WRITTEN QUESTION E-3638/00 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. The pesticide Rotenone as a possible cause of Parkinson's disease.
Date: 2000-11-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European social policy, competence of the Member States, disease of the nervous system, pesticide residue

19.6.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 174 E/99

The newly proposed package of directives which have followed the regulatory Review is also an important
step in promoting competition, choice and innovation in Internet access and services. The move towards a
lighter authorisation scheme (to replace the existing licensing directive) and a pro-competitive regulatory
framework for all networks will encourage investment in different types of technologies. In this context,
Internet access via cable TV networks and via wireless local access are also important.

With respect to cable, Commission Directive 1999/64/EC of 23 June 1999 amending Directive 90/388/
EEC in order to ensure that telecommunications networks and cable TV networks owned by a single
operator legal entities (1) requires that telecommunications networks and cable TV networks owned by a
single operator must be separate legal entities, thereby giving additional incentives to cable TV networks to
compete and provide Internet services. Currently, cable TV networks upgrades are under way in the
Netherlands, but the capacity of Internet access will be dependent on the number of users served.

Regarding fast Internet access via wireless local loop, (also known as fixed wireless access systems), the
Commission encourages the award of fixed wireless access licences by Member States, but does not set any
deadline. The licensing procedure will have to be in line with the Directive 97/13/EC of the Parliament and
of the Council of 10 April 1997 on a common framework for general authorisations and individual
licences in the field of telecommunications services (2) and with the provisions in the EC Treaty. It is
understood that the start of the licensing procedure for fixed wireless access licences has been postponed
by the Dutch government in order to take into account a legal challenge by two operators concerning
possible preferential rights to part of the frequency spectrum.

The situation seems to be more satisfactory with respect to the development of backbone Internet capacity
in Europe, as there appears to be considerable investment underway in this area. New interconnection and
bandwidth exchanges are also opening, although regulatory delays may be occurring here too. These and
related issues are treated in the Communication on the Organisation and Management of the Internet (3)
that is available at:

http://europa.eu.int/ISPO/eif/InternetPoliciesSite/Organisation/COM(2000)202.doc

An overview of the situation concerning local access networks throughout the EU can be found in the
sixth implementation report, (cid:145)Sixth Report on the Implementation of the Telecommunications Regulatory
Package(cid:146) (4). It illustrates that each member state presents some peculiarities with regard to the exploitation
of the different new technologies for high-speed Internet, but the basic concerns are broadly similar.

(1) OJ L 175, 10.7.1999.
(2) OJ L 117, 7.5.1997.
(3) COM(2000) 202 final.
(4) COM(2000) 814 final.

(2001/C 174 E/103)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3638/00

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(22 November 2000)

Subject: The pesticide Rotenone as a possible cause of Parkinson(cid:146)s disease

1.
Is the Commission aware of reports, for example in the online news service Nature Science Today
and in the Financial Times (both 6 November 2000) to the effect that scientists think long-term exposure
to the pesticide Rotenone is a possible cause of Parkinson(cid:146)s disease?

C 174 E/100

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

19.6.2001

in
Is the Commission aware that this insecticide is based on a natural vegetable product which,
2.
contrast to synthetic pesticides, is itself degraded and has accordingly been regarded hitherto as safe and
environmentally friendly, but which in rats can result in major brain deformities and impaired use of the
legs/paws?

3.
Is the Commission also aware that Rotenone is popular with amateur gardeners, people who work in
the farming sector and who use the product to kill unwanted fish in fish-breeding ponds and lakes and
that potentially there may be significant numbers of victims?

4. What does the Commission intend to do to regulate the use of this insecticide, or to modify the
labelling provisions in such a way that users are made aware of the possible risks?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(5 February 2001)

The Commission is aware of various scientific reports raising doubts about the safety of the pesticide
1.
rotenone and showing that acute exposure to the chemical leads to Parkinson (cid:129) like symptoms in rats.
The cause(s) of the disease and the role of genetics in its onset are still unknown. A research project
funded by the Commission is currently investigating the interactions between environmental exposures (in
particular chemicals) and genetic factors in the origin of Parkinson(cid:146)s disease. Results are expected in 2003.

Rotenone is a natural plant extract.

later this year, both the Parliament and the Council of

2. to 4.
In certain Member States it is authorised for use in
agriculture and horticulture as an insecticide. The marketing and use of plant protection products in the
Community is regulated by Council Directive 91/414/EEC of 15 July 1991, on the placing of plant
protection products on the market (1). The Commission is responsible for the evaluation of the active
substances used in plant protection and for decisions on whether to include them in a positive list (Annex
I of the directive) of substances whose use may be allowed in the Community. The Commission will
inform,
the progress on the re-evaluation
programme. Rotenone has not yet been evaluated at Community level because the first priority of the
Commission in setting up a work programme on the revaluation of existing active substances was to
evaluate synthetic chemical substances. Therefore, at this stage, Member States continue to be responsible
to ensure that plant protection products containing rotenone are not authorised unless they establish that,
inter alia, such products have no harmful effect on human health, having regard to all normal conditions
under which they may be used. The Commission will however inform the Member States about the new
information. The Commission, in the light of the views of the Member States and other interested parties,
may also propose to include rotenone as a priority in its next phase of the review programme for existing
active substances, or take action in the framework of Directive 79/117/EEC of 21 December 1978,
prohibiting the placing on the market and use of plant protection products containing certain active
substances (2).

The use against undesirable fish is within the scope of Directive 98/8/EC of the Parliament and of the
Council of 16 February 1998 concerning the placing of biocidal products on the market (3). Being an
existing active substance it will be evaluated according to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1896/2000 of
7 September 2000 on the first phase of the programme referred to in Article 16(2) of Directive 98/8/EC of
the Parliament and of
industry commits to submit relevant
information for the evaluation of the risks for human health and the environment. Any information
arising from this evaluation relevant to the use of rotenone in other areas will of course be taken into
account by the Commission. In case no such commitment is communicated to the Commission, rotenone
will be withdrawn from the market. Up to this Community evaluation, existing national rules will continue
to apply.

the Council on biocidal products (4)

if

(1) OJ L 230, 19.8.1991.
(2) OJ L 33, 8.2.1979.
(3) OJ L 123, 24.4.1998.
(4) OJ L 228, 8.9.2000.