WRITTEN QUESTION P-0235/00 by Christopher Heaton-Harris (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Educational priorities of the Portuguese Presidency.
Date: 2000-01-31
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU action, EU policy - national policy, Portugal, Presidency of the Council of the EU, continuing education, education policy, promotion of the European idea, vocational training

C 225 E/224

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

8.8.2000

Does the Commission realise that the Netherlandse Spoorwegen (NS) have cancelled the Deutsche
4.
Bahn VT624 train used hitherto so that the new regional rail company NordNed can take over the service
but that NooordNed has not has not yet come to any agreement on a subsidy with the Netherlands
Province of Groningen and the German Land of Lower Saxony and that no application for a timetable for
the winter period 2000-2001 has been submitted to the rail authorities?

5. What steps does the Commission intend to take to prevent a situation in which, as a result of the
withdrawal of the two national railway companies involved and insufficient regional subsidies, passenger
services on this railway line do not resume on completion of the repair work in October 2000, which
would mean that upgrading the TEN link had been pointless?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(25 February 2000)

The Commission is collecting the information it needs to answer the question. It will communicate its
findings as soon as possible.

(2000/C 225 E/260)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0233/00

by Luigi Vinci (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(4 February 2000)

Subject: Restructuring of the group ABB Alstom Power

The management of the group ABB Alstom Power, which is the product of a merger of 30 June 1999, has
announced that it is to undergo restructuring, involving job losses in some regions where the company has
branches. The group ABB Alstom Power or the companies involved in the merger have benefited from
Community aid. Will the Commission give details of the amounts and conditions involved and say whether
this aid was conditional on jobs being created? Should it transpire that all the relevant conditions have not
been met, will the Commission demand repayment of the aid granted to the group?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(10 March 2000)

The Commission is collecting the information it needs to answer the question. It will communicate its
findings as soon as possible.

(2000/C 225 E/261)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0235/00

by Christopher Heaton-Harris (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Educational priorities of the Portuguese Presidency

(31 January 2000)

the Portuguese Presidency, could the
Following the publication of
Commission clearly outline its interpretation of the stated aim to explore the idea of a European dimension
in education?

the documented Programme of

How does the Commission envisage both its own role in achieving this aim and also that of the
governments of individual Member States?

8.8.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 225 E/225

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(14 February 2000)

The Commission fully shares the priorities of the Portuguese Presidency in the area of education, which are
part of
the promotion of a Europe of knowledge based on lifelong education and training. The
Commission supports, inter alia, the Presidency(cid:146)s initiative to set up a new rolling agenda in order to
give greater continuity and effectiveness to the Council(cid:146)s work in the areas of education and training. It
expects that this will increase the impact of the Community action programmes Socrates and Leonardo,
one of whose main objectives is to strengthen the European dimension of education and training.

As far as the respective roles of the Member States and the Commission in promoting these objectives are
concerned, it should be pointed out that the Community(cid:146)s responsibilities in the area of education are
clearly defined in Article 149 (ex-Article 126) of the EC Treaty. This Article stipulates that the Community
(cid:145)shall contribute to the development of quality education by encouraging cooperation between Member
States and,
if necessary, by supporting and supplementing their action, while fully respecting [their]
responsibility for the content of teaching and the organisation of education systems and their cultural and
linguistic diversity(cid:146).

(2000/C 225 E/262)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0247/00

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(7 February 2000)

Subject: Withholding of the premium for tobacco producers for the Community Tobacco Fund

In its resolution of 17.7.1997 (1) on the common organisation of the market in raw tobacco, the European
Parliament called on the Commission to supply information on the activities so far of the Tobacco
Research and Information Fund as a precondition for any agreement to increase the resources available to
it.

1.
Has any information been published about the use of the resources withheld between 1993 and
1988 by the Tobacco Research and Information Fund? Which programmes have been funded for Greece
so far?

2.
Given that no implementing regulation has been issued to increase the deduction decided by Council
Regulation 1636/98 (2) on the Community Tobacco Fund, does the Commission intend to examine the
possibility of not withholding the premium for tobacco producers for the above Fund in 1999?

(1) OJ C 286, 22.9.1997, p. 237.
(2) OJ L 210, 28.7.1998, p. 23.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(8 March 2000)

The Commission is collecting the information it needs to answer the question. It will communicate its
findings as soon as possible.