WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3104/97 by Rijk van DAM to the Commission. Uzbekistan
Date: 1997-10-03
Institutions: European Parliament, VAN DAM
Subjects: Christianity, European Commission, Uzbekistan, agreement (EU), book trade, cooperation agreement, exchange of information, freedom of religious beliefs, seizure of goods, storage cost

30. 4. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 134/83

Similarly,  accreditation  to  Parliament  is  not  valid  for  meetings  of  the  Council,  whereas  accreditation  to  the
Commission covers access to Council meetings in both Brussels and Luxembourg.

Would it not be in the interests of an open and effective information policy to make provision for uniform press
accreditation for all the institutions of the European Union?

Answer given by Mr Santer on behalf of the Commission

(10 November 1997)

The  rules  governing  the  accreditation  of  journalists  to  the  Commission  are  set  out  in  the  Practical  guide  for
journalists,  published  by  the  Commission,  a  copy  of  which  has  been  sent  to  the  Honourable  Member  and  to
Parliament’s Secretariat. It should be pointed out that accreditation is a purely practical arrangement for issuing
passes to correspondents of the press and radio and television who pay frequent › even daily, visits to the press
room at the Commission. Accreditation also gives them access to the Council and Parliament. Apart from this
accreditation  which  is  common  to  the  three  institutions,  the  Council  and  Parliament  apply  their  own  rules.
Accreditation  is  in  no  way  evidence  of  professional  qualifications  and  all  journalists  have  access  to  the
Commission press room on presentation of their national press card.

(98/C 134/107)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3104/97

by Rijk van Dam (I-EDN) to the Commission

(3 October 1997)

Subject: Uzbekistan

In  reply  to  the  questions  (E-2333/97 (1)  and  E-2449/97 (2))  concerning  the  confiscation  of  25  000  bibles  in
Uzbekistan and obstacles to the activities of the Uzbek Bible Society, the Commission has said that it has no
information on the subject and has not yet received any specific particulars about it from the Uzbek authorities
either.

However,  we  have  heard  from  various  sides  that  the  bibles  remain  confiscated,  that  the  Uzbek  authorities
demand that the bibles be sent back and that Uzbek Railways is even charging the Uzbek Bible Society around $
13 000 (a sum which is growing daily) for storage of the confiscated bibles.

1.
Does  the  Commission  not  agree  that  the  Uzbek  authorities  should  repeatedly  and  urgently  be  asked  to
explain this action, which violates the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and Uzbekistan?

2. What  action  will  the  Commission  take  vis-a‘-vis  the  Uzbek  authorities,  and  how  soon,  with  a  view  to
obtaining the release of the bibles and cancellation of the claim for storage costs, and permitting the Uzbek Bible
Society to operate freely?

(1)  OJ C 60, 25.2.1998, p. 128.
(2)  OJ C 60, 25.2.1998, p. 132.

Answer given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission

(17 October 1997)

The Uzbek authorities have informed the Commission that there is no longer any obstacle to the importation of
bibles into Uzbekistan. This has been confirmed by the Uzbekistan Bible Society.