WRITTEN QUESTION E-2682/01 by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission. Statement by the Director of the UNDCP.
Date: 2001-10-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Afghanistan, European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, UNO, drug addiction, exchange of information, fight against crime, international cooperation

16.5.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 115 E/147

Article 87 (former Article 92) of the EC Treaty and the rules contained in regulations, frameworks or
guidelines. With regard in particular to regional aid, the Commission applies the criteria set out in the
Journal (1). In the case of Italy, the maximum aid intensities are
guidelines published in the Official
specified in the Italian regional aid map, which is being sent direct to the Honourable Member and
Parliament’s Secretariat.

Certain categories of state aid have been declared compatible with the common market under Council
Regulation (EC) No 994/98 of 7 May 1998 on the application of Articles 92 and 93 of the Treaty
establishing the European Community to certain categories of horizontal State aid (2) and need not be
the EC Treaty. This aid is currently governed by
notified under Article 88 (former Article 93) of
Commission Regulations (EC) Nos 68/2001 (3), 69/2001 (4) and 70/2001 (5) of 12 January 2001

Part of the aid notified by Italy concerns special-status regions and the autonomous provinces of Trentino
and Bolzano. The Honourable Member will find the decisions taken by the Commission in the authentic
language or languages, with any confidential data removed, on the Internet site http://europa.eu.int/comm/
secretariat_general/sgb/state_aids. The state aid register gives information broken down by region on the
Internet site http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/state_aid/register/ii/by_region_8.html.

(1) OJ C 74, 10.3.1998.
(2) OJ L 142, 14.5.1998.
(3) Regulation on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to training aid (OJ L 10, 13.1.2001).
(4) Regulation on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to de minimis aid (OJ L 10, 13.1.2001).
(5) Regulation on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized

enterprises (OJ L 10, 13.1.2001).

(2002/C 115 E/151)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2682/01

by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission

(3 October 2001)

Subject: Statement by the Director of the UNDCP

In an interview given on 5 August 2001 to ‘Famiglia cristiana’, Mr Giuseppe Arlacchi, Director of the
UNDCP, stated, among other things, that:

Between the end of this year and early 2002, the heroin available in Europe will become increasingly
scarce, the purity of the drug will diminish and prices will rocket.

How do the Commission and its service, the EMCDDA, view this prospect?

What would be the likely consequences of this scenario, in terms of public health and law and order?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(26 November 2001)

The statement of the Director of the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), Mr Arlacchi, was
made before the dramatic events in New York in 11 September 2001 and the recent developments in
Afghanistan. Afghanistan is the world’s biggest producer of illicit opium used for the manufacture of
heroin, producing up to 75 % of the world total. The vast majority of the heroin available in the
Community originates from Afghanistan. As the situation in Afghanistan remains unclear for the time
being and with a lot of conflicting information from different sources, it would be premature to speculate
on the effects of the recent events to the availability of heroin in the Community.

C 115 E/148

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

16.5.2002

One of the targets of the Union Action Plan on Drugs 2000 F 2004 (1) is to reduce substantially over five
years the availability of illicit drugs. The measures to achieve this include, among others, ensuring high
level of security at external borders, joint control teams and effective use of forensic and law enforcement
information. Alongside with the Union Action Plan, the Member States have developed strategies and
measures for drug prevention, treatment and rehabilitation and for tackling the supply and illicit traffic of
drugs. These strategies provide an overall framework for drug related activities and can be adapted to
counter the variations in the availability of heroin and other drugs.

Also, according to the information provided by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug
Addiction (EMCDDA) and by Europol, the availability, price and purity of heroin in illicit market, as well
as the amount of heroin users, have been relatively stable during the last years.

Finally, without taking any position on the likelihood of the scenario presented in this written question,
some of the possible consequences of such a scenario could be the following. There is some evidence that
when the price of heroin increases,
injecting becomes a more favoured form of consumption than it
already is in EU. This may lead to increased exposure of addicts to communicable diseases (Human
immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), hepatitis etc.). The low purity
level increases the risks caused by impurities. On law enforcement, higher prices may lead to an increase in
drug related criminality, especially in property crime. However, the decreasing availability may also act as
an incentive for the drug addicts to seek treatment and prevent the recruitment of new users, especially
among young people.

(1) COM(2001) 301 final.

(2002/C 115 E/152)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2702/01

by Mario Mauro (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(3 October 2001)

Subject: Sustainable tourism in the European Union

The European Union is one of the world’s major tourist destinations.

In 1997 the Commission initiated three studies on integrated quality management in rural, urban and
coastal tourist destinations. These studies are aimed at identifying and analysing best practice in integrated
quality management in countries belonging to the European Economic Area and contributing to exchanges
of information and knowledge transfer within Europe and serving as a guide to the public sector, in
particular local authorities, and the private sector, in particular tourist companies. These studies were also
intended to constitute a first step towards preparing sustainable development indicators for the tourist
industry (beyond the transport and energy sectors).

It would in fact be desirable to develop a policy aimed at preserving as far as possible resources and all
forms of environment (ecological,
landscape, archaeological) from the impact of the tourist industry,
guaranteeing compatibility between tourist activities and the protection of areas of great natural beauty
and biological value and drawing up directives, e.g. on the ‘load capacity’ of tourist destinations.

In this connection, will
improvement of Community tourist areas, as announced?

the Commission state whether it

is about

to draw up a strategy for the

Has the Commission considered the possibility of promoting initiatives to support sustainable tourism in
the European Union, taking due account of the economic importance of this sector, as well as its impact
on regional planning and increasing international competition?