WRITTEN QUESTION P-1964/01 by Guido Podestà (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Wolf children.
Date: 2001-07-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU aid, abandoned child, child protection, children's rights, social rehabilitation

C 81 E/82

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.4.2002

Reply

(26 November 2001)

The Council informs the Honourable Parliamentarian that it has received a Proposal for a Council Decision
on the signature, on behalf of the European Community, of the Protocol on the Implementation of the
Alpine Convention in the field of Transport. It has not yet received a Proposal for a Council Decision
regarding the conclusion of this Protocol.

The Council recognises the importance of this Protocol for all contracting parties, including the European
is aware that its signature on behalf of the Community would constitute a
Community. Hence,
significant political signal to all other contracting parties.

it

Therefore, the Council assures the Honourable Parliamentarian of its intention to deploy all efforts with a
view to the adoption of the Council Decision pertaining to the signature of the Protocol in question within
a reasonable time limit. The date for the adoption of said Decision has not been scheduled yet.

(2002/C 81 E/095)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1963/01

by Luisa Morgantini (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(12 July 2001)

Subject: Marco Galucci, a European Union aid worker arrested in and deported from Israel

On 8 June 2001 Mr Marco Galucci, who is working on a Commission-funded humanitarian aid project,
was arrested at Ben-Gurion Airport and, although he was able to show clearly why he had come to Israel,
questioned for several hours. He was not allowed to telephone his consulate, his computer was searched,
his diskettes confiscated, and he was eventually sent back to Italy.

Will the Council respond to the actions of the Israeli authorities, bearing in mind that this kind of
behaviour severely impedes the smooth running of Union-funded humanitarian projects to aid the
Palestinian population hard pressed by war?

What specific steps will it take?

Reply

(29 November 2001)

The Commission, responsible for implementing humanitarian aid, has not raised the case of Mr Marco
Galucci with the Council.

is first

for the Commission to judge whether arrest and deportation of Mr Galucci violate the
It
agreements, which the Commission has concluded with Israel, and whether the Israeli actions impede the
implementation of the project and, if this is the case, to take the necessary steps.

(2002/C 81 E/096)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1964/01

by Guido Podest(cid:224) (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(3 July 2001)

Subject:

(cid:145)Wolf children(cid:146)

In rare cases (cid:145)wolf children(cid:146), having been abandoned or run away from their parents, have been known to
live in forests among animals which enable them to survive.

The most recent case involved a Chilean boy who was abandoned by his parents and found after living for
ten years with a pack of stray dogs that had kept him alive on bitches(cid:146) milk.

4.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 81 E/83

Scientific and political circles do not appear to have taken sufficient notice of such an exceptional
phenomenon.

Given that, in the year 2001, such things must never ever be allowed to happen again and that Article 24
of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights guarantees the rights of the child, what attention is the
Commission bringing to bear on the matter and what humanitarian and economic assistance is it
providing to the countries where cases occur, to ensure that they accept responsibility for them and
prevent any repetition in the future?

What support is being offered with a view to resocialising human beings who, when they are found, very
often cannot speak any language and show severe signs of physical and mental maladjustment?

Does the Commission not believe that it should promote exhaustive studies on specific cases and the
characteristics of the phenomenon and the best ways to reclaim the children affected?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(6 September 2001)

The Commission considers that it is not qualified to act in this matter.

(2002/C 81 E/097)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1967/01

by Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Public works on the River Kravsindon

(5 July 2001)

Further to my questions Nos E-1162/89 (1) and E-1835/90 (2), I should like to return once more to the
subject of the covering of the River Kravsindon. Complaints reveal that the municipality of Volos has
declared its intention of building a road for through traffic along the River Kravsindon, thereby creating an
internal ring road. Owing to the heavy traffic that the road will attract, a huge area in the centre of the
Volos-Nea Ionia conurbation will suffer environmental and social consequences.

Given that the Kravsindon area has received funding from the LIFE programme for its environmental,
cultural and social development, will the Commission say whether Community funds will be used to carry
out the project and to what extent the works are consistent with Framework Law 1650/86 on the
protection of the environment, and with Directive 85/337/EEC (3)?

(1) OJ C 139, 7.6.1990, p. 30.
(2) OJ C 45, 25.2.1991, p. 30.
(3) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40.

Answer given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behalf of the Commission

(8 October 2001)

Under the programmes of the Financial Instrument for the Environment (LIFE), the municipality of Volos-
NØa Ionia obtained funding to carry out project 93/GR/4518 to improve and enhance the area bordering
the River Kravsindon. This project was successfully completed on 21 May 1997.

With press cuttings and a study to support them, on 6 July 2000 a group of citizens from the region
protested against the intention of the municipality of Volos-NØa Ionia to build a ring-road which would be
partly financed by funds awarded under the Community support framework (CSF) for the period 2000-
2006. As this route would be situated in the area of the LIFE project 93/GR/4518, it would be likely to
jeopardise the improvements made by that project and impair the local environment.