WRITTEN QUESTION E-1003/01 by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Treasures from the Kushan tombs in Afghanistan.
Date: 2001-03-30
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Afghanistan, cultural heritage, heritage protection

13.11.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 318 E/177

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(24 April 2001)

The Commission took an initial decision on an emergency contribution of € 2 million followed by a second
decision to grant € 8 million. Depending on how the situation develops, the Community(cid:146)s Humanitarian
Aid Office (ECHO) may supplement its emergency aid. Other Commission departments may contribute
under the heading of post-emergency rehabilitation. For development assistance purposes, the Commission
implements projects targeted at the reconstruction of infrastructure such as hospitals and schools. The
Member of the Commission responsible for development assistance visited El Salvador from 25 to
30 March.

The proposed temporary shelters are made of materials which can generally be reused for the building of
permanent housing. At the same time, training and technical assistance activities are being set up in order
to support and encourage the population(cid:146)s efforts to rebuild permanent housing. All these operations form
part of a more wide-ranging strategy,
including improved access to primary health care, psychosocial
support, access to water and basic sanitation.

ECHO is aware that the temporary accommodation may end up being used as permanent housing. The
extent of requirements in this sector makes technical decisions and the choice of beneficiaries extremely
complex, especially as, unfortunately, the most vulnerable sections of the population live in high-risk areas
or do not always have access to land. The main objective of ECHO in this six-month intervention is to
cover the beneficiary population(cid:146)s basic requirements. Despite the extent of the disaster, we have witnessed
in the field these people(cid:146)s dynamism and ability to cope and ECHO is taking care to allocate humanitarian
aid in such a way as to avoid undermining this very dynamism.

(2001/C 318 E/191)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1003/01

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Treasures from the Kushan tombs in Afghanistan

(30 March 2001)

The criminal acts recently perpetrated by the Taliban government in Afghanistan are the most dramatic
proof of the danger facing the cultural treasures located on Afghan territory. The Greek archaeologist
Viktoras Sariyannidis has carried out excavations in the Tilla-Tepe region at the foot of A(cid:239)-Ha(cid:239)noum hill in
northern Afghanistan, a region previously excavated by the French archaeologist Bernard who had found
a perfect miniature Greek city, one of the 1 000 cities founded in ancient Bactria by Alexander the Great
and his successors.

At the end of the 1980s the Greek archaeologist had discovered at the foot of this hill the tombs of five
Kushan leaders together with 25 000 golden and other precious objects. He handed these objects over to
the Afghan State to be preserved at Kabul Museum.

After the excesses committed by the Taliban there is now concern about the fate of this very important
cultural treasure which sheds light on the history of one of the main junctions on the ancient Silk Road
between China and Spain and gives us valuable information about the culture which flourished there after
the passage of Alexander the Great and his successors who spread Greek (cid:129) and thus European (cid:129) culture
in Asia.

Will the Commission say whether it has any information about the fate of this treasure since the recent
actions by the Taliban? Could the European Union buy up this treasure to save it from the destructive
frenzy of fanatical Islamic fundamentalists?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(7 May 2001)

The Commission currently has no information on the fate of the specific objects referred to by the
Honourable Member. There have been recent reports coming out of Afghanistan of exhibits in the Kabul
Museum being destroyed by the Taliban. However, the Commission has had no confirmation of this.

C 318 E/178

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.11.2001

As indicated in reply to the Honourable Member(cid:146)s Question E-0822/01 (1), the budget of the Community
does not contain provision for the funding of measures destined to protect the world cultural heritage.
There are at present no plans by the Community to create a special fund to buy cultural treasures
threatened with destruction.

(1) OJ C 261 E, 18.9.2001.

(2001/C 318 E/192)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1005/01

by Mark Watts (PSE) to the Commission

(30 March 2001)

Subject: Land-use planning around Community airports

Will the Commission say to what extent it sees the establishment of guidelines for land-use planning
around airports,
(as referred to in its Communication on Air Transport and the Environment of
1 December 1999), as a responsible and decisive step forward in addressing the issue of aircraft noise
around Community airports?

(2001/C 318 E/193)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1006/01

by Mark Watts (PSE) to the Commission

(30 March 2001)

Subject: Land-use planning around Community airports

With reference to its Communication on Air Transport and the Environment (1 December 1999) and the
resolution adopted by the European Parliament on that Communication (7 September 2000), will the
Commission state when, precisely, it intends to publish its report on guidelines for best practice in land-
use planning around Community airports? Will
it ensure broad consultation when conducting this
investigation, and will it say which stakeholders will be approached?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-1005/01 and E-1006/01
given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(18 June 2001)

The Commission considers appropriate rules for the use of land around Community airports as an
important element for a policy aimed at protecting people living in the vicinity of airports from the impact
of aircraft noise without unduly affecting the economics of air transport operations.

At the same time, however, the Commission fully recognises the prerogatives of Member States and
competent local authorities for rule making and concrete decisions in this field. It does not intend to
interfere with the existing allocation of responsibilities.

However, given the importance decisions on the use of land around airports may have for meeting the
objective of improving the noise situation in terms of reducing the number of people seriously impacted
by aircraft noise, the Commission intends to create a group of experts involving members with direct
responsibilities in this field in order to identify best practices in this field. The Commission hopes that the
work of this group will be useful for establishing recommendations on land-use rules which will be
oriented towards improving the balance between environmental, economic and social concerns whilst
respecting the existing allocation of responsibilities.