WRITTEN QUESTION E-1716/99 by Lucio Manisco (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Environmental disaster following the bombing of Pancevo.
Date: 1999-09-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU environmental policy, Serbia and Montenegro, war damage

24.10.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 303 E/7

Does the Commission intend, contrary to the press reports, to adhere to 1 January 2000 as the

3.
deadline for introducing the new identification and labelling system?

(1) OJ L 117, 7.5.1997, p. 1.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(22 November 1999)

Article 19 of Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97 of 21 April 1997 establishing a system for the
identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products (1)
states that the Commission shall receive reports from all Member States on the implementation of beef
labelling and shall draft a report to the Council and Parliament, accompanied by proposals for the future,
on the situation across the Community.

A reliable, compulsory beef labelling scheme depends on a fully operational system of identification and
registration of bovine animals. In the compiling of the report, the Commission came to the conclusion that
adequate systems for tracing back carcasses to the holding from which they last came are in place in all
Member States except one. However, it will not be possible for at least half of the Member States, as from
1 January 2000, to know for each animal slaughtered, its place of birth and all the places or countries
where it has been held during its life, in particular because the requirement for the full movement record
of an animal in the form of a passport only applies to animals born after 1 January 1998.

On 13 October 1999, the Commission formally adopted the report (2) and two proposals (3), which set the
timeframe for the compulsory labelling of beef in the Community. Both proposals are based upon Article
152 (public health) (ex-Article 129) of the EC Treaty.

The objective of the first proposed regulation is to replace the existing Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97
and to lay down the general rules for a compulsory labelling system in two steps. The first stage, which
will enter into force one month after the adoption of the regulation, makes provision for the obligatory
indication on labels of information readily available concerning the point of slaughter. From 1 January
2003 the beef label has also to include in addition precise information about where the animal was born
and reared.

Given the time required for adoption of the first regulation under co-decision, a second regulation has
been proposed. This amending regulation prolongs the dispositions of the existing Council Regulation
(EC) No 820/97, which provide a legal base for voluntary labelling scheme only until 1 January 2000.
However, this prolongation will only last until such time as the first proposal is adopted, that is, until
1 January 2001 at the latest.

(1) OJ L 117, 7.5.1997.
(2) COM(1999) 486 final.
(3) COM(1999) 487.

(2000/C 303 E/006)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1716/99

by Lucio Manisco (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(29 September 1999)

Subject: Environmental disaster following the bombing of Pancevo

An unprecedented environmental catastrophe with disastrous consequences for human health was caused
during the Balkans(cid:146) conflict by the destruction by missiles of the refinery, fertiliser and petrochemical
plants at Pancevo. The destruction has resulted in the release into the atmosphere of thousands of tonnes
of oil, vinyl chloride, monomer, mercury, sulphur dioxide, nitric acids and trichlorodiphenyl/trichlor-
oethane.

C 303 E/8

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

24.10.2000

The enormous quantities of toxic pollutants released into the environment have found their way into
the water distribution system, the ground water, the Danube and other waterways in areas hundreds of
kilometres from Pancevo. Despite the partial evacuation of the population, which stood at 150 000 inha-
bitants prior to the bombing, there has been an alarming increase in the adverse effects on public health of
the pollution caused by the bombing, which include pulmonary disorders, miscarriages, blood and nervous
system disorders.

The above situation has been described by reports from specialised United Nations staff, based on
inspections in the field, from environmental associations and from European journalists, most recently
the Italian Fulvio Grimaldi.

1. What urgent action does the Commission intend to take in order to contain the damage that is being
done to the health of people living in the area and the surrounding countries?

2. What emergency means does it intend to make available, within the framework of the Obnova
programme and the recent decisions taken by the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Union in Saariselka,
in order to ensure a rapid clean-up in the regions already affected and those that are likely to be affected
by the disaster?

(2000/C 303 E/007)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1840/99

by Christos Folias (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(11 October 1999)

Subject: The European Union(cid:146)s environmental policy

The environmental damage caused by the recent military intervention in Kosovo has not yet been fully
assessed, and it is likely that the health of inhabitants of the region is at risk.

Cross-border pollution (cid:129) in the atmosphere and the sea and rivers (cid:129) may also have polluted the
environment in neighbouring countries and in particular in Greece as well as in the other Balkan countries
that have applied to join the European Union and are subject to the pre-accession environmental strategy.

Will the Commission say:

1. Does it intend to assess the environmental damage to the region and, if so, when?

2. Why have the European Environmental Agency in Copenhagen and the Ispra research centre, which
have the necessary know-how and technology to carry out the necessary investigations, not yet been
involved?

3. How does it intend to ensure that the funding of countries in the region within the framework of the
Stability Pact and the organisation for the reconstruction of the Balkans includes environmental
aspects?

(2000/C 303 E/008)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1871/99

by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(12 October 1999)

Subject: Assessment of the environmental consequences of the war in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

and measures to protect public health and the environment and to repair the damage

In view of the fact that:

A. The military operations over the last few months in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and in Kosovo
in particular, have caused significant damage to the environment owing to the release of large
amounts of exceptionally toxic and radioactive substances resulting from the use of ammunition
containing depleted uranium. These substances now pose a direct threat to the public health of the
inhabitants of the region and neighbouring countries;