WRITTEN QUESTION E-3479/01 by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Combating discrimination.
Date: 2002-01-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: action programme, aid system, anti-discriminatory measure, linguistic group

C 147 E/186

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.6.2002

(cid:1) with regard to elements isolated from the body, the industrial application of a sequence or a partial
sequence of a gene must be disclosed in the patent application. A mere DNA sequence without
indication of a function does not contain any technical information and is therefore not a patentable
invention. In order to comply with the industrial application criterion it is necessary, in cases where a
sequence or partial sequence is used to produce a protein or part of a protein, to specify which
protein or part of a protein is produced or what function it performs;

(cid:1) the Directive makes provision for a non-exhaustive list of inventions which should be considered as
contrary to ‘ordre public’ and morality and are thus unpatentable. It is up to each Member State to
transpose this list into national law.

(2002/C 147 E/193)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3479/01

by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Combating discrimination

On the basis of the Community action programme to combat discrimination 2001-2006 the Directorate-
General for Employment and Social Affairs has called for the submission of proposals (VP/2001/19).
Specifically the proposals are to be for
to umbrella European level non-governmental
organisations representing and defending the rights of people exposed to discrimination’.

‘support

The main purpose is to ‘contribute to the fight against discrimination on grounds of racial or ethnic origin,
religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation’.

The Community rightly combats multiple forms of discrimination and in the process bases itself inter alia
on Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN 1948) which rejects discrimination on the
basis of ‘race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property,
birth or other status’.

Can the Commission confirm that the call referred to above, despite the broad definition of ‘ethnic origin’,
excludes linguistic minorities?

If so, can the Commission explain why an action programme to combat discrimination should ignore/
exclude/pass over/discriminate against 40 million members of linguistic minorities who are in some cases
subject to daily discrimination on the basis of their language? Moreover, such discrimination also occurs in
fields such as ‘employment, education, the provision of goods and services and social protection’, which
are mentioned in this very action programme.

Does the Commission believe that European citizens cannot be subject to discrimination on the basis of
their language?

Answer given by Ms Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(1 February 2002)

The programme to combat discrimination is based on Article 13 of the EC Treaty. This Article stipulates
that the Community ‘may take appropriate action to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic
origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation’. It makes no mention of discrimination on the
basis of language. Consequently, this programme cannot cover measures to combat discrimination on the
basis of language, and the concept of discrimination on the basis of language is not covered by the
concept of discrimination based on ethnic origin in either Article 13 of the EC Treaty or Directive
2000/43/EC (1). The same applies to other international instruments (2). Consequently, the call for proposals
VP/2001/019 is not open to non-governmental organisations that defend the use of regional or minority
languages in Europe.

20.6.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 147 E/187

Having said that, respect for linguistic and cultural diversity is now enshrined in Article 22 of the European
Charter of Fundamental Rights, which states that ‘the Union shall respect cultural, religious and linguistic
diversity’. Following an initiative from Parliament, which has adopted a series of resolutions on this subject,
the Union has taken measures to preserve and promote the regional and minority languages of Europe.
This action to foster regional and minority languages covers several aspects,
in particular,
support for the running costs of the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages. Moreover, a series of
initiatives financed by the Community to support these languages may be consulted at the following
Internet address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/langmin_fr.html. Lastly, mention should be made in
this connection of the European Year of Languages in 2001, in which many initiatives to promote regional
or minority languages were financed. Further information on this Year is available at the following address:
http://www.eurolang2001.org/eyl/common/home.asp?LANG=FR.

including,

(1) Council Directive of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of

racial or ethnic origin (OJ L 180, 19.7.2000).

(2) The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations, to which the Honourable Member refers in his
question, and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms contain
references not only to racial discrimination, but also to discrimination on the basis of language, as a separate reason
for prohibited discrimination. In the same way, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union contains,
in Article 21 on non-discrimination, a specific reference to language in addition to other grounds for discrimination,
such as ethnic origin.

(2002/C 147 E/194)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3486/01

by Christopher Heaton-Harris (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: EIB

Does the Commission have a view on the European Investment Bank’s bid to increase its capital?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(25 January 2002)

The mission of the European Investment Bank (EIB) is to contribute towards the integration, balanced
development and economic and social cohesion of the Member States.

The members of the EIB are the Member States, who have all subscribed to the Bank’s capital, their
respective contributions reflecting their economic weight within the Community. The Board of Governors,
the Bank’s highest decision-making body, is composed of Ministers nominated by each Member State,
usually the latter’s Finance Minister. The Board of Directors consists of 25 Directors and 13 Alternates
appointed by the Board of Governors.

The EIB enjoys its own legal personality and financial autonomy. The EIB maintains close working ties
with the other members of the family of Community institutions in pursuit of the Community’s objectives.
Such co-operation enables the Bank to co-ordinate its operations with those of the other institutions, while
preserving its independence and its own decision-making procedures as provided for in the European
Treaties.

To avoid a significant disruption of the lending activities of the Bank, proposals for a capital increase to
take effect at the beginning of 2003 would have to be submitted to the next Board of Governors meeting
in June 2002. Discussions in the Board of Directors have started so as to enable the EIB to consider in
spring 2002 proposals on both strategic orientations and the capital increase, which will not necessitate a
call on Member States to increase their paid-in capital but will instead be achieved by incorporating free
reserves.