WRITTEN QUESTION E-0116/03 by Salvador Garriga Polledo (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Need to gain public confidence in the safety of nuclear power stations.
Date: 2003-01-28
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: dissemination of EU information, energy supply, information policy, nuclear policy, nuclear safety, public awareness campaign

C 242 E/98

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

9.10.2003

An indication of the value placed on patents by their owners has been estimated using an economic model
in a study carried out for the Danish Ministry of Trade and Industry (1), in which it was concluded that the
average value of a patent in Denmark is approximately EUR 20 000. While caution must be exercised in
extrapolating this figure to Europe as a whole, it does suggest that the total value of all patents currently in
force in Europe could run into the hundreds of billions of Euros.

The above analysis takes no account of the benefit that society at large derives from having access to new
technologies, but one clear example of this can be found in the pharmaceutical industry, which is known
to be particularly dependent upon patents because of the very high costs associated with research and
investment in the development of new
development relative to the costs of production. In this case,
medicines, which was estimated by the industry to amount to EUR 18,8 billion in Europe in 2001, would
be seriously affected, if not halted altogether, in the absence of the patent system.

In the field of copyright, the Commission is awaiting the results of a study that it has commissioned ‘The
economic importance of copyright’ which should be completed by October 2003. Previous estimates of
the production of the main copyright industry e.g. publishing, records, films and software) range from
3-5 % of the Community’s Gross Domestic Product. However such estimates are often based on total
production of particular industries, without further analysis. This study should present an economic
analysis of all the ‘core’ copyright industries (literature and the press, music, theatre, film and video,
photography, visual arts, radio and television, software and databases, architecture, advertising and
industrial design) and ‘copyright-dependent’
industries (manufacture and distribution of electronics,
computers, music instruments, photographic and cinematographic equipment, networks, intermediaries).
This analysis will be based on the Gross Value Added per country and the share of employment in each
sector and revenues generated. It should also include an analysis of the contribution made by the legal
protection given to copyright and related rights. The Commission will make the study available upon its
completion.

(1) Mette Gørtz & Merete Konnerup ‘Welfare Effects of a Patent

Insurance (cid:1) Microeconomic Evaluation and

Macroeconomic Consequences’ (June 2001).

(2003/C 242 E/098)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0116/03

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

(28 January 2003)

Subject: Need to gain public confidence in the safety of nuclear power stations

The nuclear power industry, along with the aviation sector, is the most closely regulated and safest of all
industries. However, no other industrial activity gives rise to so many reservations nor to such demand for
guarantees of safety.

The future of the nuclear industry will depend, to a large extent, on the way it is perceived by the general
public. Political leaders must therefore act to ensure that the public respects and has confidence in the
nuclear industry. Hence the importance of conveying to the man in the street that nuclear power is a
necessity and that it can quite feasibly be used alongside other forms of energy.

What steps has the Commission taken to provide EU citizens with information, by way of open and
objective information campaigns, as regards the safety of nuclear power and the fact that it is essential if
Community industry is not to be weakened?

Answer given by Ms de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(26 February 2003)

The Commission launched a major debate on the future of the European Union’s energy supply with the
adoption on 29 November 2000 of the Green Paper Towards a European strategy for the security of
energy supply (1),
it
considers the contribution of nuclear energy as well as that of all other energy sources. The final report on
the Green Paper, presenting the conclusions of the debate, was adopted by the Commission on 26 June
2002 (2).

in which, stressing that the Union must take better charge of its energy destiny,

9.10.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 242 E/99

Fully aware that public confidence depends on the assurance of a high level of safety and a clear and
transparent answer to the question of radioactive waste processing, the Commission put forward a package
of legislative measures in the field of nuclear safety on 6 November 2002 (3). This consists of two
proposals for Directives, one concerning the safety of nuclear installations in operation or undergoing
decommissioning and the other concerning the management of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste.
Having obtained the opinion of the group of experts provided for in Article 31 of the Euratom Treaty, the
Commission requested the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee, which is due to be delivered
shortly. The texts of the proposals for Directives can be found on the website of the Commission’s
Directorate-General for Energy and Transport, under the heading ‘Nuclear Safety’.

With a view to transparency in energy matters, the Commission regularly posts the documents it produces
on the Internet. The above proposals will help considerably to reassure the public by showing that the
Commission is paying close attention to nuclear safety issues and doing what needs to be done to set rules
at Community level.

It is not the Commission’s role to defend or impose one source of energy or another, but it needs to
present the pros and cons of each energy source in a responsible and quantified manner. Energy choices
have to be made by the Member States, and it is the Member States and the industry which are best placed
to carry out public information campaigns. The Commission’s task is to ensure compliance with all the
primary and secondary legislation in the various fields.

(1) COM(2000) 769 final.
(2) COM(2002) 321 final.
(3) COM(2003) 32 final.

(2003/C 242 E/099)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0132/03

by Fiorella Ghilardotti (PSE)
and Giovanni Pittella (PSE) to the Commission

(28 January 2003)

Subject: Resumption of the train service between Brussels and Milan

The train service between Brussels and Milan has been cancelled. This decision is causing serious
inconvenience to those people from Belgium, Luxembourg or France wanting to travel to Italy and in
particular Italians living in central and northern Europe.

The decision is clearly at odds with EU transport policy which is aimed at developing the major
communications routes and is also a serious obstacle to tourism and education for the many children of
Italians living abroad and studying in Milan.

What is the European Commission’s position on this matter and what measures does it intend to take to
secure the resumption of this service in full, or at least on a weekly basis?

(2003/C 242 E/100)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0252/03

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission

(5 February 2003)

Subject: Discontinuation of the Brussels-Milan overnight train service

At a time when Europe is enlarging eastwards and upgrading lines of communication would provide the
public with the first sign of genuine proximity, Belgium is managing to discontinue the overnight
couchette train service from Brussels to Milan, which also caters for vehicles. This service is run jointly
with the French, German, Luxembourg and Swiss railways and is of vital importance to Italian workers in
particular, who use this service in steady numbers. Should Belgium have been experiencing difficulties in
continuing operations on its section of the line, it could have sought contacts with the governments of the
countries rather than slashing the service. In view of this, can the Commission urgently reinstate the
Brussels-Milan train service, thereby ensuring that the needs and expectations of Community citizens are
met?