WRITTEN QUESTION E-1841/01 by Maria Martens (PPE-DE) to the Council. Dutch abortion ship.
Date: 2001-06-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Netherlands, abortion, ship's flag, vessel

C 40 E/120

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

14.2.2002

(2002/C 40 E/119)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1841/01

by Maria Martens (PPE-DE) to the Council

(27 June 2001)

Subject: Dutch abortion ship

This month a ship with doctors on board is sailing from the Netherlands in the direction of Ireland in
order to offer Irish women the opportunity to have abortions. The ship is sailing under a Dutch flag. The
abortions will be carried out in international waters.

1.

Is the Council aware of this initiative of a Dutch abortion ship moored off the coast of Ireland?

How does this initiative stand in relation to European Community law, relevant case-law and

2.
international public law?

Does the Council think that this initiative may have the effect of undermining Irish law because the

3.
doctors on the ship intend to circumvent Irish law?

Has there been any discussion of this matter in the Council? If so, what was the outcome? If not,

4.
does the Council intend to discuss the (cid:145)abortion ship(cid:146) initiative in the near future?

Reply

(8 October 2001)

The Council is not competent to give an answer to the question raised by the Honourable Member of
Parliament since it is an internal affair of a Member State.

(2002/C 40 E/120)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1847/01

by Francesco Turchi (UEN) to the Commission

Subject: Invitation to tender issued by the Trambus company

(26 June 2001)

The Trambus company (formerly ATAC) has issued an invitation to tender for depot, vehicle, and other
cleaning services for the period from October 2001 to December 2003. The tendering procedure is based
on a reference amount of ITL 53 375 000 000, equivalent to ITL 25 500 000 000 a year, and the contract
will be awarded for the most advantageous bid, determined on the basis of a points score broken down
into 55 points for the lowest price and 45 points for the project (28 of which will be accounted for by the
hours offered). For the last five years the contract has been administered by a consortium that employs
some 750 workers to cover the necessary 950 000 hours of work. That being the case, the hourly wage
used to calculate the reference amount is apparently ITL 26 842 or the cost of a daytime fifth level worker.
Most of the necessary workers currently employed are on the fourth and third levels. The work is done at
night (entailing a 30 % increase in the cost) and also on Sundays and holidays (for which the cost is 50 %
higher). A substantial outlay is required for machines, safety, consumables, overheads, and so forth. The
employment contract approved on 25 May 2001, after the call for tenders, further increases the labour
costs. According to the tender documents, prices will not be adjusted for the entire duration of the
contract, which could be as long as five years.

The Commission:

1. Does it consider the invitation to tender to be in accordance with the relevant Community legislation
in force, especially bearing in mind that the incorrectly valued reference amount could induce
dishonest companies to use illegal labour or resort to forms of tax and social security fraud and the
failure to lay down an obligation to take over all the existing staff, a condition provided for in the
national employment contract for workers in the category concerned, could have serious reper-
cussions in terms of employment?

2. How will it proceed in this matter and what action does it intend to take?