WRITTEN QUESTION E-2882/00 by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Council. Population trends in Spain and Galicia and EU harmonisation of the legal, economic and social conditions of women's work.
Date: 2000-09-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Council of the European Union, European social policy, Galicia, Spain, family policy, powers of the institutions (EU)

C 174 E/14

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

19.6.2001

The need to combat this type of fraud was taken into account in the action plan of the Council and the
Commission of 3 December 1998 on how best to implement the provisions of the Treaty of Amsterdam
on an area of freedom, security and justice (2). That action plan mentions high-tech crime among the types
of criminal behaviour which should be approached in an equally efficient way throughout the European
Union and for which (cid:145)the possibilities of
improving coordination of prosecution, whenever greater
efficiency can be reconciled with respect for individual rights, must be examined.(cid:146)

The Honourable Member will also note that, at its special meeting in Lisbon on 23 and 24 March 2000,
the European Council stated that (cid:145)the rules for electronic commerce must be predictable and inspire
business and consumer confidence(cid:146). It called on the Council, along with the European Parliament where
appropriate, to adopt as rapidly as possible during 2000 pending legislation on the legal framework for
electronic commerce and suggested that the Commission and the Council consider how to promote
consumer confidence in electronic commerce. (3)

The Council has since reached provisional agreement, at its meeting on 29 May 2000, on a draft
framework Decision on combating fraud and counterfeiting of non-cash means of payment. The aim of
the draft is to ensure that fraud in respect of non-cash means of payment is recognised as a criminal
offence and is punishable by effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties in all the Member States. It
also aims to introduce suitable cooperation mechanisms so that such offences can be prosecuted
effectively, without prejudice to the Member States(cid:146) right to criminalise other forms of fraud in respect of
non-cash means of payment. In its Opinion of 5 July 2000, the European Parliament agreed to this draft,
which is still the subject of parliamentary scrutiny reservations in some Member States. Those reservations
will probably be withdrawn very soon, and formal adoption is planned for early 2001.

(1) Report by the Committee on Citizens(cid:146) Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs on the proposal for a Council
framework Decision on combating fraud and counterfeiting of non-cash means of payment (COM(1999) 438-
C5-0066/2000 (cid:129) 1999/0190(CNS)).

(2) OJ C 19, 23.1.1999, p. 1-15.
(3) Presidency conclusions.

(2001/C 174 E/014)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2882/00

by Camilo Nogueira RomÆn (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(13 September 2000)

Subject: Population trends in Spain and Galicia and EU harmonisation of the legal, economic and social

conditions of women(cid:146)s work

According to demographic forecasts by the EU(cid:146)s statistical services, the population of the Spanish state is
likely to diminish considerably over the next fifty years (by as much as 10 million), should the current,
extremely low birth rate be maintained. Numerous specialists, expressing views which common sense itself
confirms, believe that the main cause of the low birth rate lies in the problems faced by women in trying
to reconcile the world of work with their family responsibilities and the upbringing and education of
in the face of the unacceptable rigidity of employers who prefer to recruit women without
children,
children, thus deterring women who would otherwise want more children from having them; a further
factor lies in the financial penalties attaching today to extended maternity leave, given the lack of creche
facilities and the obstacles to women improving their technical and professional skills during their
maternity leave.

The demographic problems obviously have numerous additional causes (cid:129) one of them being men(cid:146)s
continued unwillingness to help in the home (cid:129) which are independent of the specific problems faced by
women. They are also to be found to some extent in most of the Member States, although they are hitting
the Spanish state (cid:129) and within it, regions such as Galicia (cid:129) particularly hard. However, the nature of the

19.6.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 174 E/15

economic and social support offered to women varies enormously from one Member State to another, and
the situation in the Spanish state is particularly unfavourable in both legal and financial terms. The aid
provided in the Spanish state to families with large numbers of children is one-seventh of that granted in
France and one-ninth of that obtaining in Luxembourg.

In view of these circumstances,
is the Council considering any initiative, by joint agreement with the
Commission and Parliament, for the harmonisation of the legal conditions which affect the economic and
social dimensions of family life, with particular reference to women, and make it impossible or difficult for
women to have more children?

Reply

(8 March 2001)

The Council is aware of the demographic problems and the impact they may have on the job situation in
the future.

The Council would remind the Honourable Member that it has no responsibility in family policy matters;
however, it is considering ways of better reconciling professional and family life, especially in connection
with the monitoring of Member States(cid:146) implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. That is why the
Council is preparing a set of conclusions on this issue.

In addition, the Lisbon European Council on 23 and 24 March 2000 recognised that it was important to
further all aspects of equal opportunities, including reducing occupational segregation, and making it easier
to reconcile working life and family life, in particular by setting a new benchmark for improved childcare
provision. It added that those measures should contribute, inter alia, towards increasing the number of
women in employment from an average of 51 % today to more than 60 % by 2010.

It was in that context that the Council adopted, on 29 June 2000, a Resolution on the balanced
participation of women and men in family and working life (1).

Furthermore, the Employment Guidelines 2000, approved by the Helsinki European Council on 10 and
11 December 2000, stress how important it is, in order to strengthen equal opportunities, for Member
including
States and the social partners to design,
affordable, accessible and high quality care services for children and other dependants, as well as parental
and other leave schemes. These points are confirmed in the proposed guidelines for 2001.

implement and promote family-friendly policies,

Finally, the social policy agenda approved by the Nice European Council contains an important section on
equality between men and women.

The Council is therefore aware of the problems of reconciling professional and family life raised by the
Honourable Member and is taking a number of measures under the powers conferred upon it by the
Treaty.

(1) OJ C 218, 31.7.2000, p. 5.

(2001/C 174 E/015)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2975/00

by Ioannis Souladakis (PSE) to the Council

(25 September 2000)

Subject: Funding of European Union island regions

In the first paragraph of the Commission(cid:146)s answer of 24 July 2000 to my Written Question No E-1738/
2000 (1) concerning the funding of European Union island regions, Commissioner Barnier states that the
Commission does not anticipate creating a legal basis for such funding, despite the provisions of the Treaty