ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
WRITTEN QUESTION P-2228/01

by Patricia McKenna (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(18 July 2001)

Subject: Legal units in the European Commission and the EU

What is the average caseload per lawyer in the Internal Market, Agriculture, Regional Affairs, Environment, Fisheries, Competition and Social Affairs DGs?

How many legal units and lawyers are there in each of the abovementioned DGs to handle complaints and legal proceedings?

What is the average caseload per lawyer per EU country?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(29 October 2001)

There are officials who deal, primarily or to some extent, with complaints and legal proceedings in each of the Directorates General mentioned in the Honourable Member's question (Internal Market, Agriculture, Regional Affairs, Environment, Fisheries, Competition, Employment and Social Affairs). However, issues relating to the correct application of Community law are not restricted to these departments and officials in several other Directorates General are engaged in such matters continually in the cause of their normal daily work.

The Directorates General (DGs) for Regional Policy and for Fisheries have clearly identified horizontal units dealing with legal issues (REGIO.G.2 Legal matters, procedures and relations with the Committees and the Council and FISH.D.3 Legal issues). There are respectively 4 and 6 staff in these units. DG Employment and Social Affairs does not have a clearly identified legal unit its legal resources are spread over six units concerned with Community legislation within its areas of responsibility, where approximatively 13 staff handle complaints and infringements. Within Directorate D Implementation and Enforcement of DG Environment, the ENV.D.2 unit (Legal Implementation and Enforcement) handles infringments and complaints. Overall about 22 staff in the DG work on them. Within Directorate B (Agricultural Legislation) of DG Agriculture, Unit B.1 deals with legal issues in general and legal proceedings before the Court of Justice in particular whilst Unit B.3 deals with infringement proceedings. In total approximately 19 staff work in these units.

The nature of the tasks in DG Internal Market and DG Competition means that legal resources are spread throughout the Departments.

In providing these figures the Commission has not restricted itself to the term lawyer as referred to in the Honourable Member's question, as the handling of complaints and legal proceedings typically requires thorough technical and economic, as well as legal, analysis. The figures therefore relate to staff covering all of these disciplines.

With respect to the volume of infringements relating to each Member State, the Honourable Member may wish to consult the Commission's annual report on monitoring the application of Community law1(1), available on the following website address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/droit_com/index_fr.htm

infractions.

1 899 cases were filed during the year 2000 and at the end of 2000 there were approximately 3 379 cases pending.

>TABLE>

(1) COM(2001) 309 final Volume I.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-2160/01

by Salvador Garriga Polledo (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(19 July 2001)

Subject: Increased productivity for Spanish olive groves

Almost 50 % of Spanish olive groves are unprofitable. According to official figures, more than one million hectares have yields of below 1500 kilos of olives, equivalent to 320 kilos of oil.

At the current price of 270 pesetas per kilo and with aid of only 150 pesetas because of penalties imposed by the EU for exceeding the allotted quotas, total income per kilo is not enough to cover production costs.

What could the EU do to promote measures to rationalise olive oil production in Spain so as to generate productivity increases in the sector and reduce the clear disparity between production costs per hectare of olive grove and the revenue obtained from olive-growing, which is leading to the unprofitability mentioned above?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(17 September 2001)

The substantial production increase in the Community over recent years has not been matched by a corresponding rise in consumption. The resultant imbalance between supply and demand on the Community olive oil market is causing production prices to fall. Although promotion campaigns within the Community and outside have been successful in considerably raising demand over recent years, this has been insufficient to absorb the substantial olive oil production increase in the producer countries. Spain has contributed towards that increase thanks to its olive groves' high productivity and to new planting.

In order to restore the balance between supply and demand and to prevent a continued fall in production prices, the Commission must try to boost demand while doing all it can to discourage new planting.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1610/01

by Jonas Sjöstedt (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(1 June 2001)

Subject: Maltese as an official EU language

Will Maltese become an official language of the EU if Malta joins the European Union and what preparations are being made for Maltese becoming an official EU language?

Joint answerto Written Questions E-1610/01, E-1611/01, E-1612/01 and E-1613/01given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(27 July 2001)

It is for the Maltese authorities to adopt a position on Maltese becoming an official language; this matter will be dealt with at the end of the negotiations under the institutions chapter. Any candidate country wanting its national language to become an official language of the European Union is under the obligation to translate the acquis communautaire into that language, using its own resources. In that case the Commission can give technical assistance to help these countries set up the framework needed to carry out the work. Without prejudging its final position on the matter, Malta has informed the Commission that it has started translating the acquis communautaire into Maltese.

To date the EU has not given any grants to the European Movement in Malta, nor has it any plans to finance or otherwise back this Movement.

The aim of the Commission is not to try to convince the Maltese people of the advantages of EU membership. The Commission considers that it is for the Maltese people to decide on the issue. To help them do so the Commission adopted in May 2000 a communication strategy on enlargement which includes Malta along with the other applicant countries.

The strategy has three aims:

- to improve the understanding of the EU;

- to explain the implications of membership;

- to explain the link between preparing for accession and making progress in the negotiations.

With this strategy, the Commission aims to give ongoing objective information to the Maltese people and to the citizens of other applicant countries. The Commission is thereby responding to a demand from Maltese civil society and Maltese citizens who want to be correctly informed in order to make the right decision on the question of EU membership. EUR 1 million will be available until 2004, of which EUR 200 000 will be spent this year and EUR 300 000 in 2002.

To date one Local Technical Assistance Staff (ALAT) member has been recruited at the EU delegation in Malta and another is due to be taken on. This extra staff will be mainly concerned with managing the pre-accession aid package (EUR 38 million for 2000-2004) and monitoring Malta's progress in implementing the acquis communautaire.

Negotiations on the environment have just started with Malta and at this stage the Commission is not in a position to prejudge their outcome.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-2693/01

by Mario Mauro (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(3 October 2001)

Subject: Funding from Employment and Social Affairs DG

Will the Commission provide a list of the projects which, in 2000 and 2001, were submitted by the Italian Regions of Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta for financing from the funds administered by the Employment and Social Affairs Directorate-General, and the names of those which were subsequently approved?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(31 January 2002)

The Commission would inform the Honourable Member that, according to the principle of subsidiarity, and in line with the relevant Community legislation, sole responsibility for project selection and follow-up lies with the regional authorities.

The Commission is not aware of which projects have been chosen.

All the information requested can be provided by the authorities responsible for running the regional operational programmes.

In this particular case, these authorities are as follows:

- Regione Lombardia

Assessorato Formazione Professionale

Via Soderini, 24

I-20146 Milano

Capo Servizio FSE: dott. ssa Silvana Ravasio

- Regione Autonoma Val D'Aosta

Dipartimento Politiche del Lavoro Agenzia del Lavoro

Via Garin, 1

I-11100 Aosta

Capo Servizio FSE: dott. ssa Nadia Savoini

- Regione Piemonte

Direzione Formazione professionale Lavoro

Via Pisano, 6

I-10152 Torino

Capo Servizio FSE: dott. Giuseppe De Pascale

- Regione Liguria

Politiche Attive del Lavoro

Via D'Annunzio, 64

I-16121 Genova

Capo Servizio FSE: dott. ssa Antonella Berettieri
WRITTEN QUESTION E-2346/01

by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission

(3 August 2001)

Subject: Seychelles

Considering the European Commission's commitment to democracy and human rights, what financial help and practical advice does it propose for the strengthening of democracy in the Seychelles in advance of the forthcoming elections?

Will the Commission state the last time that one of its representatives met a Seychellois opposition leader?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(8 October 2001)

The forthcoming Presidential elections were called at very short notice, such that it would not have been possible in the time available to provide assistance.

The last time a senior Commission representative met Seychellois opposition leaders was in January 2001, when Mr. C. Falkowski (Director, General Directorate Development) met a Seychelles opposition delegation which included the Rev. W. Ramkalawan and Mr. J-F. Ferrari, two of the three opposition Members of Parliament in Seychelles.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-2683/01

by Stefano Zappalà (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(3 October 2001)

Subject: Life Environment 2000 Programme commune of Sabaudia (Italy)

In October 2000 the commune of Sabaudia (Italy Lazio Region) submitted a project (Sab-acqua) under the Life Environment 2000 Programme. On 16 August 2001, the Environment Directorate-General informed the commune that its project had not been selected (letter DG ENV. D.1. D511917).

Will the Commission state:

- what was lacking in the project, the applicants or the documents submitted?

- what selection criteria were used, to what extent they were objective or at the selectors' discretion?

- which projects were selected and which were rejected, together with the marks given to each of them and the reasons for each decision?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(13 November 2001)

The project did not get sufficiently high score in selection criteria No 2 Demonstration character and dissemination and No 3 Soundness and reliability of the participants.

For criterion No 2, the following arguments were given: Scale appropriate, results inadequate. The expected results are neither quantified/qualified, nor validated. The beneficiary does not explain according to which criteria it has selected the core actions and it does not set forward a clear thesis to be validated through the

implementation of the project. No specific methodology emerges from the proposal and no indicators enabling a qualitative/quantitative assessment of the results are proposed. Dissemination partly satisfactory: target groups not identified, weak funding of dissemination activities, no coherent and structured strategy is set forward.

For criterion No 3, the following arguments were given: Technical soundness poor. The reliability of partnership is questionable. One of the partners has been previously involved in a LIFE project and its performance has been rated as poor by the Commission. Partners' contributions are very reduced whilst they sustain significant personnel costs. Financial soundness average: some relevant data are missing about one of the partners. Funding plan partly sound: one of the partners has confirmed its financial commitment for only half of the amount indicated in the budget.

A copy of the following volume is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat Guide for the evaluation of LIFE Environment proposals 2000-2001. This includes the general instructions and detailed criteria used by the Commission for the evaluation of projects. The instructions are sufficiently detailed to render the evaluation as objective as possible. However, as the process is not automatic but carried out by officials and experts, a margin of discretion exists.

In 2000 the Commission financed 113 LIFE Environment projects. The information requested by the Honourable Member would require a document of several hundred pages. A list of financed projects is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat. However, the Commission is available to give detailed information relating to specific projects, if necessary.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-2989/01

by Paul Rübig (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(29 October 2001)

Subject: Funding for the Sixth R & D Framework Programme

The most important sources of European prosperity are those industrial sectors which export large volumes of goods, since they generate competition and growth. In the Commission proposal for a decision on the Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration for the period 2002-2006 the funding allocated to some sectoral budgets fails to reflect the significance of the European Union's balance of trade.

Given its key role in generating economic growth, the focusing of support on the sphere of Information Society Technologies (IST) is justified, since increased investment in these technologies will increase competitiveness in fields where the Union is lagging behind, and those benefits will also spill over into other areas.

However, by comparison with the IST sector, which, when calculated on the basis of EU export volumes, receives seven times more support, the funding for the Materials/Machines/Vehicles sector under the thematic programme Nanotechnologies, Intelligent Materials and New Production Processes seems inadequate.

What explanation can the Commission give for the funding of the individual sub-programmes in the light of the criterion outlined above, having regard to the issue of Europe's competitiveness and the contribution to the safeguarding of jobs and prosperity which export successes can make?

Answer given by Mr Busquin on behalf of the Commission

(7 January 2002)

In the proposal for a new research Framework Programme 2002-2006(1) (the Sixth Framework Programme), the choice of the priority areas on which to concentrate Community efforts and of the budget to be attributed to themes based on the principle of greater value-added at the European level, in particular on the need to:

- concentrate resources on the scientific and technological challenges and opportunities Europe will be confronted with,

- mobilise resources to achieve critical mass,

- achieve greater complementarity with national public and private research investments in the relevant areas.

The actions to be carried out under priority 1.1.3 Nanotechnologies, intelligent materials, and new production processes are intended to help Europe develop the knowledge and the technologies on the advanced materials, products, services and manufacturing processes which are important for industrial competitiveness. As compared with the Fifth Framework Programme, nanotechnologies is an entirely new priority. The proposal for the Sixth Framework Programme would result in a tripling of the budget compared to current levels of support. In its Resolution on the Caudron Report, Parliament has not voted to change the budget proposed by the Commission for this priority.

(1) OJ C 240 E, 28.8.2001.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3095/01

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(13 November 2001)

Subject: Prostitution networks

The recent exposure of a prostitution network in Greece has revealed how they operate through unrestricted use of advertisements in the daily press, and the vast profits made by those involved. The Greek press reports that these criminal gangs have an annual turnover of Drs 20 billion, while illegal immigrants operating in Greece in cooperation with Greek criminals have set up latter-day slave-markets of girls whom they import into Greece for between Drs 300 000 and 1 million each, keep in sordid flats or hotel rooms and offer for prostitution through the so-called pink advertisements in the daily press.

What action does the Commission intend to take to stamp out these degrading pink advertisements? What, in its view, are the effects of such crude advertisements on the minds of young people who read them in the newspapers and magazines which come into every home? Is it legally possible to prohibit the publication in the daily press of advertisements with content degrading to women?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(7 January 2002)

The Honourable Member refers to the recent exposure of a prostitution network in Greece and the fact that the advertising of prostitution is allowed in the Greek press. The Commission wishes to inform the Honourable Member that it does not intend to make proposals in this field at the current time.

In the absence of cross-border implications of such national press advertising services, it is for Member States to determine how to regulate such advertising in their national press taking due consideration of the protection of minors. The need to regulate advertising to account for the protection of minors has been recognised by the Commission in Directive 97/36/EC of the Parliament of the Council of 30 June 1997 amending Council Directive 89/552/EEC on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities(1). This text requires Member States to regulate advertising on TV broadcast services falling under their jurisdiction in such a manner that it shall not cause moral or physical detriment to minors.

(1) OJ L 202, 30.7.1997.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-2418/01

by Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (PPE-DE) to the Council

(4 September 2001)

Subject: Falsification of statistical data in Greece

Economic and social policy-makers in the European Union attach special importance to statistical data to acquire an accurate picture of the situation, to make comparisons between Member States, to monitor progress and to draw up guidelines.

This policy depends therefore on the consistency and reliability of the Member States' statistical services.

What action does the Council intend to take vis-à-vis Greece where, in addition to the frequent delays and shortcomings in the gathering of statistical data on employment and unemployment among men and women, the National Statistics Service has recently been accused of falsifying data in this area?

Reply

(12 February 2002)

It is not for the Council to deal directly with Member States regarding their statistics: that is a matter for the Commission.

However, the importance which the Council and the Commission in common, moreover, with the European Parliament attach to a proper statistical framework for the European employment strategy is illustrated by the proposal for a Decision on Community incentive measures in the field of employment which is currently being examined by those institutions.

The European Council itself has stated on several occasions that comparable, reliable statistics and indicators should be defined and collated.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-2991/01

by Sir Robert Atkins (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(29 October 2001)

Subject: State aids to Aer Lingus

What consultations has the Commission had with the Irish Government about the proposed State aids to be offered to Aer Lingus and will it make a statement as to the illegality of such a subsidy?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(10 January 2002)

Officials of both the Irish Ministry of Transport and the Commission have met on 19 October 2001 in Brussels and regular contact takes place between the services.

During this meeting the representatives of the Irish Transport Ministry outlined the situation faced by Aer Lingus, and some possible measures that were being considered to address this issue. No final decisions have, however, as yet been reached by the Irish Government on this issue.

Once such decisions have been taken the Commission will decide on the legality of any proposed measures.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-2646/01

by Jan Mulder (ELDR) to the Commission

(28 September 2001)

Subject: Restrictions on trade in pig fat

At present, Germany does not allow any animal fat, including pig fat, to be included in animal feedingstuffs. On 12 January 2001, the Standing Scientific Committee stated that it was wrong to take this stance.

1. Does the Commission agree with the Standing Scientific Committee that Germany's ban on the inclusion of any animal fat in animal feedingstuffs as a precaution against BSE goes too far, and that this measure contravenes European law?

2. Does the Commission also agree that the Netherlands' decision (21 December 2001/No TRCJZ/2000/15455, Netherlands Government Gazette (Staatscourant) of 22 December 2000, No 249, p. 44, Article III, C) to ban the marketing, processing, inclusion in other products or transport of animal fat originating in France or Germany intended for feeding to livestock violates European legislation on the internal market? The same raw material may be used if it comes either from Dutch animals or from fat from German animals rendered in the Netherlands.

3. Will the Commission declare these regulations invalid, so that normal trade in pig fat, for example, can resume?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(12 November 2001)

Certain Member States, such as Germany and the Netherlands, have taken measures to ban fats of animal origin in animal feedingstuffs. As the Honourable Member points out, a general ban has been enacted in the case of Germany. The Dutch measures concern only fats from France and Germany, which are Member States that have themselves adopted measures providing for a total or partial ban.

Given the heterogeneous nature of the measures taken in the various Member States, the Commission believes that the problem requires an overall solution.

That is why the Commission began a process of general reflection on the evaluation of animal fats with regard to the risks of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

Accordingly, at the beginning of 2001 it asked the Scientific Steering Committee about the whole issue of the evaluation of these animal fats.

The Committee issued an opinion on 28 and 29 June 2001, which was updated on 6 and 7 September 2001, and which, while pertaining only to the fats from products derived from ruminants, contributes to the general knowledge on the processing of fats of animal origin into animal feedingstufffs.

In view of the above, the Commission needs to examine the implications of this opinion for Community law before defining its position on the national measures mentioned by the Honourable Member.