WRITTEN QUESTION E-0826/01 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Support for the campaign against AIDS in the form of a stance backing the South African Pharmaceuticals Act.
Date: 2001-03-19
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: AIDS, South Africa, cooperation policy, medicinal product, prices, public health

C 261 E/204

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.9.2001

(2001/C 261 E/232)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0826/01

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(19 March 2001)

Subject: Support for the campaign against AIDS in the form of a stance backing the South African

Pharmaceuticals Act

Is the Commission aware that, on 5 March 2001, hearings will begin in the Supreme Court in
1.
Pretoria in an action brought by 42 pharmaceutical companies against the Republic of South Africa in an
effort to block the South African Pharmaceuticals Act which makes it possible for South Africa to produce
and/or import affordable medicines to combat AIDS and other diseases?

Is it aware of

2.
the letter dated 22 February 2001 from Weemos, Niza and 22 other Dutch
organisations seeking the Commission(cid:146)s support for the South African 1997 Pharmaceuticals Act, and
what does it intend to do in response to that letter?

3.
In general terms, and given the poverty prevalent in developing countries, does the Commission feel
that enough is currently being done in terms of making available affordable medicinal products against
AIDS? Does it share my view that support must be given to targeted measures, like the one taken by Cipla
in Bombay and initiatives to procure affordable medicinal products in Brazil?

Does it agree with me that structural solutions must also be sought

4.
the
affordability of medicinal products? Does the Commission have any specific plans? If so, what are they,
and when will they be made public?

to the problem of

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(6 April 2001)

The Commission is aware of the judicial proceeding launched by pharmaceutical companies before
1.
the South African High Court against the South African State concerning the law amending the Medicines
and Related Substances Control Act. However,
it is not the Commission(cid:146)s practice to comment on
proceedings before Courts, be it in Member States or in third countries.

2.
As to the letter of 22 February 2001 from 24 Dutch associations, the Commission replied on
19 March 2001. A copy of the reply is sent directly to the Honourable Member and to the Parliament(cid:146)s
Secretariat.

The Commission welcomes all initiatives to lower prices on essential medicines. It is of the opinion
3.
that the Agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPs) provides the necessary
flexibility for World Trade Organisation (WTO) member to protect public health concerns. The Commi-
ssion is aware of the Brazilian initiative to provide affordable medicines to its human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients and of a recent offer by Cipla of
Bombay. However, it has not yet been provided with details of the initiatives.

4.
It is the Commission(cid:146)s firm conviction that more needs to be done to improve access to health,
including making medicines available, at affordable prices, to the populations of developing countries. That
is exactly the reason why the Commission put in place a global strategy by mid-2000 and complemented
it by its (cid:145)Programme for Action: Accelerated action on HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis in the context
of Poverty Reduction(cid:146) (1) adopted on 21 February 2001. The Programme outlines the actions to be taken
within the next five years, concentrating mainly on:

(cid:129) optimising the impact of health, AIDS and population interventions via Community development

assistance and global partnerships;

(cid:129) strengthening of pharmaceutical policies and capacity building and developing capacity for local

production of pharmaceuticals;

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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(cid:129) establishing a global tiered pricing system for pharmaceuticals and reducing tariffs and other costs on

pharmaceuticals;

(cid:129) supporting WTO developing country members in implementing the TRIPs Agreement and promoting
an international discussion on the link between the Agreement and public health protection issues;

(cid:129) strengthening and increasing support for research and development in particular for vaccines.

This Programme for Action forms the basis of the Commission(cid:146)s policy with regard to communicable
Diseases and poverty reduction, including the issue of access to affordable medicines.

(1) COM(2001) 96.published on the website: http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/cnc/2000/com2000_0585en02.pdf

and http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/cnc/2001/com2001_0096en01.pdf.

(2001/C 261 E/233)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0832/01

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Rate of progress with the Greek National Land Registry

(20 March 2001)

The National Land Registry has often been described in Greece as the biggest of all the major projects. Its
aim is to draw up a detailed inventory of private and public real property in order to eliminate
misappropriation of public land and the destruction of forest by fire, and effectively to protect the private
property of all Greek citizens. The European Union is financing this extremely costly project, though it
does not seem to be progressing at the required rate, pushing its completion date into the distant future
despite continuous government assurances to the contrary.

Will the Commission say how much funding in total the Community has committed for the completion of
the Greek National Land Registry and what amount has been utilised to date? What is the Commission(cid:146)s
appraisal of the rate of progress of the entire project? How many years does the Commission calculate it
will take to complete the project at the rate it has progressed of late? Are details available of the period of
time it took to complete similar projects in other Member States?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(8 May 2001)

The national land register project is receiving Community assistance under the environment operational
programme (OP) of the second Community support framework for Greece in the 1994-1999 program-
ming period.

The initial total cost of the project was € 172 million. Following amendment of the OP referred to above,
total cost comes to € 138,9 million with 75 % assistance under the European Regional
the current
Development Fund.

The agency responsible for carrying out the project has committed all the appropriations. To date, 96 % of
the Community appropriations have been used up.

The project is not being carried out at a satisfactory speed. Whereas the relevant OP data forecast an
operational land register covering 28 223 km2 by the end of 2001, available figures indicate that current
work covers only 8 000 km2 and that the rate of progress corresponds to only 21 % of the forecasts.