WRITTEN QUESTION P-2977/03 by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission. High prices and inadequate veterinary inspections in Greece.
Date: 2003-10-06
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, consumer price, consumer protection, food safety, meat processing industry, price control, slaughter of animals, veterinary inspection

C 65 E/252

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

13.3.2004

Can the Commission answer the following:

(cid:1) what is the scheduled timetable for opening the four lane road between Salamanca and A Guarda;

(cid:1) what can the Commission do to get Spain to get on with building the approximately 30 km of new

road linking Ciudad Rodrigo with the Portuguese border?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(30 October 2003)

The link between Salamanca-Fuentes de Oroño-Vilar Formoso-A Guarda is part of the trans-European
transport network (TEN-T) for road. It is also included in one of the 14 priority projects of the TEN-T,
project number 8, Multimodal link Portugal-Spain-Central Europe. Furthermore, it is to be noted that in
the framework of the High Level Group on trans-European transport network chaired by Mr Van Miert (1),
composed by representatives of each Member State, year 2010 was agreed as date for start of operation for
the whole link Lisboa-Valladolid.

The Commission is informed that as regards the Spanish national road N-620, between the French and the
Portuguese borders, which forms part of the European network E80, there is a four lane expressway all the
way between Irún and the north of Salamanca. The section between Salamanca and Fuentes de Oñoro on
the Portuguese border still remains to be converted to four lanes. The section west of Salamanca between
Aldehuela and Martín de Yeltes is already operational.

Currently, a large project concerning the construction of a four lane road between Martín de Yeltes and
Ciudad Rodrigo has been approved for Community financial support under the European Regional
Development Fund (ERDF), in the framework of the Operational Programme for the Spanish Region of
Castilla y León. The works cover a section of 32,9 kilometre (km) and are planned to be finalised in
October 2004. The section between Ciudad Rodrigo and Fuentes de Oñoro (approximately 29 km)
remains to be upgraded. Furthermore, the Commission is informed that the Spanish authorities have
already drawn up the plans for the corresponding projects for the full distance between Salamanca and
Fuentes de Oñoro.

The planning of the works being the exclusive competence of the national and regional authorities, the
Commission has no further information regarding the timetable of this project.

(1) http://europa.eu.int/comm/ten/transport/revision/hlg_en.htm

(2004/C 65 E/267)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2977/03

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(6 October 2003)

Subject: High prices and inadequate veterinary inspections in Greece

According to Greek consumer organisations and the Greek Ministry of Development prices watchdog
body, consumer prices have increased steeply over the past year, while wholesalers (particularly in the
agricultural sector) are coming under growing criticism for purchasing products cheaply in situ and selling
them at very high prices, doubling or tripling the final amounts paid by consumers in Greece.

According to the most recent Eurostat data, per capita income in Greece amounts to scarcely 67 %-69 % of
the Community average while salaries and pensions there are among the lowest in the EU.

Added to this, the strike by veterinarians and related professions in the livestock sector has left enormous
gaps in the Greek meat marketing sector, legal livestock slaughtering having come to a halt in Greece
(without the necessary veterinary inspections) and large quantities of meat are being imported (mainly
from third countries) regarding which it is impossible to establish whether adequate inspections were
carried out in the countries of slaughter.

13.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 65 E/253

What immediate action can the Commission take to ensure that the Greek authorities introduce price
inspections which are effective (and not purely nominal as has been the case until now) and to impose
heavy fines for price speculation? Is the Commission aware of the situation regarding meat marketing in
Greece in view of repeated observations by Commissioner Byrne to the effect that health standards in
Greek slaughterhouses and meat markets fall far short of those in other EU Member States?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(4 November 2003)

The Commission is continuing to monitor the hygiene conditions in meat markets and slaughterhouses in
Greece and refers the Honourable Member to replies already given this year to his Written Question
E-1709/03 (1), and Written Questions E-691/03 by Mr Hatzidakis (2) and P-558/03 by Mr Papayannakis (3).
The Commission has no special knowledge of
the circumstances described in the
Honourable Member’s written question. It is writing to the Member State concerned to request information
and will inform the Honourable Member of its findings.

the impact of

Community consumer law does not provide for means to control prices for goods offered to consumers.
It only stipulates by Directive 98/6/EC that the indication of the selling price and the price per unit of
information and facilitate the
measurement offered by traders to consumers improves consumer
comparison of prices. Inflationary price increases however are not covered by Community consumer law.

(1) OJ C 11 E, 15.1.2004, p. 217.
(2) OJ C 222 E, 18.9.2003, p. 228.
(3) OJ C 161 E, 10.7.2003, p. 226.

(2004/C 65 E/268)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2981/03

by Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(9 October 2003)

Subject: Breach of Directive 89/48/EEC

Can the Commission list the law diplomas awarded in the Member States on completion of higher-
education studies of at least three years’ duration (or those awarded by any other university college, higher-
education establishment or other establishment with the same level of training) which are covered by the
provisions of Directive 89/48/EEC (1) and which, in accordance with that Directive, grant access to the
profession of lawyer in a Member State other than that in which the diplomas were acquired?

(1) OJ L 19, 24.1.1989, p. 16.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(17 November 2003)

The Commission does not have a list of the diplomas which give access to the profession of lawyer in the
different Member States and can be recognised in accordance with Directive 89/48/EEC (1). This Directive
leaves Member States free to regulate professions within their territories and to establish the level and type
of qualifications required for a given profession. To the Commission’s knowledge, some Member States
grant access to the profession of lawyer by their nationals conditional not only on possession of a law
degree but also on completing a period of supervised practice and on passing an additional examination.
Information on the diploma required in each Member State, can be obtained from the national ‘contact