WRITTEN QUESTION E-0196/02

by Bert Doorn (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(5 February 2002)

Subject: Restitution of property to Jewish citizens and Jewish communities in the applicant countries

Could the Commission provide a detailed summary of the legal position in the central and eastern European applicant countries on the issue of the restitution of property stolen from Jewish citizens and Jewish communities and does the Commission share the view that countries which have not already done so should adopt appropriate legislation for the return of stolen property?

Joint answerto Written Questions E-0194/02, E-0195/02, E-0196/02 and E-0197/02given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(17 May 2002)

The Commission is constantly monitoring the compliance of candidate countries with the political accession criteria of Copenhagen, i.e. democracy, rule of law, human and civil rights, protection of minorities. Since the Commission opinion on the candidates' application for membership of the Union in 1997, each year the Commission describes and evaluates in detail the developments in these fields in its Regular Reports on the candidate country's progress towards accession. The reports the most recent ones were adopted in November 2001(1) have been transmitted to the Parliament and have been made public. In addition, monitoring takes place in meetings provided for in the Europe Agreements (e.g. Association Councils, Association Committees) as well as in the framework of the accession partnerships on specific priorities.

In the Regular Report's general evaluation, the Commission concludes that the 12 candidate countries presently negotiating with the Union fulfil the above political accession criteria. When deciding to open accession negotiations with candidate countries, the European Councils in Luxembourg (12 and 13 December 1997) and Helsinki (10 and 11 December 1999) endorsed the Commission's assessment on the political criteria expressed in the opinions and the Regular Reports. In 1999, the Helsinki European Council stipulated explicitly that compliance

with the political Copenhagen criteria is a prerequisite for the opening of the accession negotiations. Furthermore, the European Council in Laeken (14 and 15 December 2001) specifically lists ten candidate countries, which could join the Union as early as 2004.

The situation with regard to property rights is, however, due to the war and post-war history of the candidate countries particularly complex. It cannot be overlooked that expropriations took place long before the creation of the Community and the entering into force of the Treaty of Rome and are therefore, in principle, not relevant for the transposition and the implementation of the Union-acquis in the candidate countries.

Problems related to the restitution of confiscated properties are therefore essentially the responsibility of each candidate country, and, as the case may be, of the European Court for Human Rights. Candidate countries have hitherto chosen approaches, which they consider most appropriate to their historical, social and economic context. Even where no specific legislation has been enacted, each individual has the right to take his or her case to the courts under existing legislation. After the accession to the Union, and within the scope of application of the EC-Treaty, any discrimination on the grounds of nationality (of a Member State) or based on racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, will be prohibited.

Notwithstanding the lack of Union-competence for the system of property ownership (Article 295 EC), the Commission has noted the following developments in the candidate countries on this sensitive issue: in August 2001, the government of the Czech Republic, took the first decision based on a specific act that entered into force in July 2000 on the transfer of property and land to the Association of Jewish Czech Communities. In the Slovak Republic, church property has been returned on the basis of a law from 1994, which covers the period from 1945 onwards. Furthermore, a government commission, which has been established in August 2001, is drafting legislation with reference to the period during World War II; such legislation would specifically deal with restitution of property of Jewish Slovak Communities. Poland has legislation with regard to restoring ownership of communal property; in this context a number of synagogues as well as churches, schools, etc. have been returned or compensation has been granted. In Romania, the Real Estate Restitution Law entered into force in February 2001, setting out the basic principles and procedures to be applied for the restitution of property. The law also covers the 1940-1945 period and should thus satisfy restitution demands of Jews who suffered from discriminatory legislation during the war. At the same time it needs to be mentioned that the implementation of this law has so far been rather unsatisfactory. In Slovenia the Denationalisation Act of 1991 sets the legal basis for the denationalisation process.

The AVNOJ decrees(2) were, again, adopted and implemented in the very specific historical setting of World War II well before the establishment of the Community and before the Rome Treaty entered into force. With regard to the Member State mainly concerned Austria the establishment of a Slovenian-Austrian commission of historians dealing among other issues with the repercussions of the World War II period, is a positive development. Furthermore, the denationalisation process in Slovenia is ongoing and by September 2001 decisions have been made on 61 % of the property claimed. In spite of these achievements, progress in this field nevertheless should be speeded up. The issue of denationalisation has been on the agenda of a number of meetings in the framework of the Europe Agreement most recently of the Association Committee in Brussels on 15 February 2002.

(1) COM(2001) 700 final.

(2) As far as relevant for this question, these decrees state that inhabitants of German and Austrian origin should be expelled and that their property should be confiscated.