WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1837/98 by María SORNOSA MARTÍNEZ to the Commission. Women from the Community working in third countries
Date: 1998-06-12
Institutions: European Parliament, SORNOSA MARTINEZ
Subjects: Saudi Arabia, cooperation agreement (EU), foreign national, generalised preferences, human rights, migrant worker, torture, women's rights

C 13/96

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.1.1999

(1999/C 13/136)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1832/98

by Katerina Daskalaki (UPE) to the Commission

(12 June 1998)

Subject: Risk that the population in island and frontier regions of Greece will no longer have access to the press

A sudden twentyfold increase in the transportation charges for the press decided on by the management of
Olympic Airways on 1 June 1998 will make it very difficult for the publishers of newspapers, and particularly
those that are financially less well established, to send a sufficient number of copies to the island and frontier
regions of Greece.

This is a matter of vital importance and concerns the access to information of all citizens of the European Union.

In the resolution incorporated in own-initiative report A-0289/97 drawn up by the Committee on Culture, Youth,
Education and the Media on the impact of new technologies upon the press in Europe, the European Parliament
calls on the Commission and the Member States (cid:145)to monitor the distribution systems of the press in the Member
States and to take appropriate measures to ensure that all newspapers and periodicals have equal access
opportunities to distribution, so as to prevent any barrier to freedom of expression and circulation through
distribution(cid:146) and (cid:145)to explore the possibility of ... common rules on reducing postal, telecommunications and
freight charges for the press(cid:146).

What action does the Commission intend to take in response to this demand and the rest of the report?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(5 August 1998)

The Commission in its Decision 94/696/EC of 7 October 1994 on the aid granted by Greece to Olympic
Airways (1) introduced the objectives of Olympic Airways(cid:146) restructuring plan, the application of which was a
condition of the authorization of state aid measures for the company.

The Greek government adopted laws No 2271/94 and 2602/98 for the enforcement of the restructuring plan. Law
2602/98 in Article 1.8 stipulates that one of the measures to be adopted in order to enable the company to operate
according to the rules of private economy and free competition is the increase of the transport charges for the
press.

The company informed the Commission that the last increase in the press transport charges was in 1978. Since
then the price has remained unchanged, the freeze being regarded as a public service obligation. This regime is no
longer allowed by the restructuring plan of the company.

According to the management of Olympic Airways the new prices are in line with International air transport
association (IATA) Decision No 518 on transport charges for the press. Sharing the Parliament(cid:146)s desire to prevent
barriers to the freedom of expression, this decision provides that press transport charges are fixed at a discount of
33 % of the price of commercial air transport. Olympic Airways confirms that its new prices are even lower than
those fixed by IATA and they are applied equally to the Greek and foreign press.

(1) OJ L 273, 25.10.1994.

(1999/C 13/137)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1837/98

by Mar(cid:237)a Sornosa Mart(cid:237)nez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Women from the Community working in third countries

(12 June 1998)

Important organizations with a worldwide reputation such as Amnesty International and the International Labour
Organization (ILO) have been reporting cases of female workers from the Community being subjected to abuse
and even torture in countries such as Saudi Arabia, where there are particularly serious and frequent instances of
women being subjected to sexual harassment sanctioned by the law of the country.