WRITTEN QUESTION E-2076/00 by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission. Ethnic Business.
Date: 2000-06-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European social policy, entrepreneur, ethnic discrimination

20.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 89 E/143

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(12 September 2000)

Union legislation concerning terrorism (such as the Convention relating to extradition between the
Member States) refers to the criminal conduct specified in Articles 1 and 2 of the European Convention
on the Suppression of Terrorism of 27 January 1977 (which cover the most serious offences, such as the
taking of hostages, the use of firearms and explosives, acts of violence against the life of liberty of persons
or which create a collective danger for persons).

Closer cooperation between Member States, including the improved exchange of operational information
about terrorist groups, is essential to avoid the Union(cid:146)s territory becoming a reserve for foreign terrorists
or a target for terrorist attacks. In this respect it should be noted that Europol(cid:146)s taking up responsibilities in
the field of counter-terrorism is providing further impetus for the activities of the Member States through
the exchange and development of information.

Despite some terrorist attacks, statistics generally show a decreasing trend in Member States over the last
few years. The possibility that terrorist groups can get possession of weapons of mass destruction is,
however, a serious challenge facing not only the Union, but the international community as a whole. In
this respect, it is important that Member States adopt standard measures to investigate and avert acts of
terrorism.

Article 29 of the Treaty on European Union mentions the fight against terrorism as a means to contribute
towards achieving the Union(cid:146)s objective of providing its citizens with a high level of safety within an area
of freedom, security and justice. In this respect the Commission cooperates with the Member States in the
relevant Council bodies, including the Council working group on terrorism as well as within Europol. The
Commission believes that the fight against terrorism demands concerted international action. Therefore it
is important for the Union to cooperate with relevant third countries, such as the United States. With this
country there exists broad agreement on the fight against terrorism and cooperation takes place in the
Transatlantic dialogue. The Union also plays an active role in the work carried out in the fight against
terrorism by the United Nations, in the framework of which a number of important conventions have
been and continue to be negotiated.

(2001/C 89 E/157)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2076/00

by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission

(27 June 2000)

Subject: Ethnic Business

DG Enterprise has commissioned research into ethnic minority business.

What progress has been made to date on these research projects?

What information has been obtained, and what lessons have been learnt so far?

Will these reports be made public?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(20 July 2000)

In Council Decision 97/15/EC of 9 December 1996 on a third multiannual programme for small and
medium-sized enterprises in the European Union (1) the Commission is asked to promote entrepreneurship
and support target groups, amongst which are entrepreneurs from ethnic minorities.

C 89 E/144

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.3.2001

Within this framework the Commission commissioned a study on young entrepreneurs, women entrepre-
neurs, ethnic minority entrepreneurs and co-entrepreneurs (2) in the Union and Central and Eastern Europe.
The main aim was to identify the key issues and problems facing the target groups, in order to inform
policy development at the European level and facilitate effective support for these target groups. The report
on this study is currently being finalised. A printed version of the summary will be widely disseminated
shortly.

Key findings, already available,
include the fact that ethnic minority businesses (EMBs) form a small
minority of the membership or client base of most business support and membership organisations. Just
over one fifth of general support organisations are providing specific services to or have policies regarding
ethnic minority entrepreneurs. Many of the problems faced by ethnic minority entrepreneurs are shared
with other small firms. However some issues appear to be more of a problem for EMBs, such as accessing
finance, perceived discrimination by some financial institutions (3) and support providers, language barriers,
limited business and management skills, and greater marketing weaknesses than the wider small business
population. Finally EMBs are over-concentrated in low entry threshold activities where the scope for
market development may be limited.

On the basis of these first results it appears that there may be a need to increase access of ethnic minorities
to both mainstream support provision and specially targeted support, to improve their access to finance,
support the development of EMBs in new sectors of activity and to sponsor initiatives to build local
capacity.

The full report on this survey will soon be made public and will be available to professional organisations
and to all those concerned. In addition to the study the Commission has supported a number of pilot
projects related to the training needs of entrepreneurs from ethnic minorities. The results of these projects
could provide useful information on the ways to address the needs of this target group.

(1) OJ L 6, 10.1.1997.
(2) The term co-entrepreneur is used to describe the situation of a spouse or other close partner of a business owner-
manager, who plays an important role in running a business even though he or she may not be, strictly speaking,
an owner-manager him or herself.

(3) See also reply given by the Commission to the Written Question E-714/00 by Mr Glyn Ford, MEP, OJ C 374 E,

28.12.2000, p. 141.

(2001/C 89 E/158)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2078/00

by Eija-Riitta Korhola (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(27 June 2000)

Subject: Classification of fuels in the EU

According to a recently published report drawn up by the international scientific study group set up by the
Finnish Ministry of Trade and Industry, peat as a fuel should be classified in its own category as a (cid:145)slowly
renewable biomass fuel(cid:146) as distinct from the biofuels proper (e.g. wood) on the one hand and fossil fuels
(e.g. oil and coal) on the other.

Peat is quite clearly a biofuel in terms of the way it is obtained, but its renewal time is significantly larger
than that for other biofuels. However, as a renewable energy source it should be distinguished from non-
renewable fossil fuels.

In the light of the most recent information on the matter, does the Commission feel the need to reconsider
the earlier classifications and categories relating to fuels?