WRITTEN QUESTION E-3876/00 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Common foreign and security policy (chemical weapons for Turkey).
Date: 2000-12-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU control, Türkiye, chemical weapon, common foreign and security policy, competence of the Member States, dual-use good, export, market approval

3.7.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 187 E/75

(2001/C 187 E/080)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3872/00

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission

(8 December 2000)

Subject: Mineral water from Greenland

A group of businessmen in Greenland have decided to bottle the pure ice which covers four fifths of the
island and market it as mineral water.

Consumption of mineral water is growing by 10 % per year and this product from Greenland could
therefore easily invade European markets. Can the Commission take steps to put a stop to the use of Arctic
ice and the possible marketing of the island(cid:146)s mineral water?

Can the Commission also introduce appropriate environmental protection measures, since this practice will
eventually damage the planet, already endangered by destructive human activities, in particular the ice cap,
which is receding at a rate of 45,8 cubic metres every year?

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(8 February 2001)

Greenland does not form part of the Community or of its customs territory. Relations with Greenland are
governed by decisions on the association of
the overseas countries and territories (OCT) with the
Community. The trade provisions relating to OCTs prescribe that their products shall benefit from the
principle of free circulation of goods, meaning that they shall be imported into the Community free of
customs duties and charges having equivalent effect, and that the Community shall not apply quantitative
restrictions or measures having equivalent effect to imports of products originating in the OCTs. There are
two exceptions to these provisions: a general exception for measures justified on grounds of public
morality, protection of health, protection of
the environment, etc, and the possibility to introduce
safeguard measures under certain conditions. In this particular case, it appears that the environmental
exception would be the only exception potentially applicable but the Commission does not believe, at this
stage, that such a trade restriction could be justified on environmental grounds.

(2001/C 187 E/081)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3876/00

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(8 December 2000)

Subject: Common foreign and security policy (chemical weapons for Turkey)

In answer to Question P-2910/00 the Council informed me that under the provisions of Article 22 of the
TEU any Member State or the Commission may refer to the Council any question relating to the common
foreign and security policy and may submit proposals to the Council. In view of the importance of the
specific points in Written Questions E-1203/00, E-1204/00 and E-1205/00 for the common foreign and
security policy it would seem appropriate for the Commission to make use of this possibility.

1. Will the Commission (cid:145)submit proposals to the Council(cid:146) in accordance with Article 22 of the TEU to
obtain information from the University of Munich on the German provenance (Buck and Depfag) of the
shell bodies used by the Turkish army in a chemical attack against the Kurdish PKK movement on 11 May
1999? If not, why is the Commission refusing to submit a proposal in accordance with Article 22 of the
TEU given the importance of this question for the common foreign and security policy?

C 187 E/76

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

3.7.2001

2. Will the Commission (cid:145)submit proposals to the Council(cid:146) in accordance with Article 22 of the TEU to
obtain information from the German Ministry of Defence on the aid from this ministry in the construction
of a new military chemicals laboratory in Turkey? If not, why is the Commission refusing to submit
a proposal
in accordance with Article 22 of the TEU given the importance of this question for the
common foreign and security policy?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(8 February 2001)

According to Article 22 of the Treaty on European Union, the Commission and the Member States have
the right to submit proposals to the Council related to common foreign and security policy (CFSP) matters.
However, the case under consideration refers to the alleged export of dual-use or possibly military items
from one Member State to Turkey. In this context, it should be noted that, while legislation in the field of
dual-use exports is a Community competence (c.f. Council Regulation (EC) No 1334/2000 of 22 June
2000 setting up a Community regime for the control of exports of dual-use items and technology (1)), the
implementation remains with the Member States. It is, therefore, for the Member State where the exporter
is established to decide on authorisation requests and to monitor their implementation.

(1) OJ L 159, 30.6.2000.

(2001/C 187 E/082)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3878/00

by Anneli HulthØn (PSE) to the Commission

(4 December 2000)

Subject: Resources for sufferers of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome

Can the Commission guarantee that there will in future be sufficient resources for sufferers of Creutzfeldt-
Jakob Syndrome, such as care and rehabilitation? Can the Commission also guarantee that sufficient funds
have been set aside for preventive measures and research?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(15 January 2001)

Article 152 (ex Article 129) of the EC Treaty specifically requires that (cid:145)(cid:133) Community action in the field of
public health shall fully respect the responsibilities of the Member States for the organisation and delivery
of health services and medical care (cid:133)(cid:146).

For this reason, the resources for care and rehabilitation are largely under the responsibilities of the
Member States.

However, funds for intensifying research on the outstanding questions related to animal and human
transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE(cid:146)s) were provided through a European action plan, which
was proposed by the Commission in November 1996. This action plan was rapidly adopted by Council
and Parliament with a supplementary budget of € 35 million bringing the total amount of Community
funding up to € 50,7 million. Since then, 54 projects involving 150 research laboratories, throughout
Europe, have been funded by the Commission under the research Framework Programme 4 (Biomed,
Biotech and FAIR programmes).

Research efforts are being pursued in the Fifth framework programme where all aspects foreseen in the
action plan, such as: clinical and epidemiological research on human spongiform encephalopathies (SE),
the infective agent and its transmission mechanism, diagnosis of (SE), evaluation of the risk from (SE),