WRITTEN QUESTION P-1251/01 by Carmen Cerdeira Morterero (PSE) to the Commission. Aid to Namibia and fundamental rights.
Date: 2001-04-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU relations, Namibia, diplomatic relations, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation

14.2.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 40 E/29

Commission-funded research (notably since the third Framework Programme for research and tech-
nological development (RTD)) has played a clearly identifiable role: some project products have already
been commercialised in Member States and beyond. For the care of the older populations and those
suffering from chronic illnesses, the use of telemedicine is a very important tool.

Applications for telepathology and teleradiology allowing the options of remote consultation and requests
of second opinion have been commercialised and the company which commercialises these tools will also
commercialise them in the United States. An application developed for electronic management of clinical
trials has been intensively validated (six thousand cardiology patients) and is in use in pharmaceutical
companies for world-wide clinical research. This product is a market leader in its field. The company
involved in its commercialisation has grown from a start-up after an initial Commission-funded project to
a company with thirty staff members today. A third company was founded in follow-up to the
development of a web-enabled patient record system.
It should be noted that the three companies
mentioned above have collaborated in order to have a competitive critical mass. As a consequence, the
three above-mentioned products are integrated and will soon be commercialised as an integrated line of
products. Validation of this integration has just been finalised: the three above-mentioned products work in
an integrated fashion in the transplantation portal used for donor (cid:129) recipient matching in kidney and, to a
lesser extent, liver transplantation in some Western and Eastern European countries.

The above forms just an example, summarising successful Community-funded research in the area of
telemedicine.

In addition, there is a continuous exchange between researchers in North American countries and Europe.
European projects regularly participate to international telemedicine conferences.

The Commission is, moreover,
in the process of identifying bottlenecks towards a more widespread
implementation of the products for which the results have been successfully validated. One potential
initiative is the organisation of a co-ordinated Commission approach towards major user groups such as
organisations of health professionals and pharmaceutical companies in order to ensure that, besides cost-
effectiveness, medical benefits are fully validated and exploited.

The results of such an action would create the necessary data and arguments allowing Member States to
adapt their implementation strategies. In this context, the Commission has already set up, since the fourth
Framework Programme (1994-1998) for RTD, a working group of representatives of the Member States
Health(cid:146)s Ministries (called Health Working Party). The national delegates have been asked to formulate
existing national strategic plans for implementation of health Telematics,
in
Europe.

including telemedicine,

A copy of the Telemedicine Glossary working document, third edition, which summarises, among others,
results by projects will be sent direct to the Honourable Member and to the Parliament(cid:146)s Secretariat.

(2002/C 40 E/027)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1251/01

by Carmen Cerdeira Morterero (PSE) to the Commission

(10 April 2001)

Subject: Aid to Namibia and fundamental rights

Namibia is a country which benefits from European funds, being allocated a sum of € 52 million over the
period 1996-2000. The second priority of the agreement between the European Union and the Namibian
government is the development and consolidation of democracy and the rule of law, as well as respect for
human rights and fundamental freedoms.

C 40 E/30

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

14.2.2002

What is the Commission(cid:146)s view of the statements made by the President of Namibia, Mr Sam Nujoma, and
his decision to detain and deport from the country all gays and lesbians on the grounds that Namibia(cid:146)s
constitution does not allow homosexuality?

This is in breach of the values and fundamental principles of the European Union, Article 13 of the Treaty
of Amsterdam, legislation on development cooperation and the United Nations Universal Declaration on
Human Rights. Is the Commission planning any action to denounce this flagrantly discriminatory measure?
Will the Commission inform the Namibian government that this decision violates fundamental human
rights and contradicts the principles and basic values of the European Union?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(31 July 2001)

The Commission has noted with surprise the recent statements against homosexuals made by the President
of Namibia.

Those statements contrast with the universal principles of human dignity in general and in particular with
the politics of reconciliation and tolerance adopted by the government of Namibia after independence.

All individuals are entitled to enjoy their human rights and fundamental freedoms and the State should ban
all forms of discrimination whether on the basis of race, sex, political or religious beliefs, etc. These
principles and fundamental rights are enshrined in the Preamble of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement
signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000.

The Union, through a demarche and in a declaration has expressed its concerns to the Namibian
authorities and has encouraged them to maintain their respect for human rights and to uphold the rule of
law.

(2002/C 40 E/028)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1292/01

by Mar(cid:237)a Rodr(cid:237)guez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission

Subject: Closure of the Delphi Packard plant in Olvega (Spain)

(3 May 2001)

The Delphi Packard company, which received a large amount of publicly funded start-up aid from the
Autonomous Community of Castilla y Le(cid:243)n and the province of Soria for its plant in Olvega, has taken the
unilateral decision to close that plant, the driving force behind industrial development in the Moncayo
area, with the loss of 520 jobs.

Delphi Packard, a multinational company, invests ESP 10 000 million each year in its Olvega plant. The
profits in excess of ESP 1 000 million generated by that plant are evidence of its viability.

The hasty announcement of the closure and the treatment of the workers at the plant, who have been
presented with a letter of undertaking requiring them to sign up to a transfer or take voluntary
redundancy, constitute a breach of Spanish employment law.

Given that its plant is situated in an Objective 1 region, will the Commission say whether Delphi Packard
has received assistance of any kind from EU Structural Funds?

If so, what steps can the Commission take to ensure that Delphi Packard complies with the undertakings
that it would have given in order to receive assistance from those Funds?