WRITTEN QUESTION E-0423/01 by Isidoro Sánchez García (ELDR) to the Council. United States foreign policy.
Date: 2001-02-20
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: ABM Agreement, Cuba, Iraq, United States, common foreign and security policy, foreign policy, strategic defence

18.9.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 261 E/113

(2001/C 261 E/119)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0419/01

by Niels Busk (ELDR) to the Commission

(16 February 2001)

Subject: Compensation in respect of the new BSE rules

Will the Commission say what national compensation schemes have been introduced, or are envisaged, in
the various Member States?

Does it take the view that those schemes are compatible with the Treaty(cid:146)s provisions on state aid?

If it does not, what action has it taken to prevent the unlawful use of state aid?

If it does, how will it ensure that there is no distortion of competition amongst Europe(cid:146)s farmers?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(5 April 2001)

The Member States have only started to notify measures that are related to the current bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE) crisis. The Commission at present does not have a complete view of the measures
Member States may want to implement.

So far the Commission has only assessed one State aid measure, N 777/00, which was considered
compliant with the EC Treaty (for the full text of this decision see Internet site: http://europa.eu.int/
comm/sg/sgb/state_aids, where all State aid decisions taken by the Commission are made public).

If a State aid would be incompatible with the EC Treaty, the Commission would prohibit such an aid. If
the (incompatible) aid concerned would have been granted already, in contravention of Article 88 (ex
Article 93)(3) of the EC Treaty, the Commission would ask for a recovery of this aid from the beneficiaries.

To prevent such a situation, the Commission has recently reminded all ministers concerned of their
obligation to notify State aids related to BSE.

According to the settled case law all State aids are capable of distorting competition (1). However, Article
87 (ex Article 93)(3) c of the EC Treaty allows this distortion as long as the aid does not adversely affect
trading conditions to an extent contrary to the common interest. A short recapitulation of the State aid
rules in force (2) that allow, in substance, the financing of preventive measures and/or indemnisation for
culling on the basis of national or Community legislation addressing the epidemy, provided that there is no
overcompensation of the costs incurred, was attached to that reminder.

(1) Case C-730/79, ECR 1980, p. 2671, paragraphs 11 and 12.
(2) See (cid:145)Community guidelines for State aid in the agriculture sector(cid:146) (OJ C 28, 1.2.2000).

(2001/C 261 E/120)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0423/01

by Isidoro SÆnchez Garc(cid:237)a (ELDR) to the Council

(20 February 2001)

Subject: United States foreign policy

What are the Council(cid:146)s views on the official statements of the new Vice-President of the United States, Dick
Cheney, on America(cid:146)s new foreign policy in relation to Cuba and Iraq, and its attempts to convince the
rest of the world to accept the construction of the NMD anti-missile defence shield?

C 261 E/114

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.9.2001

Reply

(30 May 2001)

Regarding the question on the NMD anti-missile defence shield, the Honourable Member is kindly invited
to refer to the reply to written question No E-0552/01 on (cid:145)United States missile defence(cid:146).

(2001/C 261 E/121)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0425/01

by Olivier Dupuis (TDI) to the Council

(20 February 2001)

Subject: Situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the abduction of Mr Jacques Depelchin by the

Ugandan army

For several years now, the Democratic Republic of Congo has been undergoing a very serious institutional
crisis. The most recent illustration of that phenomenon was the establishment of a semi-monarchical
regime when Joseph Kabila took power as President, a post previously occupied by his father in a country
at the mercy of civil war.

A number of African armies have moved troops into Congo. Rwandan and Ugandan troops, in particular,
occupy important areas, respectively in the east and in the north-west of the country. There, they indulge
in military and paramilitary activities without any supervision or any legal basis which might justify them.
The Ugandan army recently committed acts of violence against the local population and undertook
terrorist operations against local political representatives. That culminated in the abduction of Professor
Wamba dia Wamba and his colleague, Dr Jacques Depelchin, by Colonel Muzoora Edison, Commandant of
the Bunia sector, Major Gureme, Captain Medi Baguma, Lieutenant Tinka Godfroid and six other ranks of
the UPDF. Mr Depelchin was taken to Colonel Muzoora(cid:146)s HQ in Bunia and then transferred to Kampala
after being held in solitary confinement for seven hours. For several days now, Mr Depelchin has been on
hunger strike in an attempt to persuade the Ugandan authorities to inform him of the charges brought
against him and to secure restoration of his rights in full.

This action by the Ugandan army is only one of a series of acts of intimidation and terrorism perpetrated
in
by Ugandan soldiers against the people living in the region occupied by the Ugandan army and,
particular, against activists belonging to the Congolese Democracy Alliance (cid:129) Liberation Movement
(Rassemblement congolais pour la DØmocratie (cid:129) Mouvement de LibØration).

What information does the Council have about Mr Depelchin(cid:146)s plight? What measures has it taken, or does
it intend to take, with a view to securing his immediate and unconditional release by the Ugandan
authorities? In more general
indeed it has a position, on the
establishment of a semi-monarchical regime in Congo? What measures will the EU take to help resolve
the crisis which has been has been plaguing the country and the region for many a long year?

is the EU(cid:146)s position,

terms, what

if

Reply

(30 May 2001)

The Congolese Rally for Democracy-Liberation Movement (Rassemblement congolais pour la DØmocratie
(cid:129) Mouvement de LibØration, RCD-ML) is a Congolese rebel group backed by Uganda.

Besides the information given by the Honourable Parliamentarian and news reports corroborating this
information,
the Council does not dispose of any information concerning the RCD-ML official
Mr Depelchin(cid:146)s plight.

According to some sources, the abduction of Mr Depelchin is linked to the hema-lendu conflict in the
Uganda controlled part of the DRC. Another development in the region, which might have had an
influence, has to do with the merger between the Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC) and parts of the
RCD-ML, a merger imposed by Uganda according to some sources but not supported by all members of
the RCD-ML. The Council issued a declaration on the first of February this year concerning the hema-lendu
conflict in north-eastern DRC, where it expressed its concern over the continued violent clashes between