WRITTEN QUESTION E-0546/00 by William Newton Dunn (ELDR) to the Commission. Welfare of laying hens.
Date: 2000-02-28
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: animal welfare, common commercial policy, import (EU), laying poultry

13.2.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 46 E/11

An interdepartmental working party consisting of representatives of financial units from the Directorates-
General is currently looking into the root causes of under-performance and will propose improvements.

In Part Two of the White Paper (cid:145)Reforming the Commission: Action plan(cid:146) (1) the Commission confirms that
one of the objectives of the reform is to achieve 95 % of payments within 60 days by 2002 (Action 10:
Departments will be asked to set their own targets for meeting the Commission-wide target of payment in
60 days for 95 % of invoices by 2002 and to report on measures taken and results in their Annual Activity
Report). The appraisal by the Commission of the outputs delivered by services will take into account this
indicator.

In addition, the Commission will set up a central invoices register to allow better follow up (Action 11 of
the White Paper).

(1) COM(2000) 200 final.

(2001/C 46 E/013)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0527/00

by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(28 February 2000)

Subject: Abolition of duty-free and tax privileges for diplomats

With reference to Question E-1996/99 (1) and the Commission(cid:146)s answer, which states that
the tax
privileges for which the 1961 Vienna Convention provides are no longer justified in the European internal
market and should really be abolished, the Commission is asked to say whether, in accordance with the
principle of fairness and political decency, it intends to extend the argument consistently advanced on the
subject of the abolition of duty-free sales to all citizens of the EU and bring to an end the similar special
privileges enjoyed by the EU(cid:146)s diplomatic staff?

(1) OJ C 219 E, 1.8.2000, p. 63.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(14 April 2000)

On the issue of privileges granted to diplomats under the Vienna Convention, the Commission has nothing
further to add to its reply to the previous Written Question E-1996/99 by the Honourable Member.

(2001/C 46 E/014)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0546/00

by William Newton Dunn (ELDR) to the Commission

(28 February 2000)

Subject: Welfare of laying hens

If the EU fails to secure a welfare clause in the forthcoming WTO negotiations, what will the Commission
do to ensure that producers are protected from a flood of cheap, third-country imports?

C 46 E/12

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.2.2001

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(12 May 2000)

As the Honourable Member will know, there was considerable resistance at the Seattle World Trade
Organisation (WTO), Ministerial Conference to the Community call to include animal welfare in the
agenda for the next round of trade talks.
It is clear that much of this resistance was based on a
misunderstanding of our objectives. The Commission will continue to work actively both to launch a
comprehensive round of trade talks and to create a better understanding of our concerns on animal
welfare in order to achieve a satisfactory outcome.

(2001/C 46 E/015)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0553/00

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission

(29 February 2000)

Subject: Consumption of the meat of endangered primates

According to a recent report by the World Conservation Union, one of the leading environmental
lemurs and other primates risk
associations in the United States, around 25 species of monkeys,
disappearing from our planet in the next 10 to 20 years. This threat of extinction is caused not only by
the destruction of tropical forests, but also by an increasingly alarming phenomenon (cid:129) the exponential
growth in the consumption of monkey meat.

The blame is being laid first and foremost on the logging companies, trading in tropical timber, which
allegedly fail to provide their workers with sufficient food. Furthermore, the problem of poaching has
become more serious as a result of the wars which are devastating central Africa and have put an end to
tourism, which was previously the cornerstone of the local economies. Now that gorillas are no longer
useful as a tourist attraction, their meat has acquired enormous value as a delicacy.

Can the Commission say what measures it intends to take to guarantee the protection of the primate
species under threat of extinction?

Can it issue a directive banning all forms of trade in monkey meat within the EU, especially considering
the serious viral risk presented by the consumption of such meat?

Can the Commission also put the required pressure on the WHO to ban such practices in the countries in
question?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(4 April 2000)

The information available to the Commission indicates that trade of illegal primate meat towards the
Community is not a significant factor in the context of the extinction of endangered primates. Interna-
tional commercial trade in parts or derivatives of great ape species is already prohibited under the
provisions of the Convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora
(CITES) as it is for all other species threatened with extinction included in its Appendix I and Annex A
of Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 (1), which implements CITES in the Community. A great number of
developing countries are party to CITES as well as 14 Member States.