ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0860/02

by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(3 April 2002)

Subject: Reform of the common fisheries policy and need for a political agreement in the Council to put an end to the privileges and discrimination which currently characterise the CFP

What initiatives is the Spanish EU Presidency taking to secure a fresh political agreement making it possible to include in the CFP reform measures aimed at ending the privileges and discriminations which characterise that policy, and in particular abolishing the unfair principle of relative stability?

What initiatives has the Spanish Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Miguel Arias Cañete, launched since he appeared before the European Parliament's Committee on Fisheries?

Reply

(27 June 2002)

The Council would refer the Honourable Member to the reply it has already given to Question E-0067/02 which he put on the same subject.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0817/02

by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(27 March 2002)

Subject: The parallel economy in Spain

According to the Commission reports on the parallel economy in the Union, it accounts for 23 % of GDP in Spain, a percentage exceeded only by Italy.

What steps is the Council considering to put an end to this serious situation and, in particular, what measures does it consider should be applied to Spain, in view of the Commission's analyses?

Reply

(27 June 2002)

The Council would ask the Honourable Member to contact the competent authorities for this matter directly.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0751/02 by Caroline Lucas (Verts/ALE) to the Council. Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs) in the UK.



Official Journal 229 E , 26/09/2002 P. 0132 - 0132



WRITTEN QUESTION E-0751/02 by Caroline Lucas (Verts/ALE) to the Council (19 March 2002) Subject: Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs) in the UK Is the Council aware of the PFI approach in the UK and does the Council consider it to be in line with existing public procurement legislation? Furthermore, does the Council judge that such practices are in line with the Commission's proposal for a new directive on the coordination of procedures for the award of public supply contracts, public service contracts and public work contracts(1), particularly with regard to Articles 1.7 and 32? Finally, what would the Council's evaluation be of the consequences were the Directive to be amended according to the amendments passed by the European Parliament, in particular Amendment 24? (1) COM(2000) 275 final OJ C 29 E, 30.1.2001, p. 11. Reply (26 June 2002) It is not the Council's habit to give its views on a text which is undergoing the legislative procedure leading to its adoption. It invites the Honourable Member to put her question to the Commission as regards compatibility of the methods referred to with the proposal for a new Directive.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0358/02

by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Council

(22 February 2002)

Subject: Introduction of a Europe-wide voluntary auxiliary service

Most Member States have abolished compulsory military service. It would therefore be sensible to consider introducing Europe-wide auxiliary service for young men and women over 18, which would give them basic training in first aid, social work, ecological work and handling weapons, to give them an understanding of how dangerous they are. This compulsory training could last two or three months and be carried out in every EU country. Those taking part should also be able to help out in emergency situations during this period.

Can the Council say whether it considers this proposal to be practicable and useful, and whether it intends to introduce such a policy?

Reply

(26 June 2002)

The Council would inform the Honourable Member that the organisation of such a service does not come within its sphere of competence.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0818/02

by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(27 March 2002)

Subject: Dwindling population and the rate of unemployment in Galicia

European reports on employment and regional development agree that in the European Union there is a direct link between unemployment and low per capita income, so that the regions least affected by unemployment, with an average of 2,7 %, basically belong to the rich regions, whilst those most affected by unemployment, with an average of 21,9 %, are situated in the least developed countries. In this context, and against the background of a dwindling population in Galicia, the latest unemployment figures for Spain show that the rate in Galicia reached 12,88 % in February, without there being any sign of mobility among the working population which might suggest a change for the better in the short or medium term.

What steps taken by the Council in the process started in Lisbon and continued in Barcelona in the interests of sustainable development, poverty reduction, greater social cohesion, full employment particularly for the benefit of women and promoting the quality of work may be destined to make a positive and significant change in the situation of the working population and employment in an area such as Galicia, and thus enable it to overcome its situation of comparative backwardness?

Reply

(27 June 2002)

The Council would refer the Honourable Member to its reply to Written Question E-0589/02 on the Lisbon strategy, put by Elisa Damião. The case of Galicia must be approached in accordance with the principles of that strategy.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0511/02

by Carlos Carnero González (PSE) to the Council

(27 February 2002)

Subject: Follow-up to decisions by the Council of Health Ministers of 15 November concerning post-polio syndrome

On 15 November 2001, on a proposal from the Presidency-in-Office, the EU Council of Health Ministers considered what decisions could be taken in order to provide a positive response to post-polio syndrome and the plight of those affected by it.

What measures has the Council taken on this matter since that date? What has been the response of the Member States? What proposals will the Presidency-in-Office put forward to meet the urgent needs of the thousands of Union citizens affected by this syndrome?

Joint answerto Written Questions E-0511/02 and E-0768/02

(26 June 2002)

On 15 November 2001, the Belgian Presidency drew the attention of the Council to the fact that post-polio syndrome is an important and sensitive public health issue and to the need for appropriate action to provide an adequate response to this problem. Further details are included in an information note from the Presidency to the Council which was the basis of the Presidency's intervention at the Council. This Council document is available to the public on the Council's internet site.

The attention of the Honourable Members is drawn to the fact that the organisation and delivery of health services and medical care is the Member States' responsibility and that therefore the Council is not competent to comment on measures undertaken by individual Member States on this matter.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1105/02

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(18 April 2002)

Subject: Regional GDP figures

Further to the answer given to my Written Question E-0100/02(1), will the Commission state whether there are any regional price series (i.e. regionally collected consumer price indices) in any Member States that allow regions to assess the real growth of their GDP figures from one period to another?

Are there any other series collected privately or officially of a basket of goods and services which allow some regional versus national inflation comparisons?

(1) OJ C 160 E, 4.7.2002, p. 182.

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(19 June 2002)

Following is the information requested:

- Germany: No information is available since July 2000, when regional prices were collected but not such as to permit regional income comparisons. Consumer price indexes (CPIs) were however published for the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the former West Germany.

- Spain: No information is available since July 2000, when regional CPIs were being published at the NUTS-3 level.

- Italy: No information is available since July 2000, when the Italian statistical office, ISTAT, was publishing CPIs for the main city in each of 20 regions. In addition, about 80 municipalities published their own CPIs.

- Austria: Disaggregation of the national CPI at the NUTS-2 level are not published but are available on request (a charge is made). No information is available on any other regional price indices.

- Portugal: No information is available since July 2000, when regional CPIs were being published at the NUTS-2 level.

- Finland: Regional CPIs at the NUTS-2 level are published, but they are not regarded as suitable for providing regional gross domestic product estimates in real terms. No other relevant regional price indices are produced.

Belgium, Denmark, Greece, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden and United Kingdom do not publish regional CPIs, and as far as can be ascertained no other relevant indices are produced in these countries.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1200/02

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(26 April 2002)

Subject: Competitive tendering of contracts

Does the Commission take the view that the UK government's award of a contract for the supply of smallpox vaccines to PowderJect without competitive tendering is a breach of EU law?

Joint answerto Written Questions E-1199/02, E-1200/02 and E-1201/02given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(6 June 2002)

The Commission understands that Written Questions E-1200/02 and E-1201/02 relate to the award of a contract by the United Kingdom authorities for the supply of smallpox vaccines to address possible terrorist attacks in the light of the 11 September 2001 atrocities and in particular the ensuing concerns about bio chemical terrorist attacks.

The Commission is not fully aware of all the steps which the United Kingdom authorities may have taken in the award of the contract. In the absence of such information, it is not possible to conclude with any certainty whether this particular contract falls within the scope of Council Directive 93/36/EEC of 14 June 1993, coordinating procedures for the award of public supply contracts(1) and whether the award of the contract should have been subject to open competition.

As regards Written Question E-1199/02, information received by the Commission indicates that the Member States that have procured emergency vaccines to counter potential terrorist threats following the anthrax attacks in the United States in 2001 did not follow open public tender procedures on account of the security implications involved.

Article 2 of the above-mentioned Directive constitutes a derogation from the provisions for open public tendering. This includes supply contracts which are declared secret or the execution of which must be accompanied by special security measures in accordance with the laws, regulations or administrative provisions in force in the Member States concerned or when the protection of the basic interests of the Member State's security so requires.

As a derogation from the general rule that public contracts must be awarded by public tender, Article 2 has to be restrictively construed on a case by case basis. Relevant factors could include a perceived need at the time of the contract not to announce the existence or nature of the contract for public security reasons. Statements made by the European Court of Justice in Case C- 273/97 of 26 October 1999 to the effect that Member States have a degree of discretion when adopting measures which they consider to be necesssary in order to guarantee public security, may also be a relevant factor in this type of case.

(1) OJ L 199, 9.8.1993.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0649/02

by Nuala Ahern (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(11 March 2002)

Subject: Radioactive discharges

The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) has said in its latest annual report, published in January this year, that measured radioactive technetium-99 in seaweed from the Sellafield radioactive waste and plutonium processing plant in England is 150 times worse in the north-east of Ireland than that found in seaweed on the south and west coasts. RPII also reaffirmed that the discharge of radioactive waste from Sellafield is still the dominant source of contamination in the Irish marine environment. The report also said the levels of technetium-99 are still considerably above pre-1994 levels and remain a significant cause of concern.

Since the United Kingdom radiological protection authorities and government ministries continue to play down the hazard posed by continued radioactive waste discharges from Sellafield, will the Commission now convene a round table of experts, open to public scrutiny, to examine why the different radio-protection authorities in two Member States take such different views on radiological risk for Sellafield?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(11 April 2002)

As confirmed in the reply to the Honourable Member's Written Question E-0334/02(1) the Commission is aware of extensive variation in the concentration of radionuclides in seaweed from place to place but the absolute concentrations have no radiological significance.

The report The radiological exposure of the population of the European Community from radioactivity in North European marine waters, projectMarína (Radiation Protection 47, 1990) is in the process of being updated and will consider these matters. This report will be subject to subsequent discussion in the relevant Oslo-Paris (OSPAR) Committee and an appropriate international conference. Consequently, the Commission does not believe it appropriate to convene a round table of experts to consider the matter also.

(1) OJ C 205 E, 29.8.2002, p. 120.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0428/02

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Council

(22 February 2002)

Subject: Cameras in Athens

The Greek press reports that some 20 cameras are to be installed at central points in Athens over the coming months in order to photograph cars, buses and taxis which transgress the highway code. There are plans to set up 50 observation posts with 20 mobile cameras moving between them. The installation of these devices has naturally given rise to legitimate questions concerning the invasion of personal privacy.

What view does the Council take of the Greek authorities' decision? Is it a breach of Community legislation on the protection of personal data? Are there any risks associated with the installation of these devices in terms of an individual's civil rights and, if so, what are they? In which other Member States have such devices been installed and how have they been used?

Reply

(26 June 2002)

Article 33 TEU excludes that the Council intervenes in internal measures aimed at maintaining public order or protecting internal security. It is thus not for the Council to take any position in respect to the issue raised by the Honourable Member of the European Parliament.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1082/02

by Jules Maaten (ELDR) to the Commission

(18 April 2002)

Subject: Antibiotics in honey and other foodstuffs

1. A recent survey carried out by the Belgian consumer magazine Test-Aankoop (No 451, 2002) found that 78 % of all imported honey contained prohibited antibiotics (in particular, streptomycin, tetracyclines and sulphonamides), and research in other European countries has produced similar findings. Does the Commission intend to take measures to prevent this contamination, and if so, how?

2. Is this contamination also present in other imported foodstuffs?

3. On 15 March 2002 the European Union announced an import ban on foodstuffs from China, including honey, containing the carcinogenic antibiotic chloramphenicol. At the same time the Commission proposed measures against imports of foodstuffs contaminated with antibiotics (chloramphenicol and nitrofuran) from Burma, Thailand and Vietnam. Have imports of such foodstuffs now ceased?

4. Is it correct that chloramphenicol can still be administered to cattle in the EU by way of exception and, if so, what measures are taken to prevent this antibiotic from entering the food chain via this route?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(2 July 2002)

In the EU, there is an absolute ban on the use of chloramphenicol and compounds of the nitrofuran family for animals whose products are intended for human consumption. It emerged from an evaluation of these molecules that these substances pose risks to public health, and the EU therefore issued a formal ban.

The discovery of chloramphenicol and nitrofuran contamination in foodstuffs of animal origin from Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia and Vietnam led the Commission to call on the Member States to systematically monitor these imports. In practice, these measures enable the batches contaminated by these substances to be identified and removed from the market without any embargo being imposed on imports from these countries. The placing on the EU market of batches of imported honey contaminated with chloramphenicol should therefore not occur.

Within the current legal framework in the EU, the maximum limits on residues in a medicine for veterinary use are laid down following an assessment of an application filed by a pharmaceutical firm. Sometimes, in the course of evaluating the documentation concerning existing substances, the scientific findings did not allow maximum limits on residues to be fixed because the data provided by the pharmaceutical firms were insufficient. This is especially the case with antibiotics such as tetracyclines and sulphonamides, which are authorised for use in the EU with all animal species except bees. However, the use of these substances for treating bees is legal in some non-member countries. This problem could be dealt with by the Commission in the context of future provisions laying down maximum acceptable limits in products from non-member countries.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1101/02

by Daniel Hannan (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(18 April 2002)

Subject: Giant sculptures in Sicily

is the Commission aware of the existence of a project near Calatafimi in Sicily which will include the creation of giant sculptures of Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa and Padre Pio in cement?

Is the Commission contributing money towards this project and, if so, how much?

What is the justification for spending money on such projects?

Answer given by Ms Reding on behalf of the Commission

(27 May 2002)

The Commission has no knowledge of the existence of such a project and can therefore reply only in the negative to the question raised by the Honourable Member.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1780/02

by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission

(24 June 2002)

Subject: Single sky Italy

The diverse and complex issues connected with the single sky raise the obvious question of increasing harmonisation between the Member States in aeronautical matters.

Italy is an interesting case in several ways: the Codice della navigazione aerea (Air Navigation Code) dates from 1942 and, 60 years later, is still awaiting an implementing regulation. Decades down the line, the ICAO Annexes (18 in total) and their associated technical instructions (DOCs) have yet to be formally transposed into Italian law. Airport servitudes (ICAO Annex 14 and Italian Law No 58 of 1963) have not been applied in Italy, which means that its main airports are being engulfed by settlements of all shapes and sizes.

Does the Commission have any news concerning this subject, and what harmonising measures would have to be taken with regard to the Member States, including Italy?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(23 July 2002)

Italian civil aviation legislation has to be considered in the light of instruments drawn up pursuant to international conventions and, more recently, Community activities.

A regulation implementing the 1925 Air Navigation Code is still in force. Several regulations have been adopted to incorporate the provisions of the Annexes to the 1994 Chicago Convention and documents relating to them into national law.

In 1997, the National Civil Aviation Agency (ENAC) was instructed to draw up and adopt the specific regulations. It also prepares all administrative instruments needed to supplement the regulatory framework.

A recent audit by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regarding the degree of transposition of the Annexes to the ICAO Convention by the contracting parties to it confirmed that Italian legislation is in conformity as regards Annexes 1, 6, 8 and 18. Conformity was insufficient as regards Annex 14 (aerodromes).

With regard to airport servitudes, Law 58 of 4 February 1963 lays down standards more restrictive than those in Annex 14. However, the local authorities do not always follow these standards and their application is not always subject to the necessary controls. This leads to the situation described by the Honourable Member. However, these rules are not part of Community law and therefore cannot be the subject of judicial control at Community level.

The Community started incorporating various international standards in the field of aviation into Community law in the 1990s in order to make up for the present lack of harmonisation in the field of civil aviation and thus to respond more fully to the needs of the internal market. This makes these rules more legally binding and means that Community mechanisms can be used to make sure that they are applied properly. The subjects covered by Annexes 2, 3, 10, 11 and 15 of the ICAO Convention are concerned as regards the single sky.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0936/02

by Elspeth Attwooll (ELDR) to the Commission

(9 April 2002)

Subject: The welfare of intensively farmed fish

With particular regard to maximum stocking densities, periods of starvation and methods of slaughter, does the Commission intend to take any action to regulate the welfare of intensively farmed fish?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(7 May 2002)

Currently there is no specific legislation on the welfare of farmed fish at Community level. However, some general requirements in Council Directive 98/58/EC of 20 July 1998 on the protection of animals kept for farming purposes(1) also apply to farmed fish.

Furthermore, within the framework of the Convention of the Council of Europe on the protection of animals kept for farming purposes, recommendations for the protection of different animal species have been developed. All Member States and the Community are contracting parties to this Convention and, as a consequence, the Commission participates closely in the preparation of these recommendations. Presently a specific Recommendation on farmed fish is under discussion.

Directive 98/58/EC offers the possibility of adopting measures at Community level if this is necessary to guarantee the uniform application of these Council of Europe recommendations in the Community.

The decision on legislative measures at Community level in this matter should await the adoption of the Recommendation and first experiences with its application.

(1) OJ L 221, 8.8.1998.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1332/02

by Catherine Stihler (PSE) to the Commission

(8 May 2002)

Subject: Review of the common fisheries policy

Could the Commission please indicate how fisheries policy would be regulated within European Union waters in the event of a failure to agree on the review of the common fisheries policy by 31 December 2002?

Joint answerto Written Questions E-1332/02, E-1346/02, E-1364/02 and P-1387/02given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(29 May 2002)

If the review of the Common Fisheries Policy is not agreed by 31 December 2002, with the sole exception of the rules relating to access to the 12 mile zones of Member States, the existing rules will remain in force unless the Commission proposes and the Council adopts other amending Regulations prior to or following that date.