WRITTEN QUESTION E-1564/01 by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission. The suspension of bilingualism in Istria.
Date: 2001-05-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Croatia, association agreement (EU), bilingualism, linguistic discrimination, minority language, official language, protection of minorities

14.2.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 40 E/53

The UN Report focuses on the illegal exploitation of the DRC(cid:146)s natural resources and other wealth. It was
presented to the Security Council by the Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, on 14 April 2001 and was the
subject of heated debate. In response to the criticisms, the Secretary-General extended the mandate of the
experts who compiled the report by three months for them to add to the research and the information
already provided. The experts will have the opportunity of studying in greater detail the conditions in
which coltan and other natural resources are being minded, and to review other economic effects of the
conflict, such as agreements with countries (cid:145)invited in(cid:146) by the DRC in exchange for military support for the
Kinshasa Government. This Report will be an important point of departure for the international
community, which will have to take a stand on it.

The final version of the Report will be particularly useful as it will contribute to the debate on whether to
prevent coltan obtained illegally in the DRC from gaining access to the European market. However, an
embargo of this sort is neither possible nor effective without a decision from the UN Security Council. The
Report will also help to shed light on the use of forced labour and child labour in the mines. The 13 April
version of the Report touches on the use of prisoners (paragraph 60) and of children (paragraph 69) in the
mines, based on information obtained by the Panel or from witnesses.

The fact that the warring factions in the DRC have an important economic interest in the extraction of
coltan and other resources has increased the devastation in the Kivu area. Its decline began under President
Mobutu and is due to several factors, one of the most important of these being ethnic conflict.

The situation became much worse following the genocide in Rwanda and Rwanda(cid:146)s intervention in both
the DRC(cid:146)s wars, initially motivated by the need to secure the external border.

The international community is aware of the link between economic interests and the continuation of the
war in Kivu.

In the Commission(cid:146)s view, the only lasting solution is to advance the peace process and to build legitimate
institutions able to regulate the exploitation of resources and working conditions in the mines. This is
what the Commission and the Member States are trying to achieve by taking a number of financial,
political and diplomatic measures to get the peace process moving after the boost it received from the
signing of the Lusaka ceasefire agreement.

(2002/C 40 E/050)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1564/01

by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(29 May 2001)

Subject: The suspension of bilingualism in Istria

On 9 April 2001 the Regional Council of Istria adopted the Statute of the Region which provided for the
equality of
institutions and in all administrative
proceedings.

the Italian and Croatian languages in all regional

On 23 April 2000 the Ministry of Justice in Zagreb suspended the provisions of this statute.

Can the Commission confirm that this is true? Does it not consider the suspension to be an obstacle in the
negotiations with Croatia (economic cooperation)?

Lastly, how does the Commission intend to react to this violation of EU principles?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(20 July 2001)

The Commission confirms
suspended
10 provisions of the new Istrian Statute, adopted on 9 April 2001 by the Istrian County Assembly. As a

the Croatian Ministry of

the information that

Justice has

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14.2.2002

result, the Croatian Government has decided to ask for a legal opinion from the Croatian Constitutional
Court on 13 articles of the Statute, including the provisions introducing a full bilingual regime Croatian/
Italian. This procedure is now pending.

The Commission has been following these developments. Protection of minorities,
in terms of non-
discrimination, access to education on minority language and preservation of minority cultures, has always
been an important element of conditionality in the Union/Croatia relations. This aspect has also been
reiterated and formalised recently in the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Croatia,
initialled on 14 May 2001.

In the bilateral contacts with the Commission, as well as in the acceptance of the obligations created by
the SAA, Croatia has renewed its commitment towards the protection of and respect for minorities. A Law
on the official use of minority languages and a Law on education in minority languages had been adopted
by the new Croatian Government already in May 2000. A new comprehensive Constitutional Law on
protection of minorities should also be proposed soon.

The Commission will continue to stress the importance of the full protection of minorities in its bilateral
contacts with Croatia and will monitor the full implementation of the relevant legislation.

(2002/C 40 E/051)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1570/01

by Marie Isler BØguin (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

Subject: EU aid programme for the victims of Chernobyl

(29 May 2001)

The after-effects of the Chernobyl disaster are now becoming most alarmingly apparent in Belarus.
Radioactive fall-out, which amounted to 70 %, has severely contaminated a quarter of its territory and its
ecosystem, and the effects thereof will be felt for several centuries. Two million people, including 500 000
children, are condemned to live on contaminated land because the Belarus Government has neither the
material resources nor the political will
to improve the situation. The pathologies caused by that
environment and by farm products contaminated by radioactivity are increasing exponentially in terms of
quantity and seriousness, in particular taking the form of cancers and malformations from babyhood.

As a means of expressing its displeasure at President Alexander Lukashenko(cid:146)s autocratic regime in Belarus,
the European Union has cut back its aid to that country and now runs just one TACIS programme of
political support for civil society.

Does not the Commission feel that there are grounds for running, locally as well as in the Member States,
a second TACIS programme of health care and medical aid for the people living in the contaminated
regions of Belarus, one which would concentrate on the manufacture and prescription of the pectin-based
medicinal products advocated by V. Nesterenko, as a display of EU solidarity with and assistance for civil
society as much as a humanitarian necessity?

What funds is the Commission planning to release for these millions of civilian victims of the ecological
disaster which occurred when the Chernobyl nuclear power station exploded, the effects of which will be
felt for at least three hundred years and which has cost Belarus alone an estimated USD 235 billion?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(3 September 2001)

The Commission shares the concern expressed by the Honourable Member about the consequences of the
Chernobyl accident on the population of Belarus.

The European Community Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), which was active in the areas worst affected
by the Chernobyl disaster in the early 1990s, allocated more than € 8 million to operations in support of
those affected by the accident. Emphasis was given to alleviating the health effects of the accident,
including the need for specialist medical monitoring and care. However, in the line with the mandate
agreed with the Council, the core function of ECHO is emergency relief which is no longer appropriate to
the current situation in the affected areas of Belarus.