# CE2004088EN.01004001.xml

| 8.4.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | CE 88/40 |
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8.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 88/40

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(2004/C 88 E/0043)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1693/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(21 May 2003)

Subject:   Underhand method of awarding contracts for reconstruction and management in Iraq to US firms by the US Army

Subject:

| 1. | Is the Commission concerned about the serious implications of the way in which major contracts to prepare for the reconstruction of Iraq and for the restructuring of Iraq's economy are being awarded to American companies by the US Army through the US Army Corps of Engineers or USAid? |
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1.

Is the Commission concerned about the serious implications of the way in which major contracts to prepare for the reconstruction of Iraq and for the restructuring of Iraq's economy are being awarded to American companies by the US Army through the US Army Corps of Engineers or USAid?

| 2. | Has the Commission noticed that these contracts are being awarded in unusual way, i.e. without parliamentary scrutiny of the criteria and procedures, without any involvement of the US State Department and without any possibility of non-American firms submitting tenders, while companies that supported the US President's election campaign and whose management is of the same political persuasion appear to have been put at a strong advantage? |
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2.

Has the Commission noticed that these contracts are being awarded in unusual way, i.e. without parliamentary scrutiny of the criteria and procedures, without any involvement of the US State Department and without any possibility of non-American firms submitting tenders, while companies that supported the US President's election campaign and whose management is of the same political persuasion appear to have been put at a strong advantage?

| 3. | Does the Commission know whether or not the contract for putting out fires in oil wells concluded with KBR, a subsidiary of the US company Halliburton, whose chief executive officer until 2000 was the current US Vice-President, also contains a clause saying that the company has the right to run the infrastructure and distribution of products, which means that it can manage the oil wells and trade the oil? Until when does this contract run and is it expected to be extended? |
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3.

Does the Commission know whether or not the contract for putting out fires in oil wells concluded with KBR, a subsidiary of the US company Halliburton, whose chief executive officer until 2000 was the current US Vice-President, also contains a clause saying that the company has the right to run the infrastructure and distribution of products, which means that it can manage the oil wells and trade the oil? Until when does this contract run and is it expected to be extended?

| 4. | Is the United States demanding co-funding from Europe in exchange for the involvement of European firms? If, exceptionally, the US Army is involving firms from EU Member States, is a distinction being made between firms from countries that supported US intervention in Iraq and firms from countries that took the view that the UN Security Council alone could decide on any intervention? |
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4.

Is the United States demanding co-funding from Europe in exchange for the involvement of European firms? If, exceptionally, the US Army is involving firms from EU Member States, is a distinction being made between firms from countries that supported US intervention in Iraq and firms from countries that took the view that the UN Security Council alone could decide on any intervention?

| 5. | What action has the Commission taken so far to secure an equivalent role for non-US firms in the reconstruction and modernisation of Iraq? |
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5.

What action has the Commission taken so far to secure an equivalent role for non-US firms in the reconstruction and modernisation of Iraq?

Source: Vrij Nederland newspaper, 3 May 2003 and Metro newspaper, 8 May 2003.

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