WRITTEN QUESTION E-0763/00 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Council. Production of Agent Orange by the European chemicals industry.
Date: 2000-03-15
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Belgium, EU Member State, United States, Viet Nam, chemical industry, chemical weapon, common foreign and security policy, producer's liability, war

28.12.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 374 E/149

(2000/C 374 E/175)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0752/00

by Theresa Villiers (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(13 March 2000)

Subject: Rome Convention

What meetings have taken place in the Commission relating to the proposed legislation on non-
contractual obligations (Projet de communication sur la loi applicable aux obligations non-contractuelles
(Rome II)) to replace the Rome Convention in the last six months? Where did these meetings take place?
Have discussions on this proposal taken place with the Council during the last six months? If so, on what
occasions and what were the conclusions of the meeting? What level of civil servant attended the
meetings? Which Commission officials attended the meetings?

Which Commission officials and/or department have overall charge of negotiations on Rome II? Is the
inter-service consultation document (DG JAI D (99) 495 (cid:129) Communication de la Commission sur la loi
applicable aux obligations non-contractuelles), which is in circulation at the present time, available in
English? If the answer is no, why is no copy available in English? What is the content of the inter-service
consultation document and when is the outcome of the inter-service consultation expected?

Are any outside bodies being consulted on this proposal? If so, which groups are being consulted and how
are these groups selected?

When is publication of a formal legislative proposal expected in this area and when is the legislative
process expected to be completed?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(14 April 2000)

The Rome II project on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations is not intended to replace but to
complement the existing Rome Convention on the law applicable to contractual obligations.

A number of discussions on the project took place in a Council working group between July 1998
and October 1999. These discussions have been temporarily suspended to allow the Commission to come
forward with an initiative.

inter-service consultation on a
The document to which the Honourable Member refers is an internal
document to launch a public consultation. The Commission does not intend to put forward legislation
until this process of public consultation has been concluded.

The Commission will shortly take a decision as to if and when this document will be adopted.

(2000/C 374 E/176)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0763/00

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(15 March 2000)

Subject: Production of Agent Orange by the European chemicals industry

On Tuesday, 22 February Belgium(cid:146)s Deputy Minister of Overseas Development stated in Vietnam that his
country bore a responsibility towards the Vietnamese people for the large-scale use of Agent Orange as a
chemical weapon by the American army. He said that the Belgian chemicals industry had been involved in
producing the defoliant in Belgium. On Friday, 25 February, however, Fedichem (the federation of the
chemicals-processing industry) formally denied the involvement of the Belgium chemicals industry in
manufacturing Agent Orange,

C 374 E/150

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

28.12.2000

To clarify this matter I should be grateful for answers to the following questions:

1. Were chemicals enterprises in Belgium involved in manufacturing of the defoliant Agent Orange,
which was subsequently used by the American army as a chemical weapon in Vietnam, as the Belgian
Deputy Minister has said?

2. Were chemicals enterprises in other EC Member States involved in manufacturing the defoliant Agent
Orange, which was subsequently used by the American army as a chemical weapon in Vietnam?

Reply

(25 May 2000)

The issue, to which the Honourable Member refers in his question, has never been raised within the
Council.

The Honourable Member will recall that the TEU, setting up the common foreign and security policy, has
been concluded and has entered into force much later than the events referred to in his question.

(2000/C 374 E/177)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0772/00

by Nicholas Clegg (ELDR) to the Commission

(9 March 2000)

Subject: Lesser Developed Countries in the WTO

The Commission has recently announced a package of trade concessions to the Lesser Developed Countries
in the WTO. This package consists of a tariff-free access to (cid:145)essentially all(cid:146) products from LDCs.

Could the Commission specify exactly which products are not covered by these concessions.

(2000/C 374 E/178)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0778/00

by Nicholas Clegg (ELDR) to the Commission

(16 March 2000)

Subject: Less Developed Countries in the WTO

The Commission has recently announced a package of trade concessions to the Less Developed Countries
in the WTO. This package consists of tariff-free access to (cid:145)essentially all(cid:146) products from LDCs.

In a separate question I have asked the Commission to specify exactly which products are not covered by
these concessions.

Could the Commission also specify the value of trade in those products not covered by the package, for
both the LDCs in question and the EU (by Member State).

Joint answer
to Written Questions P-0772/00 and E-0778/00
given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(27 April 2000)

The Honourable Member refers to the Community initiative granting free access to industrialised countries(cid:146)
markets for essentially all products from the least developed countries (LDCs), and greater access to
developing countries(cid:146) markets. His question follows on from Oral Question H-206/00 made by Mr Howitt
at Parliament(cid:146)s plenary part-session in March (1).