European Parliament resolution on a global partnership and a common strategy for relations between the European Union and Latin America (2000/2249(INI))
Date: 2001-11-15
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: EU relations, Latin America, Latin American organisation, aid policy, association agreement (EU), cooperation policy, democratisation, development aid, international trade, poverty

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11. EU/Latin America relations

A5-0336/2001

European Parliament resolution on a global partnership and a common strategy for relations
between the European Union and Latin America (2000/2249(INI))

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to Articles 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 23, 27 and 28 of the Treaty on European Union,

(cid:1) having regard to the Declaration of Rio de Janeiro adopted at the First Summit between the Heads of
State and Government of Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union held in Rio on
28/29 June 1999,

(cid:1) having regard to the Santiago Declaration adopted at the Xth Institutionalised Ministerial Meeting

between the Rio Group and the European Union held in Santiago, Chile on 28 March 2001,

(cid:1) having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parlia-
ment on the follow-up to the first summit between Latin America, the Caribbean and the European
Union (COM(2000) 670),

(cid:1) having regard to the Final Act of

the XVth European Union/Latin America Interparliamentary

Conference, held in Valparaíso, Chile, from 23 to 26 April 2001,

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution of 16 January 1997 on the Communication from the Commission to
the Council and the European Parliament on ‘The European Union and Latin America: the present
situation and prospects for closer partnership 1996-2000’ (1),

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution of 16 January 1997 on the Communication from the Commission to
the Council on the renewal of the San José dialogue between the European Union and Central
America (2),

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution of 22 April 1994 on economic and trade relations between the Euro-

pean Union and Latin America (3),

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution of 22 October 1998 on the European response to international econ-

omic instability, with particular reference to the case of Latin America (4),

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution of 30 November 2000 on the progress achieved in the implementation

of the common foreign and security policy (C5-0255/2000 (cid:1) 2000/2038 (INI)) (5),

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution of 1 February 2001 on Plan Colombia and support for the peace

process in Colombia (6),

(cid:1) having regard to the motion for a resolution by Juan Naranjo Escobar on European Union contribu-

tions to the Puebla-Panama project (B5-0031/2001),

(cid:1) having regard to Rule 163 of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:1) having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security
and Defence Policy and the opinions of the Committee on Development and Cooperation and the
Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy (A5-0336/2001),

A. whereas the First Summit between the Heads of State and Government of Latin America and the
Caribbean and the European Union, held in Rio de Janeiro on 28/29 June 1999, decided to establish
a strategic bi-regional partnership,

(1) OJ C 33, 3.2.1997, p. 86.
(2) OJ C 33, 3.2.1997, p. 91.
(3) OJ C 128, 9.5.1994, p. 443.
(4) OJ C 341, 9.11.1998, p. 135.
(5) OJ C 228, 13.8.2001, p. 165.
(6) OJ C 267, 21.9.2001, p. 75.

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B. whereas, if the political, economic, environmental and social challenges still confronting Latin America
are to be surmounted, Europeans and Latin Americans must work together along the same lines and
in a climate of mutual respect,

C. whereas, although democracy has spread through several countries in the region in recent years, it has
not taken hold to the same extent across the board; whereas, in spite of relatively healthy economic
growth, poverty and inequalities continue to spread; whereas the gradual demise of military regimes
throughout the 1990s has not eased social tensions to any appreciable extent; whereas all of these
factors could jeopardise the transition to democracy in some of these countries and feed an auth-
oritarian backlash,

D. whereas the second summit, to be staged in May 2002, will provide an excellent opportunity to forge
a comprehensive strategy framework that endows the European Union’s foreign policy vis-à-vis Latin
America with real substance and structure,

E. whereas launching a common strategy for relations with Latin America constitutes the best political,
legal and institutional means available to the European Union of achieving the strategic bi-regional
partnership agreed upon in Rio,

F. whereas the added value gained from the launch of the above common strategy would be the adop-
tion of an all-encompassing, consistent, united and independent approach capable of providing con-
stant and structured impetus to the relations between the European Union and Latin America,

G. whereas the new strategy should be built first and foremost on the bilateral and regional aspects of
European Union policy towards Latin America and their respective achievements, and also on broader
political dialogue within the updated and modernised Rio and San José processes,

H. whereas, furthermore, due to its role in lending legitimacy to the different integration processes under
way in both regions, EU-Latin American parliamentary dialogue constitutes a key aspect of the global
strategic bi-regional partnership; whereas such dialogue ought to include procedures for consulting
and involving citizens,

I. mindful of the need to allot appropriate resources to the new priorities established at the Rio summit,

J. whereas support for the peace process and social change in Colombia, based on the respect for human
rights and social justice and enabling the Colombian people to retain the power to take their own
decisions and their independence, must be one of the main items on the new agenda for political
dialogue between the two regions,

K. whereas the proposed global anti-drugs plan should be backed up with genuine economic measures as

an alternative to growing drug crops and should seek to preserve the environment,

L. whereas the so-called Puebla-Panama project for a comprehensive programme of infrastructure to
integrate fully the south of Mexico with the Central American isthmus could prove to be of geopoliti-
cal importance and of great socio-economic significance, but should give due consideration to the
potentially negative impact of a plan of such scope on social structures, on business for small- and
medium-scale producers and on the environment,

M. whereas the aforementioned initiative must take due account of projects geared towards social devel-

opment and the protection of natural resources,

A global outlook for the European Union-Latin America strategic bi-regional partnership

1.
Reiterates its support for the launch of the strategic bi-regional partnership agreed upon by the
Heads of State and Government of the countries of the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean,
meeting in Rio on 28 and 29 June 1999; notes with dismay that time has already been wasted because no
specific initiatives have been taken to implement agreed cooperation issues;

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2.
Calls on the European Council to adopt a common EU strategy for Latin America and the Caribbean
to give substance and direction to EU action in launching the strategic bi-regional partnership agreed upon
in Rio;

Thursday 15 November 2001

Points out that the starting point for the new common strategy and for EU policy vis-à-vis Latin

3.
America must be the partnership principle and must therefore enjoy the support of both parties;

Believes that the second summit of Heads of State and Government, to be staged in May 2002, is an

4.
ideal setting in which to adopt the aforementioned strategy;

Aims of the common strategy

Recommends that the aims of the new common strategy reflect the priorities agreed upon at the First

5.
Summit of Heads of State and Government in Rio and be divided into three main groups as follows:

(a) Aims in the political sphere:

(cid:1) adopting a broader bi-regional political agenda,

(cid:1) updating and modernising political dialogue at ministerial level,

(cid:1) modernising parliamentary dialogue and creating an EU-Latin American Transatlantic Assembly,

(cid:1) signing an EU-Latin American peace charter, and

(cid:1) launching an EU-Latin American political and security partnership;

(b) Aims in the economic, financial and commercial spheres:

(cid:1) finalising the series of association agreements under negotiation with Mercosur and Chile,

(cid:1) submitting new negotiating guidelines with a view to concluding association agreements with the

Andean Community and Central America in the medium term,

(cid:1) maintaining the terms of the Community GSP from which the Andean and Central American

countries benefit in the short and medium term,

(cid:1) concluding a global interregional partnership agreement to ensure that the substance of the stra-
tegic partnership enjoys institutional back-up and covers all of the countries concerned, and

(cid:1) setting up an area of shared prosperity by strengthening regional markets;

(c) Aims in the social and cultural spheres:

(cid:1) implementing a firm and ambitious development cooperation policy covering the social sphere,
culture, education, immigration, justice and home affairs and, above all, the fight against poverty,

(cid:1) setting up a bi-regional solidarity fund,

(cid:1) introducing a global anti-drugs plan,

(cid:1) launching a Euro-Latin-For programme to train members of the judiciary and the police, together
with a Euro-Latin-Lex programme to establish the legal framework required to ensure that drug
trafficking and related offences are suitably prosecuted,

(cid:1) firmly supporting the ALIS programme and the information society proposed by the Commission,

and

(cid:1) establishing a centre for European and Latin American studies (CELAS);

6.
Believes that a further basic aim of the new strategy should lie in promoting the principles that
underlie the Union, including human rights, democracy, good governance, transparency and the rule of
law;

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A broader bi-regional political agenda

Calls further for the new common strategy to provide for a broader agenda for bi-regional political

7.
dialogue at the ministerial and parliamentary levels alike that also embraces in particular:

(cid:1) heightened cooperation in other new areas of foreign policy, such as the ESDP,

(cid:1) conflict prevention,

(cid:1) the threat from terrorism,

(cid:1) reform of the United Nations system,

(cid:1) the promotion of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, together with the fight against

impunity,

(cid:1) good governance,

(cid:1) the fight against poverty,

(cid:1) issues relating to the environment and sustainable development, and the funding thereof,

(cid:1) economic and technological globalisation,

(cid:1) reform of the international financial system,

(cid:1) consultations with regard to the new WTO round,

(cid:1) immigration and justice,

(cid:1) enhanced parliamentary cooperation and a greater role for civil society,

(cid:1) the creation of an EU-Latin American area of peace and stability founded on fundamental principles

such as respect for human rights, the rule of law and democratic values, and

(cid:1) support for the peace process and ongoing social change in Colombia and in other areas where there

is conflict;

Updating and modernising political dialogue at ministerial level

Calls for the processes linked to the Rio Group and San José process to be updated and modernised,
8.
so as to provide them with fresh impetus in line with the aims and initiatives pursued by the strategy;
considers that both processes should adopt the approach established at the summits and discuss matters on
the new, broader political agenda;

Creation of an EU-Latin American Transatlantic Assembly

9.
Proposes that the existing system of interparliamentary conferences be replaced with an EU-Latin
American Transatlantic Assembly, composed of an equal number of Members of the European Parliament,
the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino) and the regional integration parliaments, whose work would be
conducted in plenary sittings and in committee, and which would meet once a year;

10.
Calls for the new strategy to promote initiatives designed to strengthen the direct legitimacy of
Parlatino and the Andean Parliament through gradual moves within a given period towards the election
of their representatives by direct universal suffrage, whilst of course abiding by the domestic legislation of
each country;

11.
Calls further for support to be provided to the Central-American Parliament (Parlacen) and its
efforts towards regional integration in Central America in the form of specific measures such as backing
for its multiannual programme for bolstering democracy;

Specific initiatives under the new common strategy

Launching an EU-Latin American political partnership and signing an EU-Latin American peace charter

12.
Calls on the European Union to strengthen political dialogue on security matters with the countries
of Latin America at every level, be it bilateral dialogue with individual countries, multilateral dialogue or
dialogue within Rio Group and San José process bodies;

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13.
Calls for the establishment of an EU-Latin American strategic and political partnership implemented
on the basis of an EU-Latin American peace charter which follows the example of the United Nations
Charter and gives concrete expression to political, strategic and security-related proposals of interest to
both regions;

Calls for cooperation on security and defence matters between the EU Member States and the coun-

14.
tries of Latin America to feature amongst the issues addressed within the context of the above Charter;

15.
Believes that the matters addressed within the context of such cooperation could relate to: uphold-
ing peace and security worldwide, with particular emphasis on curbs on small-bore weapons, disarmament,
nuclear non-proliferation, military and technical cooperation with regard to the arms industry and the
control of arms exports, security, economic, development and environmental issues; and, in general, any
other matters with a bearing on mutual security and defence interests;

Finalising a new series of association agreements and concluding a global interregional partnership agreement with a
view to putting an EU-Latin American free-trade area in place by 2010

16.
Calls for the series of association agreements under negotiation with Mercosur and Chile to be
finalised in the near future, with each concluded on its own merits, and, furthermore, for new negotiating
guidelines to be submitted as soon as possible with a view to concluding association agreements with the
Andean Community and Central America in the medium term;

Sees the need to maintain the terms of the Community GSP from which the Andean and Central

17.
American countries benefit in the short and medium term;

18.
Calls for the conclusion, within a given period, of a single global interregional partnership agree-
ment to ensure that the substance of the strategic partnership enjoys institutional back-up and covers all of
the countries concerned;

19.
Proposes that the aim of the new agreement should ultimately be the bilateral and preferential
liberalisation, on a gradual and reciprocal basis, of the trade in all kinds of goods and services between
the two regions, in accordance with WTO rules;

Hopes that the above agreement can serve to boost sustainable development, reduce social dispar-

20.
ities and enhance the well-being of the peoples of Latin America;

21.
Calls for the various negotiating mandates to rule out making the conclusion of the new association
agreements (cid:1) both those with Mercosur and Chile and the proposed new association agreements with the
Andean Community and the countries of Central America (cid:1) in any way dependent on completion of the
WTO round of negotiations, whilst ensuring that,
in the final analysis, the free-trade area envisaged
between the two parties is fully compatible with existing WTO rules;

Calls on the Commission and the Council to consult the European Parliament on the guidelines
22.
governing negotiations of any kind on agreements with Latin American countries before they are approved
by the Council; calls on the Commission to pursue its work on partnership arrangements with civil society;

Asks that, alongside the importance that they attach to purely economic and trade-related aspects,
23.
the new agreements acknowledge the qualitative importance of political, social (relating to health, edu-
cation, training, the rights of women and children, preservation of a sustainable environment and infra-
structure projects), cultural, immigration, and economic and development cooperation considerations;

24.
Proposes redefining and establishing an EU-Latin American free-trade area by 2010 by means of the
conclusion of the aforementioned global interregional partnership agreement, which, whilst not bypassing
the bilateral agreements already concluded or under negotiation, will provide additional institutional back-
up for the substance of the strategic bi-regional partnership agreed upon in Rio and cover all of the
countries concerned;

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25.
Recommends that the bilateral and interregional agreements already concluded or under negotiation
be backed up by a multilateral approach designed to promote regional integration and trade within Latin
America itself, the provisions of which could be incorporated into the proposed global interregional part-
nership agreement at a later stage;

Points to the need, with a view to the development of a competitive industry, for the regular

26.
transfer of technology and knowledge;

Implementing a firm and ambitious development cooperation policy covering the social sphere, culture, education,
immigration, justice and home affairs and, above all, the fight against poverty

Calls for the new common strategy to make education, health and culture its priorities and to
27.
provide for targeted measures in support of those Latin American countries which require them, with
particular attention paid to ethnic minorities and indigenous groups;

28.
Calls for the ALFA programme for higher education to be expanded and for an assessment to be
made of how students from Latin America could take part in the Erasmus programme; offers further its
firm support to Commission activities and moves to promote education and culture in EU-Latin American
relations;

Recommends extending to the countries of Latin America those programmes relating to vocational
29.
training, education on new technologies and cultural heritage that may prove beneficial to both parties,
taking the EU’s Socrates, Leonardo and Raphael programmes as a framework and working in accordance
with the cooperation programme between both parties as established by EU and Latin American education
ministers in Paris on 3 November 2000;

30.
Takes the view that the new common strategy must present innovative immigration policies
founded on the respect for, and dignity of, the individual and on the sovereignty of the countries con-
cerned;

Suggests to the Commission that an immigration observatory be set up with responsibility for
issues related to migratory flows between Europe and Latin

31.
ongoing and thorough monitoring of all
America;

Calls for the promotion of cooperation on social issues, including gender equality, and for streng-

32.
thened social dialogue;

33.
Calls for deeper involvement for civil society (NGOs, immigrants, local communities, undertakings,
associations, universities, trade unions, etc.) as a means of ensuring that society as a whole becomes more
closely associated with the activities and benefits that ensue from the launch of the new strategy;

34.
Supports the launch of an EU-Latin American business forum bringing together representatives
from employer organisations and small, medium-sized and large enterprises in Europe and Latin America
with the aim of promoting trade and attracting all kinds of investment to both regions;

Creation of a bi-regional solidarity fund

35.
Believes that a prime focus of the new common strategy should lie in giving a major new boost to
EU development cooperation policy towards Latin America, a key element of which should be the fight
against poverty and social inequality;

36.
Suggests creating a bi-regional solidarity fund, whose activities would be geared towards managing
and financing sectoral programmes focusing initially on health, education and the fight against abject
poverty in those countries and regions with lower per capita income levels and more acute social inequal-
ities and subsequently on Latin America as a whole;

37.
Takes the view that the aforementioned fund ought to enjoy appropriate sectoral budgetary support
and be run by the Commission in conjunction with those bodies (EIB, IDB, World Bank, etc.) and countries
whose assistance would further serve to provide the fund with adequate budgetary resources; considers
that the Commission and the Council must encourage the aforementioned bodies to promote the creation
of the fund;

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Global anti-drugs plan

38.
Considers that the new common strategy should pave the way for the establishment of a joint
EU-Latin American global plan to combat drug trafficking and related offences, conceived as a specific
and comprehensive strategic project for joint action that employs innovative and effective measures to
counter this scourge adequately by offering genuine economic alternatives to the people concerned, abides
fully by international and environmental law and applies a system of joint responsibility;

39.
Proposes that the global anti-drugs plan provide for the approval and ratification of the UN Con-
vention against Transnational Organised Crime and the protocols thereto, signed in Palermo in December
2000; proposes further that priority be given to drug prevention policies and their three distinct stages of
research, action and evaluation, with the emphasis placed on policies geared towards bringing down pro-
duction and demand and using various international cooperation projects as a means of promoting reha-
bilitation programmes for drug addicts;

Calls on the EU and Latin America to work together more closely in this field under the global anti-
40.
drugs plan, in line with the principle of shared responsibility, and to undertake to refrain from using the
fight against drugs as a pretext for making political or military demands; calls for the provisions of crimi-
nal law to be deal adequately with drug trafficking, money laundering and the illicit trade in chemical
precursors; considers, moreover, that support should be given to all
instruments which focus on the
exchange of information and experience in combating drugs;

41.
Believes that, in the interests of greater effectiveness, the cooperation and coordination mechanism
on drugs linking the countries of the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean could form part
of the global plan;

42.
Calls for the new common strategy to encompass targeted practical measures to combat drug traf-
ficking, organised crime and the traffic in small-bore weapons, and to include a Euro-Latin-For programme
for the training of, and exchanges between, members of the judiciary and the police, together with a Euro-
Latin-Lex programme to promote the approximation of legislation on the effective indictment of such
offences, whilst fully respecting the sovereignty of the countries concerned;

Support for the ALIS programme and the information society proposed by the Commission

Supports the Commission’s proposals to promote the information society and all new electronic
43.
communications systems in EU-Latin American relations, and the proposals relating to the new ALIS pro-
gramme in particular; calls also for initiatives to be encouraged to bridge the technological divide separ-
ating the two regions and focus on basic education and quality training, with support for procedures
which guarantee the transparency of governmental activities;

44.
Calls for the spread of new technologies to be encouraged, so as to provide for easier access, and
greater emphasis on audiovisual programmes aspiring to achieve quality, cultural diversity and the pro-
motion of democratic values, whilst guarding against monopolies and guaranteeing the right to accurate
and reliable information;

Other specific initiatives under the new common strategy

45.
Considers that the new common strategy should make provision for specific initiatives with regard
to democracy, human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights, and the rule of law, with a
view to ensuring that the public sector, private sector and civil society work together to defend democracy;

46.
Takes the view that the new common strategy must include measures to place globalisation at the
service of human beings, whilst preserving the cultural heritage of peoples and narrowing the gap between
rich and poor countries;

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47.
Suggests that the strategy ought to contain stringent environmental measures whose aim lies in
ratifying and enforcing the terms of the Kyoto Protocol and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, making
headway towards meeting the objectives of Agenda 21 and of the next World Summit on Sustainable
Development, in countering the increase in toxic substances, and in providing for the ratification of exist-
ing international conventions, in particular the Basel Convention on hazardous chemical products;

48.
Emphasises that the New strategy should contain measures to ensure that the integration process in
Latin America receives resolute encouragement and momentum and to facilitate economic, commercial,
social, regional and bi-regional exchanges in response to the challenges thrown up by globalisation; wel-
comes in this regard, the example set by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration as a multi-
lateral bank for integration and regional development in Central America;

Reiterates its view that the Commission and the Council should make clear their political desire to
49.
solve the problem of debt, which is seriously hampering development efforts in the countries of Latin
America and which, if rescheduled, ought to serve to fund projects combining investment and employ-
ment, particularly amongst young people; considers that the Council and the Commission must promote
and shape specific initiatives to that end;

50.
Calls on the European Union to join with the international financial community in helping to
ensure that the proposed Puebla-Panama project is a success, since besides being a political and legal
concept, market integration is primarily a practical notion;

51. Welcomes the emergency social production programme ‘A Trabajar’
to Work’) recently
launched by the new democratic government of Peru with the aim of reducing poverty in the country
and improving the economic and social conditions of its people, and also firmly supports the holding of a
donors’ conference in the hope that international cooperation can help provide adequate co-funding to
ensure the success of the objectives pursued by the programme;

(‘Off

Considers it vital in the near future to open without delay a Commission delegation in Ecuador, the
52.
only Andean country which does not have one, in order to enhance the Union’s profile and actions in the
Andean area and provide firm support for greater regional integration, as one of the most effective means
of helping overcome the difficult times being experienced by most countries in the region;

Ways and means of applying the new strategy

In order to give a higher profile to the European Union’s actions and initiatives in the region and
53.
make them more effective, calls for increased coordination, cohesion and complementarity between the
instruments and actions of the European Union and the Member States in the region;

Requests also that efforts be made to ensure that the European Union’s policy towards Latin

54.
America complements its policies towards other associated countries;

55.
Recommends that in implementing the common strategy the European Union institutions and
bodies act with due regard for the competences and procedures laid down in the EU and the EC Treaties;

Considers that the Member States should contribute to the objectives of the common strategy by

56.
making appropriate and coordinated use of all the relevant instruments available to them;

57.
Considers it vital for the Council, Commission and Member States to adapt all the existing in this
area to the needs of the future strategy and to make full and appropriate use of the various existing
instruments, means and programmes, whilst drawing up a list to serve as a guide to the resources available
to the Union, the Community and the Member States for applying the common strategy;

58.
Considers that, in order to implement the new common strategy, increased human resources will be
needed in the Directorate for Latin America of the Commission’s Directorate-General for External Relations
and in related services;

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59.
Proposes that a centre for European and Latin American studies (CELAS) be set up, to be funded
initially from existing capacity by the Community budget, the Member States, the countries of Latin
America and other possible external donors, but looking to the private sector as its long-term source of
support;

Thursday 15 November 2001

Budgetary aspects of the EU-Latin America strategic bi-regional partnership

Calls on the Commission and the Council to provide adequate funding to achieve the objectives set

60.
under the present strategy, bearing in mind that Latin America needs opportunities not hand-outs;

61.
Calls for the financial provisions applicable to Latin America to be placed on a firmer legal footing
and for this purpose considers it vital to divide the existing financial regulation applying to both Asia and
the countries of Latin America into two separate financial regulations;

62.
Calls on the Commission, the Council, the Member States and the countries of Latin America to
help strengthen private enterprise as a key to the success of the actions provided for under the new
strategy and to sustainable development;

63.
Calls on the Commission, bearing in mind existing needs, to submit a proposal designed to increase
the efforts and resources deployed by the EIB in the region, under initiatives such as the action plan for
integration of regional infrastructures in South America or the Puebla-Panama project;

Duration and revision of the new common strategy

64.
Requests that the new common strategy remain in force for an initial period of four years and be
extended, revised and adapted by the European Council as often as necessary, on a recommendation from
the Council, following a report by the European Parliament and after consulting the Latin American part-
ners;

65.
Calls on the Council to review and assess the Union’s action under the future strategy and to inform
the European Council and the European Parliament at least once a year on the progress made towards
achieving its objectives;

*

*

*

66.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments
and parliaments of the Member States and of all the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, the
Latin American Parliament, Parlacen, the Andean Parliament and the Mercosur Joint Parliamentary Com-
mittee.

12. Arbitrary arrests and the political situation in Laos

B5-0704/2001

European Parliament resolution on the arbitrary arrests and the political situation in Laos

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to the Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and the Lao People’s

Democratic Republic,

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution of 15 February 2001 on the human rights situation in the Lao People’s

Democractic Republic (1),

(1) OJ C 276, 1.10.2001, p. 281.