WRITTEN QUESTION P-2316/99 by Niall Andrews (UEN) to the Commission. Failure of Malian company to pay outstanding funds, as contracted, to an Irish firm, Cormer Machinery International.
Date: 1999-11-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Ireland, Mali, international trade, international trade law

C 219 E/146

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

1.8.2000

In order to be able to compare the detected levels in the Kymijoki with the situation in other rivers, the
Commission would need more information on the way results have been calculated.
It would be
particularly helpful to have information on the concentrations of the different congeners, the depth at
which measurements were performed, and whether results have been calculated according to the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization/Centre for Coastal and Mar(cid:237)ne Sciences (NATO/CCMS) approach.

At this stage, without the benefit of more detailed information, it is difficult to judge the situation. The
Commission would therefore be grateful if the Honourable Member could provide the Commission with
more details.

In principle,
legislation. Therefore the possibilities to react at a Community level are limited.

this event, as described in the question,

is not covered by environmental Community

(2000/C 219 E/183)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2316/99

by Niall Andrews (UEN) to the Commission

(29 November 1999)

Subject: Failure of Malian company to pay outstanding funds, as contracted, to an Irish firm, Cormer

Machinery International

An Irish company, Cormer Machinery International Ltd. Entered into contract with Itema, a government-
backed Malian company, to supply and install second-hand textile machinery. The contract price was
USD 2,5 million, and an initial deposit of USD 850 000 was approved by the Malian Minister for Finance
and received by the Irish company in 1996. An amount of USD 1,65 million has not been forwarded by
Itema to Cormer Machinery International and is, therefore, still outstanding. Many discussions have taken
place regarding this issue between the Irish company involved and the Development Directorate of the
European Commission, as well as informally under the auspices of the ACP/EU Joint Assembly.

Will the European Commissioner for Development, Mr Nielson, request an urgent meeting with the Malian
representative to the European Union for an explanation as to why this Malian company has still not paid
to Cormer Machinery International Ltd. The monies which it agreed to pay to this Irish firm, and will the
Commissioner, as a matter of course, keep me informed about all developments regarding this issue until
such time as the serious problems detailed above have been satisfactorily and fully resolved?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(21 December 1999)

The Directorate general for development in Brussels and the delegation of the Commission in Bamako are
aware of the dispute between Cormer Machinery International Ltd and Itema.
the head of
delegation in Bamako has informally raised the matter with the Malian authorities including, in particular,
the Minister for finance. However, it is clear that the Commission has no competence in this matter which
is a commercial dispute between two companies for which international arbitrage arrangements are the
appropriate settlement channel.

Indeed,

(2000/C 219 E/184)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2325/99

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Preservation of the shipbuilding heritage (ca(cid:239)ques)

(13 December 1999)

In reply to my Written Question (E-3436/95) (1) concerning the preservation of the industrial heritage,
including fishing vessels from the eastern Mediterranean, the Commission referred to the then pending
Raphael programme and gave its assurance that (cid:145)should any initiatives linked with the (cid:133) specific fields of
interest meet the eligibility criteria (cid:133) then the Commission will gladly take them into consideration(cid:146). In