WRITTEN QUESTION E-0308/02 by Marie Isler Béguin (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Community programme of environmental education at school.
Date: 2002-02-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU programme, education policy, environmental education, environmental policy, environmental protection, teaching curriculum

18.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 172 E/181

Given that Eurostat has considerable statistical resources at its disposal, can the Commission explain why it
is that social data of such importance are not regularly updated?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(16 April 2002)

In its Communication to the European Council in Barcelona (1), the Commission uses data on income
distribution and poverty which refer to 1998. These are the most recent data which are comparable at
European level; the source is the European Community Household Panel (ECHP).

The Commission agrees with the Honourable Member that the delay in the availability of data in this field
is far too long. It plans to speed up the production of data arising from the ECHP, so that the data
available for the spring European Council in 2003 will be from the survey carried out in 2000, the delay
having been reduced by a further year.

The Commission has also proposed to launch a new instrument, the Statistics on Income and Living
Conditions (EU-SILC) (2), the aim of which is to establish a common framework for the systematic
production of Community statistics on income and living conditions. EU-SILC is foreseen to be launched
in 2003 in ten Member States (in 2004 for the others) and is to become the reference source of
comparative statistics on income distribution and social exclusion at Union level. Under EU-SILC, it is
planned that the delay for data production will be reduced to two years: data relating to 2003 will be
available in the form of micro-data files in February 2005 and will be published in June 2005.

(1) COM(2002) 14 final.
(2) COM(2001) 754 final.

(2002/C 172 E/190)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0308/02

by Marie Isler Béguin (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(11 February 2002)

Subject: Community programme of environmental education at school

The consequences and impact of contemporary environmental problems such as global warming
meteorological disruptions or atmospheric pollution respect neither frontiers nor generations.

While the effect of these environmental disasters is felt indiscriminately by entire populations, direct
responsibility can nevertheless be traced to a western tradition of industrial policies and sociological
attitudes which either disregard or are unaware of ecological hazards.

In the past, the European Union has frequently been able to provide a joint response to major issues
affecting the world.

Does the Commission agree that ‘prevention is better than cure’ and that a Community policy of
environmental protection and education would in the final analysis inevitably prove less expensive than
the total cost of environmental disasters and planetary cataclysms?

Does it not consider it indispensable and a matter of priority to widen the scope of its activities in step
with the increasing concerns being felt by the Community and the dangers affecting it, incorporating a
common environmental education programme at school within the education systems and curricula of the
Member States and applicant countries?

Is it desirable to introduce education initiatives at Community level
generations a basic sense of responsibility among European citizens with regard to the environment?

to forge and distil

for future

C 172 E/182

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.7.2002

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(22 March 2002)

In the sixth Environmental Action Programme of the Community, the Commission has indicated five
strategic approaches to meeting the environmental objectives for 2001-2010. These are all preventive
instruments aimed at protecting the environment rather
than to cure. One way to bring about
is by helping people to make environmentally friendly choices.
improvements to the environment
Individual citizens, as well as business, make daily decisions that directly or indirectly impact
the
environment. Better quality and easily accessible information on the environment and on practical matters
will help shape opinions and thus decisions.

Environmental education and awareness raising activities will be essential to this process. The Union will
continue to promote good practice and share ideas for improving young people’s access to environmental
information. The education systems and school curricula remain, however, the responsibility of Member
States and applicant countries.

The Commission already supports a number of projects, where young people learn about the environment
in the school, as volunteers or in youth projects. The theme of environment is frequently dealt with in
projects financed by the Community action programmes Socrates (in the field of education) and Youth.
Both programmes, which are administered by the Directorate General (DG) Education and Culture, are
open for participation also by applicant countries.

In addition, DG Environment has recently developed several learning tools to improve the environmental
awareness among young people. The new website ‘Environment for Young Europeans’ (1) contains, for
example, suggestions of school-class activities in addition to games and quiz for individual learning. DG
Environment has also taken into consideration environmental education and the involvement of young
people in its calls for proposals aimed at supporting awareness raising projects and environmental non-
governmental organisations (NGOs).

(1) http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/youth/news_en.html.

(2002/C 172 E/191)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0314/02

by Isabelle Caullery (UEN) to the Commission

(6 February 2002)

Subject: Airline competition

Can the Commission confirm, further to a complaint concerning Charleroi airport, that it is conducting an
inquiry into distortions of competition due to state aid from the Walloon regional authority to the airline
Ryanair?

Can it tell us the background to this case and inform us of the procedure being followed and the present
state of the inquiry?

(2002/C 172 E/192)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0434/02

by Jacqueline Foster (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(12 February 2002)

Subject: Ryanair

Further to the European Commission’s announcement that it is investigating Ryanair’s operations at
Charleroi airport on grounds that the company may be gaining an unfair competitive advantage, could it
indicate the stage that this investigation has reached and whether it plans to take any action?