WRITTEN QUESTION E-3413/01 by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission. The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan — refugees.
Date: 2001-12-21
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, aid to refugees, humanitarian aid

C 205 E/34

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

29.8.2002

Reply

(13 May 2002)

The Council shares the Honourable MEP’s concern for the situation of Afghan refugees and internally
1.
displaced persons (IDPs). The Council believes, however, that due to the rapidly developing situation on
the ground, several aspects of the question have been overtaken by events. In early December, the Afghan
factions concluded, under the aegis of the UN, the Petersberg agreement that put an end to years of civil
war and paved the way for a lasting political solution. The US-led military action against the terrorist
networks in Afghanistan has ousted the Taliban from their last strongholds around Kandahar. The new
Afghan Interim Administration took up office on 22 December and an International Security Assistance
Force (ISAF) has been set up on the basis of UN Security Council Resolution 1386 of 20 December 2001.
Humanitarian corridors have been opened and the expatriate staff of UN agencies and NGOs have started
to return to Afghanistan.

Consequently,

2.
the outflow of people from Afghanistan has significantly diminished and many
refugees and IDPs have started to return to their home regions inside Afghanistan. This movement is likely
to accelerate further once the winter is over 6 which will pose new challenges for the Afghan Interim
Administration and the international aid community.

3.
The European Community and its Member States will therefore continue to provide humanitarian
assistance (more than 350 million euro committed since 11 September 2001). At the same time they liaise
closely with the relevant UN agencies, NGOs and international donors on how to best help Afghanistan in
the crucial fields of rehabilitation and reconstruction, including measures to facilitate the return of refugees
who left under previous regimes. The Reconstruction Steering Group, co-chaired by the EU, made
significant progress at its meeting on 20 and 21 December in Brussels. The integrated needs assessment
mission by the World Bank and the UNDP is currently looking into the situation on the ground and will
provide detailed recommendations for the various domains. On the basis of this assessment, the EU,
together with the US, Japan, Arab countries and the IFIs, prepared a strategic approach to reconstruction at
the Donors Conference in Tokyo on 21 and 22 January 2002. In Tokyo, the European Community and
the Member States pledged to make available 550 million euro available for the reconstruction of
Afghanistan for 2002 and to maintain a substantial level of assistance for the following years.

4.
At the same time, the EU is aware that several countries in Afghanistan’s neighbourhood 6 in
particular Pakistan and Iran 6 will continue to face the problem of Afghan refugees for years to come. The
EU will therefore continue to assist these countries.

(2002/C 205 E/036)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3413/01

by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission

(21 December 2001)

Subject: The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan 6 refugees

Amnesty International and other non-governmental organisations have concluded that the situation of the
Afghan refugees abroad and those trapped within the country, who are primarily fleeing the bombing, is
bordering on a human tragedy.

the Commission take to persuade those countries which support

What measures will
the military
intervention to take greater responsibility for the care of the refugees who are leaving Afghanistan in
droves? Will corridors be opened to channel humanitarian aid into Afghanistan? Will all those who reach
other countries be granted refugee status, and will suitable refugee camps be set up at a safe distance from
the combat zone?

29.8.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 205 E/35

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(20 February 2002)

Fortunately the humanitarian catastrophe widely predicted last autumn for Afghanistan did not materialise.
The ousting of the Taliban and the scaling down of the bombing made it possible to resume large-scale
humanitarian aid operations and reach those most in need. The number of refugees that fled Afghanistan
in the wake of 11 September was ultimately fairly modest compared to the numbers that had already left
the country.

The Commission is continuing to provide financial support, both in the form of emergency humanitarian
aid via ECHO, the European Community Humanitarian Office, and under its budget line for aid to
uprooted people in Asian countries, to the UNHCR (Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees)
and a number of non-governmental organisations working with Afghan refugees in Pakistan and Iran. As
the Member of the Commission responsible for External Relations recently stated at the Tokyo Conference
on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan, the Commission is now embarking on the long-term process
of reconstruction. This should make it easier for Afghan refugees or displaced persons to return to their
home areas as soon as possible.

(2002/C 205 E/037)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3425/01

by Luis Berenguer Fuster (PSE) to the Commission

(21 December 2001)

Subject: Regasification plant in Sagunto (Valencia)

In the Region of Valencia there were two projects to build regasification plants, which were basically
intended to meet the needs of the tile industry, located almost exclusively in the province of Castellón. The
first was to be in Sagunto (Valencia) to be run by Unión Fenosa. The second was to be located in the port
of Castellón and would be run by Iberdrola, although ASCER (Association of Tile Industries) would be
involved and Endesa was negotiating its inclusion.

In response to these two projects the Secretary of State for the Economy, Mr Folgado, said that the Region
of Valencia ‘only had room for one regasification plant’, a recommendation which the Generalitat of
Valencia blindly followed.

In this situation,
in which the competent authorities opted for a regional monopoly rather than free
competition, and in view of the fact that the Unión Fenosa project was more advanced, Iberdrola chose to
abandon its project and join in the Sagunto project. Endesa will probably join as well, which means that
the three most important electricity companies operating on the Spanish market, which between them
have cornered almost the whole market, will share the monopoly.

Regasification plants do not have any particular environmental impact and therefore do not justify the
interventionist attitude of the Spanish and Valencian governments, who have opted for a single plant
instead of allowing a number of competing projects.

In view of this situation, can the Commission say whether:

6 it considers that the decision to allow only one regasification plant in the Region of Valencia promotes

competition or constitutes an unjustified monopoly;

6 it considers that the creation of a subsidiary belonging to the three main (and almost the only)

electricity companies constitutes an anti-competition move;

6 it considers it appropriate to take some action in this connection;

6 it upholds its traditional view that firms which collectively occupy a dominant position should not set

up joint subsidiaries?