WRITTEN QUESTION E-4114/00 by Glenys Kinnock (PSE) to the Commission. Bonded labour.
Date: 2001-01-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: India, International Labour Conference, Nepal, Pakistan, carrying out of sentence, child labour, reintegration into working life, slavery, working conditions

C 187 E/134

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

3.7.2001

(2001/C 187 E/142)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4104/00

by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission

(10 January 2001)

Subject: The bonded-labour system in Nepal, Pakistan and India

There will be an opportunity at the International Labour Organisation Conference to be held in 2001 to
draw attention to the repeated failures of the Indian, Nepalese and Pakistani Governments to abolish
bonded labour.

Would the Commission consider:

1. How an independent survey might be carried out to establish the number and location of people

enslaved in this way?

2. What steps it might take to make sure that the laws prohibiting all forms of bonded labour are

understood and enforced?

3. What it might do to ensure that the ILO sets up systems to monitor the success of its assistance in

combating bonded labour?

(2001/C 187 E/143)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4114/00

by Glenys Kinnock (PSE) to the Commission

(11 January 2001)

Subject: Bonded labour

What plans does the Commission have to use the ILO Conference in 2001 to draw attention to the
repeated failure of governments in, for example, India, Pakistan and Nepal, to take adequate measures to
abolish bonded labour and to use this Conference to urge all governments to acknowledge the scale of the
problem?

What action is the Commission taking to encourage the ILO to conduct independent and comprehensive
surveys in those countries where bonded labour exists, in order to ascertain the number and location of
people enslaved in this way?

Would the Commission outline what measures it is taking to ensure that laws prohibiting all forms of
bonded labour are understood and effectively enforced?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-4104/00 and E-4114/00
given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(20 February 2001)

The Commission fully shares the Honourable Members(cid:146) concern about bonded labour practices in South
Asia. The complexity of this problem and its close links with social, economic and cultural factors emerge
from a high degree of poverty that still affects the most vulnerable social groups of the subcontinent.

In order to address the problems of bonded labour, it is the Commission(cid:146)s view that development co-
operation strategies should focus on specific initiatives aimed at poverty reduction thereby improving the
status of labour forces in critical sectors of economic activity.

The Commission also recognises the importance of the role of the specialised international agencies and of
instruments to improve the overall working conditions of
the appropriate use of existing multilateral
labour forces subject to discrimination.

The forthcoming international labour conference of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) 2001 will
constitute the most appropriate forum to assess globally the situation of bonded labour and to make
In
recommendations for completing, monitoring and enforcing already existing labour conventions.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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particular the presentation of the first ILO (cid:145)Global Report(cid:146) on forced labour as part of the follow up of the
ILO(cid:146)s 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work will provide a platform to address
the issues raised by the Honourable Members.

In India, the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act of 1976, the ILO(cid:146)s International Programme of
Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) as well as the consistent efforts of the Community and various non-
governmental organisations (NGOs) to concentrate on universal primary education and health programmes
have been major initiatives to improve the rights and living conditions of the most disadvantaged and
discriminated social groups.

In Pakistan, the Government has expressed the intention to strengthen law enforcement. There are plans to
ratify ILO Convention No 182 on the worst forms of child labour, and an action plan for the rehabilitation
of bonded labourers is under preparation. The Ministry of Labour is also planning to reactivate vigilance
committees to tackle the bonded labour issue at local level. The Commission supports the Government
through a project being implemented by ILO within the IPEC framework which addresses the multi-faceted
problem of child and bonded labour through measures of prevention and rehabilitation.

to guarantee the right against any
In Nepal, besides a clear constitutional
exploitation of human beings, 7 ILO Conventions have already been ratified. On 17 July 2000,
Government Monitoring Committees at both central and district level have been set up. A government
team to supervise the rehabilitation of persons released from bonded labour has also been created, while
ILO Convention 29 on forced labour is currently with the Nepalese Parliament for ratification.

legal base (Article 20)

The Commission would like to confirm to the Honourable Members that on the basis of the existing
framework Co-operation Agreements with these countries, the Joint Commission meetings have provided
and will continue to provide the most appropriate context to regularly monitor the enforcement of bonded
labour legislation and promote rehabilitation initiatives.

(2001/C 187 E/144)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-4105/00

by FrØdØrique Ries (ELDR) to the Commission

(20 December 2000)

Subject: The Commission(cid:146)s assumption of the cost of renovating the Berlaymont Building

The newspaper (cid:145)La Libre Belgique(cid:146) of 6 December reports the findings of a study carried out by the
consultants Ernst & Young on Berlaymont, according to which the Commission would not be able to
return to its offices in the Berlaymont in 2002 as initially scheduled, and the cost could significantly
exceed the initial estimate. According to the press report, Commissioner Kinnock had passed the
Berlaymont papers to OLAF, which had begun an inquiry. SA Berlaymont 2000(cid:146)s 1999 report, page 19,
gives an estimated figure of BEF 15,5 billion (€ 387,5 million) for the work involved in the renovation.
This figure includes price reviews and extra work requested by the Commission to the amount of BEF 120
million (€ 3 million). A Memorandum of Understanding was entered into in July 1997 by Belgium and the
Commission, Article 4(2) of which stated that the cost of the renovation would be finally determined on
handover and vouched for by all relevant documents; SA Berlaymont agreed to work on an (cid:145)open books(cid:146)
basis and to allow the Community to inspect all accounting and technical data which were a factor in the
cost of the work; the cost of studies and contract management, miscellaneous costs and interim financial
charges during construction. According to my information, Annex I of the protocol mentioned a sum of
13 million, stating that the sum was a provisional estimate of the cost, the final cost of renovation to be
established in the light of actual expenditure.

Can the Commission answer the following questions:

1. When will the results of the OLAF inquiry be available?

2. The Memorandum was to be followed shortly by an agreement and a notarial act. When are they to

be concluded?