WRITTEN QUESTION E-1588/01 by Adeline Hazan (PSE) to the Commission. Right to family reunification.
Date: 2001-06-01
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU migration policy, family migration, rights of aliens

11.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 350 E/197

(2001/C 350 E/213)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1587/01

by Rosa MiguØlez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission

(1 June 2001)

Subject: Ban on drift nets

On 8 June 1998 the Council decided to ban the use of drift nets, establishing a moratorium of four years,
during which time there should be a gradual reduction in the number of boats using these nets, so that
they are phased out completely by December 2001. However, the tuna fleet, which uses nets compatible
with preserving fish resources and long since abandoned the use of drift nets, is concerned at certain
moves to prevent the forthcoming total abolition of these nets.

Can the Commission confirm that the Council decision will be implemented?

Can it guarantee that the obligation to phase out the nets is being complied with? If not, why are they not
being phased out during the moratorium? What reasons can the Commission see for France, Great Britain,
Italy and Ireland not to comply with this obligation? What steps has it taken to force these countries to
comply?

Can the Commission give the European Parliament the list of boats which still use these nets? Since the
sector concerned claims that the list sent to the Commission by the Member States at the beginning of the
moratorium was falsified, does it believe that the list it now has is correct?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(18 July 2001)

The Commission is firmly committed to enforcing Council Regulation (EC) No 1239/98 of 8 June 1998
amending Regulation (EC) No 894/97 laying down certain technical measures for the conservation of
fishery resources (1).

It has already provided the Parliament, in 2000 and after its specific request, with a report on enforcement
in 1998 and 1999 of Community legislation on the use of driftnets targeting highly migratory species. The
report contain the elements showing that Member States are complying with Council Regulation (EC) No
1239/98.

Within that report, the Honourable Member will find the figures of fishing boats using driftnets.

The report referring to year 2000 will shortly be completed.

(1) OJ L 171, 17.6.1998.

(2001/C 350 E/214)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1588/01

by Adeline Hazan (PSE) to the Commission

(1 June 2001)

Subject: Right to family reunification

On 28 and 29 May 2001, the forthcoming Council of Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs will debate
the proposals for a European Union directive on the right to family reunification.

This text is crucial for the achievement of a normal family life, as laid down in Article 8(1) of the European
Convention on Human Rights which stipulates that: (cid:145)Everyone has the right to respect for his [private and]
family life(cid:146).

C 350 E/198

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

11.12.2001

There are serious concerns at present about the fate of this proposal since, although it marks the first
material and courageous step forward along the road towards the communitarisation of the third pillar,
some Member States want to backtrack and make substantial changes to it by:

(cid:129) extending to more than one year the waiting period before the end of which third-country nationals

may not apply for family reunification;

(cid:129) limiting strictly the number of family members eligible for family reunification, excluding relatives in
the ascending line, unmarried couples and dependent children who have reached the age of majority;

(cid:129) not granting family members the right to work immediately upon arrival in the host Member State;

(cid:129) allowing Member States to withdraw residence permits for reunified families if,

in the two years

following reunification, the required conditions are no longer met.

The Commission(cid:146)s draft directive, as amended by the European Parliament, is a significant text which must
receive firm and uncompromising backing from the Community institutions.

What strategy does the European Commission intend to adopt in the light of this incomprehensible hue
and cry? What is its unequivocal and precise position on this issue?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(19 July 2001)

The wide differences of opinion still remaining between the Member States prevented them from reaching
an agreement on the proposal for a directive on family reunification at the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)
Council on 28 and 29 May 2001. The Ministers concluded that negotiations should continue in working
parties under the Belgian Presidency.

It is true that the proposals given as examples by the Honourable Member were presented during the
negotiations. However, none of them was supported by all the Member States.

During the negotiations the Commission defended its proposal as amended by Parliament(cid:146)s opinion,
without standing in the way of an acceptable compromise. It will also ensure within the limits of its
powers that the final text will have a real legal and political bearing. It has maintained repeatedly that once
persons are admitted they should be automatically integrated into the host country. Family reunification is
a powerful tool for persons already resident in a Member State, and persons admitted for that purpose
should be guaranteed adequate rights.

(2001/C 350 E/215)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1599/01

by Christos Zacharakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(21 May 2001)

Subject: Condemnation of Turkey by the European Court of Human Rights

In its judgment of 10 May 2001 the European Court of Human Rights condemned Turkey for continuing
large-scale violations of human rights in Cyprus since 1974 and ruled in favour of the application by the
Republic of Cyprus.

As the Turkish Government hastened to announce that it would ignore this judgment of the European
Court of Human Rights, whose jurisdiction it has by the way formally recognised since 1990, and as in the