WRITTEN QUESTION P-0442/00

by Jan Wiersma (PSE) to the Commission

(11 February 2000)

Subject: Domestic fuel oil for opposition towns in Serbia

1. Which towns in Yugoslavia receive oil from the EU?

2. What criteria are applied in the selection process?

3. Why is the municipality of Pancevo not considered eligible?

4. Can the Commission answer these questions rather more rapidly than usual as it is already winter?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(28 March 2000)

The Commission decided on 15 February 2000 to extend the Energy for Democracy programme to five additional cities in Serbia. This was at the unanimous request of the Serbian opposition forces on the basis of the results of the pilot project. This request was positively considered by the General Affairs Council (GAC) of 24 January 2000, which invited the Commission to act accordingly.

Five additional cities (Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Novi Sad, Sombor and Subotica) have been added to the existing programme which covered Nis and Pirot. The programme aims to provide heating oil, both to the heating plants and to public buildings (schools, kindergartens, hospitals, and public health and administration buildings). The total amount of heating oil, heavy oil and gas-oil, to be supplied will be around 30 000 tons (it is not possible to give a precise quantity due to fluctuations in the oil derivatives' price in international markets).

The list of the municipalities was defined on the basis of discussions between the Serbian opposition forces and the Union, in the context of the trilateral meetings (opposition forces, Union and United States). In addition to the two cities under the original programme, the Serbian opposition forces proposed an additional list of 23 cities, 6 of which were considered priorities due to their difficult social conditions. Belgrade was removed from that short list, inter alia due to the particular logistical and financial implications linked to the purchase, transport, delivery and monitoring of supplies in a city of 2,5 million inhabitants.

The Commission has not been able to extend the programme to a larger number of municipalities because of limited financial and human resources. The Commission appreciates the efforts made by Norway with its programme Oil for Democracy which has supplied heating oil for nurseries and schools in Cacak and Uzice in complementarity with the programme Energy for Democracy.

This has been a difficult project to manage, inside and outside Serbia. The Commission has insisted on elaborate monitoring arrangements to minimise the risk of shipments being diverted. The Commission launched the project extremely rapidly, with oil trucks arriving at

the Serbian border some five weeks after the GAC decision last October, and with monitoring arrangements already in place. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's authorities held up the first convoy at the border for a fortnight; demonstrations ensued in Nis and Pirot demanding the release of the oil. When the trucks eventually entered Nis they were greeted by crowds cheering the European Union. The project has, however, been highly successful reflected in the decision of the GAC's decision to extend it, which again the Commission did very rapidly indeed.