WRITTEN QUESTION P-0296/02 by Pere Esteve (ELDR) to the Council. Fifty-eighth session of the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva.
Date: 2002-02-05
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Presidency of the Council of the EU, UN technical commission, children's rights, death penalty, human rights, resolution, the EU's international role

C 229 E/70

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

26.9.2002

(2002/C 229 E/077)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0296/02

by Pere Esteve (ELDR) to the Council

(5 February 2002)

Subject: Fifty-eighth session of the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva

The fifty-eighth session of the Commission on Human Rights, which is to be held in Geneva from
18 March to 26 April 2002, is the most important event in the field of human rights during the Spanish
Presidency in the first six months of this year.

What role will the Spanish Presidency play, and what will its approach be in this extremely important
international forum under the United Nations umbrella?

Reply

(25 June 2002)

The EU, represented by the Presidency, will be a key player at the fifty-eighth session of the Commission
on Human Rights (CHR). The EU has traditionally been behind nearly a third of all the Resolutions
adopted. It takes the floor frequently and participates actively in the numerous negotiations conducted on
third-country initiatives.

The Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs will address the CHR on behalf of the EU at the opening of the
session and will set out the EU’s policy and priorities on human rights.

The Presidency, on behalf of the EU, will present initiatives for resolutions on certain countries or
territories where the human rights situation gives cause for concern. The list of those countries and
territories is not yet complete but is very likely to resemble that for CHR 57.

The EU will also present two important thematic resolutions, which met with remarkable success at the
57th CHR: a resolution on the rights of the child (prepared with Grulac) and a resolution against the death
penalty.

As it has done in the past, the Presidency, on behalf of the EU, will also take the initiative in drawing up
consensus declarations by the Chairwoman of the CHR on given countries.

The Presidency favours dialogue with all delegations and all regional groups, while at the same time urging
EU Member States to remain united in their positions. The Presidency is also committed to overcoming the
difficulties arising from the fact that the United States is not a member of the CHR.

(2002/C 229 E/078)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0299/02

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(11 February 2002)

Subject: Operational shortcomings of the Community Support Framework Administrative Authority in

Greece

In its reply of 18 January 2002 to my Written Question (E-3377/01) (1) concerning the CSF Administrative
Authority, the Commission indicated that it was, generally speaking, satisfied with the initial results. One
week later the Greek press published a communication from the Directorate-General for Regional Policy
dated 4 October 2001 to the Greek authorities to the effect that the CSF Administrative Authority had not
in fact been formally established and that CSF coordination was still taking place on an ad hoc basis. The
communication also pointed to shortcomings regarding the transparency of procedures for the assessment
of projects submitted for funding, the inoperability of the integrated information system, the absence of
specified guidelines and lists for the monitoring of projects and shortcomings regarding instructions issued
to the administrative authorities regarding communications.

What is, in the final analysis, the Commission’s opinion regarding the operation of the CSF Administrative
Authority in Greece?

(1) OJ C 147 E, 20.6.2002, p. 162.