WRITTEN QUESTION No. 250/98 by Richard HOWITT to the Commission. The absence of a common European Noise Directive
Date: 1998-02-13
Institutions: European Parliament, HOWITT
Subjects: EC Directive, drafting of EU law, noise, noise pollution, noise protection, nuisance, public health, quality of life

C 304/60

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

2. 10. 98

(98/C 304/83)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0248/98

by Allan Macartney (ARE) to the Commission

(13 February 1998)

Subject: Child welfare in the European Union

What progress has the Commission made in promoting and monitoring the implementation of policies on child
welfare in Member States consistent with those set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child? What
additional  resources  have  been  allocated  at  European  level  to  assist  Member  States  to  meet  their  obligations
under that Convention?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission

(3 April 1998)

Through  budget  line  B3-4108,  measures  in  favour  of  families  and  children,  the  Commission  has  co-funded
limited activities since 1989 in the area of child welfare and the rights of the child. In recent years the allocation
to  projects  of  that  nature  has  been  increasing.  Among  these  are  seminars  on  the  new  instruments  for  child
protection  such  as  the  ombudsmen  for  children,  on  how  to  have  children  formulate  their  voice,  an
interdisciplinary course on childrens(cid:146) rights for people working with children or in governments or about how to
create a more children friendly society.

The allocation for budget line B3-4108 is 4 MECU this year. Apart from social and demographic studies which
account for around 10% of the budget, this amount is equally shared between actions for families and actions for
children. Some of the latter are directly connected to measures linked to the rights of the child and the United
Nations (UN) convention.

In the education sector, and further to the Council conclusions of 22 September 1997 on safety at school (1), the
Commission  launched  in  1997  an  initiative  ailed  at  reinforcing  co-operation  at  the  European  level  on  issues
related to violence in schools and safety at school. Within this context, an amount of 558 300 ECU within budget
line B3-1000 (general measures of co-operation in education) was committed to support projects implementing
prevention shemes using multidimensional approach whereby different parties (teachers, pupils, parents, local
authorities, police, justice) are associated in the search for concrete solutions. This initiative is co-ordinated by a
group  of  experts  designated  by  the  Member  States  and  chaired  by  the  Commission.  Furthermore,  one  of  the
questions to be examined is the role of school in preventing child abuse, within schools and outside.

(1)  OJ C 303, 4.10.1997.

(98/C 304/84)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0250/98

by Richard Howitt (PSE) to the Commission

(13 February 1998)

Subject: The absence of a common European Noise Directive

Given the Community(cid:146)s concern for the health and well-being of the citizens of Europe, and given the clear aims
of  the  Environmental  Directives,  why  have  these  aims  not  been  (cid:145)streamlined(cid:146)  into  a  Directive  on  Noise
Pollution?

Will the Commission acknowledge that this is long overdue and that it should be undertaken as a matter of some
urgency?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(18 March 1998)

The Commission is already working to produce effective measures on noise, as announced in its 1996 green
paper on future noise policy (1).