WRITTEN QUESTION P-0531/03 by Theresa Zabell (PPE-DE) to the Commission. International participation licence for motor rallies in the EU.
Date: 2003-02-18
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: application of EU law, freedom to provide services, interpretation of the law, sporting event, sports body

C 192 E/196

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

14.8.2003

(2003/C 192 E/236)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0527/03

by Norbert Glante (PSE) to the Commission

(18 February 2003)

Subject: Introduction of the software component palladium and the microprocessor TPM (Trusted Platform

Module)

Does the Commission have any information concerning the technical data-security questions linked to the
introduction of the software component palladium and the microprocessor TPM (Trusted Platform Module)
by the consortium Trusted Computing Platform Alliance (TPCA), and if so, what information does it have?

In the Commission’s view, what implications as regards legislation governing competition and cartels will
the intended introduction of this hardware specification have for small and medium-sized software
companies in particular?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(27 March 2003)

The Commission is aware of the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance (TCPA) and related industry
initiatives, such as Microsoft’s Palladium. This project is still in its early stages. As such, and in the absence
of any formal complaint, the Commission is not conducting an anti-trust investigation on the issue. The
Commission is, nevertheless, fully aware of the potential impact of technologies such as TCPA/Palladium
including openness of the software markets, user control and user rights issues,
on a range of areas,
privacy issues and content provision. The Commission is actively engaged in dialogue with all parties
expressing views on TCPA/Palladium.

It is the intention of the Commission to continue following this development during the next months, also
from the data protection viewpoint. The Commission provides the secretariat for the Article 29 Working
Party and its sub-groups. In this framework the Commission will participate at the discussions of the
Internet Task Force of the Article 29 Working Party, that is intending to explore the issue of TCPA/
Palladium during the next months.

(2003/C 192 E/237)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0531/03

by Theresa Zabell (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(18 February 2003)

Subject: International participation licence for motor rallies in the EU

Thanks to the EU, sport at European level is characterised by considerable mobility, and, allowing for
individuals’ geographical circumstances, many people have improved opportunities of engaging in sporting
activities or participating in competitions in a Member State other than their own.

Nonetheless, Galician or Portuguese individuals wishing to take part in motor rallies on either side of the
border have discovered that, as of this year, they are obliged to pay an additional fee of approximately
EUR 1 500.

This obstacle, which does not exist for other sports, applies only to ‘non-professional’ participants, who
may be presumed to be those who can least afford it.

Can the Commission state whether this practice is compatible with Community law on the free provision
of services?

Does the Commission not consider this fee of EUR 1 500 to be on the high side?

14.8.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 192 E/197

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(12 March 2003)

The Honourable Member might like to refer to the answers given by the Commission to Written Questions
E-3066/02 from Mr Wynn (1) and E-3456/02 from Mr Heaton-Harris (2) which specifically concern the
rules recently introduced by the FIA (International Automobile Federation) on participation in motor races.

In its replies, the Commission stressed that, on a general level, the Community provisions on the freedom
to provide services do not prohibit rules or practices in the field of sport that are justified on non-
economic grounds and relate to the specific nature and context of certain competitions, provided they had
no discriminatory, unjustified or disproportionate aspects.

More specifically, the Commission has no information at its disposal by which to judge whether the fee
mentioned in the question asked by the Honourable Member is disproportionate.

(1) See page 94.
(2) See page 116.

(2003/C 192 E/238)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0534/03

by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission

(26 February 2003)

Subject: Buying airline tickets is a complete joke. When will the Union act?

Will the Commission agree to examine the question of fair, transparent, and clear pricing of airline tickets
across the Union as the practices of many airlines currently make this impossible. In any other business,
such pricing practices would raise laughs and consternation:

If airlines sold paint:

Customer: Hi. I’d like some of your EUR 12 paint.

Clerk: Well, sir, the price depends on quite a lot of things, although there are no differences between
the paints. Our lowest price is EUR 12 a litre, and we have 60 different prices up to EUR 200 a litre.
When do you intend to use the paint?

Customer: I want to paint tomorrow. It’s my day off.

Clerk: Sir, the paint for tomorrow is the EUR 200 paint.

Customer: When would I have to paint to get the EUR 12 paint?

Clerk: You would have to start very late on a weekend night in about three weeks. I’ll check and see if
we have any paint available.

Customer: You have shelves FULL of paint! I can see it!

Clerk: That doesn’t mean that we have paint available. We sell only a certain number of litres on any
given day. By the way, the price per litre just went up to EUR 16. We change the prices and rules
hundreds of times a day. I suggest you purchase your paint as soon as possible.

Customer: I just need five litres. Make that six, so I’ll have enough.

Clerk: That’s impossible. We make plans based upon the idea that all our paint is used, every drop. If
you don’t use all the paint, it causes us all sorts of problems and every litre you bought automatically
becomes the EUR 200 paint. If you stop painting, you lose your remaining litre of paint.