WRITTEN QUESTION E-3348/00 by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Council. Strengthening democratic institutions and promoting respect for ethnic minorities in Albania.
Date: 2000-10-25
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Albania, accession negotiations, democratisation, rights of minorities, rule of law

19.6.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 174 E/37

Reply

(8 March 2001)

1.
As Community law stands at present, and in the absence of total harmonisation on the issue of visas,
it is for Member States to determine whether nationals of Slovakia, a third country not on the common list
of third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the Member States(cid:146)
external borders, are/are not subject to a visa requirement.

However, on 26 January 2000 the Commission submitted to the Council, on the basis of
2.
Article 62(2)(b)(i) of the TEC, a proposal for a Regulation listing the third countries whose nationals
must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt
from that requirement. Slovakia is one of the third countries whose nationals the Commission proposes to
exempt from the visa requirement. The European Parliament was consulted by letter dated 16 March 2000
and delivered its Opinion on 5 July 2000. At its meeting on 30 November and 1 December 2000, the
Council reached political agreement on the content of the Regulation, advocating, inter alia, that Slovak
nationals be exempt from the visa requirement. It was also agreed that the European Parliament should be
re-consulted, given that the original text of the Commission proposal had been substantially amended.

It must be pointed out that visa policy does not distinguish between ethnic groups but is based on

3.
citizenship of the countries in question.

(2001/C 174 E/039)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3348/00

by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Council

(25 October 2000)

Subject: Strengthening democratic institutions and promoting respect for ethnic minorities in Albania

During the recent local elections in Albania, there were reports of many instances of psychological duress
being brought to bear in the southern part of the country where the country(cid:146)s Greek minority are in the
including ballot-rigging, affecting the
majority.
candidates of the human rights party Omonia (KEAD), which represents the Greek minority, were recorded
by foreign observers and reported by members of the Greek community.

In the Chimara region, a great many irregularities,

What measures will the Council take to consolidate the democratic institutions, establish the rule of law,
and promote respect for minorities in Albania, which are preconditions for that country(cid:146)s participation in
European institutions?

Reply

(8 March 2001)

1.
The Council has noted the comments made in the Preliminary Statement published on
16 October 2000 by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organisa-
tion for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the final report of the OSCE/ODIHR of 11 December 2000
and the report of the Council of Europe(cid:146)s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of 10 November 2000
concerning the conduct of the local elections in Albania.

2.
In the statement it made on the local elections in Albania in the OSCE(cid:146)s Permanent Council and in
the Council of Europe, the Union deplored the serious irregularities and incidents noted in the first and
second rounds of balloting, especially those which affected the voting of a substantial number of Greeks in
Chimara.

As Albania is a country eligible for a stabilisation and association agreement,

3.
its performance in
respecting democratic principles, human rights and the rights of minorities is an important criterion for
future developments in its relations with the European Union. On the basis of a Commission feasibility

C 174 E/38

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

19.6.2001

study on the possibility of negotiating a stabilisation and association agreement, the Council concluded on
24 January 2000 that Albania needed first
to resolve certain economic, political and institutional
weaknesses. Since adaptation to the structures of the Union is a strategic goal for the government in
Tirana, the Union has considerable leverage to help improve the situation of minorities in Albania. The
Albanian authorities are certainly aware of this.

4. Moreover, in the Final Declaration of the Zagreb Summit, which brought together the EU and the
Western Balkan countries on 24 November, Albania undertook to respect the rights of persons belonging
to minority groups. In Zagreb the Union announced its decision to step up cooperation with Albania and
to specify what reforms needed to be carried out. The Council has set up an EU-Albania high-level steering
group which will assess progress, recommend the necessary reform measures and provide advice and
guidance in all areas of concern set out in the 1999 Commission feasibility report, namely macro-
economic stabilisation and accelerated structural reforms, strengthening of security and public order and
improvement of governance and law enforcement (such as public administration reform, judiciary, rule of
law and respect for human rights, including the rights of minorities). The group may look at any other
issue relevant to the stabilisation and association process. The Council will thus be able to monitor closely
the Albanian government(cid:146)s implementation of concrete measures in these areas.

The European Community spent € 18,8 million between 1993 and 1999 on financing democratisa-

5.
tion and human rights projects in Albania or in a regional framework encompassing Albania.

6.
However, in a Presidency declaration on behalf of the European Union of 1 December 2000, it was
pointed out that the European Union sees the increasing use of violence in the pursuit of political aims as
a worrying development. The European Union therefore made a forceful appeal for the rule of law to be
respected and made any movement by Albania towards a closer relationship with the European Union
dependent on respect for institutions and legality, non-recourse to violence and a spirit of tolerance and
dialogue.

(2001/C 174 E/040)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3360/00

by Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(20 October 2000)

Subject: Conditions in Greek slaughterhouses

On 1 October 2000, three slaughterhouses in the Greek province of Achaia, which did not meet the
required hygiene standards, were closed by order of the Commission. In view of the role played by
slaughterhouses in food hygiene and consumer health, will the Commission state to what extent it is
satisfied with the progress made in modernising slaughterhouses in Greece, and its view, in general, of
developments in this sector for which it also provides funding? What sum was approved for the
modernisation of slaughterhouses, how much has been disbursed, and what results have been achieved?

Can the Commission also say to what extent Greece complies with the following directives:

(cid:129) 93/118 (1) and 96/43 (2) on the financing of health inspections and controls of fresh meat and

poultrymeat,

(cid:129) 97/12 (3) on health problems affecting intra-Community trade in bovine animals and swine,