ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1253/03

by Carlos Bautista Ojeda (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(3 April 2003)

Subject: Crisis in the European tourist industry

At the end of 2002 the possibility of an armed conflict in Iraq put a freeze on the reserves for summer 2003 and this brought to a halt the tentative recovery which the tourist industry had been experiencing since the middle of 2002. The outbreak of war in Iraq has only made matters worse.

This state of uncertainty may have a damaging effect on the European tourist industry and, consequently, on the EU's economy.

Has the Council done anything to alleviate this state of affairs and if so, what? If not, does the Council, taking due account of the principle of subsidiarity, believe that it would be appropriate to implement a common tourist policy so that structural and coordinating measures for an industry subject to the impact of European-level developments can be promoted at EU level?

Reply

(29 September 2003)

The Honourable Member's attention is drawn to the Council Resolution of 21 May 2002 on the future of European tourism, which calls on the Commission to present each year to the Advisory Committee on Tourism a written and regularly updated note outlining the various measures envisaged by the Commission which may affect the tourism sector and for that Committee to be involved in the monitoring of the measures proposed in the Commission communication Working together for the future of European tourism. His attention is also drawn to the Council's conclusions at the close of its meeting on 19 May 2003.

At its meeting in Brussels on 20/21 March 2003, the European Council also highlighted the importance of tourism in its conclusions concerning measures required in order to make business more competitive and foster entrepreneurship. In that connection the European Council pointed to the need for further efforts, at EU and at national level, to improve the overall business environment for all sectors, including tourism (start-ups and growth of small and medium-sized firms, reducing administrative and regulatory burdens, etc.).

As regards steps to deal with the crisis and restore confidence in the sector, the Council would remind the Honourable Member that it is for the Commission to propose any measures deemed necessary.
WRITTEN QUESTION P-2069/03

by Véronique De Keyser (PSE) to the Commission

(17 June 2003)

Subject: Netherlands' EUR 2 coin

The edge of the Netherlands' EUR 2 coin bears a reference to a God. Can you tell me which God is meant?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(3 July 2003)

The characteristics of the different national euro coins were published in the Official Journal(1) on the basis of information provided by Member States.

The edge lettering of the EUR 2 coin differs from country to country. The Dutch EUR 2 coin bears the following words GOD * ZIJ * MET * ONS (God be with us). No further information was provided by the Dutch authorities.

(1) OJ C 373, 28.12.2001.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1331/03

by André Brie (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(9 April 2003)

Subject: Minefields on the (eastern) border between Greece and Turkey

As a follow-up to the Council's answer (E-2960/02(1), 20 February 2003) to my question on minefields on the (eastern) border between Greece and Turkey, I should first of all like to draw the Council's attention to the following report which appeared in the 26 March 2003 edition of the Athens daily newspaper Kathimerini:

Yesterday an illegal immigrant from Somalia was killed when he stepped on a mine in an attempt to enter Greece from Turkey through the Evros region in Thrace. The man, whose identity was not made public, entered a fenced, signposted minefield along with a second Somali, who was injured, the army said. Another 18 Somalis were arrested on the fringes of the minefield.

In connection with this report, can the Council state whether it stands by the assessment given in its answer to my question:

As regards specifically Greece and Turkey, both countries have come close to depositing jointly their instruments of ratification (for Greece) or accession (for Turkey) to the Ottawa Convention. Marking and protection of Greek minefields along the Turkish border have, according to Greek sources, already resulted in a reduction of accidents by almost 90 % (cf. Landmine Monitor Report 2002 of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines)?

In addition, could the Council state how many people have to its knowledge been killed or injured (please give separate statistics) on this border since the entry into force of the Ottowa Convention (1 March 1999)?

(1) OJ C 155 E, 3.7.2003, p. 68.

Reply

(29 September 2003)

1. After a meeting in the Turkish coastal town of Kas on 3 May, the Greek and Turkish Prime Ministers announced in a joint statement that the procedures necessary to make their countries parties to the Ottawa convention (ratification for Greece, accession for Turkey) had now been completed both in Greece and Turkey. They declared that the two countries would now proceed to submit simultaneously their respective instruments to the UN Secretary General.

2. The Council is not in the possession of statistics on casualties caused by landmines on the Greek-Turkish border. The Honourable Member may refer for this to the respective national authorities. However, according to the latest annual report (2002) of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), there is no central register of mine casualties in Greece, while in Turkey the Turkish Human Rights Foundation is collecting reports of casualties which are being issued in monthly bulletins. ICBL information resources can be consulted on the website www.icbl.org.

3. As regards the results of marking and protection of Greek minefields along the Turkish border, the Council is not in a position to verify the extent of the reduction of accidents indicated by Greek sources (almost 90 %).
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1843/03

by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Council

(3 June 2003)

Subject: The Council's view that terrorism is not a human rights abuse

During the debate on the (Van Hecke) Annual Human Rights Report in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament last year the Commission spokesman asked for an amendment from the report to be deleted on the grounds that it was the official position of the European Commission that terrorist offences could not constitute human rights abuses but were ordinary crimes that should be tried in national courts.

This appeared to be consistent with the position of the European Council which refused to sign a common declaration with the Indian government at the EU-India Summit at New Delhi in November 2001 which described terrorism as a grave violation of human rights after the intervention of EU legal experts.

This issue also raised its head at the time of the conclusion to negotiations over the birth of the International Criminal Court in the summer of 1998, when it was recognised in Annex 1 to the Final Resolution to the Final Act of the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court that terrorist acts, by whomsoever they are committed, are serious crimes of concern to the international community, whilst regretting that no generally acceptable definition of the crime of terrorism could be agreed upon for the inclusion within the jurisdiction of the Court. After affirming in the same Annex that the Statute of the International Criminal Court provides for a review mechanism which allows for a future expansion of the jurisdiction of the Court, it was recommended that a Review Conference pursuant to Article 123 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court consider the crimes of terrorism and drug crimes with a view to arriving at an acceptable definition and their inclusion in the list of crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court. That said, the failure to agree on a definition of terrorism notwithstanding, there is nothing in the text of the Statute which specifically requires the crimes listed to be committed by state actors or which specifically excludes terrorists or terrorist acts from the provisions of the Statute, whilst, interestingly, both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch affirmed at a formal hearing of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee last year that they regarded the September 11 attacks as crimes against humanity.

Is it the Council's view that terrorist acts do not constitute human rights abuses and does the Council support the inclusion of a list of terrorist crimes within the Statute of the ICC?

Reply

(7 October 2003)

At this stage, the Council has not discussed the question of the possible inclusion by the Review Conference of a list of terrorist crimes within the Rome Statute. More generally, on questions of intepretation of the Rome Statute, the Council refers to its reply to question E-0390/02.
WRITTEN QUESTION P-1932/03

by Dirk Sterckx (ELDR) to the Commission

(5 June 2003)

Subject: Olympic Airways

Various sources allege that Greece continues to tolerate conduct such as that set out in Article 2 of the Commission Decision of 11 December 2002 on Olympic Airways. What action has the Commission taken since December 2002 to ensure that Greece and OA put an end to such conduct (e.g. tolerance of persistent non-payment of social security contributions, etc.)?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(18 July 2003)

On 11 December 2002, the Commission indeed adopted a decision against Greece for State aid granted to Olympic Airways. The Decision concluded that State aid previously granted by Greece and authorised by the Commission in 1998 was incompatible with the EC Treaty as the relevant conditions had not been met; it also found that Olympic Airways had been receiving new unlawful aid. The Greek Government was informed of the Commission Decision on 13 December 2002.

The Greek authorities were given two months in which to recover the incompatible and unlawful aid. That period expired on 13 February 2003.

Correspondence between the Commission and the Greek authorities between February and March 2003 revealed that no concrete action had been taken by the Greek Government. On 23 April 2003, therefore, the Commission decided to bring the case before the Court of Justice for failure to apply its Decision on Olympic Airways.

In addition to this legal action, the Commission continues to remind the Greek Government at regular intervals of its obligations under the Commission Decision of 11 December 2002.
WRITTEN QUESTION P-1621/03

by Marco Cappato (NI) to the Council

(8 May 2003)

Subject: North Korea's illegal trade in heroin and meta-amphetamines

According to a report from the South Korean intelligence services the North Korean authorities have set up an illegal drugs production unit in the Nanam pharmaceuticals plant. Furthermore, the US State Department's annual report on the world drugs trade states that the North Korean regime is illegally growing opium to be refined into heroin and is producing meta-amphetamines in order to bring in foreign currency earnings from illegal trading in the drug.

In March, the Japanese police found a large quantity of illegal meta-amphetamines on board a North-Korean vessel off the Japanese coast. On 21 April the crew of a North Korean vessel appeared before an Australian court charged with drug smuggling after the Australian authorities had caught the crew attempting to bring 50 kilograms of heroin into the country.

Is the Council aware of any similar instances in Europe? Has this issue been raised during contacts with the North Korean authorities?

Reply

(2 October 2003)

The Council has recently become aware of the reports referred to in the question of DPRK involvement in drug activities in the Asia/Pacific region. The Council, so far, has not learnt about such incidents in Europe.

The Council has not yet taken any formal position on this particular question. The Council is, in general, totally opposed to any such drug trafficking in any form. It will continue to monitor the situation.
WRITTEN QUESTION P-1275/03

by Koldo Gorostiaga Atxalandabaso (NI) to the Council

(31 March 2003)

Subject: Lack of medical care for Basque political prisoners

Lack of medical care for Basque political prisoners shows how laws are not equally implemented in the Spanish Kingdom.

Bautista Barandalla's case is one of the clearest examples of that. This 38-year old Navarrian has been in prison for over 12 years. In 2000 he was diagnosed with ulcerous proctitis but he was not admitted into hospital until March 2002. From that time, 13 times he has had parts of his colon and rectum removed.

He was always moved from hospital to prison too early. Given Barandalla's situation a request was made to the Criminal Court of Zaragoza for Barandalla's release under Article 92 of the Penal Code due to his sufferings and incurable illness. This request was repeated several times and all of them were refused in spite of additional reports from different doctors and hospitals that consider it absolutely necessary for Barandalla to be released.

Can the Council say what steps it will take in a humanitarian bid to remedy this situation?

Reply

(7 October 2003)

It is not for the Council to comment on a criminal case which is a matter for national judiciary authorities.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-2002/03

by Salvador Garriga Polledo (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(16 June 2003)

Subject: Promoting a European teaching culture

The university world has a major role to play in European integration by fostering a European spirit in those it is training not just for professional life but also life as citizens, and by developing a new teaching culture.

The technical aspects of the completion of the European common educational area have already been resolved, but the same is not true of the political issues. There remains a need to foster a European spirit among the Member States, develop different teaching methods and content and incorporate European attitudes and values into University education.

What contribution is the Commission making towards the achievement of these objectives, which have the support of most European university vice-chancellors, given that unless they are achieved there can be no real convergence, whence the need for this new teaching culture?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(16 July 2003)

The Commission shares the opinion of the Honourable Member on the need to foster a European spirit among the Member States, develop different teaching methods and content and incorporate European attitudes and values into university education.

The Commission contributes towards the achievement of these objectives by supporting, through programmes like Socrates-Erasmus and Leonardo da Vinci, a series of projects and networks in which teachers from all over Europe collaborate on pedagogical themes in their field of expertise. In the project Tuning Educational Structures in Europe, for example, professors from 135 universities from 29 countries work closely together in defining common reference points for teaching and learning in nine different subject areas. Through the Jean Monnet Project, the Commission promotes awareness of European integration issues in universities across and beyond the European continent.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1976/03

by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Council

(13 June 2003)

Subject: Involvement of senior political figures in Portuguese paedophile rings

Recent revelations regarding the involvement of senior political figures in Portuguese paedophile rings coincide with the preparations for the trial of a prominent television presenter, a former diplomat and a child health specialist in similar cases. This once more highlights the bleak reality regarding the sexual abuse of children. In this connection the Council is on the point of adopting an official and definitive decision regarding proposed measures to combat the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography following two years of deliberations and negotiations between the Member States.

Is the Council satisfied with policies to date seeking to combat the sexual exploitation of children and does it consider further measures necessary to combat effectively at European level this extremely serious problem, which is nothing less than a direct violation of human rights and human dignity?

Reply

(7 October 2003)

As a general point, the Council Framework Decision on combating the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, on which political agreement was reached at the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting on 14 and 15 October 2002, has not yet been evaluated. Indeed, it cannot be formally adopted until the parliamentary procedure currently under way in one Member State has been concluded. The Council nevertheless believes that that instrument, and other recently adopted mutual assistance instruments such as the European arrest warrant(1) or the Convention on Mutual Assistance of 29 May 2002(2), and the extension of Europol's powers to cover child pornography(3), provide effective tools to combat these kinds of crimes. The preventive nature of the legal framework set in place, which ensures that none of these crimes goes unpunished in the European Union, cannot, however, totally guarantee that there will be no more such unfortunate cases of sexual exploitation of children.

As for this particular instance, the Council never comments on cases pending before the judicial authorities of the Member States, nor on the content of articles in the press.

(1) OJ L 190, 18.7.2002.

(2) OJ C 197, 12.7.2000, OJ C 379, 29.12.2000, OJ C 110, 7.5.2002.

(3) Council Decision of 3 December 1998 supplementing the definition of the form of crime trafficking in human beings in the Annex to the Europol Convention (OJ C 26, 30.1.1999, p. 21).
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1016/03

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(27 March 2003)

Subject: Use of funds from the Daphne programme by the municipality of Terni

In September 2002, the monitoring committee of the Italian Ministry for Economic Affairs issued a report on the spending of EU funds.

The report reveals the alarming slowness and inefficiency with which EU funds are allocated to projects by some regional authorities.

The grave concerns about the inadequate use of European funds by local authorities have frequently been echoed by the Commission.

Bearing in mind that some local authorities, such as the municipality of Terni, urgently need to use European funds to combat the abuse of women and children,

can the Commission state:

1. whether the municipality of Terni has submitted projects for the Daphne programme?

2. whether the municipality of Terni has secured funding for these projects?

3. whether this funding has been used?

Joint answerto Written Questions E-1004/03, E-1005/03, E-1006/03,E-1007/03, E-1008/03, E-1009/03, E-1010/03, E-1011/03,E-1012/03, E-1013/03, E-1014/03, E-1015/03 and E-1016/03given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(28 April 2003)

The Daphne programme received the following proposals in 2003 alone:

- two proposals from the muncipality of Florence Assessorato Pubblica Istruzione e Politiche Giovanili, Direzione Istruzione;

- one proposal from the muncipality of Pesaro Servizio sociale;

- one proposal from the muncipality of Siena Comitato di ente per le pari opportunita.

The Commission has not yet assessed these proposals and is, therefore, unable to provide the Honourable Member with details of the selection or funding at this stage. Information on the outcome of the assessment process will be sent in July 2003 to all parties which applied to the Daphne programme in 2003.

No proposal was received between 1997 and 2003 for the other municipalities referred to by the Honourable Member (Ancona, Livorno, Macerata, Massa, Perugia, Pisa, Pistoia, Prato and Terni).
On27May2003theCommissionheldaseminartoassesstheeffectivenessofthe‘Designateddriver’
campaigns,suchastheBOBcampaigninBelgium.Summariesofthepresentationsmadeattheseminarcan be found at (http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/road/roadsafety/behaviour/alcohol/conf_desig-nated_drivers_en.htm).
Inordertowork,thecampaignsmustbesupportedbythepoliceandpromotedbyplayersontheground
suchasbars,petrolstations,etc.Therecanbeasharpdropinthenumberofalcohol-relatedaccidentsduringthistypeofcampaign.
ThenumberofaccidentscausedbyexcessivealcoholconsumptionisfallingintheEU.Inordertoreduce
thefigurefurther,andinlinewithitsrecommendationof17January2001onthemaximumpermittedbloodalcoholcontentfordriversofmotorisedvehicles,theCommissionhastakenactiononseveralfronts:increasing and improving roadside checks, driver training, research (for example into the use of
immobiliserswhereadriver’sBAClevelistoohigh),therehabilitationofhabitualoffendersandsupport
forawareness-raisingcampaigns.
(2004/C58E/151) WRITTENQUESTIONE-2132/03
byChristopherHuhne(ELDR)totheCommission
(26June2003)
Subject:Industrialcrops
1. WilltheCommissionreconsideritsproposaltodisallowthegrowingofindustrialandenergycrops
onset-asideland?
2. Willitdetailnewtechniqueswhichwouldenableittobereassuredthatlandsousedcannotbe
broughtintotheproductionoffoodenjoyinganyCAPsubsidy?
3. Does the Commission agree that the decoupling of production and income support should in
principleremovetheneedforanyrestrictionsontheuseoflandsuchasset-aside?
AnswergivenbyMrFischleronbehalfoftheCommission
(4August2003)
Duringthedebatesonthesequestions,theMemberoftheCommissionresponsibleforAgricultureand
Fisheries indicated to the Council on Agriculture and Fisheries of 8April 2003 the Commission’swillingnesstoexaminethepossibilitytoreturntorotationalset-asideandgrowingcropsintendedfornon-fooduseinsofarascontrolproblemsaresettled.ThefinalpoliticalcompromiseadoptedbytheCouncilon26June2003confirmsthecontinuationofthenon-foodset-asidesystem,asaconsequencethegrowingofindustrialandenergycropsinset-asidelandwillbepossible.
Theset-asidelandusedforindustrialandenergycropswillcontinuetoreceivetheCommonAgricultural
Policy (CAP) subsidy. The current controls applied on the non-food set-aside system avoid, in theCommission’sopinion,theriskoffraud.TheCommissiondoes,however,intendtosimplifythecurrentcontrolsystemwhenimplementingthereform.
Theset-asidewascreatedasamarketregulationinstrument,thereforetheproductionofrenewableraw
materialsisnotitsprincipalaim.Thedecouplingofproductionandincomesupportdoesnotchangewith
respecttothisfirstobjective.Anyrestrictionsontheuseofset-asidelandwillcontinuetoapply.6.3.2004EN C58E/135 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanUnion