WRITTEN QUESTION E-0034/01

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(18 January 2001)

Subject: Depopulation of sparsely populated rural areas in Colombia as a result of American poisoning of vegetation

1. Can the Council confirm that the aerial spraying of the pesticide Round Up under the Colombia Plan is not confined to combating the cultivation of coca plants but, according to Dutch television reports, is now also aimed at virgin primeval forest high up in the mountains, even though this has no connection at all with discouraging the production of raw materials for drugs?

2. How does it view the impression that has arisen in the meantime that this pesticide is increasingly being used to contaminate water supplies with the result that the settlements located downstream become uninhabitable and depopulated and that it is not the cultivation of raw materials for drugs that is harmed by this action but the living environment of rebellious peasant farmers?

3. Does it share my fear that expelling people and destroying their livelihoods may result in their becoming dependent on involvement in the trade and production of drugs since this is the easiest way for them to acquire a new source of income and that, as a result, the opposite is achieved of the reasoning that is used to justify the destruction of the living environment?

4. How does it view such an attempt to depopulate remote areas and banish the inhabitants to the towns which recalls the tragedy in Vietnam where attempts were made in the 60s and 70s, also through American intervention, to make disputed areas uninhabitable for human beings with defoliants (the notorious Agent Orange)?

5. Is it prepared to make every effort to help put an end to any repetition of such a tragedy and, as a first step to that end, to ensure that neither the European Union nor its Member States end up in a situation where they have to share responsibility for this tragedy?

Reply

(24 April 2001)

As the Honourable Member is aware, the Council has had the opportunity to inform the European Parliament on its position on the activities in Colombia at various occasions: the last time on 31 January 2001 during the debate between the Parliament with Commissioner Nielson and Swedish State Secretary Lars Danielsson on Plan Colombia.

The Council is following very closely the complex and multifaceted problems faced by Colombia and has expressed its determination to support the peace process in the most appropriate manner.

On the question of aerial spraying of illicit crops, the European Union has had the opportunity to express its position to Colombian authorities, and in particular to express doubts about the effectiveness of the measure. The European Union has encouraged Colombian initiatives related to independent international monitoring of aerial spraying on the basis of procedures established by Colombian authorities. The EU has also pointed out to Colombian authorities the danger of a negative impact of the aerial spraying on past and future EU cooperation projects. Finally, the EU has had the occasion to express its conviction that crop substitution is the most effective means to combat illicit crop production.

The European Union is working on an autonomous European package to support the peace process in Colombia, which will be directed to modernising Colombian administration, strengthening the rule of law, developing alternative crops and protecting the environment.

At present, an expert mission has travelled to Colombia in order to identify concrete cooperation projects. The European package will be presented on the occasion of the international meeting on the peace process in Colombia to take place in Brussels in April this year.

Finally, the European Union has also contributed with 6,5 million to projects concerning displaced population and contributes to the fight against drug production through various means.