WRITTEN QUESTION E-2263/00 by Brice Hortefeux (PPE-DE) to the Commission. The Community's Odysseus programme of training, exchanges and cooperation.
Date: 2000-07-07
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU programme, admission of aliens, illegal migration, migration control, right of asylum, trafficking in human beings

20.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 89 E/171

(2001/C 89 E/193)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2263/00

by Brice Hortefeux (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(7 July 2000)

Subject: The Community(cid:146)s Odysseus programme of training, exchanges and cooperation

On 19 June 2000 customs officers in the British port of Dover discovered 58 illegal immigrants who had
died in terrible circumstances while travelling clandestinely to Great Britain. This tragedy highlighted the
modesty of the means at the EU(cid:146)s disposal to fight against the trade in illegal immigrants.

training, exchanges and cooperation in the areas of asylum policy,
The Odysseus programme of
immigration and the crossing of the EU(cid:146)s external borders has a budget of only € 12 million for the
period 1998-2002. The programme is open to the Member States of the European Union and,
in
association, to the applicant countries. Training programmes, exchanges of officials or others responsible
for these questions, and studies and research in these areas can be carried out under the programme. The
Commission is responsible for the implementation of the measures carried out under the programme.
The programme offers funding for projects proposed by public or private institutions, non-governmental
organisations, research institutes, universities and training bodies.

How does the Commission assess the operation and objectives of this programme now that it has

1.
reached its mid-term point?

2.
In view of its budget, does the Odysseus programme not have too many objectives? Are the
measures for which the programme offers funding prioritised in the light of what is needed to combat
illegal immigration in particular?

Are the budget, the operation by invitation to tender and the objectives of the programme suited to

3.
needs in the area of policy on asylum, immigration and the crossing of external frontiers?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(7 September 2000)

The Commission shares the Honorable Member(cid:146)s concerns and confirms that,
in accordance with the
mandate conferred on it following the Feira European Council, it is in the process of putting together an
overall strategy on the management of migratory flows, taking into account the requirements of the fight
against clandestine immigration and the dismantling of criminal networks trafficking in human beings.

1.
The Commission assesses the Odysseus programme at various levels. Firstly, there is an internal
assessment in the shape of the report that the Commission sends annually to Parliament and the Council.
The 1999 activity report should come out shortly. In addition, there is an external survey carried out by an
independent consultancy, selected by tender, which, on examination of the cooperation programmes run
under Title VI of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), gave a satisfactory assessment of the extent to
which the Odysseus programme fulfilled the objectives which had been set for it in its legal basis
(joint action of 19 March 1998 adopted by the Council (1)). Finally, the programme was given a positive
assessment by the speakers at the conference organised on 24 November 1999 in Brussels in the presence
of representatives of Parliament, with all of Odysseus(cid:146) external partners. While there were a number of
criticisms, comments and suggestions at this conference, the purpose of which was to take stock of the
two years of implementation, most participants shared the view that the programme was responding
satisfactorily to the objectives it had been set.

2.
The programme(cid:146)s objectives and its financial allocation are set in the legal basis which was adopted
before the Treaty of Amsterdam entered into force and before the conclusions of the Tampere European
Council were drawn up. The adoption of Odysseus was a step towards greater cooperation and exchange
in the fields of asylum, immigration and the crossing of external borders. Like the other programmes

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20.3.2001

under Title VI of the TEU (Grotius, Oisin, Stop and Falcone), Odysseus pursues the general objectives of a
better understanding of
the problems involved in these fields and aims to promote a Community
dimension among the players (administrations, non-governmental organisations, international institutions,
academics) in charge of these questions.

Nonetheless, the Commission has always ensured, in its annual programme, that a significant share of the
budget is allocated to carrying out measures with topical relevance. Thus, if we take the selection made for
the year 2000 as an example, the programme(cid:146)s management committee selected 13 projects (out of 36)
proposed by the Commission on the fight against illegal immigration, trafficking in human beings and the
irregular crossing of the Union(cid:146)s external borders.

3.
In the light of the new developments introduced by the Treaty of Amsterdam, the objectives of the
Vienna action plan aimed at creating an area of freedom, security and justice and the conclusions of the
Tampere European Council, the Commission considers that the imminent expiry of the programme(cid:146)s
funding and legal basis should provide an opportunity to finalise a Community instrument meeting the
new needs arising from the development of common policies in the fields covered by Articles 62 and 63
of the EC Treaty.

(1) OJ L 99, 31.3.1998.

(2001/C 89 E/194)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2270/00

by Dominique Souchet (UEN) to the Commission

Subject: Penalties imposed on the CrØdit Mutuel

(7 July 2000)

The prospect of a Community decision to impose an enormous fine on the CrØdit Mutuel because of the
so-called State aid from which the (cid:145)Livret Bleu(cid:146) savings account is said to have benefited is causing
legitimate concern not only to the 5 million holders of the account in question and the 27 000 voluntary
elected representatives who have generously donated their time and skills in the service of the members of
the company, but also to all those, many of whom are elected members of French local councils, who have
a deep attachment to the mutualist spirit of local solidarity which has been, and continues to be, a decisive
factor of economic development for many French regions.

the end of an audit whose assessments, particularly those of a qualitative nature, are highly
At
questionable, it would appear that the Commission is leaning towards imposing a penalty which would
be both highly unjust and completely useless.

Unjust because the CrØdit Mutuel is an institution which performs tasks of public interest (cid:129) particularly in
the areas of local development and local-authority housing (cid:129) but has never made use of public funds,
unlike many other institutions, to help it out of the banking disasters it has sometimes suffered.

Useless because behind the complaint by the AFB (Association of French Banks), which refers exclusively
to matters of competition (although the volume of savings represented by the (cid:145)Livret Bleu(cid:146) (cid:129) 1,4 % of
French savings, 0,2 % of European savings (cid:129) is clearly in no position to distort competition) is hidden the
wish to see widespread distribution of such a tool, something to which the CrØdit Mutuel has no objection,
but only on condition that the practical
implications and rules are seriously discussed and the CrØdit
Mutuel is not subject to discriminatory treatment.

In this context,
the application of a penalty would certainly be a source of conflict, whereas the
establishment being penalised proposes a negotiated, equitable and satisfactory solution, for the plaintiffs
as well as everyone else. It is incomprehensible under these conditions that the Commission should persist
in a repressive course of relentlessly pursuing the CrØdit Mutuel, unless the real aim of the Commission is
to attack, not the modest product constituted by the (cid:145)Livret Bleu(cid:146), but the very principle of public savings
collection, against which we know that the trans-Atlantic financial institutions harbour a deep hostility,
refusing to take account of its role in economic development, particularly in the areas of SMEs and social
solidarity.