Brussels, 01/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Internal Market and Consumers Council, held on 27 September in Brussels under the presidency of Belgian Minister for the Economy Charles Piqué, allowed three agreements to be reached on the distance selling of financial services, food supplements and the ban on PentaBDE (see EUROPE of 29 September, pp.6,7 and 10). It also allowed important discussion to be opened on crossborder payments and services of general interest in particular, Charles Piqué summarised after the debate. The Council also confirmed the timetable for the European Food Authority and the agreement on the statute of the European Company, which will be formally approved on 8 October by the Social Council, Mr Piqué pointed out. We give below an overview of the results of this Council:
Patent/Design and model: The Presidency called on Member States to make concessions to allow the Community patent to be adopted before the end of the year (see EUROPE of 29 September, p.6).
Crossborder payments: Several Member States raised objections to the impact that the committee's proposals aimed at reducing charges on crossborder payments would have on the cost of domestic payments (see EUROPE of 29 September, p.6).
Services of general interest: see other article.
Statute of European Company: The regulations on the creation of the European Company Statute and on worker information will be adopted during the Social Affairs Council on 8 October. "My services are preparing a communication on company taxation to be presented in the very near future", said Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein, speaking before the press.
Insurance intermediaries: The Council called on the Permanent Representatives to conclude the examination of the directive fixing the legal framework for the profession of insurance broker, in order to come to a result at the Council on 26 November.
Public procurement: The Council took stock of work for the adoption of a "general" directive on the awarding of public procurement contracts in the EU and a sectoral directive for water, energy and transport. There remains significant divergence essentially on two points: 1) "competitive dialogue" that can be carried out with companies that have been selected during a first selection process. The United Kingdom insists on this point; 2) the fate to be reserved for companies that have been condemned in a Member State and which hope to take part in a call for bids after having paid up their fines. The Belgian Presidency would also like to link this debate on these two directives to the Communication on public procurement and the environment, recently presented by the Commission, and to that on the social aspects of public procurement, that the Commission is expected to present in October. The proposal, however, does give rise to considerable reservation among the other Member States. The Presidency hopes to reach an agreement at least on the general directive before the end of the term.
Free movement of goods: The Council adopted conclusions concerning the regulation setting in place an early warning system between Member States should movement be blocked in a Member State (e.g. strikes, etc.), the so-called "strawberry regulation". In March this year, the Commission had presented a report that noted there were problems from the point of view of information exchange as well as proposals for alternative movement plans (see EUROPE of 24 March, p.14). It proposed three solutions that Charles Piqué recalled to the press: status quo, better application of existing rules or amendment of the regulation. The Council agreed to improve application of the system without changing it. Its conclusions therefore recognise that the regulation must be applied in a more dynamic way, taking into account fundamental rights, including the right or the freedom to strike, as recognised by the Member States (a reminder on which France in particular insisted). The Council encourages the Commission to: 1) present a vademecum giving details of procedures to be followed in the case of risks and in the event of effective obstacles to free circulation; 2) finalise a standard formula for helping Member States fulfil their information obligations. The Council did not follow Spain, which recommended that sanctions be strengthened and that the goods damaged because of blockages should be refunded to operators. It points out in its conclusions, however, that the Member States have agreed to ensure that any person who is left with losses after the violation of the Treaty caused by an obstacle should be able to resort to rapid and effective appeal proceedings.
Road safety: The Council noted the voluntary agreement concluded by the automobile industry in July for developing models of vehicle bonnets that are less dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists in the event of collision. The Commission is expected to specify, in December, whether it accepts the voluntary agreement or whether it plans to propose a framework directive.
Furthermore, the Presidency welcomed the work of the Commission aimed at amending the Directive on type-approval for rear-view mirrors, in order to eliminate lateral blind spots on heavy vehicles. An opinion from the technical committee on this issue should be given before the end of the year.
Revision of pharmaceutical legislation/Strategy in the field of chemical substances: The Council formally noted the Commission's presentation of its proposals for revision of pharmaceutical legislation and of its February White Paper defining a "strategy for future policy in the field of chemical substances".
Biotechnology: Here too, the Council simply "noted" the Commission's intentions to define a "strategic vision of life sciences and biotechnology", after consultation begun one year ago.
Possession of weapons: The Council noted the Commission's report on implementing the 1991 Directive on monitoring the acquisition and possession of weapons. The Member States were pleased with the way the Directive works, and so the Commission should only have to present technical changes early 2002 in order to take UN classifications into account, said Commissioner Bolkestein.
European Food Authority: The Council confirmed, without debate, that all decisions required would be taken so that the future Food Authority would be operational early 2002, according to the timetable fixed by the European Council. To this end, he invited the Permanent Representatives of Member States (Coreper) to deploy every effort to approximate the views of the Parliament and the Council in the context of the second reading of the regulation, in order to facilitate adoption before the end of the year. Commissioner Byrne expressed the hope that the selection of the members of the administrative board and the recruitment of the director and the members of new scientific committees and panels would be launched as soon as a political agreement has been reached between the two institutions. He recalled, moreover, that it is important for the seat of the European Food Authority to be easily accessible. This did not give rise to any comment from Member States.
European Contract Law: The Council noted the Commission's communication aimed at identifying the potential problems encountered by consumers and companies because of divergence between national legislation, in order, where necessary, to envisage Community action to resolve the problem.
Labelling and traceability of foodstuffs containing GMOs or GMO derivates: Ministers heard the presentation of the two proposals for a Commission regulation and invited the relevant Council bodies to make the work on this legislation move forward.
Tourism: The Council noted an intervention by the Presidency on the tourism dimension in the various sectoral Union policies (harmonisation of VAT rates in collective transport, harmonisation of VAT tax deduction, harmonisation of the trade communication, food health, tourist and holiday guides, air traffic control). He invited the European Commission to present a memorandum in November on the impact that the attacks of 11 September in the United States have had on the European tourism industry. The Council, moreover, adopted conclusions on "tourism for all", which encourages the adoption of measures intended to facilitate access to tourism for certain target groups (e.g. The disabled, unemployed, older persons).
Accidents in the home: At the initiative of the Belgian delegation, the Council was informed of the alarming results of a study carried out by an NGO (European Consumer Safety Association), which invites the Community to show determination in acting against this scourge. The study reveals that accidents in the home are fourteen times more frequent than accidents at work, twice as frequent as road accidents, and that they cause 80,000 deaths in the Union, as well as being at the origin of physical problems for nearly 40 million persons - a scourge whose economic impact can amount to EUR 213 billion. Commissioner David Byrne said he was impressed by the quality of the study whose results will be duly taken into account by the Commission in the programme for consumer safety 2002-2005. This subject will be discussed during the next Consumer Council (26-27 November).
Over-indebtedness of consumers: The Council noted an intervention by the Belgian delegation (supported by Portugal) in favour of coordinated action at Community level, founded on the setting in place of a European network for the collection of statistical, economic, legal or sociological information on this cross-border phenomenon, in order to pursue its development within the internal market. The Belgian delegation suggested that the Commission should help to combat this phenomenon through the imposition of measures (regulatory or not) such as: the integration of debt settlement procedures in the regulation on insolvency procedures; - the examination, in the context of the mortgage market regulations, of measures allowing persons in debt to avoid losing the family home; - the integration of preventive measures in the new proposal of directive on consumer credit.