WRITTEN QUESTION E-0185/03 by Ian Hudghton (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Public access to documents — consultation on GATS proposals.
Date: 2003-01-31
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: GATS, access to EU information, common commercial policy, liberalisation of the market, public service, tariff negotiations

C 33 E/36

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.2.2004

(2004/C 33 E/033)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0185/03

by Ian Hudghton (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(31 January 2003)

Subject: Public access to documents (cid:1) consultation on GATS proposals

Given the EU’s commitment to transparency and to ensuring that citizens have the widest possible access
to documentation, and given the widespread concern being voiced by European citizens who want
clarification on:

(cid:1) how GATS may be applied to public services;

(cid:1) the impact of present rules on the poorest nations;

(cid:1) the potential impact on national and local government regulations;

(cid:1) the implications of the binding nature of GATS rulings and the requirement of future governments of

a different political composition to these rules;

would the Commission state what access members of the public will have to Commission documents on
the current round of GATS negotiations? In particular will unlimited access be granted to documents
containing what requests are made of the European Union and what offers are made in the EU’s name?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-0169/03 and E-0185/03
given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(19 March 2003)

The Commission is fully committed to being as transparent as possible with all stakeholders in the General
Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) negotiations. Transparency is a natural component in a democracy
and the Commission makes considerable time and resources available to debate trade policy issues with all
stakeholders, in particular the Parliament. But an appropriate balance must be struck between transparency
and the Community’s ability to negotiate in an atmosphere conducive to frank and open discussions.

The Commission ensures that Members of the Parliament are regularly briefed on trade policy issues and
consulted on key questions in accordance with the Framework Agreement of 5 July 2000. The Member of
the Commission responsible for Trade meets and takes part in exchanges of views with Members in the
Parliament whether in plenary, in the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy (ITRE)
or in the framework of informal groups on a regular basis. In keeping with the Commission’s desire to
keep Members fully abreast of developments in the trade policy area, the initial requests to other World
Trade Organisation (WTO) Members for improved market access on services were made available to the
ITRE Committee in July 2002.

further details on the Community’s

the Honourable Members are referred to the
For
Commission’s answer to Written Question E-3130/02 by Mrs Figueiredo (1). The Commission has followed
the same procedure with the draft Community offer and has made this available simultaneously to the
ITRE Committee and to the Council.

requests,

As regards the general public, the Commission makes considerable time and resources available to consult
on and debate all trade policy issues. In 1998 the Commission launched a Civil Society Dialogue with the
specific objective of developing a confident working relationship between all interested stakeholders in the
trade policy field. Within this framework, regular consultations in various formats with regard to all
aspects of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA), including issues raised by the service negotiations, have
taken place since 1999. Furthermore, the Community’s general objectives for the GATS negotiations as
well as its objectives for most of the sectors covered by the GATS have been publicly available for some
time through, for example, the Union and WTO Web Sites. Indeed, the sectoral proposals were all
submitted to the WTO in December 2000 and a Communication on the Community’s general objectives
was submitted in March 2001.

6.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 33 E/37

In addition, a summary of Community’s initial requests was published in July 2002 on the Commission’s
Web Site (DG TRADE) (2) and on 12 November 2002 the Commission launched an unprecedented public
to the Community by publishing a
consultation on the requests addressed by WTO members
comprehensive consultative document in all official
languages outlining the main issues raised in the
requests. The public consultation has been met with a large public response. The Commission has
subsequently analysed the comments submitted and has considered these as it has prepared the draft
Community offer. The Commission welcomes the many contributions it has received that have helped it
identify issues of current concern or interests to all stakeholders.

With respect to what access members of the public will have to the initial requests tabled by the
Community and other WTO Members in these negotiations, the Commission would refer the Honourable
Members to its answer to Written Question E-2446/02 by Mr Deva (3). As regards the Community’s offer
in the services negotiations the Commission has announced that the EU’s offer will be made public once it
has been sent to our trading partners. This is an unprecedented step.

The Commission believes
safeguarding its ability to negotiate.

the above efforts show its

strong commitment

to transparency while

(1) OJ C 11 E, 15.1.2004, p. 27.
(2) http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade/wto_overview/index_en.htm.
(3) OJ C 110 E, 8.5.2003, p. 55.

(2004/C 33 E/034)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0275/03

by Wolfgang Ilgenfritz (NI) to the Commission

(31 January 2003)

Subject: Transfer of currency reserves

Transfers of currency reserves are reported to have been made in Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy
without being challenged by any EU bodies.

Were currency reserves actually transferred by the national banks, and are they then freely available for use
(to finance public road building or to fund research,
for example) on the basis of national budget
decisions?

Must such transfers be approved by EU bodies, and if so by which bodies, or can such a decision be taken
at purely national level?

How large is the volume of currency reserves available for such transfers in the individual countries?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(5 March 2003)

The Commission does not have any information about recent transfers of currency reserves by national
central banks in favour of national governments.

There is limited availability of foreign reserves for transactions at the level of the Member States. For any
such transaction the approval by the European Central Bank’s (ECB’s) Governing Council is indispensable.

Indeed, according to Article 105(2) of the EC Treaty one of the basic tasks to be carried out through the
European System of Central Banks (ESCB), which is composed of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the
euro area national central banks (NCB), is to hold and manage the official foreign reserves (gold, foreign
currency, special drawing right (SDR)) of the euro area Member States. Thus, the euro area reserves consist
of both the ECB’s and those held by participating NCBs. Reserve assets of the ECB are those which are
pooled under Article 30 of the Statute of the ESCB according to the capital subscription key. All other
reserve assets are retained by the NCBs in relation to Article 30(4) as long as no transfer of ownership