WRITTEN QUESTION E-0285/02 by Kyösti Virrankoski (ELDR) to the Commission. The Scientific Committee's report on the welfare of animals kept for fur production.
Date: 2002-02-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: animal health, animal welfare, fur-bearing animal, livestock farming, report, scientific committee (EU)

18.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 172 E/173

Some of the actions proposed are aimed at improving local information and assistance to attract European
and international researchers to Europe:

(cid:22) firstly, the setting up of an Internet portal linking national and Commission internet sites, which will
provide a common entry point for access to information on applicable legislation and regulations,
funding opportunities and job vacancies and research training. A prototype of such a portal should be
tested by autumn 2002;

(cid:22) secondly,

the creation of a European network of existing or future mobility centres providing
researchers and their families with local assistance on all areas affecting the conditions for their
mobility in the European host country: admission conditions, social security,
tax arrangements,
pension rights, access to accommodation, education systems, etc. The formal constitution of this
network is scheduled for autumn 2002.

In addition to this, exchanges of information and good practice have been launched between and with
Member States and the candidate countries. Since 2001, an initial exchange concerning the admission
conditions for foreign researchers has clarified the various regulatory and administrative systems in force in
the Union. This exchange has improved awareness of the specific nature of research in the field of entry
and residence for nationals of third countries.

In the course of 2002, similar exercises will be carried out in the field of social and tax provisions. There
will be coordination with the activities of the Commission and the Member States in the fields of skills and
mobility of workers (4), and mobility for students, persons undergoing training, volunteers, teachers and
trainers (5). In particular, a joint task force was set up in November 2001 with a view to defining by the
end of 2002 a common approach to research and education, including questions of mobility.

Finally, the efforts to improve the conditions for the mobility of researchers will be backed up by increased
direct funding in the future framework programme 2002-2006 (6).

The monitoring of the implementation of the strategy on mobility in the field of research will be carried
out by a steering group consisting of representatives appointed by the Research Ministers in the Union and
the candidate countries which will be able to base its assessment on an annual scoreboard of progress
achieved.

To sum up, the process launched in Lisbon (23-24 March 2000) to eliminate the obstacles to mobility and
attract or retain the best researchers is a vast undertaking requiring a series of actions determined and
coordinated at all levels, including and above all at the level of the Member States. The implementation of
these actions which will continue beyond 2002 is already well underway. Thus, the dynamic created by
the mobility strategy will have achieved significant progress by the end of this year.

(1) http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/fp5/pdf/finalreportmobilityhleg.pdf.
(2) COM(2001) 331 final.
(3) OJ C 367, 21.12.2001.
(4) See Communication from the Commission to the Council ‘New European labour market, open to all, with access
for all’, COM(2001) 116 final of 28 February 2001, and the ‘Commission’s action plan for skills and mobility’,
COM(2002) 72 final of 13 February 2002.

(5) Recommendation 2001/613/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 July 2001 on mobility within
the Community for students, persons undergoing training, volunteers, teachers and trainers, OJ L 215, 9.8.2001.

(6) http://www.ce.cec/sg_vista/cgi-bin/repo.

(2002/C 172 E/182)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0285/02

by Kyösti Virrankoski (ELDR) to the Commission

(8 February 2002)

Subject: The Scientific Committee’s report on the welfare of animals kept for fur production

On 12-13 December 2001 the Commission’s Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare
approved a report on the welfare of animals kept for fur production.

C 172 E/174

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.7.2002

It is stated at the end of the report that it is based substantially on the work of the working party of
scientists set up by the committee and chaired by Dr Robert Danzer. The members of the working party
are also listed.

Six of these eight members have now written to the Scientific Committee itemising a number of essential
points on which the final report departs from the working party’s unanimous conclusions. The letter lists a
large number of direct factual errors in the final report. Furthermore, the working party’s most important
conclusion, i.e. that the welfare of fur animals is fully comparable with that of other animals kept for
production purposes, is totally absent.

The upshot is that these six scientists are demanding that the report be corrected in line with the final
document of the scientific working party. However, if the Scientific Committee maintains the final report
as it stands, the six scientists who signed the latter will quit the working party and ask that their names be
deleted from the final report.

Is it customary for scientific committees to distort the opinions of scientists?

Is it customary for the final reports of such committees to contain assertions about the opinions and
research findings of named persons that differ from what these persons have themselves presented and
from which these persons therefore need to dissociate themselves?

What action does the Commission intend to take to ensure that the work of scientific committees is placed
on a scientifically sound footing and the ethical and legal standards governing scientific work are
respected?

What action does it intend to take to guarantee the scientific quality of the report in question?

(2002/C 172 E/183)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0367/02

by Jan Mulder (ELDR) to the Commission

(14 February 2002)

Subject: Report on welfare of animals bred for fur

On 12 and 13 December 2001, the Scientific Committee for Animal Health and Animal Welfare brought
out a report on the welfare of animals kept for fur production.

In a recent article in the Netherlands press (Agrarisch Dagblad (’Agricultural Daily’), 30 January 2002) it is
stated that the conclusions reached by the researchers in the working party were substantially altered by
the above committee. Mr De Jonge, researcher and member of the working party that drew up the report,
states in the above article that positive findings concerning the wellbeing of mink were removed from the
report.

Can the Commission confirm that the above scientific committee adjusted the report in the manner

1.
stated?

2.

If so, can the Commission state what considerations led to that adjustment?

Does the Commission consider that the report as it now stands presents an accurate picture of the

3.
welfare of animals bred for fur in the EU?

Does the Commission draw any particular conclusions from the report with a view to the European

4.
policy to be pursued?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-0285/02 and E-0367/02
given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(20 March 2002)

The Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare, as one of the eight scientific committees
established by Commission Decision 97/579/EC of 23 July 1997 setting up Scientific Committees in the