WRITTEN QUESTION E-1086/00 by Carmen Fraga Estévez (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Study of needs as regards supplies of tuna loins ‐ Commission objectives.
Date: 2000-04-07
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU market, common organisation of markets, fishery product, market research, supply, suspension of customs duties, tariff quota

13.3.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 81 E/17

background as prostitutes, but at present there is increasing evidence that the Albanians are diversifying
their recruitment, mainly from other Eastern European countries. In particular Moldavan women have
become victims for their criminal purposes.

Recent reports confirm that Albanian prostitution networks are particularly active in Italy, France, Belgium
and the United Kingdom. They mention the use of extreme violence against the victims and links to other
areas of organised crime.

Although the full extent of the problem is not known, since reliable and valid statistics are not available,
the problem of (forced) prostitution and procurement give reason for serious concern and awareness
within the Council.

In the process of enlargement, the Council and the 11 applicant countries at that time adopted the Pre-
accession Pact on Organised Crime between the Member States of the European Union and the applicant
countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Cyprus on 28 May 1998. The pact lists a number of practical
measures for combating organised crime and other forms of serious crime, including trafficking in human
beings and organised illegal immigration. The applicant countries(cid:146) abilities to fulfil the requirements of the
acquis with regard to preventing and combating organised crime is subject to monitoring during the
accession negotiations under Chapter 24: Cooperation in the fields of justice and home affairs.

The Secretary-General/High Representative together with the Commission reported to the Lisbon European
Council on the justice and home affairs situation in the Western Balkans and outlined the following
Recommendation for action against organised crime: The problem of organised crime needs to be grasped
in the context of the whole of South Eastern Europe. Any successful efforts to combat organised crime will
need to benefit from extensive co-ordination with other anti-crime initiatives in the region, as well as in
the broader European context. A strategy and action plan should be developed and closely related to the
(cid:145)Pre-Accession Pact on Organised Crime between the Member States of the European Union and the
applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Cyprus(cid:146) of 28 May 1998. This model could be
transposed to South Eastern Europe in the framework of the Stabilisation and Association Process and
under the umbrella of the Stability Pact. It should aim at promoting an efficient police structure, capable of
fighting organised crime, a suitably empowered justice system and the creation of appropriate legal bases
for combating corruption.

The Council Secretariat is actively participating in the drafting of the (cid:145)Stability Pact initiative on organised
crime in South-eastern Europe(cid:146) and the development of a comprehensive training programme for the
countries of the region in the field of police training in general and measures to combat crime combating
in particular.

(2001/C 81 E/018)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1086/00

by Carmen Fraga EstØvez (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(7 April 2000)

Subject: Study of needs as regards supplies of tuna loins (cid:129) Commission objectives

The Commission has released the study requested by the Council to establish needs as regards supplies of
tuna loins to the Community market. The request for a study came in response to the Commission
proposal to include a tariff suspension for that product for an indefinite period in the new regulation on
the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products. Confirming previous
assertions by Parliament and several Member States, the study found that real needs as regards supplies
of tuna loins did not exceed a figure ranging from 1 000 to 2 000 tonnes per annum; that a tariff
suspension would benefit a section of the Italian canning industry alone; that, in any event, the benefit
would be merely temporary, as the undertakings in question would need to undergo thorough restructur-
ing to enhance their cost structures; that, moreover, an indefinite suspension would result in losses for the
other parties involved (Spanish industry, the ACP countries and Latin American countries in trading
partnerships with the EU); and that the exporter country, Thailand, which had the most to gain from

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13.3.2001

building up its canned tuna market, would lose out as well. In the light of these findings, and bearing in
mind the aforementioned long-standing criticism by producer Member States and Parliament of the said
tariff suspension arrangements as unnecessary, and of their application as highly damaging,

Can the Commission answer the following:

(cid:129) what was the real aim underlying the Commission(cid:146)s eagerness to introduce the tariff suspension?

(cid:129) what was the Commission(cid:146)s assessment of its damaging impact, in the light of the criticism thereof

made by the sector, Parliament and producer Member States?

(cid:129) is the Commission aware that it could be accused of unlawfully colluding with a given undertaking to
help the latter, to the detriment of the remainder of Community industry, the ACP countries and those
states included in the GSP?

(cid:129) how can citizens trust the Commission when decisions are taken in an irresponsible fashion?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(5 June 2000)

The Commission regrets the inaccuracies contained in the Honourable Member(cid:146)s written question and
must stress that
it did not make public the study to which the Honourable Member refers. The
Commission sent the study only to the Council and to Parliament(cid:146)s fisheries committee. The document
indeed includes numerous data on private companies in Spain, France and Italy (e.g. market share,
turnover and shareholding), the publication of which could be detrimental to the firms(cid:146) competitiveness
(see the Council and the Commission(cid:146)s joint code of conduct on public access to documents, implemented
by Commission Decision 94/90/ECSC, EC, Euratom of 8 February 1994 (1), as amended by Decision 96/
567/EC, ECSC, Euratom (2)).

It is also incorrect to say that the study was requested in response to the Commission proposal to include,
in the new Regulation on the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products, a
tariff suspension for tuna loins. The study in fact stems from an undertaking which the Commission gave
at the Council(cid:146)s request when it adopted Council Regulation (EC) No 745/1999 of 30 March 1999
opening and providing for the administration of autonomous Community tariff quotas for certain fishery
products (3) for 1999, which set (cid:129) for the third year running (cid:129) a tariff quota for tuna loins.

The Commission would point out that, with its agreement, the Council did not opt for a tariff suspension
when adopting the new common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products. Instead
a compromise solution (a multi-annual tariff quota of 4 000 tonnes) (cid:129) supported by all the tuna-
producing Member States (cid:129) was found, which protects the interests of all the parties involved.

(1) OJ L 46, 18.2.1994.
(2) OJ L 247, 28.9.1996.
(3) OJ L 96, 10.4.1999.

(2001/C 81 E/019)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1096/00

by Joaquim Miranda (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(7 April 2000)

Subject: Environmental impact of the construction of a quay in the autonomous region of Madeira

A quay is currently under construction in the valley of Porto Novo (municipality of Santa Cruz,
Autonomous Region of Madeira), for which Community funding is being provided under the European
Regional Development Fund (ERDF).