WRITTEN QUESTION No. 85/98 by Carlos ROBLES PIQUER to the Commission. Taiwan's financial situation and Taipei office
Date: 1998-01-30
Institutions: European Parliament, ROBLES PIQUER
Subjects: Taiwan, administrative transparency, economic recession, economic resources, financial management, financial market, investment protection, world economy

C 196/114

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

22. 6. 98

Will the agreement foresee an obligation to study whether women actually have access to the development and
economic cooperation measures set out in the cooperation section of the agreement and whether they actively
take part in the proposed cooperation in fields such as human resource development, information and media, and
technological  and  social  cooperation?  If  so,  how  will  the  Commission  do  this?  Will  it  collect  gender-
disaggregated data?

Agreements normally are evaluated on a regular basis. How are the negotiating partners trying to make sure that
women(cid:146)s interests are represented in this evaluation? Will women(cid:146)s representatives of civil society have the right
to take part in this evaluation? Will the question be discussed whether the agreement benefits women?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-0057/98 and E-0058/98
given by Mr Pinheiro on behalf of the Commission

(12 February 1998)

Gender  issue  is  a  priority  in  the  Commission(cid:146)s  development  policy,  and  the  South  African  government  is
committed to promote gender issues and to monitor progress in this area. There is no doubt that this will be
mentioned and underlined in the text of the (cid:145)Development cooperation(cid:146) and (cid:145)Cooperation in other areas(cid:146) chapters
of the agreement. The Commission will favour provisions promoting the role of women in the fields suggested
by the Honourable Member. Therefore, the agreement will benefit women.

The  negotiators  do  not  foresee  in  the  agreement  any  obligation  to  launch  studies,  but  the  Commission  is
committed to assessing the impact on women of any development programme already launched under the current
European programme for reconstruction and development in South Africa (EPRD) programme, and which will
be launched in the future.

The agreement will also contain provisions on the follow-up of cooperation between the Community and South
African activities. Concerning development cooperation in the framework of the EPRD, the Commission holds
annual consultations with the South Africa government where results and achievements of on-going programmes
are  reviewed,  and  this  practice  will  be  maintained  under  the  future  agreement.  When  it  comes  to  assessing
specific programmes, the Commission usually takes into account the views of the beneficiaries. Therefore, when
appropriate, the assessment of the impact on women will be done with womens(cid:146) representatives.

(98/C 196/160)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0085/98

by Carlos Robles Piquer (PPE) to the Commission

(30 January 1998)

Subject: Taiwan(cid:146)s financial situation and Taipei office

During the financial crisis which has hit the Asian financial markets in the past few months, one country has
formed a shining exception to the rule i.e. Taiwan. Its economy appears to have weathered the storm unaffected.

Can the Commission explain this admirable exception? Also, does it not think that this constitutes an additional
reason,  in  Europe(cid:146)s  interest,  to  find  the  necessary  funding  in  the  1998  Budget  for  an  information  office  as
referred to in the written question by Mr Dupuis (P-1432/97) of 16 April 1997 and in the reply by Sir Leon Brittan
(13 May 1997) published in the OJ of 4 December 1997 (1)?

(1)  OJ C 367, 4.12.1997, p. 125.