ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0938/03

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(26 March 2003)

Subject: Funding for setting up a vintage vehicle museum

A few months ago, the Rome-based cultural association Archetipo submitted a project for the setting-up of a museum of vintage civil, military and commercial vehicles.

The project includes the creation of a three-level museum complex with three halls: two for the exhibition of vehicles and one for the restoration of engines and coachwork. The association has one of the largest collections of agricultural and industrial machinery in Italy, dating from the early days to the 1960s. It owns 200 vintage motorcycles, sidecars, military motorcycles, commercial three-wheelers dating from the 1930s to the 1950s, wooden horse-drawn vehicles, hundreds of items of agricultural and industrial equipment dating from the 1800s to the late 1960s, such as ploughs, harrows, ploughshares and lathes, ten military aircraft, many tools and implements dating from the 1800s to the present and a host of documentary and bibliographical material of great cultural value.

Besides putting these exhibits on display, the association intends to open the history of vintage vehicles up to the public by setting up a document library, and to create jobs by way of highly specialised training courses for young restorers, since many of its vehicles need to be restored and require continual maintenance. Since the dissemination and promotion of art and culture with a view

to improving access to and participation in it for as many persons as possible is one of the priorities of Agenda 2000, it is important that this unique collection should be protected and not be dispersed.

Could the Commission indicate:

1. what actions or programmes are currently available for financing initiatives and events of this type;

2. whether similar projects have already been submitted by other Member States?

Answer given by Ms Reding on behalf of the Commission

(25 April 2003)

1. The Commission may support initiatives in the area of culture, but only within the framework and according to the selection criteria of the Culture 2000 programme, which is the Union's sole instrument for financing and planning cultural cooperation.

This programme is designed to support projects that are jointly run and financed by at least three operators from at least three countries taking part in the programme.

The Honourable Member may find further information at the following site: http://europa.eu.int/comm/culture/c2000.

The Commission is not aware of the submission of any projects of this type by other Member States.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0606/03

by Miquel Mayol i Raynal (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(3 March 2003)

Subject: Reception of Catalan and Basque television channels in France

Subsequent to its reply to a previous question on this matter tabled on 5 December 2001 (H-0953/01(1)), the Commission forwarded a copy of a letter from Mr Dominique Baudis, the chairman of France's Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (Senior Council for Audiovisual Matters).

Mr Baudis indicates, among other things that, with an eye to social and cultural pluralism, the reception of Catalan and Basque television channels in northern Catalonia and the northern Basque Country is subject to authorisation by the institution over which he presides.

Does the Commission consider this authorisation system to conform to the principle of freedom to broadcast and receive television services within the EU and to Article 2a(1) of the Television without frontiers directive guaranteeing the freedom to receive television broadcasts from another Member State?

(1) Written reply of 5.2.2002.

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(8 April 2003)

The Commission would point out to the Honourable Member that the authorisation referred to in the letter from the Chairman of France's Senior Council for Audiovisual Matters (CSA) is not a reception authorisation for the Catalonian and Basque television channels. French legislation does not lay down any specific arrangements for cross-border television broadcasts in a regional or local language.

On the other hand:

- the use by a television channel of a frequency assigned to France is, following a call for tenders issued by the CSA, subject to authorisation under the conditions laid down in Act No 86-1067 of 30 September 1986, as amended, concerning freedom of communication;

- in border regions, the overspill of broadcasts from a terrestrial television channel for which another Member State, such as Spain, is responsible, is not subject to authorisation following a call for tenders if the frequency used is the responsibility of a State other than France. However, if such overspill interferes with French television broadcasts, the French authority in charge of managing frequencies, i.e. the National Frequency Agency, must get in touch with its counterpart in the State concerned in order to remedy this.

The Commission considers that such a situation is fully compatible with the television without frontiers Directive(1).

(1) Council Directive 89/552/EEC of 3 October 1989 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities OJ L 298, 17.10.1989.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0234/03

by Gerardo Galeote Quecedo (PPE-DE)and Juan Ojeda Sanz (PPE-DE) to the Council

(4 February 2003)

Subject: Double-hull vessels for the transport of hydrocarbons

The conclusions of the Council of Transport Ministers of 6 December 2002 stated that heavy grades of hydrocarbons (heavy fuel, tar, bitumen and heavy crude oils) should only be transported in double-hull tankers, and that the Member States would, through administrative agreements, undertake not to accept single-hull tankers carrying the heaviest grades of hydrocarbons into their ports, terminals or anchorage areas.

Some Member States are already adopting national measures to comply with this agreement. What plans does the Greek Presidency have for spurring Member States to honour their commitment?

A specific case is to be found in Algeciras Bay, where Gibraltar is allowing the single-hull tanker Vemamagna, with a capacity of 100 000 tonnes of fuel, to act as a floating fuel depot for other vessels just 600 metres from the Spanish shore.

Will the Greek Presidency contact the British authorities to call for strict implementation of Community rules on the environment with regard to bunkering activities in Gibraltar and encourage them to comply with the agreement prohibiting single-hull vessels?

Reply

(13 May 2003)

In Response to the accident of the oil tanker Prestige, the Council (Transport, Telecommunications, Energy) adopted on 6 December 2002 Council conclusions on ships' safety and pollution prevention. Among other measures, the Council agreed that Member States, through administrative agreements, should undertake not to accept single-hulled tankers carrying the heaviest grades of oil into their ports, terminals or anchorage areas.

The accomplishment of this agreement, as it stands in the Council conclusions, is to be achieved through national measures and therefore lies within the competence of each Member State.

The European Council (Copenhagen, 12/13 December 2002) further underlined that the conclusions of the Transport Council should be implemented in all their aspects without delay. The European Council will address these questions again in March 2003, based on a report from the Commission.

The Council is currently examining a Commission proposal concerning the accelerated phasing-out of single-hull tankers and a prohibition of the transport to or from ports of the Member States of heavy grades of oil in single-hull tankers. The proposal was presented by the Commission on 27 December 2002 in response to the Council conclusions and goes further than said conclusions, in proposing a Community framework for that prohibition.

As regards the presence of the Vemamagna in the Bay of Algeciras, the Council is not competent to answer the issues raised.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0364/03

by Cecilia Malmström (ELDR) to the Commission

(12 February 2003)

Subject: Age limit for pilots in France

The upper age limit for airline pilots pursuing their profession in France is reportedly 60 years of age. In other Member States, the age limit is 65. Consequently, pilots between the ages of 60 and 65 are unable to perform their duties when the aircraft crosses French airspace, which entails problems for the airlines.

What will the Commission do to bring the upper age limit for pilots in France and the other Member States into line with each other?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(28 March 2003)

In accordance with Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002(1), the Commission is preparing a proposal for an amendment of that Regulation to extend the remit of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

This extension should encompass aircraft pilots' licences, to ensure uniform application of the rules within the Union.

(1) Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2002 on common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Aviation Safety Agency OJ L 240, 7.9.2002.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0555/03

by Antonio Di Pietro (ELDR) to the Commission

(27 February 2003)

Subject: Integrated waste management in the municipality of Conegliano

By decision of 8 April 2002 (No 127-597), the Conegliano (TV) municipal council decided, without issuing a call for tenders, to give responsibility the integrated management of urban and related waste within the municipal boundaries and the relevant financial management (invoicing and collection) to the Consortium for local hygiene services (CIT), a consortium of which the municipality forms part, no later than 1 July 2002, specifying that these services may be carried out either directly by the CIT or through a third party.

The same decision stipulates that the CIT's tasks comprise the integrated and coordinated management of urban waste and special and related waste, including the collection and transport phases, as well as the invoicing and collection of payments covering the cost of the services, and that this comprehensive management, including collection and transport, will help to optimise the organisation of the service in an optimum territorial context and thus to improve the cost-effectiveness of services and as is also stated fully outsource the area's management of urban and related waste.

Subsequently, households, producers and businesses in Conegliano received a letter signed by the Mayor of the municipality, the chairman of the CIT and the chairman of SAV.NO, informing them of a number of changes in the management and collection of payments for 2002. The letter explained, among other things, that amounts due for the service would be collected by the CIT, via SAV.NO, on the basis of invoices sent to each user. This letter to users was in fact followed by a SAV.NO-headed invoice.

In short, the Conegliano local council directly transferred responsibility for the service to the CIT, which in turn subcontracted part of the work to SAV.NO.

In the light of the above, does the Commission not consider that such measures are unacceptable since they violate Community legislation on subcontracting the management of local public services?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(25 April 2003)

The Commission would like to inform the Honourable Member that it knows there are certain problems with Italian legislation in the field of local public services which is incompatible with Community law on public procurement and concessions. This legislation is currently the subject of an infringement procedure under which the Commission recently sent a supplementary letter of formal notice to the Italian government.

With regard to the award of the waste management service in the municipality of Conegliano, the Commission will ask the Italian authorities for detailed information which will enable it to assess whether the case in question is part of the more general problem addressed by the aforementioned infringement procedure.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0985/03

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(27 March 2003)

Subject: Use of funds from the Culture 2000 programme by the municipality of Pesaro

In September 2002, the monitoring committee of the Italian Ministry for Economic Affairs issued a report on the spending of EU funds.

The report reveals the alarming slowness and inefficiency with which EU funds are allocated to projects by some regional authorities.

The grave concerns about the inadequate use of European funds by local authorities have frequently been echoed by the Commission.

Bearing in mind that some local authorities, such as the municipality of Pesaro, urgently need to use European funds to enhance the common cultural area in all its diversity and respecting all its traditions, nurturing creativity and professional mobility, and promoting access to and dissemination of art and culture,

Can the Commission state:

1. whether the municipality of Pesaro has submitted projects for the Culture 2000 programme?

2. whether the municipality of Pesaro has secured funding for these projects?

3. whether this funding has been used?

Joint answerto Written Questions E-0830/03, E-0892/03, E-0978/03, E-0979/03,E-0980/03, E-0981/03, E-0982/03, E-0983/03, E-0984/03, E-0985/03,E-0986/03, E-0987/03, E-0988/03, E-0989/03 and E-0990/03given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(25 April 2003)

The Commission is collecting the information it needs to answer the question. It will communicate its findings as soon as possible.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0980/03

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(27 March 2003)

Subject: Use of funds from the Culture 2000 programme by the municipality of Firenze

In September 2002, the monitoring committee of the Italian Ministry for Economic Affairs issued a report on the spending of EU funds.

The report reveals the alarming slowness and inefficiency with which EU funds are allocated to projects by some regional authorities.

The grave concerns about the inadequate use of European funds by local authorities have frequently been echoed by the Commission.

Bearing in mind that some local authorities, such as the municipality of Firenze, urgently need to use European funds to enhance the common cultural area in all its diversity and respecting all its traditions, nurturing creativity and professional mobility, and promoting access to and dissemination of art and culture,

Can the Commission state:

1. whether the municipality of Firenze has submitted projects for the Culture 2000 programme?

2. whether the municipality of Firenze has secured funding for these projects?

3. whether this funding has been used?

Joint answerto Written Questions E-0830/03, E-0892/03, E-0978/03, E-0979/03,E-0980/03, E-0981/03, E-0982/03, E-0983/03, E-0984/03, E-0985/03,E-0986/03, E-0987/03, E-0988/03, E-0989/03 and E-0990/03given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(25 April 2003)

The Commission is collecting the information it needs to answer the question. It will communicate its findings as soon as possible.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0509/03

by Joan Colom i Naval (PSE) to the Commission

(24 February 2003)

Subject: Water quality and the Spanish National Water Resources Plan

The basic aim of the Water Framework Directive is the rational and sustainable use of water, without impairing its ecological and environmental quality. The intention is thus to avert any further deterioration, improve the state of ecosystems, and guarantee a sufficient supply of clean water.

However, as far as Spanish waters are concerned, the waters of the Ebro are known to be of such poor quality that they exceed the salinity limits laid down for guidance in both Spanish legislation and WHO recommendations for pure waters. Instead of assigning absolute priority to water quality and, to that end, supplies of low salinity, the Spanish National Water Resources Plan (PHN) is focused on diversion of water from the river Ebro, with the result that future recipients, whether they use water for urban or agricultural purposes, will be doomed to suffer a deterioration in their resources. In the light of the foregoing, will the Commission advocate funding for a project such as the one described above, the consequences of which would be diametrically opposed to those being sought by European legislation?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(28 March 2003)

With regard to the proposed transfer of water from the river Ebro into other river basins in Spain, the Commission has been engaged in an extensive dialogue with the Spanish authorities in order to ensure that the design and eventual implementation of the transfer are compliant with Community environmental legislation and policy.

The Commission is aware that there are some potential problems with the quality of the water in the lower Ebro. However, with regard to conductivity, the current average values in the lower Ebro are around 1000 microSiemens per centimetre. Council Directives 75/440/EEC of 16 June 1975 concerning the quality of surface water intended for the abstraction of drinking water in the Member States(1) and 98/83/EC of 3 November 1998 on the quality of water intended for human consumption(2) set down values of 1000 and 2500 microSiemens per centimetre, respectively, as indicator (non-obligatory) parameters. Therefore, the transferred water is suitable for pre-drinking and drinking water supply at least as far as the conductivity is concerned. In addition, the conductivity, of the water in the lower Ebro is lower than the majority of the surface and groundwater resources in the projected receiving basins. In conclusion, from the data currently available to the Commission it is unlikely, at least as far as the question of conductivity is concerned, that there will be a deterioration of the water quality of the receiving basins as a result of the proposed transfer.

(1) OJ L 194, 25.7.1975.

(2) OJ L 330, 5.12.1998.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0059/03

by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(22 January 2003)

Subject: Following the Prestige disaster off the coast of Galicia: adoption of specific EU legislation governing the transport of hazardous cargoes by sea

What reasons has the Council for not promoting the adoption of specific EU legislation governing the transport of hazardous cargoes through its coastal waters, as the USA did (in the form of the 1990 Oil Pollution Act) following the Exxon Valdez accident, thereby creating a legal area separate from the existing basic and rather confused international laws?

Reply

(8 May 2003)

The Council invites the Honourable Member to refer to the reply it gave to this same question in Council question time during the plenary session of the European Parliament in January 2003 (QH 0847/02).
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0394/03

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

(13 February 2003)

Subject: Possible violation of Council regulations on processed tomatoes

On 15 January 2002, the Fruit and Vegetable Management Committee approved the tomato figures reported by Member States, thus granting full subsidies to all the Member States since the Community threshold had not been exceeded. However, the Commission did not make this agreement official by issuing the appropriate regulation.

In the measures it put before the Fruit and Vegetable Management Committee meeting of 28 January 2002, the Commission admitted various requests for subsidy from Italy.

Does the Council believe that these requests for subsidy were subject to the controls demanded by Regulations (EC) No 2201/96(1) and (EC) No 449/2001(2)?

Does the Council believe that Article 23(2) of Regulation (EC) No 449/2001 (laying down 10 December as the deadline by which the Member States have to inform the Commission of the total quantity for which aid is being requested) was not infringed?

Does the Council know the date on which the 28 January 2002 meeting of the Fruit and Vegetable Management Committee was convened, and what the purpose of this meeting was?

If there has been a violation of the regulations cited, what action does the Council intend to take?

(1) OJ L 297, 21.11.1996, p. 29.

(2) OJ L 64, 6.3.2001, p. 16.

Reply

(13 May 2003)

Proceedings in the European Commission's Management Committee on Fruit and Vegetables are not within the Council's competence and, therefore, the Council is not competent to comment upon them.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0369/03

by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission

(12 February 2003)

Subject: Bringing forward the deadline for introducing less polluting lorry engines

In the current wide-ranging debate on transport policy, and with particular reference to the excessive use of road transport, European efforts to introduce less polluting lorry engines are still of topical interest. With a view to the entry into service of Euro 4 standard engines and looking ahead to Euro 5, can the Commission say whether the process of introducing these engines onto the market can be speeded up and what mechanisms may be envisaged for the renewal of fleets of lorries?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(21 March 2003)

Directive 1999/96/EC(1) (amending Directive 88/77/EEC(2)) introduced the mandatory Euro 4 and Euro 5 pollutant emission limits. Article 3 of Directive 1999/96/EC provides the framework for the granting of tax incentives by the Member States to encourage the earlier introduction of new vehicles and engines that meet the future emission limits of Euro 4 or Euro 5. Aside from this framework, there is no other process for speeding-up the introduction of new Euro 4 or Euro 5 vehicles and engines to the market.

Manufacturers are now finalising their Euro 4 vehicles and engines where the main emphasis is on the reduction of particulate emissions. While a forthcoming Commission proposal will add several new technical tests to the Euro 4 package, as required by Directive 1999/96/EC, it can be expected that tax incentives offered in Member States will soon result in the introduction of vehicles and engines meeting the Euro 4 emission limits.

Vehicles complying with the Euro 5 emission limits (only a more stringent limit for oxides of nitrogen the limits for other pollutants remain the same as for Euro 4) are unlikely to appear for some time yet. The technology that is favoured by the European industry to comply with the Euro 5 emission limits requires the provision of an infrastructure for the supply of a necessary additive that is a critical element for the correct functioning of that technology.

(1) Directive 1999/96/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to measures to be taken against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from compression ignition engines for use in vehicles, and the emission of gaseous pollutants from positive ignition engines fuelled with natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas for use in vehicles and amending Council Directive 88/77/EEC OJ L 44, 16.2.2000.

(2) Council Directive 88/77/EEC of 3 December 1987 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the measures to be taken against the emission of gaseous pollutants from diesel engines for use in vehicles OJ L 36, 9.2.1988.