ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
WRITTEN QUESTION P-3351/02

by Jean Lambert (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(19 November 2002)

Subject: EC Petition 566/2000

The Commission claimed (letter 19.6.2002) that a study of the microwave market in EU and EFTA countries was not required. At the Petition hearing on 21.2.2002 the Commission said that such a study had been made by the Commission. Can a definitive answer be given on whether or not it has been done, and such a survey sent immediately to Parliament?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(6 December 2002)

The Commission would inform the Honourable Member that the term study referred to in the Committee on Petitions was used to mean an analysis of the market situation and included the facts as presented to it in any matter relating to competition.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-2930/02

by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission

(17 October 2002)

Subject: Racing pigeon medicines

Does the Commission see any reason why Article 67 of the Review 2001 process (Reform of the EC Pharmaceutical Legislation) would require medicines for racing pigeons to be available on prescription only?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(11 November 2002)

Article 4(2) of Directive 2001/82/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 6 November 2001 on the Community code relating to veterinary medicinal products(1) gives the Member States the possibility to permit exemptions in respect of veterinary medicinal products intended solely for certain categories of species including homing pigeons. This national provision will exempt these products from marketing authorisation requirements. However, such products can not contain substances the use of which require veterinary control and adequate measures have to be applied by those Member States to prevent unauthorised use of these products for other animals. Article 67 of Directive 2001/82/EC lays down the minimum requirements

regarding requirements for dispensing of veterinary medicinal products without prejudice to stricter Community or national rules. Member States may therefore, under national law, require stricter conditions to be applied. In conclusion, the application of Article 67 of Directive 2001/82/EC to medicines for racing/homing pigeons will depend on national provisions and on the characteristics of the medicines themselves.

(1) OJ L 311, 28.11.2001.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-2767/02

by Kathleen Van Brempt (PSE) to the Commission

(1 October 2002)

Subject: CELEX public access to information about the activities and legislation of the European Union

The general public can obtain access to the European Communities' database CELEX only:

- either in return for a flat-rate subscription of EUR 1 140 per annum,

- or by means of a pay per view system, under which the average charge per document consulted is around EUR 1,2.

How can the Commission justify this situation, particularly bearing in mind that various Community provisions lay down that the public have a right to information concerning the activities and legislation of the European Union, and that they have a right of equal access to it?

What will the Commission do to put an end to this violation of the rights of European citizens as swiftly as possible, and if it is willing to take the requisite measures, when will it do so?

Answer given by Ms Reding on behalf of the Commission

(13 November 2002)

The general public has right of access to information on the legislative activity of the institutions and on the legislation of the European Union through the EUR-Lex system. This Internet service has been entirely free of charge since 1 January 2002 and all European legislation in force is thus freely accessible.

Development work is currently under way to make it possible, with the agreement of the institutions concerned, for all preparatory acts drawn up in the course of a legislative procedure to be made available in EUR-Lex even before their publication in the Official Journal. At present, these preparatory acts are notified in the public registers of the Parliament, the Council and the Commission. Gradually, the full text of these acts will be made accessible in EUR-Lex and through the registers. At the same time, a start has been made on editorial work to make access more comprehensible for the citizen.

CELEX is not a simple means of access to legislative texts, but a database covering all legislation, preparatory work, case law and Parliamentary questions. The documents are systematically analysed, indexed and linked. CELEX offers the possibility of conducting very advanced multicriteria searches and can thus satisfy specific professional requirements. Celex also contains made-to-measure display functions, such as the simultaneous display of a text in two languages, text zoom or the display of selected search data. This requires a significant amount of investment which is partly financed through subscriptions and licensing arrangements.

In addition to being accessible by direct subscription or via licence-holders or gateways, CELEX can be consulted free of charge, or at reduced rates, through recognised documentation and information centres (network of European documentation centres, Euro Info Centres, info points, rural information centres, etc.). In using these centres, European citizens have the further guarantee that they are able to consult specialist documentalists who know all about the database.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3657/02

by Rosa Miguélez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission

(18 December 2002)

Subject: Black tide in Galicia: moving the Finisterre corridor further away from the coast

European public opinion is very concerned at the risks to the coastline stemming from the transit of oil tankers transporting highly polluting goods at a short distance from the coast. A globalisation process is taking place in which the grey part, which commits a whole range of abusive practices such as the exploitation of workers and assaults on the environment, is larger than the part regulated by international organisations and by states. 60 % of the world merchant fleet sails under flags of convenience.

For example, traffic through the Finisterre corridor, set at a distance of 25 miles from the coast, stands at 65 000 merchant vessels per year, 6 000 of them carrying dangerous goods, which means that a Prestige passes every one and a half hours.

Will the Commission submit a proposal aimed at setting new shipping lanes further away from the coast, thereby reducing the risk of fresh black tides?

Joint answerto Written Questions E-3653/02 and E-3657/02given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(11 February 2003)

The Commission is aware that coastal States need to be able to protect their coastlines from the risks posed by shipping in areas as busy as Cape Finisterre.

Accordingly, a draft regulation prohibiting the transport of heavy fuel oil in single hull tankers bound for or leaving EU ports and speeding up the replacement of single hull ships by double hull ships was sent to the Council and Parliament on 20 December 2002.

In addition, the Commission believes that the international rules of the law of the sea currently lean too far towards the right to free navigation, at the expense of coastal States' interests. However, the Commission itself has no authority to propose the introduction of new measures to keep ships which pose a risk away from the coasts.

Accordingly, and as announced in its communication of 3 December 2002(1), the Commission will be seeking a negotiating mandate from the Council, for those areas in which it has competence, and will coordinate the Member States' action in the other areas, with a view to amending the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to strike a better balance between environmental protection requirements and freedom of navigation.

The Commission will also support, and where necessary coordinate, all action by the Member States within the International Maritime Organisation to create new tools to monitor and manage maritime traffic, thus protecting their coastal waters, and especially their territorial waters and exclusive economic zones, against threats to the marine environment.

(1) COM(2002) 681 final.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3409/02

by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission

(29 November 2002)

Subject: Seventh amendment to the Cosmetics Directive

The cosmetics industry has warned that the timescales for the introduction of alternative non-animal testing methods, necessary if the sales ban proposals agreed by the Parliament and the Council are to be avoided, cannot be achieved unless there is a significant reduction in the time taken by current validation procedures.

What steps does the Commission intend to take to try and ensure an end to avoidable delays and thereby secure a major reduction in the time taken to gain approval for alternative, non-animal testing methods?

Answer given by Mr Busquin on behalf of the Commission

(21 January 2003)

Validation is a crucial stage in the evolution of any alternative test from its development to its routine application, since validation consists of the independent assessment of the relevance and reliability of the test, and therefore forms the scientific basis on which regulators can decide to incorporate the alternative test into regulations or test guidelines. A number of successfully validated alternative tests have already been accepted by regulatory authorities at national and international levels, and incorporated into various regulations and test guidelines.

The Commission has taken the following steps to speed up the overall validation and approval process:

- introduction of a prevalidation study, which is a small-scale inter-laboratory study, carried out to ensure that the protocol of a test method is sufficiently optimised and standardised for inclusion in a formal validation study, has speeded up the validation process by identifying the problems at an earlier stage, and therefore enabling to solve them more easily;

- establishment of catch-up validation studies in which the structural and performance criteria of a method are compared with those of a similar method, which has already undergone formal validation and has been accepted as scientifically valid. This procedure has also permitted to validate methods in a much faster way;

- the timescale from prevalidation to regulatory acceptance is usually six years, whereby prevalidation and validation of a method usually takes three years.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3695/02

by Fernando Fernández Martín (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(19 December 2002)

Subject: St Lucia

With regard to St Lucia, can the Commission supply a list of projects approved for funding from the EU budget in 2001, specifying the total amount of investment for that year?

Joint answer to Written Questions E-3680/02, E-3681/02, E-3682/02, E-3683/02, E-3684/02,E-3685/02, E-3686/02, E-3687/02, E-3688/02, E-3689/02, E-3690/02, E-3691/02,E-3692/02, E-3693/02, E-3694/02, E-3695/02, E-3696/02, E-3697/02, E-3698/02,E-3699/02, E-3700/02, E-3701/02, E-3702/02, E-3703/02, E-3704/02, E-3705/02,E-3706/02, E-3707/02, E-3708/02, E-3709/02, E-3710/02, E-3711/02, E-3712/02,E-3713/02, E-3714/02, E-3715/02, E-3716/02, E-3717/02, E-3718/02, E-3719/02,E-3720/02, E-3721/02, E-3722/02, E-3723/02, E-3724/02 and E-3725/02given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(11 February 2003)

The Honorary Member will find below a table giving the total amount of aid granted to the following countries:

>TABLE>

The Commission is sending direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat a more detailed table, and the 2001 Annual Report on EC development policy and the implementation of external assistance.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3716/02

by Fernando Fernández Martín (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(19 December 2002)

Subject: Tonga

With reference to Tonga, will the Commission specify the projects which were financed out of the EU budget in 2000?

Will the Commission state the total amount of aid allocated in 2000 to all the headings relating to that country?

Joint answer to Written Questions E-3680/02, E-3681/02, E-3682/02, E-3683/02, E-3684/02,E-3685/02, E-3686/02, E-3687/02, E-3688/02, E-3689/02, E-3690/02, E-3691/02,E-3692/02, E-3693/02, E-3694/02, E-3695/02, E-3696/02, E-3697/02, E-3698/02,E-3699/02, E-3700/02, E-3701/02, E-3702/02, E-3703/02, E-3704/02, E-3705/02,E-3706/02, E-3707/02, E-3708/02, E-3709/02, E-3710/02, E-3711/02, E-3712/02,E-3713/02, E-3714/02, E-3715/02, E-3716/02, E-3717/02, E-3718/02, E-3719/02,E-3720/02, E-3721/02, E-3722/02, E-3723/02, E-3724/02 and E-3725/02given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(11 February 2003)

The Honorary Member will find below a table giving the total amount of aid granted to the following countries:

>TABLE>

The Commission is sending direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat a more detailed table, and the 2001 Annual Report on EC development policy and the implementation of external assistance.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3709/02

by Fernando Fernández Martín (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(19 December 2002)

Subject: Uganda

With reference to Uganda, will the Commission draw up a list of the projects approved for financing under the 2001 EU budget and state the total amount of investment for that year?

Joint answer to Written Questions E-3680/02, E-3681/02, E-3682/02, E-3683/02, E-3684/02,E-3685/02, E-3686/02, E-3687/02, E-3688/02, E-3689/02, E-3690/02, E-3691/02,E-3692/02, E-3693/02, E-3694/02, E-3695/02, E-3696/02, E-3697/02, E-3698/02,E-3699/02, E-3700/02, E-3701/02, E-3702/02, E-3703/02, E-3704/02, E-3705/02,E-3706/02, E-3707/02, E-3708/02, E-3709/02, E-3710/02, E-3711/02, E-3712/02,E-3713/02, E-3714/02, E-3715/02, E-3716/02, E-3717/02, E-3718/02, E-3719/02,E-3720/02, E-3721/02, E-3722/02, E-3723/02, E-3724/02 and E-3725/02given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(11 February 2003)

The Honorary Member will find below a table giving the total amount of aid granted to the following countries:

>TABLE>

The Commission is sending direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat a more detailed table, and the 2001 Annual Report on EC development policy and the implementation of external assistance.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3685/02

by Fernando Fernández Martín (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(19 December 2002)

Subject: Seychelles

With regard to Seychelles, can the Commission supply a list of projects approved for funding from the EU budget in 2001, specifying the total amount of investment for that year?

Joint answer to Written Questions E-3680/02, E-3681/02, E-3682/02, E-3683/02, E-3684/02,E-3685/02, E-3686/02, E-3687/02, E-3688/02, E-3689/02, E-3690/02, E-3691/02,E-3692/02, E-3693/02, E-3694/02, E-3695/02, E-3696/02, E-3697/02, E-3698/02,E-3699/02, E-3700/02, E-3701/02, E-3702/02, E-3703/02, E-3704/02, E-3705/02,E-3706/02, E-3707/02, E-3708/02, E-3709/02, E-3710/02, E-3711/02, E-3712/02,E-3713/02, E-3714/02, E-3715/02, E-3716/02, E-3717/02, E-3718/02, E-3719/02,E-3720/02, E-3721/02, E-3722/02, E-3723/02, E-3724/02 and E-3725/02given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(11 February 2003)

The Honorary Member will find below a table giving the total amount of aid granted to the following countries:

>TABLE>

The Commission is sending direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat a more detailed table, and the 2001 Annual Report on EC development policy and the implementation of external assistance.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3031/02

by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission

(23 October 2002)

Subject: Very worrying plight of Mr Mohamed Kamel Hamzaoui

According to reliable sources, including the World Organisation Against Torture, Mr Hamzaoui, who is a former member of the RCD Central Committee and a former mayor of Kasserine, has been sentenced to several terms of imprisonment by the Tunisian courts. After spending more than 10 months at the Charles Nicole Hospital in Tunis for health reasons, he was transferred by the police to the Tunis civil prison on 17 August 2002. Following a stroke Mr Hamzaoui has serious mobility problems, very poor eyesight and an oedema in one arm. His very high blood pressure also shows that he urgently needs proper treatment. On 28 September 2002 the Tunis civil prison staff informed Mr Hamzaoui's family, who had come to visit him, that he had been transferred to the police hospital at Marsa. Since that date the family has not been able to see him or even send him a blanket and food. According to a reliable source the doctors who reputedly examined him at the police hospital apparently told him that the Charles Nicole Hospital would be more suitable to provide the care that he needs.

Is the Commission aware of the very worrying plight of Mr Hamzaoui? Has the Commission made representations to the Tunisian authorities for Mr Hamzaoui to be released on humanitarian grounds and, pending his release, to receive without hindrance the medical treatment he needs and visits from his family? More generally, does the Commission not feel that the persecution affecting Mr Hamzaoui, as a member of the RCD, the party of the President-dictator Ben Ali, is evidence of a disturbing increase in the Tunisian regime's desperate efforts to stay in power?

Answer from Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(18 November 2002)

The Commission would like to thank the honourable Member of Parliament for drawing its attention to the plight of Mr Mohamed Kamel Hamzaoui, about whom it has received information.

In the case of Mr Hamzaoui and other detainees, the matter at issue is prison conditions in Tunisia. A number of testimonies collected during recent months paint an extremely negative picture. Moreover, at a recent meeting of the EU-Tunisia Association Committee, the European Union called upon the authorities to cooperate with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), whose intervention concerning prison conditions in Tunisia would be particularly welcomed.

On a different level, the Commission is working towards the modernisation of the Tunisian justice system, by means of a programme in preparation in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements (MEDA).

The European Union, with the help of its heads of mission in Tunis, will continue to take the necessary steps in order to improve the human rights situation in Tunisia.
WRITTEN QUESTION P-1490/02

by Herbert Bösch (PSE) to the Commission

(22 May 2002)

Subject: Delays in the forwarding of documents (MED case)

Pursuant to Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001(1) on public access to documents, the Commission has a period of 15 working days in which to take a decision on requests for documents.

In my Written Question E-2043/01(2) on 13 July 2001, I asked for a copy of the letter (including all the annexes) in which what is known as the MED Case was referred to the Belgian legal authorities (letter No 008035 from the Director of the European Anti-Fraud Office, OLAF, to the Belgian State Prosecutor, Mr Dejemeppe).

I repeated my request for the document to be forwarded to me in my Written Questions P-2784/01(3) of 26 September 2001 and E-3632/01(4) of 17 December 2001.

Since then, some 200 working days have elapsed, and the Commissioner with special responsibility for the fight against fraud has still not forwarded to me the document that I requested.

Can the Commission forward to me forthwith the document that I requested?

Can the Commission explain the delay in forwarding to me the document that I requested?

Will the Commission now answer the question that I have put repeatedly and tell me whether the document was forwarded to other Members of the European Parliament some time ago?

If that should be true, can the Commission explain why it is using delaying tactics of this nature in my case and the extent to which those tactics comply with the principle of equal treatment of Members?

(1) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43.

(2) OJ C 40 E, 14.2.2002, p. 70.

(3) OJ C 147 E, 20.6.2002, p. 54.

(4) OJ C 28 E, 6.2.2003, p. 9.

Answer given by Mrs Schreyer on behalf of the Commission

(15 July 2002)

The Commission has been informed that the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) has sent to the Honourable Member a copy of the letter referred to in his written question, following the closure of the legal proceedings in Belgium and Italy.

The Commission has no information that would lead it to believe that delay tactics were employed in sending the letter to the Honourable Member.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3881/02

by Jorge Hernández Mollar (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(10 January 2003)

Subject: Community aid for establishing cogeneration plants

A company located in Villanueva de Algaidas (Malaga province, Spain) will open, by the end of the year, the first private plant in Andalusia devoted to generating electrical energy using the refuse derived from olive oil extraction.

Work on this new plant, which will generate 25 million watts, is all but complete: the energy will be sold to the local electricity company, and will supply the needs of some 3000 households in the district.

In view of the high level of olive oil production in Andalusia and the pioneering and beneficial nature of this experiment, can the Commission indicate what Community aids and incentives could be activated to benefit such olive-growing undertakings in Andalusia as may wish to imitate this initiative, which will soon be launched in the Malaga locality referred to?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(13 February 2003)

The Commission has been very active, especially during the five last years, in orienting and developing the Community policy for the renewable energy sector (RES). Amongst the various RES developed, biomass and waste offer the highest potential contribution to the production of energy (about 60 %).

As regards Community incentives and Community aids, for the olive feedstock based combined heat and power (CHP) plants in Andalusia, the Commission can highlight the following possibilities:

- for research and further development of technologies for the use of renewable sources of energy, the 6th Research and Technological Development (RTD) Framework Programme (2003-2006) offers financial support through its Specific Programme entitled Integrating and strengthening the European Research Area, in which the relevant priority theme is Sustainable development, global change and ecosystems, sub-priority: Sustainable Energy Systems. In particular, this programme provides support for the co-financing of new innovative technologies in the field of co-combustion (biofuels with conventional fuels), and CHP plants for large scale renewable electricity and heat production;

- the new Intelligent Energy Programme, which is expected to begin later in 2003, will offer support for the promotion of innovative applications of renewable energy sources;

- in addition, the project the Honourable Member refers to could be co-financed through the Structural Funds as part of the Integrated Operational Programme for Andalusia for the period 2000-2006;

- the Commission would remind the Honourable Member that, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, it falls to the Member State to decide which specific projects may be co-financed, with reference inter alia to the selection criteria laid down in the programming documents. The company in question ought therefore to be invited to make enquiries at the Dirección General de Fondos Europeos in the Consejería de Economía y Hacienda de la Junta de Andalucía, at the following address: Isla de la Cartuja, Edificio Torretriana, 5a planta, 41071 Seville.