WRITTEN QUESTION P-1130/01 by Antonio Tajani (PPE-DE) to the Council. World-wide genocide of Christians.
Date: 2001-04-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Christian, action programme, anti-discriminatory measure, crime against humanity, freedom of religious beliefs, religious discrimination

C 364 E/48

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.12.2001

The work of Mr Kalamanov(cid:146)s office, in which staff from the Council of Europe participate, the setting-up
of a civil judiciary, initial charges for human rights violations and the adoption of some reconstruction
measures are all first steps in the right direction, even though they are still inadequate. However, the
Council will continue to insist that the Russian authorities bring to justice all those responsible for human
rights violations.

(2001/C 364 E/052)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1109/01

by Jens-Peter Bonde (EDD) to the Council

(9 April 2001)

Subject: The Luxembourg compromise and the Ioannina compromise after the ratification of the Nice

Treaty

What is the status of the Ioannina compromise and the Luxembourg compromise after the ratification of
the Nice Treaty?

Reply

(27 September 2001)

The Council decision of 29 March 1994 on qualified majority decision-making by the Council (1) as
amended by the Decision of 1 January 1995 (2), commonly known as the (cid:145)Ioannina Compromise(cid:146),
is
mentioned in Declaration No 50 annexed to the Final Act to the Amsterdam Treaty relating to the
Protocol on the institutions with the prospect of enlargement of the European Union, which is attached to
that Treaty. According to this Declaration (cid:145)Until the entry into force of the first enlargement it is agreed
that the decision of the Council of 29 March 1994 ((cid:146)the Ioannina Compromise(cid:145)) will be extended and, by
that date, a solution for the special case of Spain will be found(cid:146). It is recalled that the Council decision of
29 March 1994 does not have an expiry date.

The results of the IGC of Nice will have the following consequences.

The Protocol on the institutions, to which this Declaration is related, will be repealed with the entry into
force of the Protocol on the enlargement of the European Union annexed by the Treaty of Nice to the
Treaty on European Union and to the Treaties establishing the European Communities. Furthermore,
Article 3 of the same Protocol on the enlargement provides for new Council vote weightings which will be
applicable in January 2005.

Therefore, the (cid:145)Ioannina Compromise(cid:146) will no longer be applicable from 1 January 2005.

As for what is commonly called the (cid:145)Luxembourg Compromise(cid:146) (Conclusions of the extraordinary session
of the Council in Luxembourg on 17, 18, 27 and 28 January 1966), its status will remain the same after
the entry into force of the Nice Treaty.

(1) OJ C 105, 13.4.1994, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 1, 1.1.1995.

(2001/C 364 E/053)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1130/01

by Antonio Tajani (PPE-DE) to the Council

(3 April 2001)

Subject: World-wide genocide of Christians

The United Nations and several human rights organisations have recently sounded the alarm over the
increase in persecutions of Christians world-wide:
in 2000, 165 000 were killed and 200 million
persecuted.

20.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 364 E/49

Europe, which still bears unhealed scars from the shame of the Holocaust, has a duty to take action to
guarantee the right to freedom of religion.

What initiatives does the Council intend to take to safeguard and guarantee freedom of religion (cid:129) to
which everyone has a right (cid:129) in Europe and the rest of the world?

How does the Council plan to act to stem these cases of intolerance and religious discrimination and to
protect laymen and missionaries at work, as they daily put their lives at risk?

Reply

(27 September 2001)

During recent years the Council has devoted a lot of attention to combat discrimination. Already in

1.
1996 the Council adopted a Joint Action concerning action to combat racism and xenophobia (1).

Article 29 of the Treaty on European Union establishes as the Union(cid:146)s objective to provide citizens with
a high level of safety within an area of freedom, security and justice (2).

In 2000 the Council adopted a Directive implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons
irrespective of racial or ethnic origin (3) and a Decision establishing a Community action programme to
combat discrimination, 2001-2006 (4). At the European Council in Nice, the European Parliament, the
Council and the Commission adopted in a solemn proclamation the charter of fundamental rights of the
European Union (5) which recognises the rights,
In
particular, Article 10 of the Charter provides that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience
and religion, whilst its Article 22 states that the Union shall respect cultural, religious and linguistic
diversity.

freedoms and principles set out in the Charter.

2. Whenever in the United Nations Organisation or in the Council of Europe the relevant texts
concerning freedom of religion have to be strengthened, the Council Presidency will endeavour to reach
agreement for a common position of the EU Member States.

(1) OJ L 185, 24.7.1996, p. 5.
(2) OJ C 340, 10.11.1997, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 180, 19.7.2000, p. 22.
(4) OJ L 303, 2.12.2000, p. 23.
(5) OJ C 364, 18.12.2000, p. 1.

(2001/C 364 E/054)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1142/01

by Raffaele Costa (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(10 April 2001)

Subject: Choice of location for the European Food Safety Authority

During the debate preceding the final choice of location for the European Food Safety Authority, the
Commission proposed Luxembourg, in order to make use of Community structures already in existence
which could accommodate the Authority(cid:146)s structure following the reorganisation of
the European
executive(cid:146)s departments, as a result of the current administrative reform.

Could the Commission therefore state whether, in putting forward this proposal, it has taken as selection
criteria geographical centrality, a solid tradition of agribusiness (cid:129) safeguarding the particular features of
the various Member States, particularly in the Mediterranean regions (cid:129), a strong industrial presence in the
food processing sector, and potential for scientific and academic research?

In proposing the above-mentioned location as its seat (cid:129) a choice which is undoubtedly reasonable if
intended to save costs and encourage synergies, through the use of pre-existing structures (cid:129) has the
Commission taken into account the independence and autonomy which the Authority must symbolise, and
has it assessed the risk that establishing its seat in Luxembourg could make the authority seem like a mere
Commission department?