WRITTEN QUESTION E-1045/01 by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Council. Measures presented by the United Kingdom to reduce the flow of refugees and immigrants into the European Union.
Date: 2001-04-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: United Kingdom, migration policy, migratory movement

C 364 E/36

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.12.2001

It remains the firm and considered conviction of the Council that engagement is the best path by which
the EU may work to improve the situation in the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation. Without
dialogue there would be no way for us to impress on Russia that
its international
commitments. It is only through this same dialogue with Russia that practical progress can be made on
humanitarian aid and the protection of human rights in the interests of the people of Chechnya.

it must

fulfil

The Council believes that the fact that Russia has been taking steps in the right direction (cid:129) albeit belatedly
and not going far enough (cid:129) vindicates this approach. During his visit to Moscow, Mr Gil-Robles did note
some positive developments, notably strengthened political will
in Russia to move forward in
Chechnya with democratic construction, rebuilding, establishing peace and seeking political solutions.
The work of Mr Kalamanov(cid:146)s office, involving collaborators from the Council of Europe, the establishment
of civilian courts,
indictments for human rights violations and the adoption of a few
reconstruction measures are a start, even if still too little. However, the Council will continue to press
the Russian authorities to bring to justice all those responsible for human rights violations.

the first

(2001/C 364 E/040)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1044/01

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

(3 April 2001)

Subject: Oppression of women in Afghanistan and the need for European Union humanitarian intervention

Does the Council not believe that
there is an increasing need for European Union humanitarian
intervention in Afghanistan to end the terrible oppression being suffered by women at the hands of the
country(cid:146)s regime, thus responding as part of the international community in the face of this genocide?
What new and effective action will it take?

Reply

(27 September 2001)

In reply to various oral and written questions over the past weeks and months, the Council has on several
occasions informed the European Parliament of its position concerning various aspects of the Afghan
problems, and in particular of action taken in respect to the humanitarian crisis and regarding the
alleviation of suffering of Afghan women. In the absence of particular new developments, the Council
therefore invites the Honourable MEP to revert to the replies given to Questions E-0088/2001, H-0032/
2001, H-0052/2001 and H-0170/2001, the texts of which will be sent as an annex.

(2001/C 364 E/041)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1045/01

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

(3 April 2001)

Subject: Measures presented by the United Kingdom to reduce the flow of refugees and immigrants into the

European Union

The measures presented by the United Kingdom at the meeting of the Council of Ministers for Justice and
Home Affairs in February 2001 with a view to reducing the flow of refugees and immigrants into the
European Union, including a proposal to reform the United Nations Charter on Refugees, contradict the
Union(cid:146)s objective needs and political and economic capacity. What stage has been reached in the Council(cid:146)s
handling of these proposals?

20.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 364 E/37

Reply

(27 September 2001)

In the area of asylum and migration the Council is pursuing the programme laid down in Title IV of the
Treaty and more particularly in Article 63, which lists the measures to be adopted by the Council in the
short term in this area.

(2001/C 364 E/042)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1048/01

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

Subject: Women(cid:146)s employment in the Spanish state

(3 April 2001)

As part of the coordination of Member States(cid:146) employment policies provided for in the Treaty of
Amsterdam, what measures has the Spanish state put forward to overcome its serious deficit as regards
female employment, which would require it to create 3,2 million additional jobs for women if it is to
achieve the goal set within the Union, i.e. a rate of 60 % for women(cid:146)s employment?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(7 June 2001)

The Lisbon European Council in March 2000 concluded that the average employment rate of women in
the Community should increase to more than 60 % by 2010 in support of the target of an overall
employment rate of 70 %, reflecting the long term goal of full employment. Progress since the Lisbon
European Council was reviewed in the Commission Communication (1)
to the Stockholm European
Council in March 2001, where agreement was reached on an intermediate target for a Community female
employment rate of 57 % by 2005.

The Employment Guidelines for 2001 (2) refer for the first time to the Lisbon targets in the horizontal
Guideline A. The Guidelines also indicate that Member States should consider setting national targets for
raising the rate of employment, in order to contribute to the overall European objective for 2010.

In considering the situation in Spain, the following factors have to be borne in mind:

(i)

the above mentioned targets are to be interpreted as Community-wide averages (cid:129) consequently the
figure of 3,2 million additional jobs has only an indicative value;

(ii) Member States(cid:146) individual contributions to the overall targets have to take into consideration their

different starting positions;

(iii) progress against the targets will be assessed in the forthcoming Joint Employment Report for 2001,

which will review the implementation of the Employment Guidelines for 2001.

In the annual assessment of the Spanish National Action Plan by the Commission and the Council in the
framework of the Joint Employment Report for 2000, it appeared that Spain had the lowest employment
rate for women in the Community (37,6 %) and the widest gender gap in employment (30,3 percentage
points). The Report also noted that, despite this, Spain had introduced only limited measures to improve
the situation. Therefore, the Report concluded that Spain should intensify its efforts to raise the female
employment rate.

Consequently, the Recommendations addressed to the individual Member States (3) in the context of this
most recent annual assessment of national employment policies, included a recommendation to Spain to
do more to support mainstreaming of equal opportunities in order to bring the female employment rate
up towards the average.