WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1620/98 by Glyn FORD to the Commission. Homeworkers in Europe
Date: 1998-05-27
Institutions: European Parliament, FORD
Subjects: home working, national implementing measure, working time

C 354/118

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

19. 11. 98

In  March  1998  the  Member  States,  meeting  within  the  Committee  on  Humanitarian  Aid,  supported  a
Commission proposal to grant a total of ECU 7.2 million in aid for the Sahrawi refugees in Algeria in 1998.
The Member States also noted that the Commission might draw up a new proposal for assistance during the year,
depending on how the situation developed.

(98/C 354/190)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1618/98
by Ernesto Caccavale (UPE) to the Commission
(11 May 1998)

Subject: Aid to the parts of Campania hit by floods

A catastrophic flood hit parts of the Campania region a few days ago, causing an emergency with disastrous
effects › whole villages were completely cut off or were overwhelmed by a sea of mud and debris and mountain
landslides  on  an  enormous  scale  submerged  houses  and  roads.  Thousands  of  people  were  made  homeless,  a
substantial number of people were killed and many others are missing. Furthermore, the civil protection services,
which are on high alert, have reported that in some areas vital services such as water, electric light and gas have
been suspended.

In view of the exceptionally serious situation and the fact that the tragedy was predictable and inevitable, in that
the  affected  areas  are  very  built-up,  but  were  at  high  risk  as  far  as  ground  water  was  concerned,  can  the
Commission:
1.  send immediate aid to the people hit by what is a veritable natural calamity;
2.  say whether it considers it necessary to check up on the administration of regional planning policies and
possibly adopt measures to monitor situations where there is a threat of landslides and reckless unauthorized
property development has been carried out?

Answer given by Mr Santer on behalf of the Commission
(12 June 1998)

The Honourable Member referred to the answer given by the Commission to urgent resolutions on 14 May 1998,
which is being sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament(cid:146)s Secretariat.

Among other things, the Commission said that there is no longer a budget heading for emergency aid. On the
monitoring of regional policy, the Commission said that the Member States were trying to establish the principles
of Community-level regional policy on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement.

As far as civil protection actions are concerned, the Commission does not have operational responsibilities but
takes  measures  only  in  accordance  with  the  subsidiarity  principle.  In  the  context  of  the  implementation  of
Council Decision 98/22/EC of 19 December 1997, establishing a Community action programme in the field of
civil protection, (1) the priorities of this programme have been agreed with the Member States and will cover
amongst other initiatives the following:
›  a major project in the field of the prevention of disasters which is particularly important for hydrogeological

risks,

›  a  process  for  improving  crisis  management  aiming  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  interventions  in  case  of

disaster,

›  a global system for the information to the public, with a view to improving the self protection and awareness

of citizens in particular in areas prone to specific risks.

In addition, a resolution of the Council of July 1991 (2) stresses the necessity, in case of emergencies, to improve
mutual assistance between Member States. In this perspective, the Commission has already developed important
work in this context including a system of sending, upon request, experts to a Member State, and an operational
manual for civil protection in the Community.

(1)  OJ L 8, 14.1.1998.
(2)  OJ C 198, 27.7.1991.

(98/C 354/191)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1620/98
by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission
(27 May 1998)

Subject: Homeworkers in Europe

As the Working Time Directive clearly indicates that it applies to all types of workers, including homeworkers,
what steps will the Commission take to monitor and enforce this provision?