WRITTEN QUESTION E-2779/00 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission. Article 14 Committee.
Date: 2000-09-01
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: administration of the Institutions, appointment of staff, committee (EU), management, staff

C 163 E/8

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2001

The approach of the Commission revolves around the application of a revised Directive 90/220/EEC
1.
prior to transposition into national law. This firstly requires that the Parliament and Council can agree on
a final text during conciliation and adopt a revised directive. If this is the case, then Member States will
have a further 18 months to transpose the revised directive into national law. It is only after this interim
period that the Directive would enter fully into force. The approach of the Commission aims to address
this interim period. This approach builds on the initiative taken by some companies which had already
indicated to the Commission their willingness to include, as part of
their applications, voluntary
commitments that go beyond the existing requirements under Directive 90/220/EEC.

The orientations agreed by the Commission at its meeting on 12 July 2000, were transmitted to
2. to 4.
the Parliament,
through the Committee on the environment, public health and consumer policy,
immediately following the Commission meeting, as is normal practice. Those orientations were transmitted
to the press in press release IP/00/78. Further information to Parliament was the subject of numerous
phone conversations and regular contacts with the Environment committee and the Secretariat which
resulted in both Commissioners responsible for the environment and for consumer protection attending
a special meeting of the Environment committee on 24 October, to present the GMO strategy.

The objective of the Commission(cid:146)s initiative of 12 July 2000 is to re-launch the authorisation
5.
procedure for GMOs on the basis of voluntary commitments by the notifiers to apply the new
requirements of the revised directive. These provisions should ensure a high level of protection for
human health and the environment and,
the authorisation procedure is based upon
in any case,
a comprehensive assessment of risks to human health and the environment and where necessary the
opinion of the scientific committees is sought to validate the scientific basis. This initiative from the
Commission should make it possible for Member States to act on a different and stronger basis in the
regulatory committee, as well as in the Council, while restoring the confidence of consumers and trading
partners.

6.
There is a need to re-establish confidence in the approval system and to allow consumers to choose
for themselves whether they want products containing GMOs or not. Against this background, a frame-
work for the authorisation and control of GMOs that
is reliable and safe for consumers and the
environment will be provided in the revised Directive 90/220/EEC. The Commission is ready to take the
political leadership and has now proposed to apply (cid:129) together with the Member States (cid:129) the provisions
of this new framework before their final transposition into national legislation and thus to take forward
the debate on GMOs in the Community.

This initiative proposed by the Commission is not influenced by any single interest group or party, but is
a first step towards a more constructive and responsible strategy on GMOs. A strategy that implies
dialogue with all interested parties (cid:129) consumers, agriculture, industry, non-governmental organisations,
science, governments, European institutions and trading partners (cid:129) is maintained. The objective of this
initiative is to resume the authorisation process for GMOs whilst addressing public concerns on GMOs as
well as problems of legal uncertainty for those concerned. In this way the Commission wants to give a clear
response to political and legal concerns over GMOs that favours consumer choice and legal certainty.

(2001/C 163 E/009)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2779/00

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(1 September 2000)

Subject: Article 14 Committee

Will the Commission please indicate the remit of what is known as the Article 14 Committee and list its
members by name and function? When, and how often, does it meet?

6.6.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 163 E/9

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(10 October 2000)

The Commission does not have sufficient details to be able to reply to the Honourable Member(cid:146)s question.
The Honourable Member is requested to provide more details of the committee (e.g. the area of its activity,
or the directive under which it was set up).

(2001/C 163 E/010)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2787/00

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(1 September 2000)

Subject: Illegal immigration from Albania

In October 1999 the Tampere European Council spelled out the key elements of the common European
asylum and migration policy, namely: partnership with countries of origin as part of a comprehensive
approach to tackle the political aspects, human rights, and development problems in the countries and
regions from which migrants start out or which they pass through; a common European asylum system;
fair treatment of nationals of non-member countries; and migration control based on an active common
policy on visas and forged documents and on measures to combat organised crime, in this case smuggling
of migrants into the Union, and trafficking in and exploitation of human beings.

Moreover, in March 1999 the Council adopted joint actions in which a Union contribution was earmarked
to help re-establish effective police forces in Albania.

The situation in recent years can only be described as intolerable because there have been several incidents
in which many illegal immigrants and Italian police-officers have lost their lives. In one particularly serious
incident off Apulia on 24 July 2000, traffickers in human beings (or (cid:145)scafisti(cid:146)) rammed an Italian customs
patrol boat, resulting in the deaths of two customs officers, a Kurdish refugee, and two traffickers.

The Commission:

1. Does it not believe, therefore, that the Union should address itself to this problem, given that the
Italian borders are now European borders and drugs, cigarettes, and arms, as well as immigrants, do
not just stop at the Italian coast, but find their way to European capital cities such as Paris,
Amsterdam, and so forth?

2. Does it not take the view that Albania needs to crack down more severely on organised crime?

3. Does it not consider that it should freeze the various forms of financial aid granted to Albania?

4. What is the Commission(cid:146)s general opinion on the events now taking place?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(3 October 2000)

1.
The Commission is fully aware of the problems caused by smuggling and trafficking of human beings
across the Adriatic sea. Albania is one of the most important routes of illegal or illicit entry from the
Balkans into the Union. As regards customs, a Community customs assistance mission (CAM-A) is already
in place in Albania since June 1997 in order to support the modernization of the Albanian customs
services. This comprises specific anti-smuggling actions, also in cooperation with the Italian Guardia di
Finanzia. As for the police, a multinational police mission led by the Western European Union (WEU) and
supported by an Community Joint Action and Community assistance is providing advice and training to
the Albanian police. Since 1999, this assistance takes also the form of mobile teams training the Albanian
police on the ground.