WRITTEN QUESTION E-3029/01 by Piia-Noora Kauppi (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Insecurity of the Brussels European quarter.
Date: 2001-10-30
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Brussels region, EU institution, European official, crime against individuals, municipal police, physical aggression, public safety, theft

16.5.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 115 E/215

It is common knowledge that a failure by the French authorities to take the public order measures required
to put an end to a situation of this kind has already led the Commission to initiate infringement
proceedings, and the Court of Justice to rule in its judgment of 9 December 1997 in Case C-265/95
Commission v. France [ECR I-6959] that ‘by failing to adopt all necessary and proportionate measures in
order to prevent the free movement of fruit and vegetables from being obstructed by actions by private
individuals, the French Government has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 30 (now Article 28), in
conjunction with Article 5 (now Article 10), of the Treaty and under the common organisations of the
markets in agricultural products’.

It should also be pointed out that, in line with a request from the Amsterdam European Council held on
16 and 17 June 1997, the Council adopted on 7 December 1998 Regulation (EC) No 2679/98 on the
functioning of the internal market in relation to the free movement of goods among the Member States (1),
which establishes Commission intervention mechanisms aimed at ensuring that the Member States, who
have sole responsibility for maintaining law and order, act swiftly to eliminate serious obstacles to the free
movement of goods caused by the actions of private individuals.

In the light of the abovementioned Court of Justice judgment in Case C-265/95 and Regulation (EC) No
2679/98, the Commission has contacted the French authorities to remind them of their obligations under
Articles 10 (former Article 5) and 28 (former Article 30) of the EC Treaty and the above Regulation, and to
request them to take all necessary and proportionate measures to guarantee the free movement of goods.

In their answer, the French authorities confirmed that acts of violence had been committed during the
night of 14 to 15 October 2001 in the Vivindus meat-cutting plant in Fougères. They claim that the
perpetration of such unexpected acts at night by a group of determined individuals acting swiftly made it
difficult for the police to take prompt counter-measures. Only on the morning of Monday 15 October
2001 were the French authorities able to implement a plan, which consisted in adopting measures such as
opening a judicial enquiry, taking the necessary steps to allow Vivindus to resume operations to secure
compensation for the damage. The Prefect of the Region of Brittany undertook to do his utmost to ensure
that firms are never confronted with similar situations again.

The Commission continues to keep a very close eye on developments in the situation in France with a
view to triggering the mechanisms described above if necessary.

(1) OJ L 337, 12.12.1998.

(2002/C 115 E/228)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3029/01

by Piia-Noora Kauppi (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(30 October 2001)

Subject: Insecurity of the Brussels European quarter

Staff of the Union institutions have too often been the victims of mugging and attempted robbery near
their place of work, the ‘European quarter’.

On 6 June 2001, for example, a woman was reported to have been attacked behind the Charlemagne
Building. The attackers tried to snatch her handbag and kicked her until they were eventually scared off by
the horn of a passing car. The police came to the scene but were unable to arrest the attackers, because
they could not be identified beyond doubt. On the same day a man was assaulted at the Schuman metro
station by persons answering the description of the attackers implicated in the first incident. Before these
cases occurred, a woman had been attacked and brutally kicked at the entrance to the Maelbeek metro
station in rue de la Loi. Women in particular, as well as staff who work late, are afraid to move about in
the area concerned for fear of robbery and other crimes.

1.
Have the appropriate Commission departments informed the local security authorities in exact detail
of the assaults on Commission staff, as well as impressing upon them that the situation is totally
intolerable, especially where female employees are concerned?

C 115 E/216

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

16.5.2002

Have they ascertained how the local authorities intend to remedy the insecurity of the European

2.
quarter?

3. What practical steps will the Commission take to improve the security situation for its staff?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(7 December 2001)

The Protocol and Security Service of the Commission is fully aware of the reports referred to by the
Honourable Member. In late May and early June 2001, there were a number of violent attacks in the
neighbourhood of the European Institutions, carried out by persons answering the same description.
Victims included local shopkeepers.

These were, however, relatively isolated incidents; records show that, by comparison with the rest of the
Brussels region or with other European cities, such attacks are not very frequent in the European quarter.

The Commission’s Protocol and Security Service is in regular contact with Belgian judicial authorities and
with the federal and local police, to whom it passes on details (place, time, description of aggressors) of
any reported incidents that involve officials or other servants of the European Institutions, or the buildings
they occupy.

As a result, policing in the neighbourhood has been reinforced. The area from the Cinquantenaire Park to
the rue de la Science, and from the rue Joseph II to the Léopold Park, is now under closer supervision by
police patrols, both on foot and in cars. Periodically the two Parks are also patrolled by mounted federal
police.

While the Commission’s Protocol and Security Service has no authority to act outside the Commission’s
own premises, it provides assistance to members of staff who are victims of crime. In the first half of this
in close collaboration with other European institutions and the Belgian authorities,
year, the Service,
organised a series of lectures, which included talks by police officers, demonstrations of equipment and the
distribution of information about crime and how to avoid being a victim.

As a service to Commission staff the Protocol and Security Service will shortly be posting accessible crime
prevention advice on the Institution’s intranet site.

(2002/C 115 E/229)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3033/01

by Carlos Coelho (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(30 October 2001)

Subject: Listing Commission officials by nationality and professional category

Would the Commission provide me with a list setting out the total number of officials working in the
Commission, by nationality and professional category?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(21 December 2001)

Two tables showing staff by categories, as defined in the Staff Regulations, budgets and the professional
frameworks used by the Commission are transmitted direct to the Honourable Member and to the
Parliament’s Secretariat General.