WRITTEN QUESTION E-4085/00 by Gary Titley (PSE) to the Commission. Information campaign for enlargement.
Date: 2001-01-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, enlargement of the Union, public awareness campaign

C 187 E/128

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

3.7.2001

Answer given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behalf of the Commission

(12 February 2001)

As the Honourable Member was informed in reply to Written Questions E-0819/00 (1) and E-2650/00 (2),
the Commission has received a complaint about the Jœcar-Vinalop(cid:243) diversion project in which it is claimed
that Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and
private projects on the environment (3), as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 (4),
Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds (5), and Council
Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and
flora (6) may not have been properly applied.

As part of its examination of this case, the Commission has written to the Spanish authorities to ask them
for their observations on the above project and on the application to it of the Community Directives
concerned.

The reply from the Spanish authorities arrived recently and is currently being examined by the Commis-
sion.

The Spanish authorities have informed the Commission that the project in question is undergoing an
environmental impact assessment in accordance with Directive 85/337/EEC. The project is part of the
Hydrological Plan for the Jœcar basin. The Spanish authorities have also pointed out that the environmental
impact assessment has already been carried out and that the public has been consulted. It should be noted
that the Spanish authorities state that the environmental impact statement on this project has not yet been
adopted.

The Spanish authorities have furthermore indicated that the final construction project will not be approved
until the environmental impact statement has been adopted by the Minister of the Environment. At all
events, the Spanish authorities point out that the basic project, for which a pubic contract has already been
awarded, will have to take account of the results of the ongoing environmental impact procedure.

(1) OJ C 53 E, 20.2.2001, p. 29.
(2) OJ C 136 E, 8.5.2001, p. 66.
(3) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.
(4) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.
(5) OJ L 103, 25.4.1979.
(6) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.

(2001/C 187 E/135)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4085/00

by Gary Titley (PSE) to the Commission

(10 January 2001)

Subject: Information campaign for enlargement

When the Commission presented its annual report on the applicant countries, Mr Prodi and Mr Verheugen
announced the launch of a major information campaign within both the EU and the applicant countries.
How will the appropriations be allocated? Will NGOs be able to submit projects for funding under this
information campaign? If so, how?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(19 February 2001)

The enlargement communication strategy is now in the process of being implemented. In 2001, some
€ 9,5 million will be decentralised to Delegations in candidate countries and € 5,8 million to Commission
Representations in Member States. This represents about 80 % of the funding and this proportion will be
maintained throughout the period 2001-2006. Allocations are made by the Commission on the basis of

3.7.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 187 E/129

approved Work Programmes presented by Delegations and Representations. These Work Programmes
should cover all the target groups identified as significant in the strategy, among which non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) representing civil society certainly feature.

Work programmes for Delegations have been approved and include participating NGOs, but NGOs in the
Community still have time to present projects to Representations in Member States in getting in touch
with the relevant information officer. Nevertheless, projects will only be funded if they contribute towards
the overall understanding of enlargement, its challenges and opportunities, thus avoiding political misuse
based on fears and myths about its social and economic consequences.

(2001/C 187 E/136)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4087/00

by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission

(10 January 2001)

Subject: Variant CJD (cid:129) the human form of BSE

Does the Commission agree that variant CJD should be renamed Human Spongiform Encepalopathy?

What is the European Union doing to encourage the exchange of medical experience in treating this
condition?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(28 February 2001)

1.
In 1996, a team from the United Kingdom Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (CJD) Surveillance Unit at
Edinburgh, published a paper (1) in which the authors reported findings which strongly implied a causal
link between bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and a variant of Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (vCJD).

Although showing some significant neurological differences from the classical sporadic form, vCJD is
classified as a human neurodegenerative disease. It is named, indeed, after the person who investigated the
classical form of disease and therefore is firmly consolidated and accepted by the scientific and medical
world as vCJD.

The Commission launched a European Action Plan for TSE (2) research in 1996 which has mobilised
2.
€ 50 million to promote understanding, detection and combating of TSEs, such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
(CJD) in man and BSE in cows. About 150 laboratories are presently involved in 54 Community-funded
research projects on TSE diseases, which are addressing issues such as human prion diseases, the infectious
agent, risk assessment, treatment and prevention.

In particular,
it is worth mentioning a project on the development of TSE treatment based on prion
protein-binding sugars, which includes research teams from Germany, the United Kingdom, France and
Israel which aims primarily at identifying the mechanisms of inhibition of prion multiplication in cultured
cells.

Furthermore the Commission, on 15 December 2000, organised a meeting of national experts in TSE
research in order to analyse ongoing research activities, encourage exchange of information between
research teams and identify ongoing research topics which need strengthening as well as new research
areas. This group will present an interim report shortly.