a major priority of the
Government. The Commission and also some Member States are in the process of deciding upon their
involvement in this programme.

In the meantime, the Commission is going to support a project in this area led by the Friedrich Ebert
Foundation aimed at providing training to the armed forces and the police in order to promote better
understanding between them and civil society. Seminars and workshops will be organised in the four
military regions of Côte d’Ivoire. The issue of parallel security forces and of militias will be among the
main topics to be dealt with.

More generally, Côte d’Ivoire is one of the ‘focus countries’ for the implementation of the human rights
budget line (B7-7020) in 2002 and 2003. Priorities are being decided upon. Given the needs of the
country, and with a view to avoiding overlaps with other donors’ interventions, the Commission is ready
to focus on capacity building as regards non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the human rights
commission and the press.

(2002/C 301 E/026)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0174/02

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(5 February 2002)

Subject: Abuse of dominant market position concerning school software licences

The software company Microsoft has announced that it is to standardise its European licence fees for the
basic software package Microsoft Office Professional. This move will result in considerable increases in the
software licences schools have to pay in respect of each computer on which the software package is
installed. The increase will be 30-40 % in Belgium’s case and as high as about 250 % in the case of schools
in the Netherlands.

Will the Commission state whether it regards this pricing policy to be an abuse of a dominant market
position by the company concerned and whether it is taking steps to promote the use in education of
cheaper alternative software which is of an equivalent quality and also compatible with international
standards as regards the formats in which data is stored? Microsoft is apparently still using totally closed
formats which are regularly changed, so that consumers are forced to buy new versions of their software.

C 301 E/28

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

5.12.2002

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(25 March 2002)

The Commission has received information on this subject also from other sources. Microsoft’s licensing
policy towards schools of its Office suite referred to by the Honourable Member has already been brought
to the attention of the Commission with regard to the German and Dutch markets.

On the basis of the 1993 ‘Notice on cooperation between national courts and the Commission in applying
Articles 85 and 86 of the EC Treaty’ [now Articles 81 and 82], both the German and Dutch competition
authorities are now investigating this issue on the basis of their national competition rules.

The ongoing Commission investigation on Microsoft under Article 82 of the EC Treaty which led to the
issue of Statements of objections against Microsoft Corporation on 3 August 2000 and 29 August 2001
respectively, focuses on the allegation that Microsoft has abused its dominant position in the market for
personal computer operating system software by leveraging this power into the market for entry-level
server
software key
interoperability information that they need to enable their products to talk with Microsoft’s dominant
personal computer (PC) and entry-level server products.

software. Microsoft may have withheld from vendors of alternative server

In its second Statement of objections, the Commission also alleges that Microsoft is illegally tying its Media
Player product with the dominant Windows operating system.

For the time being, and in the absence of any formal complaint, there is however no open case on
Microsoft’s Office (XP) products as referred to by the Honourable Member, although the Commission is
carefully monitoring all developments with respect to these products.

(2002/C 301 E/027)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0177/02

by Jonas Sjöstedt (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Value of the Euro in terms of other world currencies

(5 February 2002)

Can the Commission provide a list of those of the world’s currencies which had risen in value against the
Euro between the latter’s introduction on 1 January 1999 and the end of 2001?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(5 April 2002)

The European Central Bank (ECB) publishes reference values for 28 currencies. Out of these currencies,
22 have appreciated against the euro between 4 January 1999 and 28 December 2001:

Currency

Lithuanian lita

US $

Hong Kong dollar

Canadian $

Korean won

Singapore dollar

(currency unit/EUR, change in %)

Exchange rate

− 25,32 %

− 25,24 %

− 24,75 %

− 21,81 %

− 16,95 %

− 16,61 %