WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3627/98 by Hartmut NASSAUER to the Commission. Reservation by the Czech Republic with regard to the right of individual recourse
Date: 1998-12-03
Institutions: European Parliament, NASSAUER
Subjects: Czechoslovakia, European Convention on Human Rights, accession to the European Union, expropriation, free movement of persons, fundamental rights, right of action

21.7.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 207/95

Has the Commission already taken formal note of the above-mentioned legislation in its preparations for the
forthcoming accession negotiations with the Czech Republic, or will it do so in the future?

What specific steps does the Commission intend to take regarding the accession negotiations with the Czech
Republic to prompt the Czech Government to bring its legislation and legal provisions into line with the
Declaration of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms?

Does the Commission believe it to be appropriate, in view of the accession negotiations, to persuade the Czech
Government that it is essential for it to distance itself from the ‘Beneš Decrees’ expropriating property and
depriving people of their rights, in order to guarantee that the principles of the rule of law and human rights
apply unrestrictedly in the enlarged European Union?

(1999/C 207/128)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3629/98

by Hartmut Nassauer (PPE) to the Commission

(3 December 1998)

Subject: Repercussions of the legislation in force in the Czech Republic on the assessment of its application for

accession

To date, the infringements of human rights committed by expelling citizens of various nationalities from
Czechoslovakia after the end of the Second World War have not been remedied. Many of those people are still
alive. Pursuant to decrees issued by the President of the Republic and other legislation, in 1945 and 1946 all
the property owned by certain people, mostly Germans and Hungarians, was expropriated. Although the
adverse effects of this situation continue to be felt, the provisions ordaining this expropriation are still
enshrined in the legal order of the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic persists in the view that the Law of
8 May 1946, which confers immunity from criminal proceedings with regard to the excesses committed in
connection with that expulsion, is still in force.

Does the Commission believe that the fact that basic human and civil rights are or are not infringed must affect
the way in which the European Union views the application of the Czech Republic for accession to the
European Union?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-3626/98, E-3628/98 and E-3629/98
given by Mr van den Broek on behalf of the Commission

(3 February 1999)

The accession negotiations concern the future membership of the Czech Republic in the Union and its
acceptance of Community rules (‘the acquis’).

Property ownership is not as such part of the acquis. Article 222 of the EC Treaty stipulates that the Treaty in
no way prejudices Member States’ rules governing the system of property ownership. The Commission,
therefore, considers the questions raised by the Honourable Member a bilateral issue between Germany and
the Czech Republic.

At the same time, the acquis contains a number of basic freedoms > such as the free movement of people and
the freedom movement of establishment > that will apply in the future equally to citizens of new and old
Member States. The application of these rights by the Czech Republic should ease the solution of the issue
mentioned by the Honourable Member.

(1999/C 207/129)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3627/98

by Hartmut Nassauer (PPE) to the Commission

(3 December 1998)

Subject: Reservation by the Czech Republic with regard to the right of individual recourse

The Czech Republic has signed the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms and the protocols thereto.