WRITTEN QUESTION E-3568/01 by Glenys Kinnock (PSE) to the Commission. 1956 Hungarian uprising.
Date: 2002-01-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Hungary, accession criteria, accession to the European Union, national law, political behaviour, political unrest

18.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 172 E/89

(cid:1) of 22 000 projects and operations in total, 1 730 (8 % of the total) were carried out in Greece; of
25 000 new full-time equivalent jobs in the 12 Member States, 1 990 (8 % of the total) were created in
Greece;

(cid:1) over half the LAGs in Greece focused mainly on developing rural tourism, a marked trend in all the

regions of southern Europe.

The above bears out the view that, overall, implementation of Leader I in Greece produced satisfactory
results comparable to those in all the Member States and particularly close to those in the regions of
southern Europe. Greece applied the principles specific to Leader (cid:1) regional approach, local partnership,
innovation, networking, decentralised
bottom-up method, multisectoral and integrated LAG plans,
financing (cid:1) easily as well as other Member States.

For further information on the results and impact of Leader I, the Honourable Member may find it helpful
to consult the ex post evaluation report for the Community as a whole at http:/europa.eu.int/comm/
agriculture/eval/index_en.htm.

The Commission has received and is currently examining a number of national and regional Leader II
ex post evaluation reports, including that for Greece. Once it has received all the reports, the Commission
will publish an invitation to tender in order to select an external expert to conduct the ex post evaluation
of Leader II for the EU as a whole. In addition, the final reports on the programmes’ implementation are
expected towards the end of the first half of 2002, accompanying the final declarations of expenditure
which must be submitted to the Commission for financial closure of the programmes. It is therefore too
soon to draw any (cid:1) even tentative (cid:1) conclusions regarding the implementation, results and impact of
Leader II, either in Greece or in other Member States; and it is certainly too soon to make comparisons
between them.

At this stage, the Commission is merely able to confirm that for Leader II in Greece € 167,65 million from
the Structural Funds were committed in their entirety up to 31 December 1999 and that expenditure and
payments continued to be incurred until 31 December 2001. Greece must submit the final declaration of
expenditure and the final report on implementation of the programme during the first half of 2002. In
Greece, 56 local development organisations (49 LAGs and seven other collective agencies) have received
support under Leader II.

(2002/C 172 E/092)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3568/01

by Glenys Kinnock (PSE) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: 1956 Hungarian uprising

Would the Commission indicate whether the issue of impunity after the 1956 uprisings to the present day
is a matter of concern in the pre-accession deliberations taking place between the EU and Hungary?

Is the Commission aware that the statutes of limitation in Hungary, effectively, procrastinated the bringing
to trial of the perpetrators involved in the 1956 uprisings, and enabled many of them to go unpunished in
Hungary?

Would the Commission agree that the length of sentence delivered in the Mosonmagyaróvár case, in June
of this year, in effect gave pardon to the accused, Mr Dudás, through invoking Act No 39 of 1990 on
General Amnesty?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(8 February 2002)

the pre-accession strategy,

In the framework of
the Commission is closely following the political
developments of candidate countries. In fact, in its Regular Reports it assesses on an annual basis whether
the political criteria for accession are met, as laid down by the Copenhagen European Council in June
1993. In line with these criteria, the candidate countries must have achieved stability of institutions

C 172 E/90

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.7.2002

guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities. The
latest Regular Report was issued in November 2001.

According to this Report, Hungary fulfils the Copenhagen political criteria.

the Commission does not qualify isolated decisions taken by a
However, as a matter of principle,
competent Hungarian Court.
in the current case of Mr Dudás, a final decision by the
Hungarian Supreme Court is still outstanding (cid:1) following the introduction of an appeal by Mr Dudás to
the decision of the first instance Court.

In addition,

(2002/C 172 E/093)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3569/01

by José García-Margallo y Marfil (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Consequences of the attacks of 11 September for the aviation and tourism sector

There is no doubt that one of the sectors most badly affected by the terrorist attacks on New York and
Washington is the air transport sector.

It is also true that the crisis affecting airlines preceded that date, but growing public fear of air travel and
the increased cost of insurance have placed fresh burdens on the companies concerned.

At the time, the Commission authorised the granting of aid in a series of specific cases for a set period in
order to cover the losses incurred for the time during which aircraft were grounded. Since 11 September,
the United States has approved a series of subsidies which place European airlines in a situation of unfair
competition.

Can the Commission say what developments have taken place regarding this US aid in the months since
11 September?

Is the Commission aware of the publicity campaign ‘Get America travelling again’ and the Travel America
Now Act of 2001 adjusting the tax system in order to provide relief for the air industry?

Can the Commission say whether the Airport Security Bill has now been approved and what effects this
legislation will have for European citizens and airlines?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(26 February 2002)

The Commission has been monitoring the assistance given by the American government to the air
transport
industry. American air carriers were affected to a much greater extent by the events of
September 2001 and it was appropriate for them to receive assistance. However, the scale of the assistance
offered gave some cause for concern in case it placed American air carriers in a stronger position than
their European counterparts. In November 2001, the Vice-President of the Commission responsible for
Transports and Energy wrote to her counterpart, Mr Mineta, the Secretary of Transportation, to express
this concern.

Subsequently the Commission has proposed to the United States greater transatlantic cooperation and
information exchange on the granting and monitoring of State aid. However, the United States are
cautious about formal cooperation and the Union is limited in its approach by the refusal of the Council to
agree a mandate for full Community-level negotiations with the United States in the air transport field.
Contacts will therefore continue on an ad-hoc basis.