WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3845/97 by Kirsi PIHA to the Commission. Information concerning EU enlargement
Date: 1997-12-05
Institutions: European Parliament, PIHA
Subjects: Economic and Monetary Union, European integration, Member States' contribution, accession to the European Union, dissemination of EU information, enlargement of the Union, euro, public awareness campaign, public opinion, suspension of aid

C 196/22

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

22. 6. 98

(98/C 196/31)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3845/97

by Kirsi Piha (PPE) to the Commission

(5 December 1997)

Subject: Information concerning EU enlargement

The enlargement of the EU is the greatest challenge facing Europe in the near future. The negotiations with the
first applicant states are ready to start and after the Luxembourg summit the negotiations with the first candidates
will probably be launched at the beginning of 1998. At the same time the interest in enlargement among the EU
Member  States(cid:146)  citizens  is  minuscule  and  getting  smaller.  Indeed,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  the  negative  views
expressed by politicians on the growing cost of membership and the loss of subsidies are spreading to the general
public. Conversely, EMU is a good example of how no thought is given to forming public opinion until a late
stage, and we now see the results of this, with the majority of EU Member States(cid:146) citizens opposed to a single
currency. What plans does the Commission have for the funding of an information campaign on enlargement,
and what would be the substance of such a campaign?

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

(6 February 1998)

The Commission is well aware of the importance of the issue raised by the Honourable Member. There is a need
for the governments in the candidate countries to raise awareness of the subject among their own populations and
for the Community also to contribute to this process in the candidate countries and in the Member States.

The  first  is  covered  by  allocations,  usually  under  the  heading  (cid:145)European  integration(cid:146)  which  are  granted  to
candidate countries under the normal Phare procedures following a request.

The  Community(cid:146)s  activities  in  the  candidate  countries  in  this  field  are  primarily  channelled  through  the
Commission(cid:146)s delegations. They were only able to begin in 1997 after a measure of stability and predictability
could be assured by the Parliament concerning funding under the Phare multi-country information programme.
Under the 1997 allocation 5 MECU have been set aside to fund delegations(cid:146) information activities, while central
funding is being used to provide expertise.

With the support from the Phare multi-country information and communication programme, the Commission
provides the services of its visitors(cid:146) programme, Eurobarometer surveys and the flagship periodical (cid:145)European
Dialogue(cid:146) which appears every 2 months in all 10 central European languages.

The  Commission(cid:146)s  Website  (cid:145)Europaplus(cid:146)  has  proved  very  successful  as  an  information  tool  for  the  general
public,  both  in  and  outside  the  Community.  As  an  example,  the  DG  1A  website,  which  covers  Central  and
Eastern Europe, receives over 500 000 visits per month. Information about enlargement and related issues is also
available from the Commission(cid:146)s offices in the Member States.

(98/C 196/32)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3846/97

by Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(5 December 1997)

Subject: Directives concerning television activities

In view of the fact that many Member States are infringing the Directives concerning television activities (for
example 89/552/EEC (1) concerning (cid:145)television without frontiers(cid:146), 93/83/EEC (2) on the coordination of certain
rules  concerning  copyright  and  rights  related  to  copyright  applicable  to  satellite  broadcasting  and  cable
retransmission, 94/46/EEC (3) concerning satellite communications and 95/47/EEC (4) on the use of standards for
the  retransmission  of  television  signals)  and  in  the  light  of  observations  by  the  Commissioner  responsible
Mr Oreja to the effect that the audiovisual sector is one of the most important for the Commission: