WRITTEN QUESTION E-3855/00 by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Council. Enlargement and regional policy: economic, social and territorial cohesion of the outer maritime regions of the EU cohesion..
Date: 2000-12-20
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU regional policy, accession negotiations, coastal region, less-favoured region, peripheral region

19.6.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 174 E/167

(Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Malta) on 28 March this year, the European Parliament
has adopted a new resolution (R5-0417/2000 (1) of 4 October 2000) on the enlargement of the European
Union, setting out the EP(cid:146)s requests with regard to the accession procedure and the negotiations being held
on the subject. In its contribution to the resolution Parliament(cid:146)s Committee on Fisheries made a number of
demands concerning fisheries.

Could the Council
indicate the approximate timetable for the fisheries debate in the context of the
accession negotiations with both the Luxembourg Group and the Helsinki Group and, if appropriate, the
stage reached in the negotiations and the progress made so far?

Can the Council say whether the fisheries negotiations will take account of the concerns of the Committee
on Fisheries, in particular the urgent need to remedy the considerable shortcomings in the administration
of fisheries in most of the applicant countries as regards environmental and health standards, as well as
inspection and control measures, the need for reliable information on the structure of the fisheries sector
in the applicant countries, the abolition of distortions such as (cid:145)flags of convenience(cid:146), and the administrative
structures needed to provide detailed and reliable information on the fisheries sector and ensure full
compliance with the acquis?

(1)

(cid:145)Texts adopted(cid:146) of 4 October 2000, p. 1.

Reply

(8 March 2001)

In the context of the individual intergovernmental Accession Conferences with Cyprus, Hungary, Estonia,
the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia, it has been agreed that, at this stage, the Fisheries chapter does
not require further negotiation. Nonetheless, the EU will continue to closely monitor each candidate(cid:146)s
progress in the adoption and implementation of
further
negotiations in this chapter are necessary on the basis of additional information to be provided by these
countries. In the case of Romania, Lithuania and Bulgaria, the Fisheries chapter has not yet been opened
for negotiation.

the acquis. For Poland, Malta and Latvia,

As for all the chapters of the acquis under negotiation, the accession negotiations are carried out on the
basis of the acquis in force. This includes inspection and control measures, as well as health and veterinary
standards, and fleet registration. New acquis adopted before the conclusion of the negotiations will be
taken into account as appropriate. It should also be noted that the Union attaches particular importance to
the capacity of the candidate countries to implement the Common Fisheries Policy.

Finally, it is recalled that the (cid:145)road map(cid:146) for the accession negotiations proposed by the Commission, and
welcomed by the Council in its conclusions of 4 December 2000, provides for the Union to define, where
appropriate, EU common positions on Fisheries during the second half of 2001, including on requests for
transitional measures and other outstanding substantive issues, with a view to the provisional closure of
this chapter once the conditions are met.

(2001/C 174 E/175)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3855/00

by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Council

(20 December 2000)

Subject: Enlargement and regional policy: economic, social and territorial cohesion of the outer maritime

regions of the EU cohesion.

In this context the European Parliament adopted a resolution in October this year (R5-0417/2000 (1)) on
the enlargement of the European Union, setting out the EP(cid:146)s requests with regard to the accession
procedure and the negotiations being held on the subject. In paragraph 102 of the resolution the EP
points out (cid:145)that the European Union must respond appropriately to an enlargement which will increase

C 174 E/168

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

19.6.2001

considerably the number of disadvantaged regions; draws attention to the risk of uneven growth in the
various regions of the applicant countries in the wake of both certain applicant states(cid:146) internal policies and
the effects of the market and of investment by the Member States and, therefore, calls on the Commission
to revise the criteria governing the award of structural aid with the aim of ensuring that both the applicant
countries and the current Member States receive appropriate support for their disadvantaged regions; calls
on the European Union to retain the cohesion criteria as they apply to the EU 15, regardless of any
statistical changes in average income in the EU brought about by the enlargement.

Can the Council say to what extent it is taking this request into account in the accession procedure and its
negotiations with the Luxembourg Group, particularly in the context of Chapter 21? Can the Council say
what impact enlargement will have on the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the outer maritime
regions under Objective 1 in the present EU 15?

What strategies,
instruments and mechanisms does it consider appropriate and necessary to continue
promoting the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the Objective 1 peripheral maritime regions
after the accession of countries with regions less developed than the current Objective 1 regions, which
will tend to increase considerably the peripheral status of these regions and mean that they will cease,
statistically although not actually, to fall into this category?

(1)

(cid:145)Texts adopted(cid:146) of 4 October 2000, p. 1.

(2001/C 174 E/176)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3857/00

by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Council

(20 December 2000)

Subject: Enlargement and regional policy: European territorial strategy (ETS)

After two years of negotiations with the applicant countries in the Luxembourg Group (Poland, Hungary,
the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Estonia and Cyprus) talks started last April on the application of the acquis
of the structural funds (Chapter 21 of the negotiations) with the six countries in that group. In this context
the European Parliament adopted a resolution in October this year (R5-0417/2000 (1) of 4 October 2000)
on the enlargement of the European Union, setting out the EP(cid:146)s requests with regard to the accession
procedure and the negotiations being held on the subject.

Could the Council indicate the approximate timetable for the debate on Chapter 21, the stage reached in
the negotiations and the progress made so far? Can it say roughly when it envisages starting the debate on
Chapter 21 with the applicant countries in the Helsinki Group (Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania,
Bulgaria and Malta) in the context of the accession negotiations which began on 28 March this year?

In paragraph 109 of the EP(cid:146)s resolution on the enlargement of the EU Parliament considers (cid:145)that the
European Spatial Development Perspective must be taken into account during the enlargement process, in
a manner consistent with the subsidiarity principle, and tied clearly to regional policy, with a view to the
reform of the Structural Funds in 2006, in order to provide an adequate response to the development
needs of the enlarged Union, and calls on the Commission, in this connection, to analyse the impact of the
enlargements on employment, cohesion and economic migration with a view to taking prompt measures
to prevent the emergence of regional imbalances;(cid:146).

Can the Council say to what extent it is taking this request into account in the accession procedure and its
negotiations with the Luxembourg Group in the context of Chapter 21, particularly as regards the ETS?