do-me/EUR-LEX huggingface dataset:
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3515/01 by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE)and Ioannis Marínos (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Exclusion of official languages from the LIFE programme.
Date: 2002-01-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU programme, environmental protection, official language, use of languages

4.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 160 E/129

The Commission also intends to develop tobacco fund conversion measures in combination with the quota
buyback programme, thereby creating powerful synergies between the two.

Further new proposals on the sector will be preceded by a study evaluating the common organisation of
the market. The Commission intends to proceed in a resolute but gradual manner so as to safeguard the
production regions’ economic and social vitality.

(2002/C 160 E/164)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3515/01

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE)
and Ioannis Marínos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Exclusion of official languages from the LIFE programme

According to an article published in English on 16 November 2001 on the internet website
www.medeuropa.net and in Spanish on 8 November 2001 at www.aquieuropa.com, the Commission
requires anyone wishing to submit proposals under the Community’s LIFE programme to communicate
with it henceforth in writing in English and French only. This policy is totally contrary to the rules
applying hitherto under which the 11 official languages of the Union were used for communication within
the LIFE programme and the other Community initiatives.

Is there a requirement that only two of these languages should be used for LIFE and, if so, why? To what
extent is this requirement consistent with the provisions of the EC Treaty concerning the parity of all its
official languages (Articles 290 and 314) and with the constant references to the multicultural nature of the
Union?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(14 February 2002)

The Commission does not require that those wishing to submit proposals under the Community’s LIFE
programme do so only in English or French.

All the information concerning the submission of proposals under the Community’s LIFE programme is
available in the 11 official
languages at the following Internet address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/life/
life3.htm.

(2002/C 160 E/165)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3517/01

by Christos Folias (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Italian State aid to shipping

The Member States take financial and fiscal measures to support their national fleets. In 1997, the
Commission issued guidelines for judging the compatibility of national aid schemes for shipping with
Community law. The aim of the guidelines is to achieve convergence in the Member States’ policies and to
avoid distortion of competition within the Community.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3531/01 by Ioannis Marínos (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Unemployment statistics.
Date: 2002-01-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Eurostat, Greece, employment statistics, unemployment

C 134 E/242

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2002

The legal uncertainty created by late transposition carries significant costs to citizens and businesses. The
Commission has no statistics to quantify the overall costs of late transposition. However, it is estimated, for
example, that a correct application of the mutual recognition principle could increase trade by up to 1,8 %
of the Union’s gross domestic product (GDP). It is also estimated that timely transposition and better
application of the Community procurement directives could result in savings in excess of € 50 billion.
While these are only partial estimates, which have to be handled with care, they make it clear that the
effective cost of the current situation is quite substantial for the European economy.

(2002/C 134 E/256)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3531/01

by Ioannis Marínos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Unemployment statistics

Among the information that ‘Eurostat’ sends by e-mail to the Members on Parliament’s Committee on
Economic and Monetary Affairs are details of the unemployment rates in the Member States. It is with
astonishment, however, that the readers of these statistics note the habitual absence of figures for Greece,
although Greek Ministers often announce the rate of unemployment when taking part in public events.
Why has the EU’s statistical service not reported any figures for the levels of employment in Greece for at
least two years? Do the Greek authorities forward such figures? If so, why are they not published, as I am
informed is the case?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(12 February 2002)

Two sources are used to calculate the seasonally-adjusted monthly unemployment figures disseminated by
Eurostat:

(a)

the labour force survey results (normally quarterly) transmitted by the Member States in accordance
with Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 of 9 March 1998 on the organisation of a labour force
sample survey in the Community (1);

(b) a monthly indicator (generally the monthly number of people enrolled in the public employment

services).

In the case of Greece, the quarterly labour force survey results are currently available for the period from
the first quarter of 1998 to the second quarter of 2000. Because of the number of quarters surveyed (fewer
than 13), seasonal adjustments are not possible.

Enrolment in public employment services does not seem to be a suitable indicator of unemployment
trends in Greece, and no other monthly indicator is available.

The unemployment rate in Greece (quarterly only) will be disseminated by Eurostat as soon as the labour
force survey results are available for the last quarters of 2000 and the first quarter of 2001.

(1) OJ L 77, 14.3.1998.
WRITTEN QUESTION P-3629/01 by Salvador Garriga Polledo (PPE-DE) to the Commission. List of ESF-related cases of fraud and irregularities in Spain in the 1994-1999 period.
Date: 2002-01-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Anti-fraud Office, European Social Fund, Spain, exchange of information, fraud

C 172 E/100

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.7.2002

(2002/C 172 E/102)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3629/01

by Salvador Garriga Polledo (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: List of ESF-related cases of fraud and irregularities in Spain in the 1994-1999 period

In accordance with the framework agreement of 29 June 2000 on relations between Parliament and the
Commission, can the Commission, in liaison with OLAF, forward a list specifying the bodies involved in
the 137 irregularities concerning non-eligible expenditure relating to the ESF during the 1994-1999
programming period which have been notified by Spain?

Answer given by Ms Schreyer on behalf of the Commission

(28 January 2002)

The Commission would refer the Honourable Member to the answer it gave to his Written Question
P-3135/01 (1).

It notes that Article 10 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1681/94 of 11 July 1994 concerning
irregularities and the recovery of sums wrongly paid in connection with the financing of the structural
policies and the organisation of an information system in this field (2) provides that ‘the names of natural
or legal persons may be disclosed to another Member State or Community institution only where this is
necessary in order to prevent or prosecute an irregularity or to establish whether an alleged irregularity has
taken place’.

Accordingly, in the absence of specific grounds, the Commission is not planning to forward the list of
names referred to by the Honourable Member.

(1) OJ C 147 E, 20.6.2002, p. 111.
(2) OJ L 178, 12.7.1994.

(2002/C 172 E/103)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3638/01

by Stefano Zappalà (PPE-DE) and Antonio Tajani (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Monte Porzio Catone wine cooperative

(11 January 2002)

Arsial, the regional agency for agricultural development and technical innovation in Lazio, Italy, intends,
under Regional Law No 2/95 of 10 January 1995 (assenting opinion given by the Commission on
13 June 1997, reference SG-97-D/4471), to give incentives for share capital subscription for equipment
for agricultural products. This is to be done under the conditions set out in the operational programme
1994-1999 for Lazio, approved by Decision (EC) 2602/96 of 3 October 1996 implementing Regulation
(EC) 951/97 (1) and the criteria set by the EU in Decision 94/173/EC (2).

The above-mentioned wine cooperative has requested funding for a measure of this type.

Arsial has also included the immovable property to be decommissioned in the evaluation, thus reducing
the amount for which aid is to be given.

On 15 February 2001 the cooperative applied to the Lazio regional administrative court, which annulled
Arsial’s decision.

The Lazio region wrote to the Commission’s Agriculture Directorate-General, on 30 December 1999,
reference 13304, asking it to give an opinion on the matter.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3539/01 by Luis Berenguer Fuster (PSE) to the Commission. Possible public aid for the Terra Mítica theme park.
Date: 2002-01-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Spain, State aid, expropriation, leisure park, price of land

4.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 160 E/137

(2002/C 160 E/173)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3539/01

by Luis Berenguer Fuster (PSE) to the Commission

Subject: Possible public aid for the ‘Terra Mítica’ theme park

(8 January 2002)

The valuation of the land occupied by the ‘Terra Mítica’ theme park made by the Provincial Compulsory
Purchase Board of Alicante differs sharply from valuations previously given of other adjacent
land
apparently with the same value, as the following table shows.

Public company Alicante theme park (December 1997)

Type of land: Dry

Alicante Provincial Compulsory Purchase Board 0 Compulsory purchase for ’Terra Mítica theme
park’ (13.5.1999)

Alicante Provincial Council 0 Compulsory purchase for ’widening and improvement of road AV-
1552 from Altea to La Nucia’ (24.10.1996)

(EPS/m2)

600

600

286

Alicante Provincial Compulsory Purchase Board 0 Compulsory purchase evaluation for ’widening
and improvement of road AP-1521 from Altea to La Nucia’ (10.12.1998)

1 200

It must be remembered that the Compulsory Purchase Board is an administrative body under the authority
of the Ministry of Finance and that a valuation of the land lower than the market price and also lower than
the price it had previously established could be seen as public aid for the ‘Terra Mítica’ theme park, since it
would be acquiring the land at a price lower than would be possible for any competitor, thereby gaining
competitive advantages.

Does the Commission consider that this information is significant in examining whether public aid has
been given to the ‘Terra Mítica’ theme park?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(15 February 2002)

In its decision initiating the proceedings under Article 88 (2) (formerly Article 93 (2)) of the EC Treaty in
connection with the presumed aid granted to the Terra Mitica Park in Benidorm, Alicante (1),
the
Commission had already decided that the acquisition of the land by the theme park following the
expropriation as referred to by the Honourable Member did not in itself constitute state aid for the reasons
outlined in the decision (2). Moreover, these facts are not relevant to the examination of the other aspects
of this case, in respect of which the proceedings under Article 88 (2) have been started.

(1) OJ C 300, 26.10.2001.
(2) See point 50 of the decision.

(2002/C 160 E/174)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3542/01

by Gérard Caudron (PSE) to the Council

(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.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3588/01 by Pere Esteve (ELDR) to the Commission. Granting of aid to Coface.
Date: 2002-01-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Community budget, EU aid, family policy, non-governmental organisation

6.6.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 134 E/243

(2002/C 134 E/257)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3588/01

by Pere Esteve (ELDR) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Granting of aid to Coface

The Commission has granted various subsidies to the Confederation of Family Organisations in the
European Union (Coface). It appears that these subsidies will no longer be granted in the coming budgetary
year, 2002.

Can the Commission say whether this aid is indeed to disappear in the coming year and if so, why it was
removed from the Community budget? What other EU subsidies might Coface receive in the future?

Answer given by Ms Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(11 February 2002)

In accordance with the judgment of the Court of Justice of May 1998 which found that the Commission
had no legal basis for taking action in the area of family policy, among others, the Commission was
obliged to put an end to the general or operating subsidies granted to a number of non-governmental
organisations (NGOs), including the Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Community
(Coface).

Nevertheless, these NGOs remain eligible for the organisation of specific studies or projects as part of
programmes conducted by the Commission, provided that they submit applications in response to the
Commission’s calls for projects for the implementation of these programmes.

(2002/C 134 E/258)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3595/01

by Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Checking of statistical data in Greece on employment and unemployment

The Greek authorities have undertaken to develop a modern system for the statistical monitoring of
employment and unemployment.

concerning falsification of data and the Commission’s

In view of the delays detected by the Commission, the complaints by workers to the National Statistics
reply to my previous question
Service
(E-2419/01 (1)), which stated that ‘under Article 3(6) of Regulation No (EC) 577/98 (2), the Commission
may require Member States to provide detailed information on the criteria adopted for the design and size
of the sample’, has the Commission made such a request?

Could the Commission provide information on the progress made in modernising the Greek statistical
system, including under the Community Support Framework?

(1) OJ C 40 E, 14.2.2002, p. 244.
(2) OJ L 77, 14.3.1998, p. 3.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3538/01 by Concepció Ferrer (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Complementarity between EU and Member States' development policies.
Date: 2002-01-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European political cooperation, cooperation policy, development policy

C 172 E/78

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.7.2002

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(30 January 2002)

As part of
its systematic assessment of the agriculture measures the Commission has launched an
assessment study of the common market organisation for raw tobacco that will review the impact of the
Community rules. Its conclusions are expected by the end of 2002.

On that basis the Commission will present a reform proposal for the tobacco CMO in the first quarter of
2003.

(2002/C 172 E/082)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3538/01

by Concepció Ferrer (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Complementarity between EU and Member States’ development policies

It would appear that a meeting called by the Director-General of the Directorate-General for Development,
at which the Directorate-General for External Relations, the Cooperation Office and their counterparts in
the Member States were present, was held on 1 June 2001 to discuss complementarity and related issues.

Will the Commission say what decisions were taken during that meeting?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(20 February 2002)

In the interests of coordination and building mutual trust between it and the Member States,
the
Commission organises meetings of the directors general for development to bring together directors
general from the Member States and the DGs for Development, External Relations and the EuropeAid
Cooperation Office.

The meetings are strictly informal 5 there is no agenda and no decisions are taken. They provide a forum
for the exchange of information.

The main topics covered in the last two meetings (September 2001 and January 2002) were the situation
in Afghanistan, the Monterrey Conference on development financing and the Maastricht Treaty principles
of coordination, complementarity and coherence, with particular regard to the ‘Country Strategy Paper’
(CSP), the new programming instrument which is prepared with the participation of Member States,
thereby ensuring that complementarity and coordination are significantly enhanced.

(2002/C 172 E/083)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3546/01

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Monitoring of the use of double nets to reduce effective mesh sizes and increase catches of fish

1.
Is the Commission aware that some fishermen reduce the mesh size of their trawls to less than
80 mm by attaching a second trawl, the ‘inner trawl’, inside the bottom of the first in such a way that the
meshes of the two nets cross each other, considerably reducing the effective mesh size, so that smaller fish
are also caught and the sea can be cleared of the last remnants of its fish stocks?
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3520/01 by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Commission. Production of wine from hybrid varieties in France.
Date: 2002-01-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: France, consumer information, food consumption, public health, wine

4.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 160 E/131

(2002/C 160 E/166)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3520/01

by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Production of wine from hybrid varieties in France

In his letter of 4 December the questioner sent Commissioner Fischler the article mentioned in Question
E-2782/01 (1), which the Commission, in its reply, said it did not know about.

In view of this article, which the Commission now knows, and the fact that it acknowledges there are no
known recent studies about the effects on health of consuming wine made from hybrid varieties, and
bearing in mind that production of this type of wine is widespread in the United States . as can be seen
on the Internet . can the Commission now answer the earlier question?

Does it not consider it essential that the public be fully and unambiguously informed as to the possible
harmful effects (or lack of them) of drinking this kind of wine?

(1) OJ C 93 E, 18.4.2002, p. 190.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(12 February 2002)

Article 17(3) of Council Regulation No 1493/1999 of 17 May 1999 on common organisation of the
market in wine (1) states that the Commission shall finance an independent study on the use of interspecific
wine varieties. On the basis of the study it will send Parliament and the Council a report accompanied by
any appropriate proposals. The time limit for the report is 31 December 2003.

(1) OJ L 179, 14.7.1999.

(2002/C 160 E/167)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3521/01

by Miquel Mayol i Raynal (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Greece

In Greece today, particularly in the North, there are a number of minorities (Turks, Slavo-Macedonians,
Albanians, Aromanians and Pomaks).

Greece refuses to recognise their existence and denies them fundamental rights. For instance, they are
strictly prohibited from using their language in public and all historical inscriptions in these languages
have been obliterated or destroyed, as have monuments which might evoke the existence of these
minorities.

Furthermore, particularly in the case of ethnic Macedonian Greek citizens living abroad, Greece is doing
everything it can to prevent them from returning to their homeland, by revoking their citizenship, alleging
that they have committed anti-patriotic acts.

Is the Commission aware of this situation?

As minority rights constitute one of the basic principles of the European Union today, how does the
Commission envisage ensuring that Greece observes these rights?
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3537/01 by Concepció Ferrer (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Anchovy fishing.
Date: 2002-01-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: conservation of fish stocks, fishing statistics, sea fish

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).