WRITTEN QUESTION E-1292/01 by María Rodríguez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission. Closure of the Delphi Packard plant in Olvega (Spain).
Date: 2001-05-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing arrangements, European Regional Development Fund, European Social Fund, Spain, cessation of trading, regional aid

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?

14.2.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 40 E/31

Supplementary answer
given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(11 September 2001)

The Delphi Packard company in Olvega (Soria) has received Structural Fund financial assistance through
the Community Initiative ADAPT amounting to € 251 636 from the European Social Fund. Moreover, as a
complement to the above mentioned co-financing, it has received European Regional Development Fund
support for an amount of € 49 000 to finance the computer equipment needed for the training of its
personnel dealing with new technologies.

Should the Commission identify any anomaly regarding the use of the financial support granted, it would
take the appropriate regulatory measures to ensure respect of the relevant Community legislation (1) and
the conditions under which this support was granted.

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds

(OJ L 161, 26.6.1999).

(2002/C 40 E/029)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1299/01

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(3 May 2001)

Subject: Nature conservation and environmental protection in Poland during the run-up to its accession to

the European Union

1.
How can we prevent effective legislation on nature conservation, environmental protection and
animal welfare, which exists in Poland and in other applicant countries, from being watered down on the
grounds that the European Union has laid down less strict rules as minimum provisions?

2.
How can a solution be found to the problem that Poland protects wolves in nature conservation
areas in the Carpathian Mountains, whereas those same wolves, if they cross the national border, are shot
dead in the adjoining Slovakian nature conservation area?

3. What can the European Union do to help overcome the recent stalemate in the assignment to the
Bialowieza National Park contained therein of the entire Polish section of the former imperial hunting
ground between Hajn(cid:243)vka (Podlaskie) and the Belarus border (a total area of 62 500 ha), which is now
used by the state for timber extraction?

4.
How can we prevent a situation whereby, during the run-up to its accession to the European Union,
Poland largely ignores studies into and discussions about the possibility of alternatives, consultation of
those involved and testing for compliance with European Union directives and whereby natural river banks
with valuable flora and fauna are being destroyed by the energetic start being made on the construction of
new dams on the River Vistula and (possibly) the River Oder near Legnica?

5.
Does the Commission share the view of the Polish Government that the existing dam on the River
Vistula near Wloclawek will burst within the next nine years and will, therefore, have to be demolished,
renovated or replaced, in the short term and on safety grounds, by an entirely new water management
system? Does it have any opinion about which solution would be preferable, if the worst came to the
worst, and about what could be done to ensure that that solution could be given the best chance of
implementation?

6. What possibilities exist, even before Poland becomes a Member State of the European Union, for
further aid to be granted to non-governmental organisations which are active in the field of nature
conservation and environmental protection in Poland in the form of subsidies similar to those granted
from the environment budget to organisations in the current Member States and independent of any form
of cooperation with organisations in Member States with a view to a pan-European project?