WRITTEN QUESTION E-3346/01 by Astrid Thors (ELDR) to the Commission. Hazardous waste at Krasny Bor in Russia.
Date: 2001-12-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EBRD, EU aid, EU programme, Russia, hazardous waste, storage of waste, use of aid, waste management

C 229 E/16

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

26.9.2002

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(7 March 2002)

1. to 3.
Yes, the Commission is aware of the statements by the Ethiopian authorities regarding the
Transitional National Government set up pursuant to the Arta agreements. However, it notes that the
statements were made as Addis Ababa was receiving the new Prime Minister of the TNG for diplomatic
talks, and Ethiopia appears to be taking the initiative again in Somalia on the ground.

The Commission prefers to encourage the parties concerned to discuss the future of Somalia themselves.
Any political
initiative by the Commission would have to take account of the Common Foreign and
Security Policy (CFSP).

The reports to which the Honourable Member refers are not new. While the Commission is always willing
to give due consideration to information it receives, it treats with caution reports from any of the parties
involved in the Somali situation.

The Commission is generally reasonably well-informed, specifically as regards Somalia, through its own
local contacts and its close coordination with the Member States active there.

4. and 5.

The Community has no economic cooperation ties with Somalia.

As regards development cooperation, the Commission would draw the Honourable Member’s attention to
The ACP-EC Council Decision of 20 December 2001 allocating special aid to Somalia under Article 93(6)
of the Cotonou Agreement. Arrangements for implementing this special aid are still to be examined by the
Community’s decision-making bodies.

(2002/C 229 E/015)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3346/01

by Astrid Thors (ELDR) to the Commission

(3 December 2001)

Subject: Hazardous waste at Krasny Bor in Russia

The hazardous waste storage and disposal facilities at Krasny Bor, some 40 km from St Petersburg and the
River Neva, have received US$ 500 000 in Tacis funding towards upgrading. Tacis has been involved with
Krasny Bor ever since the early 1990s. In the Commission’s view, how successful have efforts been to
upgrade the waste disposal and hazardous waste management facilities at Krasny Bor?

Is the Commission monitoring the situation continuously? To what extent is it prepared to continue
contributing to the financing of the hazardous waste installation?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(21 January 2002)

Following a pre-feasibility study financed by Finland, the Tacis Cross-border Co-operation Programme has
funded, between 1998 and 2000, the preparatory phase of the ‘Krasny Bor Toxic Waste Clean-Up
Programme’. The Tacis project ‘Hazardous Waste Management in St Petersburg’ (€ 1,5 million) has indeed
provided assistance to local authorities for the technical, economic and financial evaluation of site
rehabilitation and waste disposal. It has also contributed to building environmental awareness and to
establish links between potential donors.

Following the Tacis project, the St Petersburg City Administration signed an Agreement for an € 6,5
million loan with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in April 2001. In May
2001, the City Administration also signed a Co-ordination Agreement with the EBRD, Danish Environ-
mental Protection Agency (DEPA), Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), Nordic Environ-
ment Finance Corporation (NEFCO), the Finnish Ministry of Environment and Tacis for supporting grants

26.9.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 229 E/17

including € 0,6 million from Tacis for technical and institutional assistance). This € 11
(€ 4,5 million,
million programme for the emergency environmental rehabilitation of the Krasny Bor site and for
treatment facilities will be implemented in 2001-2004, with the first tranche of the EBRD loan to be
disbursed in February 2002.

At this stage, no additional major funding is foreseen by the Commission, which will closely follow the
progress of the clean-up programme through its Tacis component. The rehabilitation of Krasny Bor can be
considered as an example of successful collaboration between Russian authorities and different donor and
financial institutions.

(2002/C 229 E/016)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3350/01

by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission

(5 December 2001)

Subject: Taiwan’s entry into the WTO

Following Taiwan’s entry into the WTO, the importance of EU contacts with the world’s 14th largest
trading economy has increased. For how many more years will the Commission delay the long-promised
opening of a representative office in Taipei?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(6 February 2002)

The Commission has been carrying out an overall review of its External Service, reassessing the priorities
for the extension of the Commission’s network of external representations against the background of
scarce resources and other factors, notably the ‘deconcentration’ of the management of Community
external assistance programmes. This review culminated in the Commission’s Communication to the
Parliament and to the Council on the development of the External Service (1). This Communication
proposes a number of openings of Commission external representations in those regions where it is still
underrepresented. In this context, the Communication indicates that consideration will be given to opening
a trade representation office in Taiwan.

Given the budgetary constraints under which the Commission’s External Service operates, the resources
needed for the new openings will be found essentially through redeployments and reallocations within the
existing External Service.

Further changes in the network beyond the present programme are likely to become necessary, as a
function of changing circumstances and new priorities in the Union’s external relations. The Commission
will continue to analyse the long-term development requirements of the External Service, including the
resource implications.

(1) COM(2001) 381 final.

(2002/C 229 E/017)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3368/01

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(6 December 2001)

Subject: Unequal treatment of Israeli nationals and preventing the customs, police and army in EU States

from following an undesirable example

1.
Does the Commission recall that the Arab member of the Knesset Azmi Bishara has been stripped of
his parliamentary immunity at the request of the public prosecutor in response to the positions he had
adopted with regard to the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians?