WRITTEN QUESTION E-1866/03 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission. Price dispersion.
Date: 2003-06-06
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Union, United States, economic statistics, euro area, price disparity, price index

13.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 65 E/95

(2004/C 65 E/107)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1847/03

by Luigi Vinci (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(3 June 2003)

Subject: Compliance with the SEIA directive in connection with the Milan-Bergamo-Brescia super-highway

construction project

Pursuant to the Commission’s recent directive on strategic environmental impact assessment (SEIA (1)), any
plans for the construction of major new items of transport infrastructure must be accompanied by an
assessment of all practicable alternatives (so that the one which will have least impact on the environment
can be chosen) and the involvement of
their associations and the local
authorities, so that the necessary information can be provided and local people’s opinions sought.

the local people affected,

However, this right to access information and to express views has been (and is still being) denied in the
case of the plans (promoted by the Italian Government) for a Milan-Bergamo-Brescia super-highway
(known as the Mibebre highway), since the local people, associations and authorities know only what has
appeared in the press.

Furthermore, what has so far been revealed through the press is particularly worrying: the super-highway
will apparently damage or destroy cultural artefacts and natural features, including four regional parks.
These include the valuable Naviglio Martesana, which is in the process of being recognised as a Unesco
world heritage site.

In view of the above, does the Commission not think that it should take action vis-à-vis the Italian
Government with a view to ensuring that, in the case of the Mibebre project, the SEIA directive and EU
environmental laws in general are observed and enforced?

(1) Directive 2001/42/EC, OJ L 197, 21.7.2001, p. 30.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(17 July 2003)

Directive 2001/42/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the
effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment establishes, in its Article 13, that Member
States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with
this Directive before 21 July 2004.

At this stage, therefore, this Directive is not applicable, nor has Italy yet communicated to the Commission
the measures adopted in order to comply with it.

Apart from the above-mentioned Directive, the information given by the Honourable Member has not
revealed any specific grounds of complaint on the application of other Community environmental
provisions to the specific case. Therefore,
the above, no breach of Community
environmental legislation can be identified at present.

in the light of

(2004/C 65 E/108)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1866/03

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(6 June 2003)

Subject: Price dispersion

Is the Commission able to give figures for price dispersion within the United States monetary union for
comparison with the price dispersion in the EU as a whole (as detailed in single market reports), in the
euro-area, and in the Member States that do not participate in the euro?

C 65 E/96

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

13.3.2004

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(14 July 2003)

A Commission paper published in 2001 (European Economy, Supplement A, No 7, July 2001) compared
price dispersion in the Union and the United States (US) per product group for the year 1998. Overall
price dispersion in the US was found to be about three percentage points lower than in the Union in
1998, i.e. before the introduction of the euro. The paper concluded that there was scope for Union price
dispersion to fall further towards the level of price dispersion in the US. According to the Commission’s
calculations overall price dispersion in the euro area was only marginally lower than in the Union in 1998.

Looking at sectors, the price levels for housing were more dispersed in the euro area than in the Union as
a whole, however for all the other product groups price dispersion was lower in the euro area than in the
Union.

The table below presents the data from this paper whilst adding data on price dispersion in the euro area.
The European and American price dispersion data are based on different sources and are not fully
comparable (please refer to the notes below the table). The Commission plans to update this analysis and
to look more closely at the euro area data.

Price dispersion in the Union, euro area and in the United Sates in 1998 (1)

Overall

Grocery

Housing

Utilities

Trans-port

Health-care

Miscellaneous

EU

Euro area

USA

14,6

14,5

11,8

10,5

9,4

5,6

31,2

34,1

26,5

24,4

20,7

19,3

17,9

13,8

9,3

35,5

30,3

14,3

9,1

8,2

5,6

Source: Eurostat and ACCRA data with Commission calculations.
(1)

Price dispersion calculated as the coefficient of variation of price levels.

USA data for price dispersion across 14 cities. EU data for price dispersion across the 15 Member States.
Euro area data for the 12 euro area members.

USA data are collected excluding indirect taxes. EU data have been adjusted to exclude VAT and excise
taxes.

USA data are for individual products. EU data use the nearest comparable product group from Eurostat’s
PPP data.

In addition to the Commission’s work, two recent studies have compared price dispersion in the euro area
and the US using a different data source (the Economist Intelligence Unit):

(cid:1) J. H. Rogers, G. Hufbauer and E. Wada (2001) ‘Price level convergence and inflation in Europe’,

working paper 01-1, Institute for International Economics, Washington DC;

(cid:1) J. H. Rogers (2002) ‘Monetary union, price level convergence, and inflation: How close is Europe to
International Finance

the Federal Reserve System,

the United States?’, Board of Governors of
Discussion Papers No 740, October 2002.

The first of these studies found that price dispersion for tradable products was higher in the euro area
(excluding Greece) than in the US in 1999. The second study, carried out one year later, found that by
2001 price dispersion for tradable products in the euro area (excluding Greece) was close to the level in
the US. Both studies found that price dispersion for non-tradable products was lower in the euro area
(excluding Greece) than in the US. The data for both studies pre-date the introduction of euro notes and
coins.