WRITTEN QUESTION E-1527/02 by Salvador Garriga Polledo (PPE-DE) to the Commission. French ban on paying interest into current accounts.
Date: 2002-06-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: France, Spain, bank deposit, interest, law of banking, subsidiary

C 92 E/64

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

17.4.2003

(2003/C 92 E/064)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1527/02

by Salvador Garriga Polledo (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: French ban on paying interest into current accounts

(3 June 2002)

The French Banking Commission has banned Caixa Bank, the French branch of the Spanish bank La Caixa,
from providing current account holders with 2 % interest, something which the French banking system
does not offer.

At the request of the French government, the Banking Commission, part of the Bank of France, took the
decision to examine Caixa Bank payments. Its conclusion was to ban the Spanish bank from opening any
new accounts of this type. Moreover, Caixa Bank has been given two months to close accounts opened
prior to the ruling.

With regard to the decision adopted by the French Banking Commission, at the behest of the French
government, to ban Caixa Bank from paying interest into its current accounts, which has been justified by
the bank’s representatives on the basis of the dictates of the euro and the necessity to standardise European
monetary regulations: does the Commission consider this decision to be in accordance with the relevant
Community provisions?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(28 June 2002)

The Commission is aware of the decision by the French Banking Commission to which the Honourable
Member refers. An application for suspension and annulment of that decision has been received by the
Council of State, which has, among other things, to examine its Community law aspects with a view to
referring it, where appropriate, to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling.

For its part, the Commission is in the process of examining the points of law arising from the French
legislation on which the decision of the Banking Commission is based. It will certainly take the necessary
measures once all the factual and legal circumstances determining those measures have been clarified and
assessed under the appropriate procedures laid down in the Treaty. It will be sure to keep the Honourable
Member informed of developments.

(2003/C 92 E/065)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1554/02

by Bob van den Bos (ELDR) to the Commission

(3 June 2002)

Subject: EU aid to the Palestinians

According to the Israeli Government, the Palestinian Authority has misused EU aid funds to finance
terrorism. The Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad even reported on 8 May 2002 that the European Union
was aware of the Palestinian Authority’s misuse of funding but had refrained from raising the issue in the
interests of a resumption of the peace process.

In his letter of 7 May 2002 to the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the European Union, Commissioner
Patten rejected these accusations. However, the information about the nature of the EU’s aid to the
Palestinians which he attached to his letter by way of evidence does not make it clear exactly what the
budget support is being spent on or how its use is monitored.

Will the Commission draw up a more specific account of the distribution of the EU funding among the
various expenditure headings of the Palestinian Authority and indicate how the IMF monitors expenditure?

Why did the Commission seek the assistance of the IMF in monitoring the use of European aid funds a
year ago? What was the situation before the IMF started to provide such assistance?