WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3083/97 by Doeke EISMA to the Commission. Drugs
Date: 1997-10-02
Institutions: EISMA, European Parliament
Subjects: EU programme, Europol, drug addiction, drug traffic, frontier region, health aid, narcotic, welfare

16. 4. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 117/149

(98/C 117/199)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3083/97

by Doeke Eisma (ELDR) to the Commission

(2 October 1997)

Subject: Drugs

1.

Does the Commission agree that the use of drugs in frontier regions is an ever greater problem?

Is it currently supporting projects to care for drug addicts in the frontier regions and if so, which projects are

2.
involved?

Does the Interreg programme offer possibilities for financing projects to care for drug addicts? If not, which

3.
other funds could be considered in this context?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission

(6 November 1997)

The Commission is aware of the growing problem of drug consumption in cross-border areas, a phenomenon
also  called  (cid:145)narco-tourism(cid:146).  Member  States  have  placed  the  fight  against  this  phenomenon  amongst  their
priorities  and  have  undertaken  to  tackle  it  through  co-operation  between  their  law  enforcement  agencies,  as
provided in the Council Resolution of 29 November 1996 on measures to fight this problem within the European
Union and in the joint action of 17 December 1996 concerning approximation of the laws and practices of the
Member  States  of  the  European  Union (1)  to  combat  drug  addiction  and  to  prevent  and  combat  illegal  drug
trafficking (2).  Europol  will  soon  provide  information  on  the  size  of  this  problem  in  its  forthcoming  general
situation report.

In parallel with this, the preventive and health aspects relating to drug tourism are among the priorities laid down
for the programme of Community action on prevention of drug dependence in 1998. The aim is to encourage
coherence and effectiveness in the health and social measures to be applied to users, particularly by developing
cooperation in the border areas concerned. A call for proposals for projects to be implemented under the action
programme was published recently (3). An example of the projects supported by the action programme that deal
directly with the problem mentioned by the Honourable Member is the exploratory study by a partnership of
Belgian,  German,  French  and  Dutch  bodies  on  cross-border  flows,  aimed  at  diagnosing  and  analysing
professional practices and identifying new work avenues.

The guidelines for the Interreg II operational programmes (4) mention, among the actions eligible for financing
under strand A ((cid:145)Cross-border cooperation(cid:146)), measures to promote cooperation in health. Such measures have
been  incorporated  in  12  of  the  59  operational  programmes  for  the  period  1994-1999.  These  programmes  are
currently being implemented by the Member States.

(1)  OJ C 375, 12.12.1996.
(2)  OJ L 342, 31.12.1996.
(3)  OJ C 226, 25.7.1997.
(4)  OJ C 180, 1.7.1994.

(98/C 117/200)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3087/97

by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission

(19 September 1997)

Subject: VAT and record sales

Given  the  European  Union(cid:146)s  position  on  anti  personnel  mines,  will  the  Commission  emulate  the  British
Government and ensure all the revenue it receives from VAT on sales from the sale of the record Candle in the
Wind will go to the appropriate charities?