WRITTEN QUESTION P-1578/01 by Linda McAvan (PSE) to the Commission. Fifth framework projects in the Yorkshire and Humberside region.
Date: 2001-05-21
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU programme, Yorkshire and The Humber, financing method, research project

20.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 364 E/153

(2001/C 364 E/167)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1578/01

by Linda McAvan (PSE) to the Commission

(21 May 2001)

Subject: Fifth framework projects in the Yorkshire and Humberside region

Can the Commission please provide a breakdown of the regional distribution and the level of funding of
Fifth framework projects in the Yorkshire and Humberside region of the United Kingdom? Does the
research
Commission prioritise assisted areas
programmes?

(Objective 1 and 2) when allocating funding for

Answer given by Mr Busquin on behalf of the Commission

(28 June 2001)

Data on funding of the Fifth framework Research and Technological Development (RTD) programme
projects in the Yorkshire and Humberside regions will be sent directly to the Honourable Member and to
the Parliament(cid:146)s Secretariat.

The Fifth framework (RTD) Programme is implemented through competitive calls for proposals addressed
to the academic and industrial research community, published widely and open to participation from all
regions of Europe, including in the Member States associated to the programme. Potential research actors
are encouraged to come together in transnational cooperation consortia, in submitting proposals. These
proposals are evaluated, on the basis of clearly established selection criteria, by independent experts. The
focus is on the inherent qualities of the proposal without any consideration to the geographical region in
which one or other of the participants is placed.

(2001/C 364 E/168)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1581/01

by Juan Naranjo Escobar (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(21 May 2001)

Subject: Recent events in Angola

The offensive launched last week-end by rebel forces near Luanda left approximately a hundred dead and
a further hundred missing. In addition, 60 children were kidnapped by an armed group belonging to the
National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) in an operation, which according to eye-
witnesses, was both targeted and well-planned. The group of kidnapped children consisted of 51 boys and
nine girls between the ages of 10 and 18. As if the murder of four members of humanitarian organisations
unconnected with the conflict in the region of Luanda was not enough, children are once again falling
victim to abuses in the areas dogged by conflict. Once kidnapped, children usually end up being subjected
to sexual abuse or being used as human shields or pawns in the conflict.

Has the Commission condemned these events which constitute a flagrant violation of the 1989 United
Nations Convention on the Rights of
its optional protocol on the
involvement of children in armed conflict? To what extent is the protection of minors in areas of conflict
taken account of in the European Union(cid:146)s cooperation with third world countries? What extraordinary
measures does the Commission think could be adopted in order to help the child population which is
particularly vulnerable and defenceless against guerrilla attacks of this nature?

the Child and in particular of

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(29 June 2001)

The Union has issued a declaration strongly condemning the attack by UNITA near the town of Caxito in
Angola, which resulted in the abduction of 60 children from a school supported by a European non-
governmental organisation (NGO). Through this declaration of the Presidency, the Union called for the
immediate release and safe return of all abducted children and insisted that the perpetuators should be
brought to justice.