WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1998/98 by Jaak VANDEMEULEBROUCKE to the Council. Legal action against representatives of the Greek Rainbow Party
Date: 1998-06-29
Institutions: European Parliament, VANDEMEULEBROUCKE
Subjects: Greece, competence of the Member States, legal process, linguistic discrimination, national law, political parties, political rights

8.4.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 96/23

The Commission is not aware of any activities which might have given rise to the Honourable Member(cid:146)s

3.
question about cooperation with the media based in the North of Cyprus.

The Commission(cid:146)s partnership with Euronews is linked to a programme to expand the channel with the aim

4.
of boosting ratings. Recent audience figures for Europe are very encouraging.

The partnership with Euronews is also linked to an increase in the number of languages used in its

5.
programmes and Euronews is working hard on this objective.

(1999/C 96/030)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1998/98

by Jaak Vandemeulebroucke (ARE) to the Council

(29 June 1998)

Subject: Legal action against representatives of the Greek Rainbow Party

I gather that legal proceedings have been brought against four leaders of the Greek Rainbow Party (Vinozhito).

This party is completely legal and has already twice taken part in elections in Greece, including the European
Parliament elections in 1994.

The events which gave rise to the court case against the four leaders, Vasilis Romas, Costas Tasopoulos, Petros
Vasiliades and Pavlos Voskopoulos, are as follows: In September 1995 they are said to have instigated (cid:145)mutual
hatred among citizens(cid:146) (Art. 192 of the Greek Criminal Code) by erecting a placard on which their party(cid:146)s name
was displayed in two languages (Greek and Macedonian-Slavonic). In the ensuing disturbance, the whole
contents of their new office in Florina was destroyed.

Is the Council aware of these outrageous facts and the proceedings which are pending? Does it agree that basic
democratic and human rights are being disregarded here? Does the Council know of any possible measures which
could guarantee the democratic and political rights of all Greeks and Greek political parties as well as the freedom
of speech and freedom to choose one(cid:146)s language in Greece? Finally, is the Council prepared to place this issue on
the agenda of the relevant Council meeting, with the necessary follow-up measures?

Reply

(22 October 1998)

It is not for the Council to comment on a matter which is the responsibility of the internal legal system of the
Member State concerned.

(1999/C 96/031)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2000/98

by Irini Lambraki (PSE) to the Commission

(16 June 1998)

Subject: Amsterdam Treaty information campaign

The Amsterdam Treaty is at the stage of being ratified by the Member States. Does the Commission intend to
conduct an information campaign on the significance of the Treaty and, if so, what amounts does it plan to make
available to each Member State and what mechanisms will it use to administer those funds in each Member State?

Answer given by Mr Oreja on behalf of the Commission

(31 July 1998)

As part of the Priority Information Programme for European Citizens (Prince), the Commission is continuing the
(cid:145)Building Europe together(cid:146) campaign in 1998. The aim is to make it easier to explain the Amsterdam Treaty to
European citizens. This campaign was allocated appropriations totalling ECU 12 million for 1998. A call for
proposals was published in the Official Journal (1), and Member States who so wish were given the opportunity to