WRITTEN QUESTION E-0938/03 by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission. Funding for setting up a vintage vehicle museum.
Date: 2003-03-26
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, EU programme, cultural heritage, museum, vehicle

C 242 E/212

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

9.10.2003

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(13 May 2003)

In January 2003 the Commission received two complaints concerning the Spanish hydrological plan,
particularly with regard to the incompatibility of the invitations to tender issued in 2002 for technical
assistance contracts for drawing up environmental studies on the diversion of water from the Ebro.

As the honourable Members mention in their question, the Trasagua company was set up by the
government in March 2002 for the purpose of awarding contracts for the construction and/or operation of
the facilities and other activities connected with the transfer of water from the Ebro.

The Commission is in the process of giving detailed consideration to the content of these complaints. If
Trasagua is in fact considered to be a body governed by public law (1), and as such is an awarding
authority, it is required to comply with the Community rules on awarding public contracts, particularly the
principle of publicity.

The Commission would point out that there is already a case before the Court of Justice (2) concerning the
regard to the
notions of awarding authority and body governed by public law, with particular
interpretation of these terms in Spanish law. The Advocate-General delivered his opinion on 7 November
2002.

As part of the infringement procedure, the Commission will be contacting the relevant Spanish authorities
to inform them of its observations and seek further clarification on the possible violation of Community
law.

Community financing under the Structural and Cohesion Funds is explicitly conditional on compliance
with all applicable Community legislation including that regarding public procurement.

(1)

‘Body governed by public law’ means any body:
(cid:1) established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general

interest, not having an industrial or

commercial character, and
(cid:1) having legal personality and
(cid:1) financed, for the most part, by the State, or regional or local authorities, or other bodies governed by public
law; or subject to management supervision by those bodies; or having an administrative, managerial or
supervisory board, more than half of whose members are appointed by the State, regional or local authorities or
by other bodies governed by public law.

(2) C-283/00 Commission v Spain.

(2003/C 242 E/245)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0938/03

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(26 March 2003)

Subject: Funding for setting up a vintage vehicle museum

A few months ago, the Rome-based cultural association ‘Archetipo’ submitted a project for the setting-up
of a museum of vintage civil, military and commercial vehicles.

The project includes the creation of a three-level museum complex with three halls: two for the exhibition
of vehicles and one for the restoration of engines and coachwork. The association has one of the largest
collections of agricultural and industrial machinery in Italy, dating from the early days to the 1960s.
It owns 200 vintage motorcycles, sidecars, military motorcycles, commercial three-wheelers dating from
the 1930s to the 1950s, wooden horse-drawn vehicles, hundreds of items of agricultural and industrial
equipment dating from the 1800s to the late 1960s, such as ploughs, harrows, ploughshares and lathes,
ten military aircraft, many tools and implements dating from the 1800s to the present and a host of
documentary and bibliographical material of great cultural value.

Besides putting these exhibits on display, the association intends to open the history of vintage vehicles up
to the public by setting up a document library, and to create jobs by way of highly specialised training
courses for young restorers, since many of
its vehicles need to be restored and require continual
maintenance. Since the dissemination and promotion of art and culture with a view to improving access to

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Official Journal of the European Union

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and participation in it for as many persons as possible is one of the priorities of Agenda 2000, it is
important that this unique collection should be protected and not be dispersed.

Could the Commission indicate:

1. what actions or programmes are currently available for financing initiatives and events of this type;

2. whether similar projects have already been submitted by other Member States?

Answer given by Ms Reding on behalf of the Commission

(25 April 2003)

The Commission may support initiatives in the area of culture, but only within the framework and
1.
according to the selection criteria of the ‘Culture 2000’ programme, which is the Union’s sole instrument
for financing and planning cultural cooperation.

This programme is designed to support projects that are jointly run and financed by at least three
operators from at least three countries taking part in the programme.

The Honourable Member may find further information at the following site: http://europa.eu.int/comm/
culture/c2000.

The Commission is not aware of the submission of any projects of this type by other Member States.

(2003/C 242 E/246)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0941/03

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

(26 March 2003)

Subject: Community regulations on the use of televisions in hotel rooms

Televisions in hotel rooms have become a sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of hoteliers in
various European countries.

Uncertainty reigns with regard to their dispute with copyright bodies, which are demanding fees for
television sets in hotel rooms. Hoteliers are therefore calling for a regulation of a general nature for the
whole EU to clarify this issue, since the current provisions contain grey areas, meaning that the courts
have been handing down contradictory rulings.

Does the Commission believe that it should take the initiative here and put forward Community legislation
eliminating the grey areas and regulating the issue, in order to help give the courts a concrete idea of the
legislation to be applied without distinction between Member States?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(15 May 2003)

The honourable Member has raised the question of the payment of fees to the holders of intellectual
property rights for the use by hoteliers of their works and other copyrighted items when they are
broadcast to television sets in hotel rooms.

With specific regard to the communication to the public of protected works and other items, the
Commission would point out to the honourable Member that there is already Community legislation on
the matter, which is in fact based on international legal rules (1).

Article 3(1) of Directive 2001/29/EC (2) harmonises, for the benefit of authors,
‘the exclusive right to
authorise or prohibit any communication to the public of their works, by wire or wireless means’.
Furthermore, Article 8(2) of Directive 92/100/EEC (3) states that an equitable remuneration must be paid by