ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0676/97 by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE) to the Commission (6 March 1997)

Subject: Community aid to Galician fishermen fishing for Greenland halibut

In April 1995, Galician fishermen fishing for Greenland halibut had their quota of catches reduced by 74% in NAFO waters following the decision by the Community authorities to adopt a restrictive agreement on sharing such fishing with Canada, thereby giving in to the pressure exerted by that non-EC country, one of the Community's leading trade partners, which had sparked off the dispute by illegally seizing the fishing vessel ESTAI in international waters.

Have the fishermen in question received or will they receive any type of Community aid for the losses they have suffered as a result of the position taken by the Community authorities in this matter?

Is the situation comparable to that of the North Sea fishermen who, in the early 1990s, had their quota of cod catches reduced by over 50% and were apparently given financial assistance by the Commission?

Can the Commission indicate the criteria it uses to decide which groups suffering damage as a result of the acts or actions of the Community institutions shall be entitled to the technical and financial support needed to offset such damage?

Answer given by Mrs Bonino on behalf of the Commission (2 May 1997)

The Commission shares the concerns expressed by the Honourable Member though it wishes to point out that under the FIFG (Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance) and the Community Initiative concerning the restructuring of the fisheries sector (Pesca), the Member States can implement the structural measures they deem necessary to achieve the objectives of the common fisheries policy (CFP).

The situation was considered sufficiently serious for the Commission to set up a joint working group with the competent national authorities at the end of 1995. The group came to the conclusion that no specific measure was necessary because the Spanish vessels concerned could be redeployed thanks to new fishing opportunities.

As far as the situation regarding North Sea cod is concerned, there has been little change in the Community quota since the early 1990s. Accordingly, no special measure has even been contemplated to offset fishermen's income losses in the North Sea.

The criteria and conditions for Community structural measures in the fisheries sector are defined in Council Regulation (EC) No 3699/93 of 21 December 1993, as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 25/97 of 20 December 1996 ((OJ L 6, 10.1.1997. )).
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1261/97 by Ursula Stenzel (PPE) to the Commission (11 April 1997)

Subject: Socrates programme

The application form for 'institutional contracts' within the Socrates programme had to be submitted before 1 July 1996 for the academic year 1997-98. Names of successful applicants will not be announced until May 1997. On account of the long waiting period between submission of the application and acceptance, the Socrates programme loses much of its appeal. The situation is further aggravated by the fact that, in colleges of fine art, the entrance examinations and/or deadlines for applications for 1997/98 fall before the announcement by Brussels of approved cooperation programmes. This means that study visits under the Socrates programme can hardly be carried out in the academic year 1997/98. Is it possible to reduce the waiting period for the authorization of the Socrates programme so that the students have the time to take entrance exams and/or make further applications, if authorization is not forthcoming?

Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission (27 May 1997)

The Commission is aware of the fact that in the first year of implementation of the Socrates programme in higher education (Chapter I, Erasmus) there was a relatively long period between the date of application for 'institutional contracts' (1 July 1996) and the date of approval (May 1997).

At the request of many universities in Europe and with the agreement of the programme committee, the Commission therefore decided to postpone the application date for the second year of the programme to 15 November 1997. The date of approval will be in time for the start of the academic year 1998/1999, but not earlier than May 1998. The delay between application and approval will thus be reduced.

Entrance examinations for incoming students are not common practice under Socrates-Erasmus as there is already an understanding between the partner institutions on the level and quality of the students selected to be mobile.

Partner institutions are free to organise the selection of mobile students in the way they consider appropriate and in most institutions this selection starts before the formal approval of the cooperation activity by the Socrates-Erasmus programme.

The date of the formal approval itself cannot be advanced as the period for evaluating the many thousand proposals has already been substantially reduced at the request of the universities.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0336/97 by José García-Margallo y Marfil (PPE) to the Commission (13 February 1997)

Subject: CMO for olive oil: expenditure on consumption aid in France

The Court of Auditors' annual report for the financial year 1995 shows that the 1996 budget provided for EAGGF Guarantee Section expenditure on olive oil totalling ECU 1781 million. Even though this figure is in line with expenditure between 1991 and 1993, expenditure was far lower in 1995, when it stood at only ECU 812.5 million.

Of this expenditure, consumption aid accounted for ECU 268.6 million and ECU 166 million in 1995 and 1996 respectively.

What is the figure for total expenditure on consumption aid for olive oil in France?

Joint answer to Written Questions E-0320/97, E-0321/97, E-0322/97, E-0323/97, E-0324/97, E-0325/97, E-0326/97, E-0327/97, E-0328/97, E-0329/97, E-0330/97, E-0331/97, E-0332/97, E-0333/97, E-0334/97, E-0335/97, E-0336/97, E-0337/97, E-0338/97, E-0339/97, E-0340/97, E-0341/97, E-0342/97, E-0343/97 and E-0344/97 given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (6 March 1997)

The Honourable Member will find the figure he requests in the table below. Total Community expenditure under the 1995 and 1996 budgets was 812.5 and 2007.7 million ecus respectively. The discrepancy with the totals in the table largely relates to payments for olive oil promotion action. The 1995 budget is much lower than for 1996 (and 1994) because the 1994/95 prices package included a decision to move the payment date. This meant that the 1995 budget made no provision for 1994/95 marketing year payments but only for outstanding ones from 1993/94.

(in MECU)

>TABLE>
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1019/97 by José Apolinário (PSE) to the Commission (19 March 1997)

Subject: Introduction of a European pass for people over 60 years of age

Can the Commission provide information regarding the Europass project (the Member States involved and the planned funding), the aim of which is to introduce a European pass for people over 60 years of age?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (28 April 1997)

There is no common European proof of pensioner status and there is no plan to propose harmonisation of Member States' policies in this area. There is however a Commission Recommendation 89/350/EEC of 10 May 1989 for the introduction of a common 'over sixties card' which would make existing rights of older people visible ((OJ L 144, 27.5.1989. )), especially when travelling outside their own Member State. No Member State has so far chosen to implement this recommendation although Portugal has recently established a working group to examine the issue.

The Commission is currently engaged, with the non-governmental organisations (NGO) sector, in identifying concrete measures by which progress might be made towards better access by older people to the concessions to which they are entitled. The aim is to develop models which Member States could adapt to meet their own particular circumstances. This could eventually provide a common basis for reciprocal benefits and mutual recognition within the Community. The results of a feasibility study should be available in mid 1997. The Commission will review the situation based on the report from this study.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1013/97 by Konstadinos Klironomos (PSE) to the Commission (19 March 1997)

Subject: Road accidents

According to a study published recently by the European Council for Transport Safety, 45 000 people die annually in road accidents in the European Union. Experts say that the use by drivers of mobile phones while at the wheel is a new cause of road accidents.

Will the Commission say whether it intends to propose measures - and if so, what measures - or rather to adopt the proposals put forward by the European Council for Transport Safety in order to address the tragedy of road accidents in Europe?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission (26 May 1997)

The Commission is very concerned about road safety in the Community and recently adopted an action programme for the years 1997-2001, 'promoting road safety in the EU' ((COM(97) 131. )).

The Commission is not currently contemplating legislation at Community level with regard to the road safety implications of mobile phones. In the context of discussions arising from our communication and the European Council for Transport safety report however, active attention is being given to questions such as the need for and the relevance of legislation at Community level, as distinct from national level.

The Commission will, meanwhile, support actions that raise the awareness of the public to the road safety risks of using mobile phones.
WRITTEN QUESTION P-1958/97 by Per Gahrton (V) to the Commission (28 May 1997)

Subject: The principle of subsidiarity

Under the Edinburgh agreement, the subsidiarity principle was to be applied more extensively. Will the Commission provide a list of all Community rules which have been amended since the agreement took effect so as to decentralize decision-making powers and transfer them from EU institutions to decision-making bodies closer to the citizen?

Answer given by Mr Santer on behalf of the Commission (17 June 1997)

Since the Edinburgh European Council the Commission has been reporting regularly on what it has been doing about subsidiarity. The information requested by the Honourable Member can be found in the following reports on this subject:

- Commission report to the European Council on the adaptation of Community legislation to the subsidiarity principleCOM(93) 545 final, submitted on 29 November 1993;

- Commission report to the European Council on the application of the subsidiarity principle 1994COM(94) 533 final, submitted on 25 November 1994;

- Better lawmaking, Commission report to the European Council on the application of the subsidiarity and proportionality principles, simplification and codificationCSE(95) 580 final, submitted on 24 November 1995;

- Interim Commission report to the European Council on the application of the subsidiarity and proportionality principlesCSE(96) 2 final, submitted on 14 June 1996;

- Better lawmaking 1996, Commission report to the European Council on the application of the subsidiarity and proportionality principles, simplification and codificationCSE(96) 7 final, submitted on 27 November 1996.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1056/97 by Jesús Cabezón Alonso (PSE) to the Commission (19 March 1997)

Subject: Changes to olive oil aid

What firm arguments has the Commission come across which support its contention in the document on olive oil which has been submitted to Parliament and the Council that unit aid per tree will allow fraud to be detected more easily than if aid is based on production?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (21 April 1997)

As explained in its document presenting the various options ((COM(97) 57 final. )), the Commission considers that a system of aid per tree is simpler and easier to check. Unlike the system of aid for quantities produced, trees are easy to account for using the olive cultivation register where it is operational and the geographical information system (GIS) which is being setting up very quickly. In any event, olive trees can be checked at any time of year because trees are permanently present in the orchards while olive oil as a product circulates in a variety of forms (in bulk, packaged) and can be of various origins (another region, another Member State, imported).

With the geographical information system now being set up, the problem of fraud can partly be resolved by means of checks on the number of trees.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1424/97 by Anita Pollack (PSE) to the Commission (23 April 1997)

Subject: Aid to Sri Lanka

Will the Commission please itemize all aid given to Sri Lanka in the last two years both in terms of items and finance?

Answer given by Mr Marín on behalf of the Commission (27 May 1997)

Commission aid to Sri Lanka in the last two years

(in MECU)

>TABLE>

N.B.: Under the heading of scientific and technical cooperation, Sri Lanka is involved in one current project signed in 1995: 'The development and potential of midgut antigens as vaccine agents for novel mosquito and

malaria control' (ECU 100 000), and two projects selected in 1996 are currently under negotiation: 'Strategies for partitioning the productivity of Asian reservoirs and lakes between capture fisheries and aquaculture for social benefit and local market without negative environmental impact' and 'Mathematical models of the immunological and clinical epidemiology of Plasmodium Falciparum malaria'.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0967/97 by Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (13 March 1997)

Subject: Via Egnatia

In its Decision 25382/DE 2352 of 19 July 1996, the Ministry of the National Economy included in the government investment budget (SAE 071/2) the 'Igoumenitsa harbour link', comprising the road linking the harbour with the Via Egnatia, the Via Egnatia flyover intersections towards Preveza and the ring-road, together with the section of the ring-road up to the provincial road towards Graikochori. However, no provision is made for the construction or funding of a road from the Via Egnatia intersection to the Greek-Albanian border (Sagiada), although the distance is only 15 km.

Given that:

- the Via Egnatia is important for the balanced development of the surrounding region,

- this omission reflects the piecemeal and disorganized nature of the project and could prove detrimental to the economic development, of not only Epirus but also Albania,

- the Via Egnatia will enhance cooperation, not only between the Balkan countries themselves but between the Balkan countries on the one hand and the countries of the European Union on the other,

- under the public investment programme an invitation to tender is being issued for the construction of the Sagiada customs office on the border between Greece and Albania together with a section of the road leading to it,

is the Commission, which is providing funding for the project, aware of this omission and what action will it take to ensure that the funding and realization of the 15 km section to the Greek-Albanian border, which is a particularly constructive investment, will be included in a Community programme?

Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission (28 April 1997)

Connection of the neighbouring countries (particularly Albania and Bulgaria) to the Via Egnatia is one of the priorities of the Community Initiative programme for Greece's external borders.

Thus new sections or adjustments to existing sections are planned for five north-south roads (Ioannina-Kakavi; Igoumenitsa-Sagiada-border post; Siatista-Cristallopigi; Serres-Promahonas; Alexandroupolis-Ormenio).

Continuation of these major roads in the neighbouring countries is also one of the priorities of the corresponding Phare programme for cross-border cooperation (CBC).

With regard to the road from Igoumenitsa via Sagiada to the border post, the Community initiative programme is financing the project concerning the road from Sagiada via Agios Theodoros to the border post (estimated cost DRA 800 million or ECU 2.67 million).

In order to ensure the road is suitable to its task, the Monitoring Committee for the Community initiative also examined the Igoumenitsa-Sagiada section but future traffic trends do not seem to warrant changes to the technical standards of the existing road.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1657/97 by Nikitas Kaklamanis (UPE) to the Commission (14 May 1997)

Subject: Prosecution of journalists in Greece

Two distinguished journalists working for a leading Greek daily are being prosecuted for 'violating state secrets', 'espionage' and 'moral instigation to violate civil service confidentiality'.

This prosecution is based on the publication of documents described as 'confidential' by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, although this is clearly unfounded, since one of these documents merely authorizes a Greek diplomat to inform the PGDM of the contents of the second.

Obviously, the publication of these documents thus could in no way damage Greek interests.

It should be pointed out that the European federation of journalists in its final statement in Dublin (26 - 27 April 1996) castigated the right of ministers to classify documents as confidential, regardless of whether it was in the public interest for citizens to know the information they contain. The same statement notes that no journalist should be prosecuted, reprimanded or suffer loss of prestige for giving information to the public or the mass media, where this information is in the public interest.

Will the Commission give its views on this very serious matter involving the prosecution of two journalists by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and say what it intends to do to put an end to their harassment, and also to prevent anything similar happening in future to anyone working in the media who reveals information touching the vital interests of citizens of a Member State?

Answer given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission (4 June 1997)

The Commission sets great store by respect for human rights throughout the world. However, the treaties do not give the Community any general powers to ensure that fundamental rights are respected. Its only powers in this connection relate to the application of Community law, which is based on respect for fundamental rights.

With regard to the facts reported by the Honourable Member, the Commission would point out that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is broadly ensured in the Member States, domestically through internal appeal procedures and externally by means of the machinery put in place by the Council of Europe's Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1006/97 by Dietrich Elchlepp (PSE) to the Commission (19 March 1997)

Subject: Relocation of German companies to France in connection with EU financial suppport

German companies on the southern Upper Rhine are repeatedly encouraged to relocate to France, with reference being made to EU structural financial aids. Important jobs are thus lost to German companies without additional jobs being created in Europe as a whole.

Does the Commission consider it in line with European labour market and regional policy if, in the regions around the Union's internal frontiers, companies are encouraged to relocate to a neighbouring country with the help of the EU structural funds without any additional new job being created or jobs being safeguarded?

Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission (24 April 1997)

In a Community where one of the principles is freedom of establishment, any company may decide to set up in, or transfer its activities to, one region rather than another. Moreover, this type of decision must often be seen in a broader context of rationalization or development of investments. The factors that companies take into account when deciding on their location are many and, in general, unknown to the Commission. The possibility of obtaining investment aid is only one factor among others and is often not decisive.

The Community Structural Funds may supplement national regional aid schemes only within the limits of the aid ceilings laid down, provided the schemes have been notified and approved by the Commission as compatible with the common market under Articles 92 and 93 of the EC Treaty. If these conditions are met, there is in theory nothing to prevent a given company from benefiting from an aid scheme aiming at the development of a less-favoured region and part-financed by the Structural Funds.

In the case of cross-border relocation to which the Honourable Member refers, it should be pointed out that the area on either side of the border between Südbaden and Alsace is eligible under Objective 5(b) of the Structural Funds. Both regions are also eligible under the Community Initiative for border areas (Interreg), which does not, however, provide for the grant of direct aid for tangible investments.

The conditions for the grant of Structural Fund assistance in these cross-border regions must therefore be regarded as comparable.
WRITTEN QUESTION P-1123/97 by Patrick Cox (ELDR) to the Commission (19 March 1997)

Subject: Irish Supreme Court judgment - case of Emerald Meats and the GATT meat imports

What follow-up, if any, does the Commission propose to undertake arising from the Irish Supreme Court judgment (3 March 1997) in the case of Emerald Meats and the GATT meat imports?

Will the Commission confirm whether it is true or false, as reported in the Irish media, that it was grossly misled by the Irish Department of Agriculture and what action has it taken or does it propose to take on this matter?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (22 April 1997)

As stated by the Court of Justice in paragraph 40 of its judgement in joined Cases C-106/90, C-317/90 and C-129/91, the requirements of Community management do not entail that the Commission ought necessarily to be able to correct wrong decisions taken in specific cases by the national authorities in connection with the management of import quotas since compliance with the common rules and their uniform application throughout the Community can be secured either by proceedings under Article 169 of the EC Treaty for failure to fulfil obligations, or in the course of judicial proceedings brought before national courts which have available the procedure provided in Article 177 of the EC Treaty.

Since in this case, the matter has been satisfactorily resolved in the context of national judicial proceedings, the Commission sees no necessity for further action in the absence of any financial implications in the Community budget.