WRITTEN QUESTION E-3541/01 by Gérard Caudron (PSE) to the Commission. Nursery school education for five-year olds.
Date: 2002-01-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European citizenship, competence of the Member States, education policy, promotion of the European idea, teaching curriculum

29.8.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 205 E/39

(2002/C 205 E/041)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3537/01

by Concepció Ferrer (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Anchovy fishing

Since the studies conducted into the state of anchovy biomass in the Gulf of Lion date from the first half
of the 1990s, their findings may have become outdated.

Does the Commission have any recent information on the current state of anchovy biomass in the Gulf of
Lion and the likelihood of overfishing in that area?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(29 January 2002)

The information available to the Commission on status of stocks is derived from the work done by the
Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), and its subsidiary bodies, of the General Fisheries Commission for
the Mediterranean (GFCM). According to the results of the working group on small pelagic species (Kavala,
Greece, 27-30 March 2001), the stock of anchovy, as studied by the laboratories of the French Research
Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer), seems moderately exploited in the Gulf of Lions with an
increasing trend in the biomass levels of the most recent years.

(2002/C 205 E/042)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3541/01

by Gérard Caudron (PSE) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Nursery school education for five-year olds

At a time when Europe is debating its future and its future institutions, the teaching of European
integration in the education systems of the Member States of the Union is becoming crucial to developing
a genuine European citizenship.

The subject should be introduced in nursery schools as from the age of five, in appropriate forms, and
continue into higher education in all disciplines.

Above all, it should also be made a compulsory and permanent part of the curriculum at the different
stages of each education system with a programme that is developed and adjusted to the level of education
provided.

Could the Commission begin by carrying out a survey on this issue in the Member States and candidate
countries?

Once this analysis has been done, would the next step not be to draw the consequences and invite the
governments to introduce the measures required to achieve the desired results?

Does the Commission not see this as a crucial challenge for the democratic future of the Union, namely to
give real substance at last to European citizenship for the younger generations of today and tomorrow?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(8 February 2002)

The Socrates programme on education helps to fund many European citizenship projects, for example
under Comenius 1 and 2 for schools, from nursery education to the end of secondary education.
Moreover, this is one of the 13 priority areas in the 2002 call for proposals for the creation of Comenius
networks (Comenius 3).

C 205 E/40

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

29.8.2002

However, it is not the Commission but the Member States which have sole responsibility for education
programmes. It is therefore not among the Commission’s priorities to carry out a survey. Within its remit,
the Commission will continue to take resolute action to develop European citizenship in education and in
other areas.

(2002/C 205 E/043)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3543/01

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Privacy and electronic mail

Users of computer services are being offered an increasing number of on-line opportunities. One of the
latest, offered by a company specialising in the registration of domain names, consists in providing a
personalised electronic mailbox for anyone registering a domain with a given name (namely, www.-
forename.surname).

Without wishing to criticise the imagination which goes into devising more and more opportunities for
gifts, I have doubts about the legality of registering a name on the internet, unbeknown to the person
concerned, and with anyone being able to gain access to that person’s mailbox.

Will the Commission therefore state:

1. whether, in its view, such offers constitute an infringement of the right to privacy?

2. whether there are rules which apply to the electronic mail sector?

3.

if not, what it intends to do in order to protect the right to privacy in this specific area?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(23 April 2002)

The new Top Level Domain ‘.name’ provides registration of domain names for personal names of
individuals. The Registry is administered by a company based in the United Kingdom and subject to the
United Kingdom Data Protection Act 1998. The Registry operates the ‘.name’ Top Level Domain under an
agreement with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Domain names can
be registered through accredited registrars (called ‘official providers’ within the ‘.name’ organisation) and
are subject to eligibility rules which can be found at (http://www.nic.name).

These rules provide that ‘any person can register his or her own personal name’, ‘the personal name of a
fictional character provided that the registrant can demonstrate trademark or service mark rights over that
name’, or their personal name with added numeric characters to differentiate them from other personal
names. The name registered must be the legal name of the registrants or a name by which he or she is
commonly known such as a pseudonym. In case of non-compliance with the eligibility requirements a
dispute resolution policy is available.

The registration of a domain name can take place in a format ‘firstname.lastname.name’ or ‘lastname.-
firstname.name’ and a corresponding e-mail address can be available as an additional service. This
additional service consists in automatic forwarding of e-mail sent to the ‘.name’ address to a separate
designated e-mail account operated by another company. This automatic forwarding does not change in
itself the security of the designated account. Given the contractual relationship related to the registration of
a domain name it may indeed be said that there is higher security related to the ‘.name’ address than to
some of the very popular free e-mail accounts.