WRITTEN QUESTION E-2986/01 by Markus Ferber (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Funding from PHARE appropriations of the publication Panorama Latvii.
Date: 2001-10-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, Latvia, political press

C 205 E/18

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

29.8.2002

(2002/C 205 E/017)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2980/01

by Emmanouil Bakopoulos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Harmonisation of Regulation (EC) 925/1999

(19 October 2001)

At the recent meeting of the ICAO in Montreal, Canada (25 September-5 October 2001), an agreement
was reached on noise and pollution caused by civil aircraft.

What measures will the Commission take to bring Regulation (EC) 925/1999 (1)
into line with this
agreement? Can the Commission also say whether this ICAO decision allays the public’s concern over
pollution and noise caused by aircraft?

(1) OJ L 115, 4.5.1999, p. 1.

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(12 November 2001)

The Commission welcomes the consensus reached at the 33rd International Civil Aviation Organisation
(ICAO) Assembly on Resolution A 33/7 ‘Consolidated statement of continuing ICAO policies and practices
related to environmental protection’. The conclusions of
the Council of Transport ministers on
16 October 2001 underlined that the adoption of this Resolution opens up a prospect of replacing
Council Regulation (EC) No 925/1999 of 29 April 1999 on the registration and operation within the
Community of certain types of civil subsonic jet aeroplanes which have been modified and recertificated as
meeting the standards of volume I, Pat II, chapter 3 of Annex 16 to the Convention on International Civil
Aviation,
in the near future by a new legislative instrument on noise
management and operating restrictions for noisy aircraft.

third edition (July 1993),

The Commission will submit as soon as possible a legislative Proposal which, whilst being in line with
Resolution A 33/7, will establish a framework for the introduction of operating restrictions at Community
airports that takes full advantage of the flexibility offered by the said Resolution and offers sufficient and
necessary guarantees of protection against an increase in noise nuisance from aircraft for people living
around airports.

(2002/C 205 E/018)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2986/01

by Markus Ferber (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(29 October 2001)

Subject: Funding from PHARE appropriations of the publication Panorama Latvii

Is there any substance to reports in the Latvian press that the Commission is using PHARE appropriations
to fund the publication Panorama Latvii (formally Sovjetskaja Latvija) under its ‘Democracy Programme’?

Is the Commission aware of the fact that Panorama Latvii is published by Alfreds Rubiks, previously First
Secretary of the Latvian Communist Party and one of the perpetrators of the August 1991 putsch?

Is it Commission policy to support publications which foster nostalgia for the Soviet Union and Stalinism
in the applicant countries?

What steps does it plan to take to rule out such a situation recurring in the future?

Which official was responsible for the granting of funding?

Why did the political supervision of the programme fail?

29.8.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 205 E/19

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(12 December 2001)

Under the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (budget line B7-700), the Commission
has provided financial support to the non-governmental organisation (NGO)
‘Latvian Human Rights
Committee’ for a micro-project entitled ‘Informative Service on Migration Issues’. The total budget of this
project was estimated at 4 300 Euro, with a maximum Community funding of 3 850 Euro.

The NGO ‘Latvian Human Rights Committee’ aims at defending the interests of the Russian-speaking
population in Latvia with a special focus on citizenship issues. The purpose of the project referred to
above was to provide information and legal advice on migration legislation in order to reduce the number
of persons living in Latvia without any legal status or without any valid personal documents.

To achieve this objective, various activities were carried out,
including the publication of articles in
newspapers that the ‘Latvian Human Rights Committee’ assumed to be read by the target group. One of
these was the publication ‘Panorama Latvii’. It should be noted Mr Alfreds Rubiks does not hold any
publishing functions in this newspaper, although the newspaper has at some occasions supported his
views.

The project was carried out in close cooperation with the Department of Citizenship and Migration Affairs
of the Latvian Ministry of Interior.

(2002/C 205 E/019)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2997/01

by Toine Manders (ELDR) to the Commission

(22 October 2001)

Subject: Football: undesirable effects of the new transfer system

The former transfer system for professional footballers was, as is well known, abolished following the
ruling in the Bosman case on the grounds that it contravened the right to freedom of movement within
the internal market. It has since proved difficult to find an acceptable alternative solution to the matter of
financial compensation for the high costs of training players.

As from September 2001, FIFA, in agreement with the Commission, has introduced new conditions for the
transfer of players, which are already giving rise to unintended and undesirable effects.

In many cases players may now, when their contract expires, change employer without their club receiving
any financial compensation apart from a small reimbursement for training. For clubs investing in training
to develop young talent, that means they run the risk that the player, once trained, may move to another
club and that they will receive very little financial compensation. Investment in training players and
improving their skills in order to increase their market value has become essential to the financial survival
of clubs. Particularly for clubs in small countries which, under UEFA rules, are required to play in their
national
leagues, revenues from the media are much lower C disproportionately so C than in big
countries, and they can therefore no longer compete with other European clubs for financial reasons.

The new transfer system has already led to abuses in a number of countries. In the Netherlands, for
example, it led to football club Ajax suspending Arveladze a year before his contract was due to expire in
order to in order to put pressure on the player to extend his contract. During the term of a contract the
financial compensation required to be paid to a club is significantly higher. From Ajax’ point of view, this
measure is quite understandable as the player in question would be in a position to leave without
compensation being paid upon expiry of his contract, meaning that Ajax would receive no compensation
for the investment it had made.

Both in human terms and from the point of view of labour law, however, this is a very undesirable
development. To my mind, this cannot have been the intention of the new rules, which were created
precisely in order to protect players and clubs?