WRITTEN QUESTION P-1805/01 by Francesco Turchi (UEN) to the Commission. Delay in carrying out the pilot project to combat child exploitation and paedophilia.
Date: 2001-06-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU programme, child protection, paedophilia, public awareness campaign

11.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 350 E/229

(2001/C 350 E/258)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1804/01

by Wolfgang Ilgenfritz (NI) to the Commission

(13 June 2001)

Subject: Support for euro conversion costs

Firms operating vending machines (e.g. peanut dispensers, games machines, etc) are particularly challenged
by conversion to the euro. Costs that cannot as yet remotely be anticipated, e.g. for new banknote readers,
programming units for coin checkers, licence fees, etc, will undoubtedly be incurred.

Since the very survival of these firms is at risk by reason of the enormous costs, it is vitally necessary for
special assistance to be provided for them from the EU, and for the necessary funds to be made available
to the operators concerned.

We therefore ask to be informed of the arrangements that will be made to channel funds to firms affected
by this problem.

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(19 July 2001)

The Commission is well aware of the claims of the vending industry for compensation of the costs they
believe they will bear due to the changeover to the euro. The Commission holds regular meetings with
European representatives of the coin operated industry to discuss issues and possible solutions.

The Ministers of the euro area have reached a common position concerning such claims for compensation.
The Ministers felt that changeover costs are an investment and should be borne by the sectors where they
arise. The public sector is assuming its own costs; concurrently, the other sectors should each assume their
own financial effort of adaptation.

The benefits provided by the introduction of the euro will persist over time while costs borne for the
changeover are once-off and relatively small compared to the future gains for all business sectors.

Finally the euro coins are of a higher safety standard compared to the national coins and this will indeed
help the coin operated industry to increase the level of security in their transactions.

(2001/C 350 E/259)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1805/01

by Francesco Turchi (UEN) to the Commission

(13 June 2001)

Subject: Delay in carrying out the pilot project to combat child exploitation and paedophilia

The horryfing phenomenon of paedophilia is still a burning issue, as shown by the recent discovery of
a huge paedophile organisation in Rome (Italy).

In the 2001 Budget the European Parliament voted in favour of an appropriation of € 3 million intended
to finance, in the first year, a pilot project to combat child exploitation (budget line B5-804), specifically
by funding an information campaign to combat child exploitation, and in particular paedophilia, within
the 15 Member States.

In the 2002 Preliminary Draft Budget the Commission considered it appropriate to delete the funding from
that line by making a token entry.

C 350 E/230

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

11.12.2001

I have not yet received any reply to the question on this subject which I tabled on 30 March 2001.

In view of the foregoing, can the Commission say what action has been taken up to now and what action
will be taken in future to carry out this project, what the timetable for this action will be and the reason
whysix months of the financial year have elapsed without any action having been taken?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(16 July 2001)

The Commission refers to its answer to Question E-1245/01. In addition, it underlines that on 14 March
2001, the Commission has published the Daphne call for proposals, of which the profile was raised and
adapted by including a priority on the topics: paedophilia and child sexual abuses and exploitation.

The receipt of the proposals is now achieved. Around 65 proposals concerning the above mentioned
topics have been received. The result of the evaluation process will be known in September and the
accepted projects should be able to start around November-December 2001.

Concerning the remark of the Honourable Member about the absence of a similar budget line in the APB
2002, the same considerations about duplication of activities with the Daphne programme guided the
Commission in drafting the preliminary budget.

(2001/C 350 E/260)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1806/01

by Wolfgang Ilgenfritz (NI) to the Commission

(19 June 2001)

Subject: Europe-wide invitations to tender

I am frequently approached by interested firms for details about current invitations to tender. Hitherto I
have subscribed to the Europa Kontakt series in which many invitations to tender are published. However,
the promotional briefing is distributed only once a month and many of the invitations tender are therefore
no longer up-to-date.

I also consult the TED home page for details but searches are extremely time-consuming. Can the
Commission give other sources from which information on the latest invitations to tender or supply
contracts can be obtained cheaply and in good time? Is it possible to receive automatic notification of new
invitations to tender by e-mail?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(23 July 2001)

The efficient dissemination of public procurement opportunities, their easy access and user-friendliness are
objectives on which the Commission is constantly working.

In accordance with Community legislation in force all Europe-wide calls for tender covered by the relevant
the European
Community directives are published in the Supplement
Communities (OJ S series). The OJ S series is currently available either on CD-ROM (against payment) or
online via the internet in the Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) information service (free of charge).

to the Official

Journal of

The CD-ROM OJ S is published as a daily (five times/week) or as a twice-weekly subscription (appearing
on Wednesdays and Saturdays).

Furthermore, official sales agents of the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities and
worldwide intermediaries who are TED licence-holders can offer their clients cost-efficient services tailored
to specific needs, i.e. automatic notification of new calls for tender according to specific profiles.