WRITTEN QUESTION E-0572/01 by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. E-mail problems.
Date: 2001-02-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: advertising, consumer protection, electronic mail, information technology user, malware, regulation of telecommunications

C 261 E/148

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.9.2001

In the spirit of cooperation and transparency between the European institutions, could the Commissioner
with special responsibility for Transport and Energy provide a similar figure for financial transactions
within that Directorate-General? If not, why not?

Joint answer
to Written Questions P-0553/01, E-0554/01, E-0555/01, E-0556/01,
E-0557/01, E-0558/01, E-0559/01, E-0560/01, E-0561/01, E-0562/01, E-0563/01, E-0564/01,
E-0565/01, E-0566/01, E-0567/01, E-0568/01, E-0569/01 and E-0570/01
given by Mrs Schreyer on behalf of the Commission

(11 April 2001)

The Commission wishes to remind the Honourable Member that the Court of Auditors does not provide
an error rate in the framework of its Statement of Assurance for the general budget as it considers that it is
an oversimplification to gauge the success of the Commission(cid:146)s financial management on the basis of this
single indicator.

Thus the Court decided three years ago to stop the publication of a global error rate and to develop its
Statement of Assurance methodology in order to provide to the Discharge Authority with more detailed
descriptive information.

Moreover, the Court of Auditors has said on several occasions that if it was to generate error rates at a
lower level (eg. by sector or by Directorate general) from a general error rate, these would be wholly
misleading. The restricted number of transactions that the Court audits does not make it possible for it to
determine a valid error rate at this lower level.

Consequently, the Commission is not in a position to provide to the Honourable Member the requested
information.

(2001/C 261 E/172)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0572/01

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(27 February 2001)

Subject: E-mail problems

The sending of electronic junk mail (e-mails which are completely useless to and unwanted by their
recipients, often containing viruses) is a major problem world-wide.

1.

2.

Does the Commission have data on the number of junk mails handled daily by the e-mail system?

Has it calculated the cost to users of dealing with junk mail?

3. What ideas does it intend to put forward for tackling the problem of junk mail?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(23 April 2001)

The Commission agrees that the sending of unsolicited e-mails causes important problems, to both users
and internet service providers (ISPs).

A study was commissioned by the Commission on the subject matter of unsolicited commercial
communications and data protection. This study was completed in January 2001 and provides useful
information on issues raised in the question (1). The study refers for instance to a likely capacity of
specialised companies to send in total 20 billion commercial e-mails per day. The study also indicates that
the cost for users would amount to around € 10 billion a year world-wide. It also mentions a clear shift

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 261 E/149

from spam (unsolicited e-mails) towards marketing techniques based on the prior consent of e-mail
addressees ((cid:145)permission-based marketing(cid:146)).

The Commission proposes to tackle this issue through its proposal for a Directive of the Parliament and of
the Council on the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic commu-
nications sector (2), intended to modify and replace the existing 97/66/EC Directive of the Parliament and
of the Council of 15 December 1997 (3) in view of technological developments.

In particular, Article 13 of the proposal subjects the sending of e-mails to the prior consent of the
subscriber. This so-called (cid:145)opt-in(cid:146) regime will bring e-mails under the same regime as the one applicable to
faxes and automated calling machines. It will also harmonise existing approaches within the Community
where some Member States have already implemented an opt-in system, while others have an opt-out
approach.

(1) The report is available at the following URL address:

http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/media/dataprot/studies/spam.htm.

(2) OJ C 365 E, 19.12.2000.
(3) OJ L 24, 30.1.1998.

(2001/C 261 E/173)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0575/01

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(27 February 2001)

Subject: Radioactive waste

According to reports published on 12 February 2001 in the Athenian newspaper Kathimerini, Albania has
allocated former mines as a storage facility for radioactive waste from Germany.

1. What information does the Commission have on the storage of radioactive waste in former mines in
Albania?

Does it consider that the method of storing radioactive waste in former mines, as practised in

2.
Albania, is safe? If not, what effects could it have on public health?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(3 May 2001)

The Commission has no information about the storage of radioactive waste from any source in Albania.

Under Council Directive 92/3/Euratom of 3 February 1992 on the supervision and control of shipments of
radioactive waste between Member States and into and out of the Community (1), a Member State cannot
authorise the shipment of such waste to a third country if that country (cid:145)does not have the technical, legal
or administrative resources to manage the radioactive waste safely(cid:146).

In general, the practice of storing and disposing of radioactive waste in disused mines has been studied by
a number of countries. However, the costs and benefits of such storage must be examined on a case by
case basis. As the Commission has no information about such a use for mines in Albania, it cannot give
any view as to their possible suitability for storage of radioactive waste.