WRITTEN QUESTION E-0651/01 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Council. Prosecution of citizens from the Veneto region for unlawful defence of a criminal act who showed solidarity with the group which occupied the San Marco bell tower in 1997.
Date: 2001-03-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Veneto, competence of the Member States, freedom of opinion, penalty, trends of opinion

4.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 340 E/59

(2001/C 340 E/067)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0651/01

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(8 March 2001)

Subject: Prosecution of citizens from the Veneto region for unlawful defence of a criminal act who showed

solidarity with the group which occupied the San Marco bell tower in 1997

A group of citizens from the Veneto region who, in the Cartura area in 1997, peacefully demonstrated
their solidarity with a group called the (cid:145)Serenissimi(cid:146) which occupied the San Marco bell tower in Venice as
a protest, will be put on trial
in the next few days in the Padua courts for the unlawful defence of
a criminal act.

According to the state prosecutor, the accused are responsible for displaying placards claiming that the so-
called (cid:145)Serenissimi(cid:146) were (cid:145)heroes(cid:146) and (cid:145)patriots(cid:146), and as a result they risk being found guilty of a crime which
could result in them being sent to prison.

This criminal prosecution is, in reality, a trial of the peacefully voiced ideas of citizens of a Member State
of the European Union and constitutes a breach of the right to free speech enjoyed by all individuals.

Does the Council not consider that the action taken by the Italian judicial authorities is in breach of one of
the most basic of human rights and the right to free speech, as enshrined in the Treaty, international
instruments governing human rights and the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights?

Reply

(13 July 2001)

The Council would like to inform the Honourable Member of
the
maintenance of law and order as well as the safeguarding of internal security is a responsibility incumbent
upon the Member States which is not affected by Title VI of the Treaty on European Union.

the European Parliament

that

(2001/C 340 E/068)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0652/01

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission

(6 March 2001)

Subject: Common policy with regard to credit and loans granted at exorbitant rates

The Commission is undoubtedly aware of the dispute in Italy between the banks and consumer protection
associations, sparked off by a number of judgments delivered by the courts allowing consumers to apply to
their banks for the reimbursement of monies, on the grounds that banks have been guilty of charging
compound interest (a perverse mechanism enabling rising interest rates to be charged on current account
overdrafts) and offering loans at fixed rates only then often to apply interest rates above those considered
to be usurious and therefore illegal under a law of 1996.

The attempts at mediation made by the government have not yet been sufficient to reassure citizens who
are starting to wonder whether the Italian banking system is means of effecting legalised theft and whether
it really is part of the European monetary zone.

Can the Commission say:

1. Whether it considers the two systems referred to above, as operated by the Italian banks, to be

compatible with membership of the Euro zone;

2. Whether the European Central Bank has competence in this area;

3. Whether it considers that the situation described above, involving disproportionate interest rate rises,
constitutes a barrier to competition for undertakings that are forced to take out loans to fund
investment aimed at ensuring growth;