WRITTEN QUESTION E-3252/01 by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission. Outcome of the action in Afghanistan under Article 2(a) of the Council common position of 22 January 2001.
Date: 2001-11-23
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Afghanistan, EU action, UNO, fact-finding mission, the EU's international role

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Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.7.2002

(2002/C 160 E/116)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3251/01

by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission

(23 November 2001)

Subject: Outcome of the action in Afghanistan under Article 2(h) of the Council common position of

22 January 2001

On 22 January 2001 the Council adopted a common position on Afghanistan (1), Article 7 of which says
that the Commission intends to direct its action towards achieving the objectives and the priorities of the
common position; Article 2(h) of the common position says that in order to support the United Nations
peace efforts, reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 203 A and B of 18 December 1998, the
Union will continue ‘to urge countries concerned to stop any further involvement of their military,
paramilitary and secret service personnel in Afghanistan and cease all other military support provided to
parties in the Afghan conflict, including the use of their own territories for such purposes’. What practical
measures did the European Commission take since the events of 11 September to meet that objective?

(1) OJ L 21, 23.1.2001, p. 1.

(2002/C 160 E/117)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3252/01

by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission

(23 November 2001)

Subject: Outcome of the action in Afghanistan under Article 2(a) of the Council common position of

22 January 2001

On 22 January 2001 the Council adopted a common position on Afghanistan (1), Article 7 of which says
that the Commission intends to direct its action towards achieving the objectives and the priorities of the
common position; Article 2(a) of the common position says that in order to support the United Nations
peace efforts, reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 203 A and B of 18 December 1998, the
Union will continue ‘to support and strengthen the work of the UN Special Mission to Afghanistan
(UNSMA), including its civil affairs unit’. What practical measures did the European Commission take
before the events of 11 September to meet that objective?

(1) OJ L 21, 23.1.2001, p. 1.

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-3220/01, E-3221/01, E-3222/01, E-3223/01, E-3224/01,
E-3225/01, E-3226/01, E-3227/01, E-3228/01, E-3229/01, E-3230/01, E-3231/01,
E-3232/01, E-3233/01, E-3234/01, E-3235/01, E-3236/01, E-3237/01, E-3238/01,
E-3239/01, E-3240/01, E-3241/01, E-3242/01, E-3243/01, E-3244/01, E-3245/01,
E-3246/01, E-3247/01, E-3248/01, E-3249/01, E-3250/01, E-3251/01 and E-3252/01
given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(14 January 2002)

The Commission has played a full part in all Union actions aimed at achieving the initiatives and priorities
of the Union’s Common Position on Afghanistan of 22 January 2001 (1) (as amended).

In particular, the Commission supported the Union’s Declarations on the destruction of the Bhudda statues
in Bamiyan (1st March 2001) ; pursuant to Article 3 of the Common Position; on the Taliban edict
ordering all Hindus in Afghanistan to wear identifying marks (25 May 2001) ; Article 3.

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The Commission took part in Union’s Troika visits to Kandahar and Faisabad to explain the terms of the
Common Position to the warring factions (Articles 2, 3, 6).

A Commission expert took part in the April 2001 United Nations Drug Control programme (UNDCP) fact
finding mission to Afghanistan to assess the degree of compliance with the Taliban edict forbidding opium
poppy cultivation (Article 5), and in the preparation of the resulting mission report.

However, no action to prevent poppy cultivation or drug trafficking was financed in Afghanistan by the
the Community finances several actions to prevent opium/heroin
Community. On the other hand,
trafficking from Afghanistan to the Union.

in the first nine months of 2001,

Finally,
through the European Community’s
Humanitarian (ECHO), committed € 22,5 million of humanitarian aid funds to support emergency actions
by United Nations (UN) aid agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) inside Afghanistan and
on behalf of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and Iran (Article 4). Actions in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran
committed under the Commission’s year 2000 budget for Aid to Uprooted People were implemented
during 2001. These actions amounted to € 16,6 million (Article 4).

the Commission,

Actions by ECHO, by the Aid to Uprooted People budget and the Community’s food aid budget have
continued post-September 11 and indeed have accelerated. The total for these three budgets for 2001 is
now in excess of € 100 million (of which ECHO € 50 million, Food Aid € 28,5 million, Aid to Uprooted
People € 22,5 million).

The Commission plays an active role in the Afghan Support Group and the Afghan Forum, international
bodies which co-ordinate donor community activities relating to Afghanistan and the refugee populations
in neighbouring countries, in the Horizontal Drugs Group of the Council and in the Dublin Group which
co-ordinates efforts to eradicate trafficking in illicit drugs.

(1) OJ L 21, 23.1.2001, as amended OJ L 289, 6.11.2001.

(2002/C 160 E/118)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3255/01

by Daniela Raschhofer (NI) to the Commission

(23 November 2001)

Subject: Programme execution and assistance for border regions

Michel Barnier, Commissioner responsible for regional policy, made a statement on 9 October 2001 to the
Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism on the implementation of programmes for border
regions. Among other things, he said that within the framework of assistance for Objective 1 regions the
Commission had already approved 112 out of 114 programmes. Interreg had proved very successful and
103 of the 156 eligible regions had already applied this year. He went on to discuss the ISPA and said that
pre-accession aid would not be decentralised this year as the candidate countries were not yet ready.

In connection with this statement, can the Commission indicate:

1.

Exactly which programmes are involved in the case of Objective 1 assistance? What
framework has been established for which programmes from which regions (a detailed list
requested)?

financial
is

2. How many of the 103 applications submitted so far for Interreg come from Austria?

3. Which applications have so far been approved under Interreg and how much money has the Union

disbursed for individual projects (a detailed list is requested)?

4. When does the Commission expect to decentralise the ISPA and exactly what assistance will it be

providing to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe for decentralising the ISPA?