WRITTEN QUESTION E-2393/01 by Antonio Tajani (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Violence on the part of the Black Bloc at the G8 summit in Genoa and the active participation of an Italian member of parliament.
Date: 2001-08-20
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Italy, cooperation policy, extremist party, group of leading industrialised countries, international meeting, public safety, violence

C 115 E/72

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

16.5.2002

Commission hopes that both proposals as well as future legislative initiatives, all of which implement the
Financial Services Action Plan of 1999 (5) and the Lamfalussy Report of 2001, will be adopted soon under
arrangements on openness and transparency being satisfactory to all the Institutions.

(1) Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing

powers conferred on the Commission, OJ L 184, 17.7.1999.

(2) Commission Decisions 2001/527/EC et 2001/528/EC of 6 June 2001, OJ L 191, 13.7.2001.
(3) Proposal for a Directive of the Parliament and of the Council on the prospectus to be published when securities are

offered to the public or admitted to trading OJ C 240 E, 28.8.2001.

(4) Proposal for a Directive of the Parliament and of the Council on insider dealing and market manipulation (market

abuse), OJ C 240 E, 28.8.2001.

(5) COM(1999) 630 final.

(2002/C 115 E/076)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2393/01

by Antonio Tajani (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(20 August 2001)

Subject: Violence on the part of the ‘Black Bloc’ at the G8 summit in Genoa and the active participation of

an Italian member of parliament

What steps does the Commission intend to take following the serious incidents caused in Genoa by the
‘Black Bloc’, an international anarchist and revolutionary organisation with members in many EU
countries?

Is the Commission in a position to help ascertain the facts and, if so, how?

Does the Commission know of any international links between extremist anti-globalisation organisations
who organised the clashes in Genoa?

Is the Commission aware of any international protection offered to the ‘Black Bloc’?

Is the Commission in a position to ascertain, via the Italian State, whether it is true that an Italian member
of parliament actively assisted the anti-G8 protesters in creating a battering-ram designed to breach the
fence protecting the delegates to the summit?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(18 October 2001)

The Commission would like to recall that the responsibility with regard to the maintenance of law and
order and the safeguarding of internal security during summit meetings lies within the competence of
Member States, as clarified by Article 33 of the European Union Treaty. However, the Member States have
increasingly come to acknowledge the need to improve cooperation in this area in order to be more
effective in ensuring the peaceful development of such meetings.

According to Article 36 (2) of the European Union Treaty, the Commission is fully associated with the
work in the area of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters and actively supports the efforts of
Member States in the prevention of serious disturbances at high-level meetings. In doing so, it always
keeps in mind the need to guarantee the fundamental rights of everybody as enshrined in the Union
Charter.

The Commission supports the conclusions of the special Justice and Home Affairs Council of 13 July 2001
regarding security at European Councils and similar events, and has continued to bring its input into the
discussion on how to improve cooperation.

The Commission has also put the expertise of its services at the disposal of the Presidency of the Council
in order to work together on improved cooperation with a view to the upcoming high-level meetings to
take place in Belgium until the end of December 2001.

16.5.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 115 E/73

With regard to question on a concrete case in Italy the Commission would like to recall that it has no
investigative powers in this area.

Furthermore, the Commission does not have any information on international protection offered to the
‘Black Bloc’.

(2002/C 115 E/077)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2394/01

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(20 August 2001)

Subject: Preparations for reopening the Mont Blanc tunnel to freight

traffic without adequate safety

precautions

1.
Can the Commission confirm that preparations are being made for reopening to motor traffic at the
end of 2001 the Mont Blanc tunnel between Chamonix in France and Courmayeur in Italy, which has
been closed since 23 March 1999 because of a fire caused by a truck?

Can it also confirm that the Mont Blanc tunnel has not yet been fitted with water curtains or an
2.
adequate parallel evacuation tunnel, but only with a somewhat enlarged ventilation tunnel, and that the
tunnel thus does not meet modern safety standards, so that it completely fails to take account of the latest
thinking based on tunnel fires in recent years?

3.
Does the Commission know whether freight vehicles will also again be allowed to use the tunnel,
which was designed more than 30 years ago, is narrow, carries traffic in both directions within a single
tunnel and was originally intended for limited passenger transport use but has carried a growing number
of trucks over the years?

4.
Does the Commission agree that there is a danger that the Mont Blanc route will attract much
international through freight traffic because it provides a way of by-passing the nearby Switzerland, which
is trying to limit such traffic and transfer it to rail?

How will the Commission prevent such dangerous routes from being kept open or brought back into

5.
service and used by vehicles which present serious dangers to other road-users?

Is the Commission aware that residents and local authorities in neighbouring localities consider that
6.
their environment has improved substantially as a result of the protracted absence of freight traffic on the
tunnel approach roads, as the level of noise nuisance and air pollution has greatly declined and road safety
has improved?

How will the Commission help to maintain acceptable living conditions in this vulnerable area

7.
around one of the EU’s internal borders?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(7 November 2001)

In its White Paper on European transport policy for 2010 (1), the Commission states that safety in long
road tunnels is a vitally important aspect of the common transport policy, especially as tunnels are
important to many cross-border links. Accordingly, the Commission is planning a European initiative on
the harmonisation of minimum safety standards so as to put in place conditions guaranteeing a high level
of safety for the users of road C and rail C tunnels, particularly those forming part of the trans-European
transport network.

The French and Italian operating companies did indeed begin preparations several months ago to reopen
the Mont Blanc Tunnel to motor traffic, in principle at the end of 2001. The renovated tunnel has been
fitted with modern equipment to provide a significant improvement in safety levels.