WRITTEN QUESTION P-4072/03 by John Cushnahan (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Application of the EC-Israel Association Agreement.
Date: 2004-01-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Israel, association agreement (EU), location of production, originating product, tariff preference

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/683

Given that the International Year of the Family is being celebrated in 2004 and it is ten years since the
United Nations General Assembly established International Day of Families (15 May), this would be an
especially appropriate time for the Union to send signals to the Member States regarding policies and the
steps to take.

The Commission:

(cid:1) how will

incur more
it promote the necessary justice for families who, because they are larger,
expenses and liabilities and often pay higher prices, rates, or charges for given services? Has it
compiled any list of standard situations in which large families are falling victim to discrimination or
being denied the positive discrimination from which they ought to benefit;

(cid:1) given that it is aware of the Union’s low birth rate and the problems that will ensue if the trend is not
reversed, does it not take the view that states, instead of harming the interests of families with three or
more children, should, on the contrary, apply positive discrimination, not least as regards taxation and
other charges or the price of public services?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(30 January 2004)

The Commission shares the Honourable Member’s concerns on the issues he has raised. In addition, the
Commission continues to raise public awareness of the current demographic challenge, which is partly a
result of chronically low fertility rates across the Union. However, the Union does not possess a specific
legal basis to develop and implement measures in the area of family policy. This is clearly a responsibility
for the Member States.

Nonetheless, family issues are of interest to the Commission as they affect demographic developments and
interact with a number of European policies. Therefore, the Commission focuses its attention on the study
of family and household trends and their policy implications. ‘The social situation in the European Union’,
which the Commission publishes annually, presents analysis on social trends and demography, including
family-related aspects.

From a policy-making point of view, the European social inclusion process, based on the open method of
coordination, is of particular relevance to the issues raised by the Honourable Member. The objectives for
the fight against poverty and social exclusion, relevant in the context of family, include: implementing
policies which aim to provide access for all to decent and sanitary housing, as well as the basic services
necessary to live normally having regard to local circumstances (electricity, water, heating etc.); developing
policies to promote the reconciliation of work and family life, including the issue of affordable child and
dependent care; implementing action to preserve family solidarity in all its forms; and moving towards the
elimination of social exclusion among children and giving them every opportunity for social integration.

(2004/C 78 E/0728)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-4072/03

by John Cushnahan (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Application of the EC-Israel Association Agreement

(8 January 2004)

Does the Commission consider that the proposal announced in November 2003 by Israel ‘to list the city of
origin for the goods’ on proofs of origin (or on products) would enable ‘the national customs authorities to
determine, for each and every individual consignment, whether, under those provisions, the elements of
fact and law allow refusal of the preferential tariff treatment’?

C 78 E/684

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

Does the Commission consider that listing the name of a locale can enable Member States to identify
Israeli settlement goods commingled in shipments with essentially identical goods originating in Israel,
products incorporating settlement-produced components to an extent as to render that product non-
originating, or products in which working or processing carried out in settlements is cumulated with
working or processing carried out in Israel?

Is the Commission aware that Israeli officials have been quoted as estimating that ‘as much as USD 2 billion
of Israel’s annual USD 7 billion exports to Europe’ (1) incorporates some material from settlements?

(1)

‘In meetings with European negotiators, Israeli officials have said that as much as USD 2 billion of Israel’s annual
USD 7 billion exports to Europe could be penalised by a policy change, as many Israeli manufactured goods
incorporate some materials from settlement communities.’ EU Targets Goods Made in Israeli Settlements, William A.
Orme Jr., New York Times, 22 May 2001.

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(28 January 2004)

The Israeli suggestion of indicating the place of production of goods being exported to the Community
still needs to be further clarified by Israel before any conclusions can be drawn, for example as regards its
possible effect on refusal by the national customs authorities of preferential tariff treatment.

One of the issues to be clarified would indeed be to know how the proposed scheme would be
implemented, for example in the case of mixed consignments, which include both goods produced in the
settlements and products obtained in the territory of the State of Israel.

The statement reported by the New York Times in May 2001 was never made to the Commission by
Israeli officials.

(2004/C 78 E/0729)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-4074/03

by Marianne Thyssen (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 January 2004)

Subject: Problems relating to the transposition into national law of Directive 2002/2/EC

Article 3 of Directive 2002/2/EC (1) of 28 January 2002 amending Council Directive 79/373/EEC (2) on the
circulation of compound feedingstuffs and repealing Commission Directive 91/357/EEC (3) requires
Member States to adopt and publish the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to
comply with the Directive not later than 6 March 2003. Under the same article, Member States are
required to implement these provisions with effect from 6 November 2003.

The transposition of Directive 2002/2 is causing problems at European level and giving rise to
considerable confusion in the industries concerned. In particular, Article 1(1)(b) and the corresponding
section of Article 1(4) concerning the indication of feedingstuffs with their percentages is causing problems
(‘open labelling’).

In various Member States (France, Italy, Portugal),
legal proceedings have been initiated against these
provisions. In the United Kingdom, a judgment has apparently already been given to the effect that no
percentages may be indicated because this would cause serious economic damage to the industries
concerned. Other Member States are said simply not to be applying the provisions in question.