WRITTEN QUESTION E-0248/02 by Bartho Pronk (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Price increases in connection with the introduction of the euro.
Date: 2002-02-06
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: euro, euro area, price control, price increase, prices policy, publishing of prices

4.7.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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(2002/C 160 E/261)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0245/02

by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission

(6 February 2002)

Subject: Clarifications concerning the answer to the written questions on the review of action taken in
Afghanistan pursuant to the various objectives set out in the Council common position of
22 January 2001

The Commission decided to provide a single answer to written questions E-3220/01-E-3252/01 (1) on the
review of action taken in Afghanistan pursuant to the Council common position of 22 January 2001. It
emerges from this answer that, apart
the
commitment entered into has not been fulfilled (‘the Commission intends to direct its action towards
achieving the objectives of the common position’ - Article 7).

from humanitarian aid and a number of declarations,

Therefore, the simple question posed in each of the written questions is being asked once again:

- What practical action did the Commission take - prior to the events of 11 September - with a view

to achieving the individual objectives stated in the Council’s common position?

- In particular how much European funding (in euro) was spent between 1 January and 11 September
2001, how much was earmarked for activities in Afghanistan and under what heading (budget item
and project title), to whom were the sums paid and which of them were subject to controls and/or
checks and by whom, and what were the results?

(1) See page 76.

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(14 March 2002)

The Commission is collecting the information it needs to answer the question. It will communicate its
findings as soon as possible.

(2002/C 160 E/262)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0248/02

by Bartho Pronk (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(6 February 2002)

Subject: Price increases in connection with the introduction of the euro

At the last part-session, Commissioner Solbes stated that prices had not increased as a result of the
introduction of
the euro. The Dutch media have carried reports of price increases, however, and
Consumentenbond, the Dutch consumers’ association, has pointed out a number of cases where prices
have clearly risen.

Given that price increases as a result of the euro’s introduction are a totally unwelcome development, will
the Commission provide answers to the following questions:

1.

Is it aware of the findings of Consumentenbond’s ‘Europrijzenmonitor’? Does it acknowledge that the
2,8 % price increase that occurred at about the time the euro was introduced is an unwelcome
development? Does it have findings from similar surveys in other Member States? Do the findings of
the Consumentenbond survey change Commissioner Solbes’ opinion?

2. Can Commissioner Solbes produce statistics to support his statement that the introduction of the euro

has not resulted in price increases?

3. The only way consumers can carry out a price survey is to compare prices. It was agreed that, until
1 July 2002, the price of a product must be shown in both old and new currencies. The same survey
by Consumentenbond revealed that this was happening in the case of only 48 % of products, with
prices being shown in euro only for 46 % of products and in guilders only for 2 % of products. How is

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4.7.2002

remind the Netherlands
the Commission planning to combat
government of the importance of indicating prices in both old and new currencies in the interests of
consumer protection?

this undesirable trend? Will

it

4. Among other things, parking charges in the Netherlands have risen by an average of 8,8 %. They are
usually set by municipal authorities, and hence indirectly by the Netherlands government. Is the
Commission prepared to impress upon the Netherlands government that this increase in parking
charges is undesirable?

5. What measures will the Commission adopt if it should find that, contrary to the agreed policy, prices

have increased as a result of the euro’s introduction?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(21 March 2002)

The Commission would like to clarify that in his speech before the Parliament on 16 January 2002 in
Strasbourg, the Member of the Commission responsible for Economic and Financial Affairs reported that
there had not been evidence for significant systematic price increases as a result of the changeover to the
euro.

The Member of the Commission did not thus exclude price increases in respect to individual cases or
products. Marked price increases in a number of cases reported in the media, in the Netherlands and
elsewhere, though unwelcome and potentially unjustifiable as such, are often accompanied with decreases
in the prices of other products. They do not seem as yet to lead to a significant and thus detectable overall
euro-effect.

The Member’s statement was strengthened with the flash-estimate for euro-zone inflation for January 2002
published by Eurostat on 1 February 2002. The euro-zone annual rate for January 2002 is 2,7 %, up from
a revised 2,0 % in December 2001. The month-on-month change in the euro-zone HICP (Harmonised
Index of Consumer Prices) from December 2001 to January 2002 was 0,5 %. The euro changeover effect
on the month-on-month increase in the euro-zone HICP between December 2001 and January 2002 most
likely falls within the range of 0,0 % to 0,16 %. Non-euro factors - in particular bad weather resulting in
very large increases in vegetable prices and some significant tax increases on tobacco - can, according to
initial analyses, explain as much as 0,34 % of the change. The remaining price increase is thus estimated at
most at 0,16 %.

The Commission is aware of the study by the ‘Nederlandse Consumentenbond’ and other studies in the
euro-zone dealing with the issue of potential changeover effects. Many of them rely on data collected
before the changeover and most of them can be said to be anecdotal, in the sense that the number and the
relative importance of the surveyed products are not representative of the change in the overall level of
prices. The Dutch HICP month-to-month change of 1,1 % for January 2002 - released by Statistics
Netherlands (CBS) on 9 February 2002 - seems to confirm this view.

The Commission would like to assure the Honourable Member that the first priority for Eurostat is to
ensure that changeover inflation is correctly captured by the HICP. That is that changeover effects cannot
be hidden by the calculations and statistical adjustments, even if their impact cannot be isolated as such.

It seems needless to stress that Community markets are free and the economy too dynamic to be able to
say what prices would have been if the changeover had not taken place. The euro changeover is but one of
many factors contributing to price change. In theory, one would be able to quantify changeover inflation
where it exists, and break it down by source. In practice, the most that can be done is to assess the
situation on the basis of informed assumptions. Such assessments carry the risk of attributing price
changes to the euro changeover when they may be due to other factors. The study of the ‘Nederlandse
Consumentenbond’ which was at the origin of the written question is also subject to these limitations.

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The direct comparison of prices over time is indeed the means by which consumers primarily assess price
movements. The Commission recommended the dual display of prices in October 2000. Since then, this
has been very widely applied, either by law (it is compulsory in Greece, Austria and Portugal) or de facto
(large distribution networks, for example, systematically display the two prices throughout the eurozone).

The Commission asked the participating Member States to convert public-sector charges to the euro in a
manner which was neutral or to the benefit of taxpayers, and they agreed to this request. As regards
parking charges, CBS confirmed an increase in parking charges of 8,4 % in the January 2002 HICP. In
general, the prices for the sub-index in question have been increasing much faster than the Dutch all-items
index since 1998 and most of the price increases typically take place in January.

Legislation exists in some Member States (e.g: Luxembourg or Austria) allowing action to be taken against
excessive price increases. The Commission and especially the European Central Bank (ECB), which was
assigned the objective of ensuring price stability by the EC Treaty, will monitor the trend in inflation very
closely.

(2002/C 160 E/263)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0256/02

by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission

(7 February 2002)

Subject: Funding for disability projects

Does the Commission know what percentage of EU development project money is spent on disability
projects?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(18 March 2002)

There are no Community programmes which provide funding exclusively for disability projects. The
Commission’s general approach is to ensure that all relevant Community actions are open to this type of
project. This means that funding to help people with disabilities is granted under the Structural Funds and
as part of programmes in the field of employment and social inclusion or in areas such as research and
development, education, training and EU external policies.

However, there are no data which may be used to calculate the percentage of funding related to these
actions which is spent exclusively on assisting people with disabilities. Nevertheless, the Commission has
begun a study, which should produce results by 2002, in order to obtain further information on the
various groups receiving support from the European Social Fund (ESF).

(2002/C 160 E/264)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0275/02

by Jannis Sakellariou (PSE) to the Commission

(8 February 2002)

Subject: Recognition of a German medical specialist qualification in Corfu, Greece

Following a decision of 13 October 2000 by the Greek Ministry of Health in Athens (No Y9a/6376) the
sonography certificate of a fully qualified gynaecologist trained in Germany is not immediately recognised
in Greece. The specialist first has to study for a further six months in a clinic before taking another
examination. Does this comply with EU directives?