ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3138/97 by Florus Wijsenbeek (ELDR) to the Commission (13 October 1997)

Subject: Ban on night flights in Italy

Is the Commission aware that the Italian Transport and Environment Ministries have drafted a regulation which, if adopted, would ban all flights to and from all civil airports, with the exception of the areas round the intercontinental airports of Rome Fiumicino and Malpensa, between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.?

Is the Commission also aware that this regulation comprises an exemption for all flights for 'postal services' and that it is thought that this exemption will be interpreted in a narrow sense to ensure that only Alitalia flights for the 'Ente Poste Italiane' can make use of it?

Is the Commission aware that it is essential for courier services to be able to fly at night, and that the planned ban may therefore have serious implications for their survival?

Does the Commission also realise that some of the services offered by the 'Ente Poste Italiane' compete with services provided by individual couriers, and that the exemption in favour of the 'Ente Poste Italiane' will give the Italian Postal Service a competitive advantage which conflicts with the EU legislation on this subject?

Does the Commission intend to put pressure on the Italian Government to guarantee that the general exemption applies at any event to night flights for all postal services?

If so, how?

If not, why not?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission (20 November 1997)

The Commission has not been formally informed by the Italian authorities about the envisaged ban on night flights at all Italian civil airports except Roma Fiumicino and Milano-Malpensa.

Subject to the provisions and procedures of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 on access for Community air carriers to intra-Community air routes ((OJ L 240, 24.8.1992. )), Member States can take certain restrictive operational measures with a view to limiting noise around aiports. Such restrictive measures could include the introduction of a ban on night flights. However, they must comply with the general principle of non-discrimination and the Commission, acting further to a complaint or on its own initiative, will ensure compliance with that principle.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3301/97 by María Sornosa Martínez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (20 October 1997)

Subject: Alarming mortality figures for birds in El Fondo de Elche

In the wetlands of El Fondo de Elche - Crevillente, in the Valencian autonomous community, lives 80% of the European population of marbled teals (cerceta pardilla) a protected bird species, for which, the wetlands receive subsidies from two of the Community's LIFE projects. One of these concerns improving the infrastructure and

conserving the wetlands, and the other is for the protection of the 'marble teal'. On 29 September, a European environmental delegation visited the area to ascertain how the projects were developing, and noted that there has been an ecological disaster, which has caused a great number of bird deaths. In the last few days, fish too have started to die in large numbers, but the Council (Consejería) for the Environment refuses to link the two cases.

The studies commissioned so far by the authorities of the autonomous region have not yet been issued, but the analyses carried out by the Irrigation Community of the Levante, which owns the park, links these deaths to the presence of an organophosphate which is used to combat insects or agricultural plagues.

1. Does the Commission intend to get its own experts to draw up a study of these cases?

2. If the organophosphate is confirmed as the cause of the deaths, what measures will the Commission take in this connection?

3. What action does the Commission plan to carry out to restore the ecological balance in the area and enhance the development of the projects already begun?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (13 November 1997)

1. The Commission has no plans to carry out its own study. The management of special protected areas is a matter for the Spanish authorities, in this case the Valencian autonomous community.

2. According to information at the Commission's disposal, the regional administration has already arranged for analyses to be carried out to determine the cause of death and possibly where the responsibility lies.

3. Through the Life Nature programme, the Commission co-finances some of the measures to preserve and manage this wetland and its most representative species (purchasing a large part of the wetlands, repairing a canal which was causing the death of scores of young ducks, managing the habitat to improve its carrying capacity).
WRITTEN QUESTION P-3276/97 by Carles-Alfred Gasòliba i Böhm (ELDR) to the Commission (13 October 1997)

Subject: Project for urban development in the 'Marjal de Xeraco' marshland

In 1993 the European Commission funded, on the basis of the LIFE Regulation, the establishment of a network of nature reserves to safeguard the 'samaruc' (Valencia hispanica), a fish species included in Annex II to the Directive on habitats. The 'Marjal de Xeresa' marshland in the Autonomous Region of Valencia is included in this network of reserves, a preliminary step towards its being declared a special protection area and subsequently being included in the European Natura 2000 network.

A project for urban development in this wetland was recently submitted and was approved by the local and regional governments.

Does the Commission know about this urban development project? Has it considered whether it may jeopardize the nature reserve which received Commission support?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (4 November 1997)

The Commission had been unaware of the facts brought to its attention.

Given that the Marjal de Xeraco is one of the areas included in the project entitled 'Conservation of wetlands and creation of a network of reserves for Valencia hispanica' which is receiving Community funding under the LIFE Nature programme, the Commission will contact the regional authorities benefiting from the contract in order to ask them for information on this matter.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3029/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (1 October 1997)

Subject: Human Rights

The Commission's policy, set out in 'The European Union and the External Dimension of Human Rights Policy' (CES 0474/97) ((OJ C 206, 7.7.1997, p. 117.)), lacks clear, strategic guidelines for the implementation of a coherent human rights policy. The Economic and Social Committee has the impression that EU policy to date has been determined on a case-by-case basis.

Will the Commission follow three lines of action to consolidate the external aspects of the EU's human rights policy:

1. accession by the EU to the European Convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms;

2. the creation of a European 'Bill of Rights';

3. the inclusion of certain specific human rights clauses in the Protocol attached to the Maastricht Treaty?

Joint answer to Written Questions E-3029/97 and E-3030/97 given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission (17 October 1997)

The Commission draws the Honourable Member's attention to the fact that it has for some considerable time adopted a coherent approach on human rights, in particular as regards the aspects they raised.

In 1991 it put a communication before the Council to obtain a negotiating mandate defining the arrangements for the Community's accession to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. This initiative, actively supported by Parliament, prompted the Council to ask the Court of Justice in April 1994 to rule on whether accession was compatible with the Treaty establishing the Community.

On 28 March 1996 the Court ruled that, as Community law stood, the Community did not have the competence to accede to the Convention. In its grounds it said that given the act's constitutional scope and its implications for the Community institutions it went beyond the limits of Article 235 and could not be implemented by amending the Treaty.

The intergovernmental conference, after examining this possibility, agreed to add, in the Amsterdam Treaty, a paragraph 1 to Article F of the Treaty on European Union stipulating that the Union was founded on the principles of freedom, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, principles which were common to the Member States. This Article comes on top of paragraph 2 of Article F of the Treaty on European Union, under which the Union 'shall respect fundamental rights, as guaranteed by the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ...'.

Moreover, a new Article F.1 was inserted into the Treaty on European Union and a new Article 236 into the EC Treaty on the measures to be taken if a Member State is in breach of the principles on which the Union is founded.

Under the new Article 6a, the Council can take any necessary measures to combat discrimination based on sex, race or ethnic origin, religion or convictions, a handicap, age or sexual orientation.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3367/97 by José García-Margallo y Marfil (PPE) to the Commission (22 October 1997)

Subject: Floods in the EU: new Community initiative

The recent floods in the Spanish Mediterranean region in the last week of September have caused major personal and material damage. In the Valencian community, Murcia and Andalucia, material damage is estimated at PTA 20 000 million, according to preliminary provisional figures issued by the Union of Small Farmers.

These natural disasters are not sporadic occurrences, but recur periodically, because of the geomorphological and climatic characteristics of the area, and they affect other Member States such as Italy and France. Furthermore, they have serious environmental consequences, since they accelerate the rate of soil erosion and deforestation, in areas already suffering from very advanced ecological deterioration.

Does the Commission intend to propose a budgetary item for specific aid, or a new Community initiative to fund an action plan, involving the authorities affected, with a view to preventing these disasters and repairing the environmental damage?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (25 November 1997)

The Commission wishes to express its solidarity with the people of the regions affected by the floods of September 1997. It also agrees that these are not sporadic occurrences, so that preventive action and a special effort by the authorities are called for.

In this connection, the Commission encourages the exchange of experience between experts in the Member States in the context of civil protection measures, as well as research and consolidation of new knowledge by means of projects. Moreover, a proposal for an action programme is currently being discussed in the Council.

The Commission also part-finances erosion prevention measures under the operational programmes in the Community support framework.

The regional authorities of Valencia, Murcia and Andalusia, the Spanish government and the Commission can together decide, within the framework of partnership, to dedicate part of the Community appropriations allocated to these regions under the Structural Funds to restoring the production potential and infrastructure damaged by the floods.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3526/97 by Fernando Fernández Martín (PPE) to the Commission (12 November 1997)

Subject: Activities of the Commission group of experts in connection with the forest fires in Indonesia

According to a recent report by the United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs, the forest fires which are devastating large areas of Indonesia have not yet been brought under control and continue to cause significant environmental pollution throughout the region.

Many countries and international organizations have already sent assistance to the Indonesian Government in the form of funds, experts and material resources (fire-fighting equipment, medicine, transport, etc.).

At the end of September, the European Union decided to set up a team of experts on forest fires. This team is working under the direction of the Commission's Forest Liaison Bureau, which has been active in Jakarta since February 1997.

Can the Commission provide information on the role played by this team of experts, its activities and the outcome of its work?

Answer given by Mr Marin on behalf of the Commission (9 December 1997)

The Commission is sending the information requested direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat.
WRITTEN QUESTION P-3170/97 by Esko Seppänen (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (9 October 1997)

Subject: Division into net payers and net beneficiaries

The statistics on net payers and net beneficiaries vary greatly and the abovementioned division is thus unclear.

How does the Commission divide the countries of the EU into net payers and net beneficiaries? What are the Commission's latest available figures on this subject? And what influence does the customs revenue account have on the definitions of net payers and net beneficiaries?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission (18 November 1997)

The Commission's opinion regarding Member States' budgetary positions is that budgetary balances, i.e. the difference between budget contributions and budget expenditure received by each Member State, while appealing in their simplicity, are inadequate measures of the benefits resulting from membership of the Community.

Budgetary flows do not capture all the benefits from membership of the Community. Community membership, which gives rise to financial and non-financial advantages as well as obligations, has a non-budgetary dimension the importance of which dwarfs the budgetary one. For example, the benefits from the pursuit of common objectives, such as trade liberalisation and European economic integration, cannot be evaluated in terms of budgetary flows alone. Moreover, flows from the Community budget invariably benefit not only recipients but other Member States in the form of return flows. Typical examples are structural funds and external expenditure, where the implementation of projects often gives rise to purchases of goods and services from other Member States.

Furthermore, there is no single definition of budgetary balance. This inevitably makes possible the design of various methods of approximating the budgetary benefits from membership in the Community, and the choice of a particular method often reflects the desire to highlight a particular point of view or to defend a specific issue. As the Honourable Member rightly suggests, including custom duties in the calculation would show a sizeable net contribution for Member States with large port facilities such as Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Therefore, the Commission does not consider it necessary or opportune to calculate Member States' net contributions to the budget.

A paper entitled 'Budget contributions, EU expenditure, budgetary balances and relative prosperity of the Member States' was forwarded to the Parliament on 14 October 1997.
WRITTEN QUESTION P-3808/97 by Ernesto Caccavale (UPE) to the Commission (17 November 1997)

Subject: Loss of Community funds

The Community Initiatives such as Horizon, Adapt, Now, Youthstart and the emergency programme for employment in southern Europe are of considerable importance for Objective 1 regions.

Can the Commission say:

1. whether there is a deadline for the use of these funds and, if so, what it is;

2. if there is a deadline, whether it can be extended if projects are not launched;

3. whether failure to launch the activities may lead to the funds being lost, in particular as regards the region of Campania?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (15 December 1997)

1. As regards the multi-regional Operational Programme 'Emergenza Occupazionale Sud', the Community initiative Employment and the Community initiative Adapt, the European Social Fund and the Member State co-finance actions in accordance with the conditions laid down by the Community decision concerning allocation of the financial resources, which is addressed to the Member State.

For the period 1994-1999, the deadlines fixed by the Commission with regard to the multi-regional Operational Programme are 31 December 1999 for entering into commitments and 31 December 2001 for settlement of payments. With regard to the Adapt initiative and the Employment initiative, the deadlines are in each case 31 December 1999 for entering into commitments and 31 December 2000 for final payments.

2. In response to a properly circumstanciated request from the Member State, the aforementioned deadlines may be re-negotiated within the framework of the partnership, but given that the deadlines are so far off no such adjustment is envisaged at present.

Since the financial commitment is established for the totality of the Operational Programme, the appropriations awarded would not be affected in any way if a particular action was not launched.

3. In this context, the Member State is responsible for implementing and monitoring the actions, and to this end is required to establish the arrangements with which operators must comply in carrying out their projects. In the case of Community initiatives, it is a question of national programmes. The committees set up to monitor these programmes may therefore propose a re-allocation between regions of any funds not used.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3239/97 by Bill Miller (PSE) to the Commission (20 October 1997)

Subject: Single Market

As Commissioner Monti has indicated that Duty Free is to be abolished for inter EU travellers as of 1 July 1999 as part of the completion of the Single Market, when does he expect to see the elimination of tax discrimination in the area of Excise Duty which is also part of the completion of the Single Market?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (18 November 1997)

As regards duty free shopping, Council in fact took the decision to abolish it as long ago as 1991. At that time, however, it also granted a seven and a half year 'winding down' period, so as to permit a smooth transition for all concerned.

As regards tax discrimination, it first has to be recognized that the term is subject to widely differing interpretations. In Community law its meaning is set out in Article 95 of the EC Treaty which prohibits a Member State from so taxing the products of other Member States as to put its own domestic products at an advantage. The Commission invariably takes action against any such tax discrimination which comes to its notice.

Against that background, therefore, it is assumed that the Honourable Member is speaking of 'tax discrimination' in a broad sense to refer to the very wide differences in tax rates which continue to exist - quite legally - between Member States and different categories of product. This wide divergence is the result of the present system, based on minimum rates. The Commission is currently studying the issue of excisable goods in the field of alcolhol and tobacco products and will make a report, together with any appropriate proposals, to Council and the Parliament.
WRITTEN QUESTION P-3807/97 by Ilona Graenitz (PSE) to the Commission (17 November 1997)

Subject: EU-level civil liability for nuclear power stations

Nuclear power station incidents and accidents cause serious damage to human health and the environment. In order to compensate victims of such incidents at least financially and pay for clearing up afterwards, it would be desirable to introduce civil liability for operators in respect of the consequences of operating a nuclear power station.

Are any moves being made in the Commission towards a proposal for EU-wide civil liability legislation of this nature in respect of nuclear power station operators?

Is there any discussion of this topic at international level?

Answer given by Mr Papoutsis on behalf of the Commission (15 December 1997)

In the early years of the nuclear power industry, it was already recognized that the possible magnitude of damage from a nuclear accident was such that insurance coverage of nuclear liability required international co-operation. This is not only illustrated by the two international regimes for nuclear third party liability, which were developed in the early sixties, but also by inclusion of Article 98 in the Euratom Treaty. On 29 July 1960, the Convention on third party liability on the field of nuclear energy (the Paris Convention) was established under the auspices of the Organisation for economic cooperation and development (OECD) Nuclear energy agency and entered into force on 1 April 1968. This Convention covers most western European countries, including all Member States with a nuclear power programme. Under the auspices of the International atomic energy agency (IAEA), a regime of a global character was established on 21 May 1963 under the Convention on civil liability for nuclear damage (the Vienna Convention) which entered into force on 4 December 1974. The Paris Convention regime was supplemented by the supplementary Convention on third party liability in the field of nuclear energy. This Convention was adopted on 31 January 1963. The Paris and Vienna Conventions were linked on 21 September 1988 by the Joint Protocol relating to the application of both Conventions. Maritime transport of nuclear materials is covered under the Convention of 17 December 1971 relating to civil liability in the field of maritime carriage of nuclear material.

On 12 September 1997, a Protocol amending the Vienna Convention was adopted. On that occasion a new instrument, the Convention on supplementary funding, was also adopted. These instruments, which have not yet entered into force, incorporate the progressive legal, technical, as well as economic developments that have taken place since adoption of the Paris and Vienna Conventions and foresee considerable additional compensation.

Given the comprehensive nature of this international regime, the Commission does not see the need to develop specific legislation for the Community. In this context, it is of course important to note that the Euratom Treaty, and in particular Article 98, does not impose any obligation to legislate in this field.