WRITTEN QUESTION P-2244/00 by Josu Ortuondo Larrea (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Albacore tuna fishing in the North Atlantic.
Date: 2000-06-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Atlantic Ocean, data collection, fishery management, fishing area, fishing regulations, fishing vessel, international cooperation

C 81 E/178

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.3.2001

(2001/C 81 E/227)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2243/00

by Jonas Sj(cid:246)stedt (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(5 July 2000)

Subject: Problems in implementing the posting of workers Directive

In response to problems affecting pay and working conditions in the construction industry in Germany,
minimum wage legislation was introduced following an agreement between the two sides of industry.
The implementation of the EU Directive on the posting of workers also sought to regulate the immigration
of workers, and the said conditions. The problem of legislating in this area is that the resources of the
authorities and the trade unions are inadequate to ensure compliance with the legislation.

(cid:145)Social dumping(cid:146) is apparently occurring on a large scale, with the use of illegal labour, and with some of
the workforce employed outside the rules and agreements in force. This conflicts with the requirement of
equal treatment of workers, regardless of their country of origin, and the requirement for competition on
equal terms, regardless of the contractor(cid:146)s country of origin. Is the Commission aware of these problems in
the German construction industry, and what action does it intend to take?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(7 September 2000)

Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the
posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services lays down a nucleus of mandatory rules
for minimum protection to be observed in the host country by employers who post workers to perform
temporary work in the territory of a Member State where the services are provided (1). These mandatory
rules include paid holidays and minimum wages.

Under this Directive, Member States must ensure cooperation between the public authorities which are
responsible for monitoring the terms and conditions of employment referred to. In addition, Member
States must take appropriate measures in the event of failure to comply with the provisions of this
Directive and, in particular, make sure that adequate procedures are available for the enforcement of the
obligations in question.

is therefore the responsibility of

It
Community provisions and, where necessary, to punish failure to comply with these provisions.

the national authorities,

to monitor the application of

firstly,

it must be emphasised that the legal mechanism created by the Directive does not affect the

Finally,
conditions of entry of third-country nationals into a Member State.

(1) OJ L 18, 21.1.1997.

(2001/C 81 E/228)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2244/00

by Josu Ortuondo Larrea (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

Subject: Albacore tuna fishing in the North Atlantic

(29 June 2000)

The Commission has presented its proposal for a regulation establishing technical measures to correct the
situation of certain populations of highly migratory species.

Amongst other things the regulation incorporates the 1998 and 1999 ICCAT (International Commission
for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) recommendations on restricting fishing capacity or effort in respect
of albacore tuna by limiting the number of vessels which will in future be allowed to fish to the average
recorded during the 1993-1995 period.

13.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 81 E/179

Given that the current fishing season(cid:146)s activity in this fishery has already commenced, it can be assumed
that the Commission has received the relevant data from each of the Member States involved and
has checked and validated it with a view to establishing the average number of vessels authorised in the
1993-1995 period, on the basis of which it was to fix the maximum number of vessels authorised
to fish in 2000.

Can the Commission supply the total annual figures for each EU Member State with regard to the number
of vessels authorised to fish and actually doing so continually and to the full extent in the albacore fishing
seasons in the North Atlantic in each year of the reference period, i.e. in 1993, 1994 and 1995?

What is the average established for each Member State with regard to vessels authorised to fish for
albacore and actually doing so continually during the period 1993 to 1995?

Can the Commission provide a breakdown by Member State of the total number of vessels authorised to
fish for albacore in 2000?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(20 July 2000)

In the framework of the application of the International commission for the conservation of Atlantic
tunas (ICCAT) recommendation concerning the number of vessels fishing for Northern Albacore, the
Commission has received from Member States the data corresponding to the reference levels for the period
1993-1995, as well as provisional data on the number of vessels they intend to authorise to participate
in the fishery in 2000.

The Commission is at present checking this information with the Member States, in order to apply this
ICCAT measure as soon as possible. Once the data has been confirmed it will be transmitted to the
Honourable Member.

(2001/C 81 E/229)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2245/00

by Ari Vatanen (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(29 June 2000)

Subject: Position of border areas in the management of the TACIS CBC programme

The land border between the EU and Russia represents the world(cid:146)s largest gap in living standards. In its
communication (cid:145)Strategic Objectives 2000-2005(cid:146) the Commission stated that it would pay particular
attention to speeding up cooperation with Russia. In his answer to my question (P-1379/00) (1) Commis-
sioner Barnier said that in the implementation of Interreg III, the management of small projects promoting
cross-border activities could be directly entrusted to cross-border cooperation initiatives such as Euregios.

There are problems with decision-making in the TACIS CBC programme which hinder its coordination
with the Interreg programme in border areas between the EU and Russia. Decisions on the TACIS CBC
programme are taken in Brussels and this decision-taking is not programme-based, whereas decisions on
Interreg are taken at regional level on a programme basis.

According to the North Karelian Union (Finland) and the Republic of Karelia (Russia), the Commission has
not asked the regions, or the Karelia Euregio comprising the regions, for opinions on TACIS CBC projects
concerning which the Commission(cid:146)s decision is due to be taken on 28 June and confirmed in July.
The Commission also states that opinions have been requested only from the TACIS office in Moscow, the
TACIS regional technical offices and the Ministry in Moscow.