WRITTEN QUESTION E-0205/04 by Mario Borghezio (NI) to the Commission. Protecting SMEs against multinationals: the case of Ford dealers in Italy.
Date: 2004-01-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Italy, concessionaire, motor vehicle industry, multinational enterprise, restriction on competition, small and medium-sized enterprises

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/549

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(15 March 2004)

It is not the Commission’s policy to comment on cases that are sub judice.

On a general level, and without referring specifically to the Parmalat case, the Commission believes that
there is a greater likelihood of accounting fraud being detected quickly when companies are required to
present reports or financial statements four times a year rather than just once a year. A shareholder is
likely to have swifter access to information about any cash-flow problems when reports or financial
statements are quarterly rather than annual, provided that the information distributed is not erroneous or
misleading. Fuller information does not make fraud impossible but does enable it to be detected more
easily.

Finally, from a statistical point of view, no firm conclusions or correlations can be drawn from a single
isolated investigation.

(2004/C 84 E/0626)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0205/04

by Mario Borghezio (NI) to the Commission

(29 January 2004)

Subject: Protecting SMEs against multinationals: the case of Ford dealers in Italy

The commercial policy pursued in recent years by the company Ford Italia, centring on the ‘mopping-up’
of leading car dealers and their concentration under the direct control of figurehead companies, has
created great difficulties for the old dealers, with dozens of SMEs deliberately being eliminated from the
market.

Does the Commission not consider this abusive conduct of the multinational Ford in respect of its dealers
to restrict the freedom to compete of SMEs operating in the automotive trade market, and therefore also to
occasion prejudice to the more general interests of the consumer, by creating a situation where there is
unfair competition from companies only ‘autonomous’ of the mother company in appearance?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(15 March 2004)

Like other suppliers, car manufacturers are generally free to distribute their products as they see fit,
providing that their distribution system does not infringe Article 81 or 82 of the EC Treaty. They may
therefore choose to distribute their products through their own outlets, or through car dealers that are
commercially independent.

Ford currently operates a quantitative selective distribution system in Italy. Quantitative selection allows
the car manufacturer to reduce the number of dealers in its network, so long as the contractual notice
periods are respected. As Commission Regulation 1400/2002 (1) makes plain, such a system is permissible
under Article 81 of the EC Treaty, provided that the agreements in question contain none of the serious
restrictions of competition set out in Article 4 of the said regulation, and provided that the conditions set
out in Articles 3 and 5 are met.

Ford’s decision to exclude certain dealers from its network and to move towards a more vertically-
integrated distribution structure is also unlikely to infringe Article 82 of the EC Treaty, since Ford can not
be said to be in a dominant position on the Italian market.

C 84 E/550

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

As far as takeover activity is concerned, the Honourable Member should note that the dealer sector in
Europe is highly fragmented, and levels of concentration are generally insufficient for the Community
merger rules to be called into play.

It would therefore appear that the Commission has no grounds to take any action in respect of Ford’s
move to consolidate its Italian distribution network.

(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 1400/2002 of 31 July 2002 on the application of Article 81(3) of the Treaty to

categories of vertical agreements and concerted practices in the motor vehicle sector, OJ L 203, 1.8.2002.

(2004/C 84 E/0627)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0209/04

by Gabriele Stauner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(30 January 2004)

Subject: Selection procedures of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work

In Official Journal (1), the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work announced that it would be
organising a series of selection procedures to recruit staff. According to the announcement:
‘These
procedures will be published in English and French only’.

However Article 17 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2062/94 (2) of 18 July 1994 establishing a European
Agency for Safety and Health at Work states that: ‘The language arrangements of the institutions of the
Community shall apply to the Agency’.

Under Article 22 of this Regulation, the Commission examines the legality of the Agency’s acts.

Does the Commission believe that the Agency is acting legally by publishing the above selection procedure
in English and French only?

(1) OJ C 8 A, 13.1.2004.
(2) OJ L 216, 20.8.1994, p. 1.

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(20 April 2004)

The Commission pays careful attention to the selection procedures applied by the various Community
Agencies, including respect for the provisions relating to the use of, and fluency in, official languages.

It takes the view, however, that in certain circumstances the service interests of an Institution or Agency,
including its own internal needs, may justify the requirement for a knowledge of certain languages. This
will obviously be the case if the field of activity of a post (or posts) to be filled means that the specific
duties involved call for knowledge of one particular language or another.

(2004/C 84 E/0628)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0212/04

by Simon Murphy (PSE) to the Commission

(30 January 2004)

Subject: Driftnets

Is the Commission aware that despite the EU ban on illegal driftnetting, on 27 March and 4 April 2003
the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry issued two decrees which allow fishers who have converted
their ‘spadare’ driftnets (wide mesh driftnet used almost exclusively for swordfish) into ‘ferrettare’ (a smaller