WRITTEN QUESTION E-4001/00 by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission. The Charter of Fundamental Rights (access to documentation).
Date: 2000-12-21
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European treaties, access to EU information, charter on human rights

6.6.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 163 E/233

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(6 February 2001)

At this point in time, the Commission does not have exact figures for imports of dog and cat fur during
1998 and 1999.

The Commission thanks the Honourable Member for drawing its attention to the law enacted by the
United States. A detailed analysis of this Act is now underway.

The commercial policy is simply an external projection of the Commission(cid:146)s domestic policies. According
to the information currently available to the Commission, no ban has been introduced on trade in dog and
cat furs in any of the Member States. Therefore, at this time, and in the absence of any internal ban, the
Commission has no plans to propose a ban on the importing of dog and cat fur. Such a measure would be
open to challenge as both discriminatory and an obstacle to the principle of national treatment.

Nevertheless, in the light of the concern expressed in certain quarters over trade (including international
trade) in dog and cat fur, the Commission will pursue the question further, so as to determine whether,
without contravening the principle of subsidiarity, it might not be appropriate to propose action in this
area at the European level. The Commission will report to the Parliament on its progress in this respect.

(2001/C 163 E/274)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4001/00

by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(21 December 2000)

Subject: The Charter of Fundamental Rights (access to documentation)

Does the Commission believe that, even if the Charter of Fundamental Rights were to be incorporated into
the European treaties, Article 42 of the Charter (which states that (cid:145)Any citizen of the Union, and any
natural or legal person residing or having its registered office in a Member State has a right of access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents(cid:146)) would have no effect on the availability of
documents, since Article 52(1) allows for limitations (cid:145)on the exercise of the rights and freedoms recognised
by this Charter(cid:146) if they (cid:145)are necessary and genuinely meet objectives of general interest recognised by the
Union or the need to protect the rights and freedoms of others(cid:146), whilst Article 52(2) states that (cid:145)Rights
recognised by this Charter which are based on the Community Treaties or on the Treaty on European
Union shall be exercised under the conditions and within the limits defined by those treaties(cid:146)?

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(23 January 2001)

Articles 42 and 52(2) of
the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights regarding access to
documents reflect the content of Article 255 (ex Article 191a) of the EC Treaty as amended by the Treaty
of Amsterdam.

This article states that (cid:145)any citizen of the Union, and any natural or legal person residing or having its
registered office in a Member State, shall have a right of access to European Parliament, Council and
Commission documents(cid:146).

It also stipulates that general principles and limits on grounds of public interest governing this right will be
determined by the Council and Parliament acting in accordance with the codecision procedure.

On 26 January 2000 the Commission adopted a proposal for a Regulation implementing Article 255 (1).
This proposal is currently being examined by the other two institutions.

(1) OJ C 177 E, 27.6.2000.