WRITTEN QUESTION E-1813/96 by Paul Lannoye (V) to the Commission (5 July 1996)

Subject: Clearance of landmines in parts of Bosnia

The Commission is shortly to launch a public call for tenders with a view to the award of a contract for the clearance of landmines in parts of Bosnia.

1. Can the Commission confirm this?

2. Why is this highly delicate and specialized task not wholly entrusted to the armed forces, since the European Union includes among its members countries whose armies possess a high degree of competence in this area?

3. On the basis of what criteria will this contract be signed with one or more private companies?

4. On what criteria has it been decided which areas are to be cleared by the military and which are to be cleared by one or more private companies?

5. What proportion of Bosnian territory will be cleared by the armed forces and what proportion by private companies?

6. What is the cost of the contract(s) envisaged?

Answer given by Mr Van den Broek on behaf of the Commission 5 September 1996)

1. The Commission has lanched a restricted tender for two mine clearance projects in Bosnia and is in touch with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in relation to two others.

2. As far as the role of armed forces is concerned, the Dayton Agreement provides for the creation of a peace implementation force, IFOR, under the North Atlantic treaty organization (NATO) command, to monitor the cease-fire and separation of forces. The IFOR mission is limited in function as well as in time and its mine clearance role is, for the most part, restricted to ensuring the security of its own forces. In any case, it is widely recognised that the requirements of humanitarian demining and military mine clearance are different in many respects. That said, and unrelated to the Bosnian question, the Western European Union (WEU) is currently examining ways in which it might possibly provide assistance to civil demining requirements in various regions at some future stage.

The ultimate responsibility for clearing and destroying the mines in Bosnia and Herzegovina lies with the government, but in the short to medium term, the international community which is committed to reconstruction in Bosnia and Croatia, has recognised that it will need to provide mine clearance assistance both in terms of funding and specialist expertise. Accordingly, organizational structures have been established in Sarajevo to establish priorities for mine clearance and to to coordinate the actions of all interested parties including the High representative, IFOR, United Nations, European Union, World Bank, and the governments of other countries.

3. The Commission will award contracts for mine clearance according to its restricted tender procedures and on the basis of the experience of the tenderer, the qualifications and experience of its staff, its proposed organization, method and time schedule for the work, the clarity and professionalism of its proposed approach, and financial factors.

4 & 5. The military is not engaged in humanitarian mine clearance actions. The areas to be cleared will be decided in coordination with the government authorities, the Mine action centre, and other interested parties as appropriate, with priority for tasks related to wider Community reconstruction projects.

6. It has been requested that 6.7 MECU be made available for the four projects which have been identified to date.