WRITTEN QUESTION E-3208/01 by Adriana Poli Bortone (UEN) and Elizabeth Montfort (NI) to the Commission. Right to life.
Date: 2001-11-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: abortion, gynaecology, international organisation, public statement

20.6.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 147 E/131

As far as institutions are concerned, the Single European Sky is based on the complementary relationship
between the Union’s regulatory powers and the competence and expertise which exist within Eurocontrol
and the Member States. More precisely, the Eurocontrol agency will be entrusted by the Commission with
the technical expertise work needed to draw up Community rules.

In the face of lack of harmonisation in the classification of European airspace, the proposals aim to
consider European airspace as a common resource which must be effectively organised and managed, in
complete safety, in order to meet the requirements of users and to permit a fair and non-discriminatory
distribution of resources among all users, including general and light aviation.

The Commission is currently holding talks with Eurocontrol to define the procedures for cooperation
between the organisations. This cooperation will also involve Eurocontrol
in observing certain
requirements with regard to the consultation of interested parties. The Commission will ensure that these
consultation mechanisms permit
the associations
the taking into consideration of
concerned.

the viewpoint of

In this way, the representatives of general and light aviation will continue to have an important role in this
consultation process.

(1) COM(2001) 123 final.

(2002/C 147 E/137)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3208/01

by Adriana Poli Bortone (UEN) and Elizabeth Montfort (NI) to the Commission

(22 November 2001)

Subject: Right to life

At the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) congress held in Rome, the former
president of FIGO, the Finn Markku Seppälä, said that ‘life begins at conception’.

In the light of this statement, does the Commission intend to submit a proposal for a directive seeking to
ensure that the national laws of the Member States show due respect for the principle of the right to life?

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(24 January 2002)

The European Union has no legislative powers in the matter and the Commission is accordingly not
planning to propose a directive.

(2002/C 147 E/138)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3209/01

by Stefano Zappalà (PPE-DE) and Antonio Tajani (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Island of Santo Stefano

(22 November 2001)

Santo Stefano, which forms part of the municipality of Ventotene, is one of the islands in the Ponziano
archipelago in the province of Latina in Italy. Past inmates of the prison which stands on the island (and
which was closed in the 1960s) include a number of leading political figures, such as Altiero Spinelli, who
in 1941, together with others, drafted the ‘Ventotene Manifesto’, which was to lay the foundations for
today’s European Union. The part of the island on which the prison stands belongs to the Italian State, and
is to be placed on the market along with a large number of other sites. Its market valuation has been set at
€ 2 million.