EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 33/61

(2004/C 33 E/057)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0648/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(5 March 2003)

Subject: Absence of compensation and rehabilitation measures for people illegally deported from Slovakia in 1946 and 1947

1. Is the Commission aware that Law No 88/1945 of 1 October 1945, which was in force for twenty years in the former Czechoslovakia, authorised the State to compel men between 16 and 60 and women between 18 and 55 to leave their homes and engage in forced labour for a maximum of one year in order to combat catastrophes or crises and carry out urgent public works, with the proviso that pregnant women, mothers and the sick were exempt, only individuals, and not whole families, could be requisitioned, and the people concerned retained their homes and property in their absence?

2. Is the Commission aware that in 1946 and 1947, 43 546 people were sent into forced labour, that, in violation of the law, in many cases the period of forced labour was in excess of one year, that people were sent far away from their homes — without decent accommodation or salaries — to work in agriculture and other industries where there was no crisis situation, that the army and police transferred whole families — including children and elderly people — in cattle trucks from what is now Slovakia to the present-day Czech Republic and confiscated their houses in order to give them to new occupants, a measure which, for the Hungarian-speakers from the southern border area of Slovakia and for members of the large Roma community living mainly in the east of Slovakia, came close to what is now known as ethnic cleansing?

3. Does the Commission understand the sense of indignation felt by the victims of these measures, originally from Slovakia, and their descendants, who now live in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and other — mainly European — countries, at the fact that the Slovak Government has in the meantime decided to compensate and rehabilitate the victims of illegal acts committed during the Fascist regime, between 1939 and 1945, and the Communist period, from 1948 to 1949, but is not taking any similar measures for the benefit of the victims of forced labour and ethnic cleansing during the allegedly democratic period in between, i.e. from 1945 to 1948, and that the Slovak Prime Minister does not reply to complaints on this subject?

4. What can the Commission do to ensure that when Slovakia becomes a member of the European Union a satisfactory solution is found to this problem, which has been dragging on for so long and which is reminiscent of situations that we now reject in the European Union?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(7 April 2003)

The Commission is well aware of the post-war Czechoslovak legislation relating to members of the Hungarian and German minorities living in the Czechoslovak Republic. The Commission has conducted a thorough analysis of the relevant decrees issued by the Czechoslovak president and related laws of the years 1945 and 1946, as well as related aspects regarding the restitution legislation of the Czech(oslovak) Republic of the 1990s.

The Summary Findings of the Commission's analysis, which were presented to the public on 18 October 2002, do not show any obstacles to accession in the light of the acquis communautaire, as the decrees and laws in question cannot be applied anymore. Certain discriminatory elements in the relevant Czech (oslovak) restitution legislation with regard to confiscated property have not been found to be in contradiction with the acquis since all deadlines for filing new claims have expired. The Commission is grateful to the Honourable Member for pointing out that the law on forced labour he refers to has long ceased to apply.

The Commission cannot engage in a debate as to whether or not any given law on forced labour was applied in accordance with the same law's proper stipulations, at any given moment in history prior to the first European Community's coming into existence whether in an EU Member State or third country. The Commission recalls that article 5 of the Charter of Fundamental Human Rights of the European Union strictly prohibits any form of slavery or forced or compulsory labour, that is, irrespective of circumstances.

The Commission recalls that both the European Parliament and the European Council have repeatedly endorsed the Commission's view that the Slovak Republic fulfils the Copenhagen Criteria and will be able to fully implement and enforce the acquis communautaire by the date of accession. The Community has no competencies regarding matters of restitution or compensation for historical injustices. Member States may choose to set certain conditions or limitations to such measures as they see fit, provided the latter do not conflict with other applicable Community law such as the principle of non-discrimination.

The Commission appreciates all efforts by current and future Member States to address the burden and injustices of the past, and encourages them to persist in these efforts. The Communities have been founded on the common determination to overcome former tensions between the peoples of Europe. By addressing these questions of a moral and psychological nature, they contribute to the strengthening of our Union of mutual respect and understanding.