WRITTEN QUESTION P-1037/01

by Giorgos Katiforis (PSE) to the Commission

(22 March 2001)

Subject: Use of depleted uranium munitions in Yugoslavia

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has issued instructions through its Personnel Department specifying the protective measures that UNHCR staff should take when operating in the area where depleted uranium munitions where used during the NATO bombardment of Yugoslavia.

These instructions include:

(a) that no pregnant women should be sent to Kosovo,

(b) that staff should be offered an alternative posting upon request and

(c) that any official sent to Kosovo must have their file marked service in the field to facilitate any claim for compensation in the event of illness resulting from contamination.

Can the Commission inform Parliament of any similar measures it has taken to protect its officials working in the areas contaminated by depleted uranium munitions in Yugoslavia?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(3 May 2001)

The Commission naturally seeks to ensure that members of its staff are not exposed to abnormal health risks in the course of their work.

The Commission has consequently made appropriate arrangements to safeguard staff working in parts of the Balkan region that may be affected by the use of depleted uranium munitions.

These arrangements included identifying the staff who were in the region after the bombardments, stepping up attention by the Medical Service, analysing the data available on possible risks, informing the staff, assessing the need for systematic individual monitoring, and deciding not to make check-ups compulsory but to offer them on a voluntary basis in order to reassure those who asked for them.

Regarding the specific points raised by the Honourable Member, the situation is as follows:

The Medical Service systematically sees every official or temporary member of staff who is transferred to a region outside the Community. Discussions are held on all relevant medical matters, and appropriate advice is provided, including advice related to an existing or possible future pregnancy.

Under the Commission's general policy on mobility all vacant posts are brought to the attention of officials. Officials posted in the Balkans who wished to find a new posting could, of course, do so.

The Commission has no-fault liability (its fault does not have to be demonstrated) where the health of its officials and temporary members of staff in general is concerned, as regards both the reimbursement of medical expenses and the payment of invalidity pensions. In any event, details of an employee's career, including the different places of employment, are systematically entered in their personal file.

Furthermore, the Commission asked a group of independent experts to assess the radiological risk to health of depleted uranium. The expert group delivered its report on 6 March 2001. Its main findings were as follows:

No evidence was found establishing a link between health problems affecting certain military personnel who had returned from the Balkans and their possible radiation exposure to uranium; the results available do not justify systematic individual monitoring but certain tests could be valuable for reassuring concerned people, confirming the absence of significant incorporation of uranium.

In this context the Commission will invite staff posted to the Balkans, on the occasion of their annual medical check-up, to undergo a full physical examination and to complete a questionnaire. On this basis it may be decided to carry out a screening test.