WRITTEN QUESTION E-1321/01 by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. General census in Greece.
Date: 2001-05-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, data collection, data protection, population census

C 364 E/84

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.12.2001

The Greek Government uses the National Broadcasting Council as a vehicle for issuing opinions based on
various government technical recommendations, a situation which even led a pro-government member of
the NBC to resign in protest against interference by the minister responsible.

1.
In the light of Article 6(1) and (2) of the Treaty on European Union concerning fundamental human
rights, and Article 11 of the Charter of Human Rights concerning freedom of the media, does the Council
consider that the Greek Government(cid:146)s actions are consistent with European law?

2. Will the Council address a recommendation to the Greek Government?

Reply

(27 September 2001)

The Council would remind the Honourable Member
that under Article 151 (ex Article 128) TEC
Community action in the audiovisual sector consists in encouraging cooperation between Member States
and, if necessary, supporting and complementing their action in this area.

The issues raised do not fall within the Council(cid:146)s sphere of competence.

(2001/C 364 E/090)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1321/01

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(3 May 2001)

Subject: General census in Greece

On 18 March 2001, a general census of the population was carried out in Greece. The questionnaire
issued by the National Statistical Office contained questions which were obviously hangovers from
a previous era (such as whether the home has a toilet), while there were also significant gaps such as the
lack of questions on key factors such as possession of a car and the use of new technologies in Greece
(e.g. the number of computers per household, access to the Internet etc.). Doubts were also expressed from
several quarters about the overall organisation of the census and, therefore, the accuracy of the data that
will ultimately be produced.

Is the Commission satisfied with the overall organisation of the census, and with the questionnaire used by
the National Statistical Office to collect data from the population?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(31 July 2001)

The content of a general census of population and housing usually reflects a combination of national
data needs, international recommendations and, in the case of a Member State, the Community data needs
expressed in the Community Census Programme. The Statistical office of the European Communities
is not in a position to judge how well the Greek 2001 census satisfies Greece(cid:146)s national
(Eurostat)
data needs. However, it should be noted that a general census is a huge and extremely costly operation.
Therefore, the contents of censuses are usually restricted to the very basic structural variables of population
and housing conditions, this data being needed either at a very detailed regional level or at a detailed level
of classification. Obtaining a broader spectrum of variables is usually achieved by means of sample surveys,
which enable a great variety of data to be produced at reasonable cost.

In terms of its questionnaire, the content of the Greek general census is fully in line with the United
Nations/Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) (cid:129) Eurostat recommendations for the 2000 censuses
of population and housing in the ECE region, and with the Community Programme for Population and
Housing Censuses in 2001, as agreed by the Statistical Programme Committee and published by Eurostat

20.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 364 E/85

under the heading (cid:145)Guidelines and table programme for the Community programme for population and
housing censuses in 2001(cid:146).

As far as the degree of exhaustiveness of the Greek census is concerned, no information is yet available.
However, it is known that the National Statistical Service of Greece had planned to carry out a post-
enumeration survey to check the coverage of the census. The results of this quality-control exercise should
become available in the coming months.

(2001/C 364 E/091)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1324/01

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(4 May 2001)

Subject: Article 296(1)(b) of the EC Treaty

Pursuant to Article 296(1)(b), Member States are permitted to waive the general principle of competition
(Title VI of the EC Treaty) in the case of military procurement. The Council adopted the list of products to
which this applies on 15 April 1958.

What products appear on the list of 15 April 1958 to which Article 296(1)(b) refers?

Reply

(27 September 2001)

The list of the arms, munition and war materiel,
Article 296 paragraph 1(b) of the Treaty of Rome are applicable is given below.

including nuclear arms, to which the provisions of

1.

Portable and automatic firearms, such as rifles, carbines, revolvers, pistols, sub-machine guns and
machine guns, except for hunting weapons, pistols and other low calibre weapons of the calibre less
than 7 mm.

2. Artillery, and smoke, gas and flame throwing weapons such as:

(a)

cannon, howitzers, mortars, artillery, anti-tank guns, rocket launchers, flame throwers, recoilless
guns;

(b) military smoke and gas guns.

3. Ammunition for the weapons at 1 and 2 above.

4. Bombs, torpedoes, rockets and guided missiles:

(a) bombs, torpedoes, grenades,

including smoke grenades, smoke bombs, rockets, mines, guided

missiles, underwater grenades, incendiary bombs;

(b) military apparatus and components specially designed for the handling, assembly, dismantling,

firing or detection of the articles at (a) above.

5. Military fire control equipment:

(a)

firing computers and guidance systems in infra-red and other night guidance devices;

(b)

telemeters, position indicators, altimeters;

(c)

electronic tracking components, gyroscopic, optical and acoustic;

(d) bomb sights and gun sights, periscopes for the equipment specified in this list.