WRITTEN QUESTION E-1042/01 by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Council. Bombing of Iraqi territory by US and United Kingdom planes.
Date: 2001-04-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Iraq, United Kingdom, United States, common foreign and security policy, military intervention

C 340 E/154

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.12.2001

(2001/C 340 E/172)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1042/01

by Camilo Nogueira RomÆn (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(3 April 2001)

Subject: Bombing of Iraqi territory by US and United Kingdom planes

Does the Council consider the United Kingdom(cid:146)s recent participation in the bombing of Iraqi territory,
to be compatible with
supporting the United States without
membership of the European Union?

the Union(cid:146)s knowledge or agreement,

Reply

(16 July 2001)

The Council refers the Honourable Member to its answer to Question E-0699/01.

(2001/C 340 E/173)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1043/01

by Camilo Nogueira RomÆn (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(3 April 2001)

Subject: Commission strategy to encourage the mobility of EU workers in view of development and job-

creation policies in the less-favoured areas

On the eve of the European Council meeting in Stockholm, Commission sources have said that labour
mobility needs to be encouraged within the European Union in view of the shortage of workers in the new
technology sectors, where the shortfall is currently put at 800 000 people and may reach 1,5 million in
the coming years, according to the Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner, Anna Diamantopoulou.

Does the Commission not believe that seeking to resolve this problem simply through workers(cid:146) mobility
rather than by promoting economic development and job creation in the less-favoured regions, which
produce workers with a high level of technological training, would encourage undesirable migration to
large urban areas, away from the remainder of European territory, which runs counter to the European
Union(cid:146)s stated regional and employment policy in favour of regions with the lowest per capita income?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(6 June 2001)

The purpose of the Commission(cid:146)s strategy in facing up to the new European labour markets, as announced
in its Communication of 28 February 2001 to the Council (cid:145)New European labour markets, open to all,
with access for all(cid:146) (1), and as presented to the Stockholm European Council, is to recognise the changes
taking place on the European labour markets and to be proactive in supporting the development of skills
and potential for geographic mobility. Skills shortages or bottlenecks in some sectors, and in particular in
the Information and Communication technology (ICT) field, call for a long term strategy to develop the
right human resources, but they can also be alleviated in the shorter term by an active mobility policy. The
principle of free movement of workers is one of the basic rights enshrined in the EC treaty, but in practice
several obstacles still prevent workers from exercising this right, and thus employers from recruiting from
a wider European pool of labour.
In order to prepare the groundwork for the Action Plan it has
announced to make the European labour markets open to all and accessible for all by 2005, the
Commission is setting up a High Level Task Force on Skills and Mobility which will report back by the end
of this year.