WRITTEN QUESTION E-2493/03 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission. Transparency commitments.
Date: 2003-07-25
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: dissemination of information, financial legislation, financial market

13.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 65 E/163

As regards takeovers, the Commission wishes to point out that the proposed Directive on Takeover Bids
refers to the legal ownership only (see Article 2, paragraph 1a of the proposed Directive) (1).

(1) OJ C 45 E, 25.2.2003.

(2004/C 65 E/178)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2493/03

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(25 July 2003)

Subject: Transparency commitments

Will the Commission estimate the number of announcements of timely market information announced to
each national market within the European Union? Does the Commission notice any inverse relationship
between the amount of quarterly reporting by listed companies in each Member State and the number of
regulatory announcements of market-sensitive information? If there is such an inverse relationship, what
measures will it bring forward to ensure that there is no reduction in the information provided to investors
if its proposal for mandatory quarterly reporting were to be adopted?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(4 September 2003)

The Honourable Member’s question is linked to the Commission proposal for a directive harmonising
transparency requirements for security issuers (1). The proposal
includes the introduction of quarterly
financial information for publicly quoted companies issuing shares admitted to trading on a regulated
market in the Union.

The Commission is collecting the information it needs in order to determine whether any reasonable
estimate, as requested by the Honourable Member, can be made. The Commission intends to focus its
investigations on Member States where an essentially centralised system is provided for disseminating
regulatory information, or where there is a centralised filing thereof with the competent authority or with
the operator of a regulated market.
In addition, the Commission needs to explore whether such a
centralised system covers information required under Community law or also that required under
additional national measures. For this reason, an evaluation covering all the Member States is not feasible.

At this stage, the Commission would in any event like to draw the attention of the Honourable Member to
the following:

(cid:1) The term ‘announcements of timely market information’

is too broad to allow any reasonable
assessment of the relationship between quarterly reporting and other types of information. This notion
would for instance also cover communications between investment companies and investors (cid:1) a
situation which does not at all deal with regulated markets for securities. It would also include
securities, such as bonds, or financial instruments, such as warrants, for which the Commission has
not proposed the introduction of quarterly financial information.

(cid:1) In addition, the proposed financial

information obviously cannot have any impact on regulatory
information where the issuer has no discretion in deciding whether or not to disclose something to
the public (or to delay such disclosure).

This concerns for instance information about:

(cid:1) directors’ dealings in shares of their own company,

(cid:1) changes to major shareholdings held in a company,

(cid:1) forthcoming shareholder meetings,

C 65 E/164

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

13.3.2004

(cid:1) application of a national corporate governance code;

(cid:1) transactions between issuers and directors or others in positions of influence within such an

issuer (‘related party transactions’);

(cid:1) major transactions undertaken by listed companies outside their ordinary course of business

(‘Class tests’).

The Commission will communicate any possible findings as soon as possible.

(1) COM(2003) 138 final.

(2004/C 65 E/179)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2502/03

by Martin Callanan (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(29 July 2003)

Subject: The Draft EU REACH Regulation

Following the interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on 10 July, can the Commission explain
whether a comment made by Commissioner Wallström:

Of course we should not test every chemical, only those that need testing and those that could cause
risks to human health and the environment …

reflects the Commission’s new policy on the Draft EU REACH Regulation?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(16 September 2003)

the Member of

the Commission in charge of Environment does indeed reflect

The reply of
the
Commission’s policy on Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH), as set out in
the White Paper on the Strategy for a future Chemicals Policy of February 2001 (1) and subsequently
developed in the draft that formed the basis of the recent Internet consultation. There is no need to test
chemicals for which adequate information is already available or for which adequate information can be
obtained by other means. Furthermore, when the exposure to a chemical
is very limited, such as for
certain types of intermediates, the potential risk does not generally merit the performance of tests.

(1) COM(2001) 88 final.

(2004/C 65 E/180)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2506/03

by Mauro Nobilia (UEN) to the Commission

(29 July 2003)

Subject: Governance: tripartite environmental contracts

Knowing that:

(cid:1) on 11 December 2002 the Commission issued a communication entitled ‘A framework for target-
based tripartite contracts and agreements between the Community, the States and regional and local
authorities, dealing with the subject of tripartite contracts;’ (1)