WRITTEN QUESTION E-2970/00 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Council. Incomplete information about the composition of the Council.
Date: 2000-09-25
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Council of the European Union, EU publication, institutional structure, product quality

22.5.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 151 E/33

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(19 October 2000)

In the explanatory memorandum attached to the proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation
(EC) No 1255/1999 on the common organisation of the market in milk and milk products (1) that has
resulted in the Council(cid:146)s decision to reduce the school milk subsidy to 75 % of the milk target price
(Council Regulation (EC) No 1670/2000 of 20 July 2000 amending Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 (2)), the
Commission has indeed recognized that this scheme could also play a role within broader general policy
objectives in the health, nutritional or social fields set and operated at Community or Member State level.
However, the Commission has also underlined that the Community(cid:146)s tight budgetary situation, irrespective
of whether it relates to agriculture expenditure or to other policies, does not allow for greater involvement
in the school milk scheme.

The question of topping up the above Community subsidy is, therefore, a matter to be examined at
Member States(cid:146) level, possibly in cooperation with other interested parties. The Community regulation on
school milk provides indeed for a legal basis allowing for additional national aid, which may be financed
by means of a contribution collected from the dairy sector. Moreover, such participation would be
consistent with the strong interest and vocal support for school milk expressed by the latter during the
discussions on the Commission(cid:146)s proposal.

(1) OJ C 89 E, 28.3.2000.
(2) OJ L 193, 29.7.2000.

(2001/C 151 E/042)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2970/00

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(25 September 2000)

Subject: Incomplete information about the composition of the Council

1.
Is the Council aware that in the list of members of the Council of the European Union, distributed
for the part-session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg from 4 to 8 September, the following names
are given for the Netherlands: Dr A. Peper, as Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Relations; K.G. de
Vries, as Minister of Social Affairs and Employment; and Dr W.A.F.G. Vermeend, as Deputy Minister of
Finance?

2.
Can you conform that the first-mentioned person in question 1 ceased to hold the post in question
on 13 March 2000 and that the other two persons have been responsible for other policy areas since
24 March 2000? What is the reason fort continuing to refer to them as members of the Council, when
continued participation on their part in the relevant councils of specialist ministers would be illegal?

Can you also explain why all ministers and deputy ministers are listed with their forenames and
3.
(with the exception of Germany and Austria) without their academic titles, while all the Dutch members of
the Council appear without forenames but with academic titles?

What is the reason for giving the Dutch members of the Council a special status of relative anonymity,
with the impression of greater distance from the people they are supposed to represent?

Are you prepared to work towards ensuring that subsequent lists of members of the Council are up-

4.
to-dated and uniform in nature?

C 151 E/34

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

22.5.2001

Reply

(22 December 2000)

The Council thanks the Honourable Member for his questions and would take this opportunity to point
out the following:

(cid:129) the General Secretariat of the Council regularly publishes, in all the official languages of the European
Union, a list of the members of the Governments of the Member States who regularly take part in
Council meetings. This list contains the names, forenames and positions of all Prime Ministers,
Ministers and State Secretaries;

(cid:129) after each change in the composition of the Government of a Member State, this list is updated on the
basis of the information appearing in the Official Gazette of that Member State. As regards the
Netherlands, the list was updated in April 2000, i.e. in the month following the reshuffling of the
Netherlands Government;

(cid:129) the lists are forwarded regularly for information to the relevant departments of

the European
Parliament and of the Commission. The document to which the Honourable Member refers is a
document published by the European Parliament;

(cid:129) the composition of the Governments of the Member States is also published for information on the
Internet website http://europa.eu.int/idea, under the headings (cid:145)Search by organisational entities(cid:146), then
(cid:145)Institutions(cid:146) and then (cid:145)Council of the European Union(cid:146) and (cid:145)Representatives of the Governments of the
Member States who regularly take part in Council meetings(cid:146);

(cid:129) in addition, each year, the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities publishes an
(cid:145)Interinstitutional Directory (cid:129) Who(cid:146)s who in the European Union?(cid:146). The latest version is that
of January 2000 (date of going to press) and thus contains all the members of Governments at that
date, and hence also the members referred to by the Honourable Member. The General Secretariat of
the Council, for its part, publishes an (cid:145)Extract from the Interinstitutional Directory(cid:146) in the autumn of
each year;

(cid:129) the mistakes to which the Honourable Member refers appear merely to be circumstantial ones.

(2001/C 151 E/043)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2976/00

by Ioannis Souladakis (PSE) to the Commission

(20 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
of Amsterdam. Acting within its sphere of responsibilities, however, and in particular the 2001 budget
guidelines, the European Parliament has decided to make such funding a budget priority, especially in view
It is
of the fact that implementation of the Amsterdam Treaty has already begun this year, 2000.
surprising, therefore, that while the Commission should take initiatives to implement the Treaties,
it
appears from its answer that it is at the very least indifferent towards a matter of major importance for the
development of certain regions of the EU.

What practical steps will the Commission take, on the basis of a specific timetable, to create a legal basis
for the funding of EU island regions pursuant to the provisions of the relevant Treaties?

(1) OJ C 113 E, 18.4.2001, p. 38.