WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2232/97 by Alexandros ALAVANOS to the Council. Exercise of electoral rights by Albanian migrants in the EU
Date: 1997-07-18
Institutions: ALAVANOS, European Parliament
Subjects: Albania, civil rights, foreign national, migrant, national election, organisation of elections, right to vote, turnout of voters

C 158/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

25. 5. 98

To date, ephedrine-based medicinal products available in the Community have only received national marketing
authorisations, in accordance with the provisions on the quality, safety and efficacy of medicinal products laid
down in Council Directive 65/65/EEC of 26 January 1965, as amended, on the approximation of provisions laid
down  by  law,  regulation  or  administrative  action  relating  to  medicinal  products (1).  Marketing  authorisations
must  be  sought  for  medicinal  products  containing  ephedrine;  they  are  granted  for  prescriptions  which  must
observe the constant principle in human medicine of striking a balance between the health benefits/drawbacks of
taking the medicinal product.

The  importation  into  Community  territory  of  medicinal  products  from  non-member  countries  must  meet  the
requirements of Chapter IV of the second Council Directive 75/319/EEC of 20 May 1975, as amended, on the
approximation  of  provisions  laid  down  by  law,  regulation  or  administrative  action  relating  to  proprietary
medicinal products (2). Use of these products is subject to the provisions on monitoring and pharmacovigilance
laid down in that Directive.

Given that, to date, no medicinal product containing ephedrine has been authorised under the new Community
procedures,  centralised  or  decentralised,  the  Commission  has  not  had  to  pronounce  on  the  concentrations  of
ephedrine considered dangerous for human consumption.

(1)  OJ 22, 9.2.1965.
(2)  OJ L 147, 9.6.1975.

(98/C 158/05)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2232/97

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(18 July 1997)

Subject: Exercise of electoral rights by Albanian migrants in the EU

Hundreds of thousands of Albanian migrants work in EU countries, and principally in Greece and Italy. Despite
the good intentions expressed by certain governments with a view to facilitating the passage of those workers to
their home regions so that they could exercise their right to vote, very few of them will be able to do so.

Bearing in mind the importance of the forthcoming elections in Albania, the very large number of migrants and
the  need  for  all  Albanian  citizens  to  participate,  will  the  Council  call  on  the  Albanian  Government  and  the
member  states  of  the  OSCE  to  promote  initiatives  to  make  it  possible  for  Albanian  migrants  to  vote  in  their
countries of residence so that the outcome of the elections will be as representative as possible?

Answer

(19 January 1998)

The Honourable Member(cid:146)s question does not fall within the Council(cid:146)s field of competence.

The Council is not in fact competent to express an opinion on a question concerning the manner in which a
non-Member State, Albania, organizes the participation of its emigrant nationals in elections held in Albania.

(98/C 158/06)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2321/97

by Leonie van Bladel (UPE) to the Council

(18 July 1997)

Subject: Legal certainty with regard to possession of a Netherlands passport

1.
On  2  October  1997  Amsterdam  municipal  executive  informed  the  father  (a  naturalized  Netherlands
national) of the 14-year old Jolanda Bona, a girl of Surinamese origin, as follows concerning her nationality and