WRITTEN QUESTION E-3000/00 by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission. Common standards for tunnels in the European Union.
Date: 2000-09-20
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: common transport policy, transport safety, tunnel

22.5.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 151 E/37

27 cases (complaints plus others) have been registered altogether under Directive 92/43/EEC
3. and 4.
concerning Austria, of which 15 cases are still pending at the Commission (12 been closed so far).
Infringement procedures have been opened in two of them, none of which is site related.

(1) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.

(2001/C 151 E/046)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2994/00

by John Cushnahan (PPE-DE) to the Council

(25 September 2000)

Subject: East Timor

Is the Council aware of the incomplete nature of the list of suspects issued by the Indonesian attorney
general(cid:146)s office in relation to last year(cid:146)s massacres?

How does the Council intend to ensure that these men are brought to justice and that they do not evade
prosecution through the medium of recent constitutional amendments which will most
likely bar
prosecutors from charging suspects with international crimes such as war crimes and crimes against
humanity?

Reply

(22 December 2000)

The European Union has stated on various occasions that the perpetrators of violations of human rights in
East Timor should be accountable for their acts and that that would be the best means of promoting
democratic stability in Indonesia and a lasting reconciliation in East Timor.

The Council has been informed that the attorney-general(cid:146)s office of the Indonesian Republic has added new
names to the initial list of suspects involved in the atrocities committed in East Timor in 1999. In mid-
October of this year, the Troika, acting on behalf of the Council as part of the representations made to the
Indonesian authorities, pointed out to them the need to arrest those who have committed acts of violence
and to bring them to justice.

The Council would remind the Honourable Member of its declaration of 4 February 2000 in which it
stressed the fact that the international community, through the United Nations system, has a responsibility
to ensure that gross violations of human rights and of humanitarian law in East Timor are investigated and
that the perpetrators are brought to justice. It would also point out that the Untaet has initiated an
autonomous process of identification of and of criminal proceedings against those responsible following
institutional cooperation arrangements with the attorney-general(cid:146)s office of the
the establishment of
Indonesian Republic.

The Council will continue to follow further developments in the situation attentively.

(2001/C 151 E/047)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3000/00

by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission

(20 September 2000)

Subject: Common standards for tunnels in the European Union

The recent accidents in the Mont Blanc road tunnel between Italy and France and the Tauern tunnel in
Austria have raised at European level the delicate issue of safety standards and prevention measures in the
various types of tunnel in operation, but the legislation in each country appears to be different and non-
uniform.

C 151 E/38

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

22.5.2001

Can the Commission say whether it intends to ascertain the advisability of drawing up common standards
laying down general rules aimed at achieving uniformity throughout the European Union?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(13 November 2000)

Several international organisations, and in particular the World Highways Association (AIPCR) and the
United Nations(cid:146) Economic Commission for Europe (UN-ECE), are actively and efficiently working in order
to improve tunnel safety, more especially by pooling experience and listing the various techniques and
procedures. The Commission does not intend to duplicate or repeat the work in progress, especially since
very long road tunnels differ too widely in geometry, location and age to justify the application of a
traditional standardising approach to them.

However, tunnel safety, and that of the oldest in service must be routinely re-assessed in order to gain the
greatest benefits from innovations and technical progress. Each individual set of equipment can be assessed
on the basis of common criteria that are intended to raise the level and consistency of the transport system
and to promote cooperation among Member States. The Commission(cid:146)s intention is to provide itself with
an assessment tool that has been harmonised throughout the Community.

The advanced techniques applying to traffic management, signalling and communication between drivers
and tunnel operators require a higher level of interoperability, such as the development of protocols that
can be understood by users regardless of nationality. There is also a preferred area of activity for the
Community, while applications aimed at tunnel safety must be consistent with general applications on
open roads in order to avoid any need for specific user training.

In parallel to this, as part of the Nedies (Natural and environmental disaster information exchange system)
project, the Commission is organising feedback from the civil defence services on action by the emergency
service during all of the major incidents taking place in recent years in tunnels on Community territory.
The final report will be available on the Internet, just like all of the other feedback reports already written
(http://nedies.jrc.it/).

(2001/C 151 E/048)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3002/00

by Klaus-Heiner Lehne (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(20 September 2000)

Subject: Procedure whereby the income derived from share-based investment funds is halved for tax

purposes pursuant to the German Law on Tax Reductions

It transpires from an article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of 2 September 2000 that the Law on
Tax Reductions, which came into force on 1 January 2000, puts foreign share-based investment funds at a
disadvantage vis-(cid:224)-vis share-based investment funds established under German law. German dividend
income will in future be subject to what is known as the (cid:145)Halbeink(cid:252)nfteverfahren(cid:146) (procedure whereby
the income is halved for tax purposes), whereas the income from non-German share-based investment
funds will be subject to the previous rules, i.e. full taxation.

This gives rise to the following questions:

1. How does the Commission view these new rules under German tax law in view of the principle of

equal treatment under European law and of the prohibition on discrimination?

2. What action does the Commission intend to take, if any?