ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/644

(2004/C 78 E/0684)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3763/03

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(11 December 2003)

Subject: Clinical trials

1. Will the Commission indicate in table form the position in each Member State whereby charities and academic institutions researching into pharmaceuticals of limited market potential (for example, because of the small incidence of the condition or of its imminently life-threatening form) may enjoy special conditions for their clinical trials?

2. Will it further state whether such conditions will be compatible in each case with the proper implementation of the Clinical Trials Directive?

3. Is any distinction made in any of the Member States for exemptions from Phase I, Phase II and Phase III?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(29 January 2004)

The Commission and Member States discussed the responsibilities of the Member States to take into consideration the recommendation given in Directive 2001/20/EC (1), recital 14, for non-commercial trial.

This recital reads: ‘Non-commercial clinical trials conducted by researchers without the participation of the pharmaceuticals industry may be of great benefit to the patients concerned. The Directive should therefore take account of the special position of trials whose planning does not require particular manufacturing or packaging processes, if these trials are carried out with medicinal products with a marketing authorization (…) and on patients with the same characteristics as those covered by the indication specified in this marketing authorization (…)’.

According to Article 22 of the above-mentioned Directive, the Member States are asked to inform the Commission on the national measures adopted with a view to transposing and complying with this text. The Commission is currently working together with the Member States in the preparation of the implementing guidelines of this Directive. The Commission is, therefore, confident that some of these concerns would be properly addressed during this preparation, both at Community level and at national level.

Moreover, to get an overall and conclusive view on the specific decisions taken by the Member States, the Commission will send out a questionnaire to the Member States to receive the information requested in a comparable format.

The Commission will publish the information received by the Member States.

(1) Directive 2001/20/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 4 April 2001 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the implementation of good clinical practice in the conduct of clinical trials on medicinal products for human use, OJ L 121, 1.5.2001.
EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/645

(2004/C 78 E/0685)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3792/03

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(11 December 2003)

Subject: Update on funding for the municipality of Pesaro-Urbino under the Tempus III programme

In reply to my earlier question E-1168/03 (1) asking whether the municipality of Pesaro had submitted projects and obtained funding under the Tempus III programme, the Commission said on 8 March 2003 that no projects had been submitted.

Is the Commission aware of whether, since that date, the municipality has submitted any projects, secured funding and made use of any funds granted?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(29 January 2004)

It should be noted that municipalities are not eligible for Tempus funding. However, since March 2003, there have been several calls for proposals under the Tempus programme, the most recent being that of 15 December 2003. In response to these calls, the university of Urbino (Università degli studi di Urbino) submitted a proposal for a project involving universities in Spain, Morocco and Malta. The selection procedure has begun and the final decision will be taken in June 2004 to allow projects to get under way during the 2004/2005 academic year.

Projects funded under the Tempus programme generally involve several universities, from both EU countries and partner countries. These projects relate to the development and reform of higher education in those countries which are the final recipients of Community funding.

(1) OJ C 242 E, 9.10.2003, p. 184.
EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/18

(2004/C 78 E/0018)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0487/03

by Hanja Maij-Weggen (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(17 February 2003)

Subject: El Khosheh judgment

In its reply to my Written Question E-3652/02 (1) the Commission states that it:‘... was encouraged by the initial measures taken by the Egyptian authorities to restore calm to the area and bring those responsible to justice’.

Is the Commission aware that the police stood by inactive when the disturbances occurred in El Khosheh in January 2000, and has it raised the role of the police with the Egyptian authorities?

Is the Commission aware that the judicial verdict in the case relating to the violence in El Khosheh in January 2000 is to be announced on 27 February 2003?

Will the Commission be present when the judgment is passed and can it issue a report on this?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(18 March 2003)

The Commission's understanding is that security forces were quickly brought in from outside to El Khosheh to restore law and order, possibly in recognition that the local police in El Khosheh were unable to do so. The villages were also visited almost immediately by Ministers and senior officials with an explicit brief to restore calm and to give assurances that those responsible for the outrages would be brought to justice. These immediate reactions contrasted strongly and positively with the official reactions to previous events in El Khosheh although questions remain concerning the behavior of local security forces.

The Commission is aware that the initial verdicts at the first trial were seen by many Coptic commentators as falling far short of assurances that the guilty would pay for their misdeeds. The verdict of the retrial announced on 27 February 2003 (only two defendents were convicted against four in the first trial) may revive criticism of the court although some human rights and Coptic sources caution against speculation that the court has been biased in favour of the defendents. It is a civil not a military or emergency court and it is quite possible that the prosecutor general will again bring the decision to the attention of the Court of Cassation after the presiding judge publishes the reasons for its decision.

Although the Commission was not present in court the Commission Delegation and Member State embassies in Cairo have closely followed this case and will continue to do so. And representations will be made through the normal channels if it is considered appropriate.

(1) See page 9.
EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/706

(2004/C 78 E/0754)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0816/03

by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Commission

(17 March 2003)

Subject: Independent study on the use of inter-specific wine varieties

In its reply to Question E-3520/01 (1) the Commission said that it would ‘finance an independent study on the use of inter-specific wine varieties’ on the basis of which it would send a report to Parliament and the Council by 31 December 2003.

Although this date is still a long way off, is there any possiblity that — given the natural concern this issue is causing in the Azores Autonomous Region which has a delegation for marketing this type of wine only until 2006 — the Commission might publish this independent study, even at the preliminary stage preceding the completion of the report itself?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(15 April 2003)

In July 2002 the Commission opened an invitation to tender for the study in question, in accordance with Article 17(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine (2).

Based on the tenders received, the Commission chose a consortium made up of German, French and Hungarian companies.

The study must be completed by 30 June 2003; the Commission will send it to the Honourable Member when it becomes available.

(1) OJ C 160 E, 4.7.2002, p. 131.

(2) OJ L 179, 14.7.1999.
EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/845

(2004/C 78 E/0899)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3656/03

by Salvador Jové Peres (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(9 December 2003)

Subject: High quality code NC 1003 00 barley imports

What quantities has each Member State imported annually of the corresponding annual Community customs tariff quota of 50 000 tons of code NC 1003 00 high quality barley for malt production for use in manufacturing certain beers aged in barrels containing beechwood, at a tariff of 50 % of the total tariff type in force from 1996 until 2002?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(26 January 2004)

The following table shows each Member State's imports from 1996 to 2002 of malting barley for production of beer aged in barrels containing beechwood.

(Tonnes) Member State Licences applied for 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Belgium 2 483 733 3 167 5 626 6 552 1 483 0 Ireland 6 474 14 635 6 775 14 966 14 903 3 588 0 United Kingdom 16 706 20312 18 964 19 456 14 866 8 504 2 000 Total EU 25 663 35679 28 905 40 048 36 322 13 575 2 000

The reason why the figures for the second half of 2001 and for 2002 are much lower than in previous years is that during that period the non-quota import duty on barley was low or even nil for long periods, thus reducing the advantage of using the quota.
EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/707

(2004/C 78 E/0755)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0926/03

by Peter Skinner (PSE) to the Commission

(24 March 2003)

Subject: Relocation of workforce from Eastleigh, United Kingdom to Battipaglia, Southern Italy by Pirelli

I have been informed by a local Eastleigh Labour Councillor, Cllr Bill Luffman, that Pirelli illegally transferred 312 jobs from Eastleigh in the south-east of England to Battipaglia in Southern Italy using GBP 50 million of an Italian Government grant.

I request that you urgently investigate the alleged misuse of these funds on the basis that Italy has attracted business from another Member State with the help of state funds.

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(8 May 2003)

Community law does not prohibit companies operating in one or several Member States from reorganising their activities, and locating their investments according to their business interests.

On 2 October 2002, the Commission has approved aid in favour of Fibre Ottiche Sud for an investment in Battipaglia, southern Italy. This decision was taken on basis of the compliance of the project with the rules of the Multisectoral Framework on regional aid for large investment projects (1). For further information about this subject, the Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its answer to Written Question E-3777/02 by Mr Huhne (2).

(1) OJ C 107, 7.4.1998.

(2) OJ C 280 E, 21.11.2003, p. 26.
EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/8

(2004/C 84 E/0008)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1350/03

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(10 April 2003)

Subject: Cross-border investment

Is the Commission of the view that the introduction of the euro has boosted cross-border investment for the participating Member States? Will it update those figures given in previous parliamentary answers to me that showed a sharp increase in cross-border investment in the euro area that was an order of magnitude greater than the increase for the EU members not participating in the euro? Will it also give the figures individually for the five largest Member States of the EU?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(22 May 2003)

Data on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows for EU-15, split between Eurozone and EU-15/non-Eurozone countries, together with shares of each aggregate in the total EU-15 are sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat. Data for the Eurozone are available as from 1997. Annual rates of growth are also shown (First set of tables).

Data for the five bigger Member States in terms of FDI inflows, the share of the United Kingdom in EU 15 and annual growth rates are also given (Second set of tables).

Available data for Foreign Direct Investment indicate that the introduction of the euro had a favourable effect on cross-border investment for the participating Member States.

FDI data compiled by Eurostat show a much larger increase of FDI inflows in 1999 and 2000 for the euro area than for other Member States. This can be interpreted as an evidence of a positive impact of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) on cross-border direct investment. Nevertheless, it is important to bear in mind that EMU is only one of the factors that have affected euro-area FDI flows in recent years. In particular, FDI fluctuations have been clearly dominated by cyclical factors in the past two years. In 2001, the slowdown in merger activity and depressed economic conditions entailed a sharp drop in FDI inflows for both the euro area and other Member States.
1. and 2.

The Commission certainly cannot confirm a trend towards the exclusive use of English as a working language for the purposes of internal work organisation. On the one hand, according to Council Regulation No 1/58 determining the languages to be used by the European Economic Community (1), all the official languages are also working languages (Article 1) and everybody is fully entitled to use them interchangeably in the institutions. Second, for operational reasons it is normal that certain languages should be more widely used than others by Commission staff in the day-to-day running of departments. Nevertheless, the principle that languages are equal as official and working languages is respected. Nor has the Commission any intention of introducing specific arrangements to give preference to the use of one or more particular languages internally. As a general condition for recruitment, Article 25 of the Staff Regulations requires applicants to have a thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the Communities and a satisfactory knowledge of another language of the Communities to the extent necessary for the performance of their duties. As part of the administrative reform, the Commission has put forward measures to further promote multilingualism: in addition to requiring a second language at the time of recruitment, it takes third languages into account at the time of the first post-recruitment promotion. The Commission also points out that it gives top priority to providing intensive language courses so that officials who do not happen to know the languages most widely used for specific training courses (other than language courses) when they join can improve their language skills.
EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/28

(2004/C 84 E/0031)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2515/03

by Herbert Bösch (PSE) to the Commission

(29 July 2003)

Subject: Opinion of the OLAF Supervisory Committee on the Eurostat Task Force

On 9 July 2003 the Commission decided to set up a Task Force to investigate the complaints against Eurostat. The Task Force is intended to speed up the internal and external enquiries previously managed by the OLAF Anti-Fraud Office alone.

This infringes OLAF's powers to conduct investigations independently, which Parliament and the Council expressly guaranteed in Regulation (EC) 1073/1999 (1) of 25 May 1999.

Before the decision of 9 July 2003, did the Director and/or the Commission consult the OLAF Supervisory Committee, which has the task of safeguarding the independence of the Anti-Fraud Office?

If not, why not?

(1) OJ L 136, 31.5.1999, p. 1.
EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/250

(2004/C 84 E/0297)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3812/03

by Gabriele Stauner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(11 December 2003)

Subject: Tempus programme in Romania

On 12 November 2003, the online edition of the German magazine ‘Stern’ reported a possible case of embezzlement of Commission funds intended for the Tempus programme in Romania. According to the article, a well-known professor from Bucharest contacted OLAF with documents showing that vocational training for Romanian employees, allegedly promoted by the EU, had never taken place. However, according to ‘Stern’, OLAF neither confirmed this evidence to be true nor refuted it. Instead, it has apparently rejected the accusations and closed the case on the basis of an audit carried out on the orders of Tempus itself.

1. Why did OLAF fail to acknowledge the validity as evidence of the documents supplied by the professor in its letters to him dated 26 September 2003 and 24 October 2003?

2. Why did OLAF rely on an audit report by the Commission management of Tempus instead of investigating the situation fully itself?

Answer given by Ms Schreyer on behalf of the Commission

(11 February 2004)

The Commission informs the Honourable Member that the documents presented in support of the complaint in question were examined in detail, as were the other items in the file sent to the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).

With the agreement of OLAF, and in line with the usual procedure in such cases, the Directorate-General for Education and Culture asked a London-based company to carry out an anti-fraud audit, which failed to corroborate the allegations to which the Honourable Member refers. The Commission has no reason to call into question the independence of this audit.

After these inquiries and after consulting various European, Romanian and Belgian bodies, OLAF, when closing the case, found no evidence of any fraud committed in connection with the programme in question.

However, OLAF has received further information since closing the case and has decided to reopen the investigation on a number of points. The results of this investigation will be communicated to the competent authorities according to the usual procedure.
EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/283

(2004/C 78 E/0283)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3434/03

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(20 November 2003)

Subject: Protection of the Bauhaus style of architecture

There are still numerous examples in Europe of the famous Bauhaus style of architecture. There are fewer examples of the style in Athens, though there are a number, particularly in the city centre. However, these buildings are deteriorating at an ever-increasing rate.

Is there any Community legislation to protect examples of this architectural style in the Member States? Are the creations of outstanding architects (such as Horta in Brussels, for example) protected by means of Community funding to preserve them? Can the Commission make representations to the Greek authorities to enhance their awareness of the need to protect the Bauhaus style of architecture in Athens?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(19 December 2003)

1. The competence conferred on the Community under Article 151 (ex 128) of the EC Treaty extends no further than encouraging cooperation between Member States in the field of culture.

2. On this basis, the Commission adopted the ‘Culture 2000’ programme, which is the single financing and programming instrument for cultural cooperation within the Union. Within the framework of this programme, and in line with the selection criteria laid down therein, the Commission may support projects co-produced and co-financed by at least three promoters from at least countries participating in the programme. The Honourable Member will find additional information on the website (http://europa.eu.int/comm/culture/c2000).
EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/475

(2004/C 84 E/0549)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1697/03

by Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(22 May 2003)

Subject: Consumer fraud involving cat and dog skins

A BBC programme claims that hundreds of consumers in Europe are victims of fraud because they are unwittingly buying furs manufactured in Europe from cat and dog skins.

The same programme reports that hundreds of thousands of cats and dogs worldwide are killed each year by shady operators seeking to make a profit by selling their skins in Europe, without any clear indication of the origin of their ‘products’.

In view of the fact that consumer protection is one of the fundamental policies of the EU, will the Commission say what practical measures it will take to put an end to this travesty of a trade which is not only an abhorrent practice but also constitutes consumer fraud?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(10 July 2003)

At present, the Commission has no information that confirms that cats and dogs are farmed for their fur in the Union or in the ten Acceding Countries.

The Commission does not ignore the issue of imports of cat and dog furs. The Commission is currently examining the questions raised taking into consideration the respective requirements of World Trade Organisation (WTO) law, legal bases under Community law and the interplay with existing legislation to prevent consumer deception.
EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/762

(2004/C 78 E/0810)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2880/03

by Jan Dhaene (PSE) to the Council

(29 September 2003)

Subject: Bicycle theft

Every year, enormous numbers of bicycles are stolen. Many are stolen for individual use, but large numbers of bicycles are also fed into stolen-goods circuits, some of which operate on an international scale.

Belgian research shows that bicycle theft is the ‘daily bread’ of criminals who are involved in more serious crime. Bicycle theft is the most widespread form of crime in Europe.

Plans which the bicycle industry wanted to develop in response to requests from consumer associations and the European Cyclists' Federation, which involved the standardisation of serial numbers, identity chips and obligatory U-locks, have come to nought.

The Council:

— does it have any accurate information about the number of bicycles stolen in the various Member States and about where such stolen goods finish up;

— does it acknowledge the impact of mass bicycle theft on the attractiveness of the bicycle as a sustainable mode of transport and on an individual's feeling of insecurity;

— is it, together with the bicycle industry, planning to take measures to prevent bicycle theft?

Reply

(4 March 2004)

1. The Council shares the opinion of the Honourable Member of the European Parliament that bicycle theft has an impact on the attractiveness of the bicycle as a mode of transport and on citizens' feeling of insecurity.

2. The Council has no information about the number of bicycles stolen in the Member States and where the stolen bicycles finish up.

3. As concerns measures to prevent bicycle theft, the Council draws attention to: (a) Council Resolution of 27.5.1999 on combating international crime with fuller cover of the routes used (1). This Resolution aims at improving practical cooperation between police services in the Member States in order to combat a specific form of crime on the basis of a coordinated policy; (b) Council Decision 2001/427/JHA of 28.5.2001 setting up a European crime prevention network (2). This network has the task to contribute to developing the various aspects of crime prevention activities.

(1) OJ C 162, 9.6.1999, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 153, 8.6.2001, p. 1.
EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/14

(2004/C 84 E/0015)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2141/03

by Olle Schmidt (ELDR) to the Commission

(26 June 2003)

Subject: German road tolls

Germany is introducing a motorway toll of SEK 11,45 per ten kilometres for heavy goods vehicles from 1 September 2003. This toll will affect Sweden and Denmark in that it puts them in a worse competitive position than other European countries.

The toll is obviously contrary to EU competition rules. What steps will the Commission take to find a solution to this problem?