WRITTEN QUESTION E-3848/00 by Giovanni Pittella (PSE) to the Commission. Traffic in human organs.
Date: 2000-12-07
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU Member State, Europol, UN convention, cooperation policy, illicit trade, information network, international cooperation, organ transplantation, trade in organs

3.7.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 187 E/63

The Commission recognises that keeping fares at an affordable level has an important part to play in
making public transport more attractive and accessible to everyone. There is nothing in the draft
regulation to rule this out. If an authority decides to reduce fares for all passengers, the regulation simply
proposes that this fare reduction should be incorporated in a public service contract.
In this way,
authorities can ensure that the services are provided with an adequate level of quality and reliability.

It is also important to consider the question of legal uncertainty. Over the past ten years, operators
providing public transport in more than one Member State have emerged for the first time. This has
created a strong Community dimension to the question of the award of state aids and exclusive rights in
this sector and has led to legal uncertainty. The proposed regulation, by establishing a clear regulatory
framework, will provide an effective solution while ensuring full respect for transport policy objectives and
strengthening public transport operators(cid:146) ability to compete with private cars.

For these reasons, the Commission considers the draft regulation to be an important contribution to the
task of developing local and regional
transport systems that are able to respond effectively to the
challenges they face today. But regulatory action is only one part of the Commission(cid:146)s activities in this
area. At the same time, the Commission has put in place practical tools to support action by local and
regional authorities and operators. These include a computerised database of good practice, a programme
to enable localities to benchmark the quality of their transport systems, and extensive research and
development programmes. All have their part to play in lessening the environmental impact of transport
and promoting regional and social cohesion.

In order to develop strategies to promote environmental integration and sustainable development in the
wake of the 1998 Cardiff European Council, the Commission has set up an expert group comprising
members from the Ministries for Transport and for Environment of the Member States. This group has
produced a report to the Commission with a number of recommendations for actions towards sustainable
the transport Council
transport,
integration strategy. The report is available on the Internet at the following address: http://europa.eu.int/
comm/environment/trans.

the Commission(cid:146)s input

in order to support

into the revision of

(1) OJ C 365 E, 19.12.2000.

(2001/C 187 E/067)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3848/00

by Giovanni Pittella (PSE) to the Commission

(7 December 2000)

Subject: Traffic in human organs

Noting that:

(cid:129) in recent days, various reports have appeared in the European press concerning the warning issued by
the Moldavian Minister of the Interior on trafficking in organs, most of which come from poor
countries (including Guatemala, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay, but also North Africa and
eastern Europe) and are destined for the West and the Middle East;

(cid:129) in India, meanwhile, the sale of organs from living persons is legal; in the period from 1990 to 1993,

over 2000 kidneys were sold to wealthy patients in the West or the Middle East;

(cid:129) according to reliable published statistics, some 960 patients in the Gulf States have bought kidneys in
India, Egypt, Iraq or the Philippines at prices which ranged, in 1998, from USD 30 000 for a heart to
USD 20 000 for a kidney purchased over the Internet; in 1999, prices rose to USD 100 000 for a heart
or pancreas and USD 30 000 for a kidney;

(cid:129) to tackle this and other alarming trends, we must achieve closer international cooperation and
enhance the role played by Europol in combating crime by means of specific, consistent action to
ensure surveillance and policing at frontiers.

C 187 E/64

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

3.7.2001

What official information can Mr Romano Prodi, President of the Commission, provide on this subject,
and what action has been taken, or is planned, to prevent the growth of this distressing trade?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(15 March 2001)

The Commission is aware, in general terms, of the information provided by the Honourable Member.

Trafficking in human organs constitutes a serious crime, which can only be addressed effectively through
close co-operation at international level. Removal of organs also forms part of the United Nations (UN)
protocol on prevention, suppression and punishment of trafficking in persons, which supplements the UN
Convention on Transnational Organised Crime. The protocol was signed by the Commission on behalf of
the Community in Palermo on 13 December 2000. Until now the subject of trafficking in human organs
has, however, not been discussed in the Council Working Structures in the field of Justice and Home
Affairs.

Furthermore, since July 1999 Europol has become fully operational. Its mandate includes trafficking in
human beings, of which trafficking in human organs forms a part.

The Commission is of the opinion that it is necessary for Member States and Europol to improve their co-
operation in this area as a first step towards a more effective policy to combating this crime.

In addition it should be mentioned that Article 152 of the EC Treaty must be recalled in this context. It
requires the Community to adopt measures setting high standards of quality and safety of organs and
substances of human origin, blood and blood derivatives.

Under the new health strategy (1), which has been set up inter alia to apply these requirements, objectives
in the field of transplantation (see Annex 2.1) have been defined. One of the proposed aims is to develop
and operate a Community network on organs and substances of human origin. Whether such a network
could also have a role in the fight against illegal organ trade will be looked at in close collaboration with
Member States.

(1) COM(2000) 285 final.

(2001/C 187 E/068)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3852/00

by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Commission

(8 December 2000)

Subject: Early retirement

It has been reported in the press that, at the Ecofin meeting of 8 November, the conclusions of an interim
report drawn up by the Economic Policy Committee ((cid:146)EPC progress report on the impact of ageing
populations on public pensions systems(cid:146), Ecofin 303, 12791/00) were noted and endorsed. One of those
conclusions is that, throughout the European Union, the retirement age will have to be raised and early-
retirement schemes will have to be restricted if pension schemes are to be sustainable.

This statement had enormous public impact, especially since most of the European (and in particular the
Portuguese) press described it as coming from the (cid:145)European Union(cid:146).

On 22 November I received a Communication (1) which contains a proposal for a Council regulation on
early-retirement schemes within the Commission.