ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3018/00

by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission

(26 September 2000)

Subject: VAT reduction on energy saving measures

Under new legislation, VAT on energy saving measures (including the use of renewables) has been reduced from 17,5 % to 5 %. However, this only applies to systems installed by a professional and not by DIY (do it yourself).

Within my South west of England constituency, the Stroud Solar Club is an independent organisation that promotes the DIY (do it yourself) installation of solar hot weather systems. Individuals from the Solar Club are backed up by skilled trainers and given training in theory and practical skills. Given this fact, would the Commission not agree that it makes sense to encourage well-informed DIY enthusiasts by reducing VAT on energy saving measures for systems they install?

What plans does the Commission have to reduce VAT from 17,5 % to 5 % for DIY- installed systems, as well as professionally installed systems?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(3 November 2000)

The situation under current Community VAT legislation is that category 9 of Annex H of the 6th VAT Council directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment(1) covers the supply, construction, renovation and alteration of housing provided as part of social policy. Member States may therefore allocate a reduced VAT rate of no less than 5 % to these services.

Energy saving products, once incorporated into this global process, are automatically covered by this provision, like all building materials, when they are supplied as a part of a service provided by a building contractor, whereas the same goods when bought across the counter by an individual are considered as supply of goods, and therefore the standard rate applies.

As the Honourable Member will know, the new VAT strategy(2) foresees that a review and rationalisation of the rules and derogations applying to the definition of reduced VAT rates should be considered in the medium term. Particular attention will be paid to the use of reduced VAT rates to goods and services that support Community policies (e.g. to help protect the environment, etc.).

(1) OJ L 145, 13.6.1977, Directive as last amended by Council Directive 2000/17/EC of 30 March 2000 (OJ L 84, 5.4.2000).

(2) COM(2000) 348 final.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-4015/00

by Carlos Carnero González (PSE) to the Commission

(21 December 2000)

Subject: Open letter from Amnesty International concerning the human rights situation in Turkey

On 31 November last the Secretary-General of Amnesty International (AI), Pierre Sané, sent an open letter to the EU Heads of State and of Government on the human rights situation in Turkey.

In this letter, the AI denounces cases of torture, ill treatment, solitary confinement, deaths in custody and many other violations of human rights. The denunciation contained in the open letter follows various AI reports on Turkey.

Is the Commission aware of this open letter and AI's most recent report on Turkey?

If the Commission is aware of the March 2000 report by the AI on torture in Turkey, what is its view of the recommendations made there that the Turkish government adopt measures to combat torture and impunity?

Does the Commission believe that its report of this year on the progress made by Turkey with a view to EU accession, Turkey 2000, describes the same situation as Amnesty International and shares that organisation's general recommendations?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(5 February 2001)

The Commission is aware of the letter sent by Pierre Sané, Secretary-General of Amnesty International, to the EU Heads of State or Government on 30 November 2000 and Amnesty International's assessment and recommendations set out in its recent publications on the human rights situation in Turkey.

Most of the recommendations in the above letter, particularly those regarding the fight against torture and impunity, should bring about a marked improvement in the situation provided Turkey implements them. The priorities set out in the draft accession partnership, adopted by the Commission on 8 November 2000(1) in order to prepare Turkey to meet the Copenhagen criteria, are similar and contribute to the same objective of improving the general human rights situation.

(1) COM(2000) 713 final.
WRITTEN QUESTION P-3496/00

by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission

(6 November 2000)

Subject: Date labelling of photographic paper

I am informed that photographic paper sold to amateur photographers who wish to make their own black and white or colour prints does not carry a sell by or use by date, despite the fact that colour paper (in particular) has a useful life of just 18 months.

Trading standards officers inform me that as manufacturers are not dating their paper voluntarily action must be taken by the European Commission if a change is to be secured.

Will the Commission state whether it intends to assist consumers by requiring photographic paper to be labelled accordingly?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(5 January 2001)

The Commission does not believe that a specific initiative under consumer protection policy can currently be taken on the question raised by the Honourable Member, given the priorities of the Commission's work programme and the principle of subsidiarity.

An initiative of this kind could be taken, if appropriate, by the Member States, provided that compliance with the rules of the EC Treaty on freedom of movement was ensured.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3536/00

by Avril Doyle (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(13 November 2000)

Subject: Evaluation report on the sheepmeat regime

Bearing in mind that the Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament was assured by Commissioner Fischler in March that the evaluation report on the sheepmeat regime would be published immediately after Easter, could the Commission please give an explanation for the inordinate delay in publishing the report, in the light of the difficulty being experienced by sheep farmers in certain Member States?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(11 December 2000)

The Commission regrets that the evaluation report on the sheep and goat meat regime could only be made available to the public with a certain delay. Since the beginning of November however this report can be consulted on the evaluation web-site of the Commission Directorate general for Agriculture.

The drafting of the final version of the report by the external consultant in charge of the study took more time than initially foreseen. It has to be noted that the deadlines provided were extremely tight and only under ideal circumstances could a publication have been envisaged during the first six months of 2000.

During the process of drafting this report it was decided by the steering group responsible for this evaluation, in agreement with the consultant, to make a thorough revision of the draft final report as concerns the methodological approach in order to improve the validity of the results obtained. This revision caused an additional delay for the presentation of the final report with the result that it was only available in autumn 2000. This delay is however justified through the fact that thanks to this thorough revision a report of good quality could be obtained as the judgement of the steering group accompanying the publication of the report reveals.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3885/00

by Ioannis Souladakis (PSE), Minerva Malliori (PSE) and Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Council

(20 December 2000)

Subject: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (mad cow disease)

The spread of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (mad cow disease) has put the issue of the quality and composition of cattle feedingstuffs in the European Union back on the top of the agenda. The gradual shift in the ingredients of animal feedingstuffs away from plants to

animal products has resulted in the present situation in which the health of the peoples of Europe is at risk. Despite the major vested interests of the animal feedingstuff industry, it is still possible to change the composition of the feed of cattle bred in the European Union.

Will the Council consider subsidising the cultivation of plant varieties to gradually replace the animal feedingstuffs produced today which are responsible for these problems?

Reply

(12 March 2001)

The Council, in the conclusions of its 2 317th meeting (4 December 2000), subject to the financial perspective agreed in Berlin, notes the statements by the Commission concerning the production of protein-rich plants and calls upon it speedily to analyse the issue in greater detail and to draw its consequences for the policy currently being pursued in this sector and for set-aside, including any appropriate proposals.

The Council will take a decision on these proposals when it receives them.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-4005/00

by Carles-Alfred Gasòliba i Böhm (ELDR) to the Commission

(21 December 2000)

Subject: Waste water treatment

The Segura is a river whose course takes it through the Spanish Autonomous Communities of Castilla la Mancha, Murcia and the Valencian Community. By the time it reaches the sea in the district of Vega Baja, its waters are extremely polluted, with all that this means in terms of negative impact on the environment, farming and quality of life in this district of the Alacant provincial region.

Since 1998 I have been bringing the worrying state of this river and the impact of the pollution of its waters to the attention of the European authorities.

According to Council Directive 91/271/EEC(1) of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste water, both the Spanish authorities and the Valencian Autonomous Community itself are failing to meet Community guidelines on waste water treatment in agglomerations of over 10 000 inhabitants in sensitive areas and over 15 000 inhabitants in non-sensitive areas.

Does the Commission have figures for the current pollution levels in the River Segura?

What measures does it intend to take to ensure that the environmental standards set by Directive 91/271/EEC are met within the deadline provided, mainly 31 December 1998 for agglomerations of over 15 000 inhabitants in non-sensitive areas and agglomerations of over 10 000 inhabitants in sensitive areas, and 31 December 2000 for agglomerations of over 10 000 inhabitants in non-sensitive areas?

(1) OJ L 135, 30.5.1991, p. 40.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(14 March 2001)

The Commission is aware of the pollution of the River Ségura in Spain by industrial, agricultural and urban effluents and has begun action intended to prompt compliance with Community regulations in order to improve the situation. The Honourable Member might wish to refer to the answers to Written Questions E-1906/98(1) and E-0721/00(2) by Mrs Sornosa Martinez and to Written Questions E-3860/00(3) and E-3861/00(4) by Mrs Hautala concerning this problem of pollution of the River Ségura.

More specifically as regards discharges of urban wastewater, the Commission has recently examined the situation as regards the treatment of those effluents in all of the Community's major cities and will very soon publish the results of that survey. It emerges form this that two of the major towns discharging their effluents into the catchment basin for the Ségura river, namely Molina de Ségura and Murcia, did not have the secondary wastewater treatment (i.e. biological) facilities required by Council Directive 92/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 on the treatment of urban wastewater on 31 December 2000.

The Commission therefore intends to bring an infringement action against Spain, more specifically because of inadequate treatment of urban wastewater in a certain number of conurbations, including Molina de Ségura and Murcia.

(1) OJ C 13, 20.1.1999.

(2) OJ C 26 E, 26.1.2001, p. 96.

(3) OJ C 187 E, 3.7.2001, p. 69.

(4) OJ C 187 E, 3.7.2001, p. 70.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3879/00

by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Council

(20 December 2000)

Subject: Carbon sinks

Is the Council aware that, in its opinion on the Jorge Moreira Da Silva report for the Environment Committee on the Commission Green Paper on greenhouse gas emissions trading within the European Union (A5-0271/2000), the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs declared in paragraph 16 that: Further study on the role of carbon sinks, and in particular the planting of forests and the seeding of oceanic plankton, needs to be carried out in order to give consideration to credits and an increase in the size of national tradable carbon dioxide quotas to reflect investment in these environmentally desirable areas?

Subject to the proviso that a mechanism must be found which will continue to generate real reductions in emissions, does the Council accept that the issuing of credits for both planting and retaining carbon sinks could be enormously useful, not only in encouraging a corporate culture of tree-planting in advanced industrial countries but also in drastically reducing the rate of deforestation in less economically developed countries which are unlikely to be enthusiastic about cutting their CO2 emissions and whose contribution to global warming would otherwise be almost wholly negative?

Reply

(12 March 2001)

A sustainable, environmentally friendly mechanism (as envisaged by the Honourable Member) able to generate continual and real reductions in greenhouse gas emissions would indeed be very welcomed. The question of carbon sinks, however, has been one of the most controversial and unresolved elements of later years' international negotiations on climate change. The Council being aware of the fact that the environmental role of carbon sinks is far from clear has repeatedly stated and reaffirmed its serious concerns about the issues of scale, scientific and other uncertainties and risks associated with them. In these regards, special reference has also been made to the scientific findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), stating a number of the difficulties connected with carbon sinks in its special report on land-use, land-use change and forestry.

Without prejudice to these considerations of a more general nature, the Council recalls that the European Community and its Member states have played, and continue to play, a very active and leading role in the international negotiations on the establishment of a world-wide approach to the issue of conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests.

In accordance with its Conclusions of 17 April 2000, the Council has committed the European Union to make the United Nations Forum on Forest (UNFF) efficient and result-oriented, underscoring that the operationalisation of this newly-created subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Commission (ECOSOC) should be a priority in the international agenda.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3318/00

by Gorka Knörr Borràs (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(25 October 2000)

Subject: Arrests in Turkey

On 23 September this year 11 members of the pro-Kurdish Popular Democratic Party (HADEP), including the party chairman, were arrested in the Turkish city of Simak. They were charged by the police with possession of weapons and grenades. It should be borne in mind both that HADEP has always advocated peaceful solutions to the Kurdish conflict and that once again the Turkish security forces have acted in an underhand way.

Does the Council know about this incident? What view does it take of it? What measures does it propose to settle the Kurdish conflict?

Reply

(26 February 2001)

The Council is aware of recent arrests and convictions of officials and supporters of the HADEP political party, and will be monitoring this case closely. In EU-Turkey meetings, the EU takes the opportunity to express concern over the treatment by the Turkish authorities of HADEP and its members, particularly in the context of the Turkish candidature for the EU and the Copenhagen criteria. Legal reform to permit genuine freedom of expression without fear of arrest is an essential element, and the European Union will continue to insist that the Turkish Government take the necessary steps to that end as soon as possible.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3710/00

by Carles-Alfred Gasòliba i Böhm (ELDR) to the Commission

(30 November 2000)

Subject: Red Tuna catches in Dènia and Gandia

It has been noted for years in the fishing towns of Dènia and Gandia that French fishermen are using nets several miles long to catch red tuna.

Catches of these fish fail to meet the minimum authorised weight of 60 kg, and no checks of any kind are made.

Since this type of fishing is extremely deleterious to Mediterranean fish stocks, since protected species are also being caught, how does the Council [sic] intend to force the governments of the Member States concerned to adopt the appropriate measures, so as to ensure that Community fishing legislation is complied with?

Does the Commission [sic] intend to penalise those countries which fail to comply with the legislation?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(22 January 2001)

Over the past, French vessels, along with a few Spanish vessels, have been fishing for Bluefin tuna off Balearic Islands with purse seines, and land their catch in Spanish ports.

Community legislation does not include provisions regulating the length or the dimensions of purse seines.

The minimum landing size of Bluefin tuna is defined in Annex XII of Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98 of 30 March 1998 for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organisms(1), and Annex IV of Council Regulation (EC) No 1626/94 of 27 June 1994 laying down certain technical measures for the conservation of fishery resources in the Mediterranean(2). It is set at 70 centimeters (cm) or 6,4 kilograms (kg). However, to provide a margin for accidental catches of smaller fish, a maximum of 15 % of the catch (in number of individuals) may consist of individuals weighing between 3,2 kg and 6,4 kg.

The reference of 60 kg as indicated by the Honourable Member is not in Community legislation.

These rules have been agreed by the Council. If they are being contravened, it is the responsibility of Member States to ensure compliance and to apply legal sanctions wherever necessary, in conformity with the provisions of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 of 12 October 1993 establishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy(3).

National fisheries inspectors may be accompanied by the inspectors of the Commission within the framework of the Community control system applicable

inter alia on the Bluefin tuna fishery by Community fishing vessels. The Commission may initiate legal procedures under the relevant provision of the EC Treaty in respect of Member States failing to comply with their obligations under Community legislation and notably the Community control system.

(1) OJ L 125, 27.4.1998.

(2) OJ L 171, 6.7.1994.

(3) OJ L 261, 20.10.1993.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3955/00

by Gorka Knörr Borràs (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(13 December 2000)

Subject: Hungarian minority in Slovakia

According to the 1997 Commission opinion on Slovakia's application for membership of the EU, the Hungarian minority represents 11 % of the population. The latest Commission report(1) devotes no more than two lines to this minority.

Does the Commission take the view that the rights of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia are not being curtailed by the Beres decrees, which remain in force? What is the Commission's view of the fact that one of the conditions laid down for the entry into government of the Hungarian Coalition Party was that the 1945 decrees are not to be revised? What impact will implementation of the basic treaty with Hungary have on this minority?

(1) COM(2000) 711.

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(28 February 2001)

The Commission closely monitors the fulfillment of the criteria established by the Copenhagen European Council in 1993 in all candidate countries including Slovakia. The political criterion encompasses the protection of minorities including the Hungarian minority.

As regards the Benes decrees, the Commission is fully aware of the human dimension and complexity of this issue. However, the Benes decrees were adopted and implemented before the founding of the European Community and before the entry into force of the Treaty of Rome. In so far as their legal impact nowadays relates to restitution issues, the Commission does not have the competence to intervene, neither in a current nor a future Member State, since article 295 (ex Article 222) of the EC Treaty explicitly states that the Treaty shall in no way prejudice the rules in the Member States governing the system of property ownership. The Commission underlines, however, that candidate countries have to comply, at the time of their accession to the EU, with the acquis communautaire, including the principles of free movement of persons and freedom of establishment as well as the protection of human rights and minority rights.

The agreement not to revise the 1945 decrees has been part of the coalition building process in the Slovak Republic. It has been accepted as such by the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK). The Commission considers this situation as an internal political affair of the Slovak Republic, on which it is not to pronounce any judgements.

As regards the basic treaty with Hungary, the Commission welcomes that its implementation has been launched by setting up a Joint Committee for Minority Issues, comprising representatives of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia. The various working groups are basically functioning and have already achieved first visible results, e.g. in the area of employment. It is now important that the implementation will not be hampered by delays on both sides.