WRITTEN QUESTION E-1608/02 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Denial of National Mortgage Guarantee in the Netherlands to some residents who are nationals of other EU Member States or EEA countries.
Date: 2002-06-05
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU national, Netherlands, acquisition of property, credit guarantee, discrimination on the basis of nationality, mortgage bank, residence

C 229 E/218

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

26.9.2002

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(26 June 2002)

The Commission is sending direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament’s Secretariat a table
containing the information requested.

(2002/C 229 E/250)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1528/02

by Jorge Hernández Mollar (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Measures against Economy Class Syndrome

(4 June 2002)

From the plane straight into Casualty. This has been a common route for many EU citizens who, after a
flight of more than six hours, have arrived at an EU airport suffering from Deep Vein Thrombosis.

According to experts, Economy Class Syndrome is due to dehydration resulting from the dry atmosphere
in planes, the pressure decrease in aircraft on takeoff, and above all, the lack of mobility. Therefore doctors
recommend that airlines allocate greater space for passenger seats.

Can the Commission indicate if,
it can exercise
influence over airline companies to ensure that aeroplane seats provide passengers with more space in
order to avoid the overcrowding which encourages Economy Class Syndrome?

in accordance with medical opinion on the matter,

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(9 July 2002)

The Commission would refer the Honourable Member to the reply it gave to Oral Question H-0442/02 by
Mr Evans during question time at Parliament’s June 2002 part-session (1).

(1) Written answer of 11.6.2002.

(2002/C 229 E/251)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1608/02

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(5 June 2002)

Subject: Denial of National Mortgage Guarantee in the Netherlands to some residents who are nationals of

other EU Member States or EEA countries

1.
Is the Commission aware that the Owner-Occupiers Guarantee Fund (Stichting Waarborg-fonds Eigen
Woning) in the Netherlands, which provides National Mortgage Guarantees < the successor of Municipal
Guarantees (guarantees provided by municipal authorities that home-buyers would meet their mortgage
payments) < and protects home-buyers against future risks and against higher interest payments to
building societies to cover higher risks, has introduced new rules in 2002, one of which (p. 12) is that an
applicant from a Member State of the European Union or the European Economic Area must be in
possession of a Netherlands residence permit which is valid indefinitely in order to be eligible for a loan to
help him/her buy a home or, as an owner-occupier, make improvements to his/her home?

2.
Is the Commission aware that the Netherlands only grants the right to such a residence permit once
the applicant has been entered in the population register of a Dutch municipality for five years, even if the
person concerned can prove with the aid of witnesses or by producing an employment contract that he/
she has been resident in the Netherlands for longer?

26.9.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 229 E/219

Does the Commission agree that there is no need for a requirement to produce a residence permit of
3.
indefinite validity as a means of combating speculation by people who are not resident in the Netherlands,
because the rules governing mortgage guarantees also state that a guarantee is valid only if the beneficiary
occupies the dwelling in person and it is his/her permanent principal home, and the guarantee remains
valid only so long as this continues to be the case?

4.
Do the new rules constitute discrimination on grounds of nationality, bearing in mind that people
who wish to settle in the Netherlands for a long period and spouses of Netherlands nationals who
themselves are nationals of another Member State of the EU or the EEA are placed at a disadvantage with
regard to the opportunity to buy a dwelling with the intention of living in it in person?

5. What will the Commission do to put an end to this unequal treatment and discrimination on
grounds of nationality?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(3 July 2002)

The Commission is conducting a detailed investigation of the problem raised by the Honourable Member
and will inform him of the outcome as soon as possible.

(2002/C 229 E/252)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1613/02

by Avril Doyle (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(5 June 2002)

Subject: Traditional herbal medicines

Could the Commission please clarify why when drafting a definition of what is a traditional medicinal
product it has under Article 16 (c) 1.c of the proposal for a directive, defined ‘it as having a’medicinal
use‘in the Community throughout a period of at least thirty years preceding the date of application’? This
thirty year rule fails to accommodate many traditional medicinal products that cannot provide evidence of
continuous use in Europe for thirty years.

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(24 June 2002)

The Commission’s proposal for a Directive of the Parliament and of the Council amending the Directive
2001/83/EC as regards traditional herbal medicinal products (1) provides for a simplified registration of
certain herbal medicinal products.

The quality requirements for this category of medicinal products are the same as for all other medicinal
products. The safety and the efficacy of the product, for which the applicant seeks registration, however,
do not need to be proven by new tests and trials or by scientific literature. A simplified registration can be
granted, if data showing the medicinal use of the medicinal product over at least 30 years is sufficient. This
requires in particular that the product has been shown not to be harmful in the specified conditions of use
and that the pharmacological effects or efficacy of the medicinal product are plausible on the basis of long-
term use and experience.

Bearing in mind that the information on the product’s traditional use constitutes the basis for assessing the
product’s safety and efficacy, it is of paramount importance to guarantee the validity of this information in
a European context. The safety and the efficacy of a medicinal product can be influenced by regional
factors including availability of other medicines and medical treatments, medical tradition and practice or
physiological particularities. For these reasons it is essential to require that the information on the
traditional use of the product to be registered in one of the Member States relates at least to a certain
degree to its medicinal use in the Community.