91997E2677

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2677/97 by Ursula Schleicher (PPE) to the Commission (1 September 1997)

Subject: Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species - Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein

Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 of 9 December 1996 was published in Official Journal of the European Communities L 61 of 3 March 1997. Almost immediately - in the Official Journal of 17 April 1997 - it was necessary to publish a correction because the date of entry into force had been quoted as 1 January 1997, whereas in fact the Regulation entered into force only on 1 June 1997.

The German Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Protection and Reactor Safety has observed that in addition the text published in the Official Journal contains other errors, including some in the annexes. It is therefore necessary to await an EC Regulation containing corrections.

What can be done to ensure that, in future, legal acts which need to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union contain fewer errors, thereby obviating the need to issue a series of correcting Regulations?

Answer given by Mr Oreja on behalf of the Commission (13 October 1997)

The publication of regulations is the responsibility of the Council.

In this case, the errors were not misprints, but were contained in the original manuscript.

The Office for Official Publications of the European Communities plays no part in the contents of the Official Journal.