WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3355/97 by Fernando FERNÁNDEZ MARTÍN to the Commission. Child slavery in Africa
Date: 1997-10-15
Institutions: European Parliament, FERNANDEZ MARTIN
Subjects: Africa, child, child labour, child protection, children's rights, fourth Lomé Convention, human rights, prostitution, slavery, third country

25. 5. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 158/91

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(27 November 1997)

Out of a total of 188 new projects to be co-funded by the Community(cid:146)s financial instrument for the environment
(LIFE  II),  112  are  measures  related  to  the  implementation  of  Community  policies  and  legislation  on  the
environment, 60 relate to nature conservation and the 16 remaining projects are (cid:145)third country(cid:146) projects. Within
the first two areas, there are six and two Portuguese projects respectively, of which the details have been sent
directly to the Honourable Member and the Secretariat General of the Parliament.

The full list of selected projects will be published in the Official Journal in due time.

(98/C 158/118)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3352/97

by Helena Torres Marques (PSE) to the Commission

(22 October 1997)

Subject: Pilot projects intended to explore new avenues of economic and social development

With the aim of encouraging new methods of job-creation, the Commission has allocated ECU 103 million to
106 pilot projects to explore new avenues of economic and social development in the cities and regions of the
European  Union.  These  pilot  projects  include  actions  in  the  following  areas:  new  forms  of  employment,
interregional  cooperation  and  cultural  themes,  promotion  and  innovation,  regional  initiatives  concerning  the
Information Society and innovatory actions to promote urban development.

Will the Commission say whether any of these projects are intended for Portugal, and if so, which ones?

Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission

(21 November 1997)

Concerning Article 10 of the European regional development fund Regulation (1) (innovative measures in the
field of regional development), there are at present 28 pilot projects involving Portugal that have been finalized
for  a  total  budget  of  19.2  MECU.  26  of  these  are  interregional  cooperation  projects  with  a  total  budget  of
15.9 MECU. There are two pilot projects where the financial allocation is specifically for the Portugese regions
and this budget amounts to 3.3 MECU. A table sent direct to the Honourable Member and to the Parliament(cid:146)s
secretariat gives a complete list of the approved projects and the breakdown of resource allocation.

In addition there are several programmes involving Portugal that are nearing finalization such as RECITE II,
ECOS-Ouverture, and pilot actions in spatial planning. Further information in relation to these programmes will
be published in due course.

(1)  OJ L 193, 31.7.1993.

(98/C 158/119)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3355/97

by Fernando Ferna·ndez Mart(cid:14)·n (PPE) to the Commission

(15 October 1997)

Subject: Child slavery in Africa

Human  rights  groups  in  Togo  and  Nigeria,  Amnesty  International  and  Anti-Slavery  International  have  all
recently issued reports claiming that child slavery in Africa is booming. Children from villages in the poorest
regions are kidnapped or bought from their parents to be sold as slaves; they are normally used as house servants,
goatherds, soldiers or prostitutes. Their living conditions are frequently subhuman.

What is the Commission(cid:146)s reaction to this situation?

Has  it  adopted  or  does  it  plan  to  adopt,  in  cooperation  with  the  governments  of  the  countries  affected,  any
measures to improve the situation?