WRITTEN QUESTION E-0317/02 by Philip Bushill-Matthews (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Preparations for the European Council meeting in Barcelona.
Date: 2002-02-12
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European social policy, economic and social cohesion, employment policy, full employment, labour market

26.9.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 229 E/73

The Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity meets every two years and
6.
provides further guidance to its Parties on how to implement the Convention. The Member States and
Community are working hard to ensure that the upcoming sixth Conference of the Parties to the CBD, to
take place in the Hague from 8 to 19 April, is a success. In particular to ensure that the Conference adopts
a strategic plan for the implementation of the Convention during the coming ten years. The proper
implementation of this Convention will be a major step to ensuring the conservation of biodiversity in the
EU Member States as a whole.

7.
Regarding the issue of the actual implementation of Community legislation (paragraph five of the
question) it is not for the Council, but for the Commission, as guardian of the Treaty, to verify the proper
implementation of Community legislation by Member States.

8.
Concerning specifically the natural heritage of outlying areas, it is up to the Commission to examine
this question in relation to existing Community policy, which is based on coherent objectives and to
report to Council and, if appropriate, to come forward with a concrete proposal.

(1) COM(42) 1998.
(2) COM(162) 2001.

(2002/C 229 E/080)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0317/02

by Philip Bushill-Matthews (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(12 February 2002)

Subject: Preparations for the European Council meeting in Barcelona

The 2000 Lisbon European Council Council called for agreement on the European Social Agenda at the
Nice European Council in December. Now that the European Social Agenda has indeed been approved,
how does the Commission believe that it will be able to reverse the rising trend of unemployment, and
does the Commission specifically agree or disagree that the structure of EU labour markets is currently still
too rigid?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(2 April 2002)

The Social Policy Agenda (SPA) which the Lisbon European Council of 23 and 24 March 2000 asked the
Commission to prepare, has been adopted by the Nice European Council of 7 and 9 December 2000. The
most recent report about progress made in implementing the SPA so far has been adopted by the
Commission on 19 February 2002 (1). It concludes that work is well under way and that commitments are
increasingly transposed into concrete action. Furthermore, new challenges are taken up and new initiatives
are planned, e.g. with the proposed Action Plan on Skills and Mobility or the impact evaluation of the
European Employment Strategy.

The SPA Scoreboard has to be seen in the wider context of the Lisbon strategy and the Commission’s
spring report for Barcelona. That report, the Commission’s key contribution to the Barcelona European
Council (The Lisbon Strategy ; Making change happen (2)), provides a basis for the assessment of progress
made towards the Lisbon objectives, including the goal of full employment. Although it recognizes that the
four-year fall in unemployment has been interrupted and that job creation has slowed considerably, the
communication expresses cautious optimism that the current economic downturn will be short-lived, and
that the current conditions do not call into question the basically sound economic fundamentals, or the
need to pursue the Lisbon strategy.

The Lisbon strategy aims at increasing the coherence and mutually reinforcing character of economic,
employment and social policies.

C 229 E/74

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

26.9.2002

The structural reforms pursued under the European Employment Strategy (EES) since 1997 have already
resulted in better long term performances of European labour markets, as shown by the following facts
documented in the Joint Employment Report for 2001:

; despite the fact that economic growth has been weaker than in the 1980s, there has been a marked

acceleration in job creation;

; the Union has experienced a faster and deeper reduction in unemployment rates;

; the Union is also better equipped in terms of skills than in the past. A higher level of education

facilitates adaptation to changes in economic activity;

; last but not least, following the stability oriented policies implemented over recent years, this occurred
without increased inflationary pressure and the budgetary situation in the Member States is now much
stronger that before the European employment strategy was launched.

If these efforts are sustained the Union should be able to absorb the slowdown more rapidly and therefore
the current cyclical downturn should not affect the pace of reform.

The Commission considers that the continuation of the ongoing structural reform will further reduce
persisting rigidities in the European labour markets.

Priority elements of such reform are:

; disincentives deterring people from taking up and remaining in a job;

; barriers to greater occupational and geographical mobility;

; the limited capacity to anticipate and manage change, which should be improved in particular by

social dialogue in the face of corporate restructuring.

(1) COM(2002) 89 final.
(2) COM(2002) 14 final.

(2002/C 229 E/081)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0328/02

by Feleknas Uca (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(12 February 2002)

Subject: Middle East conflict

The situation in the Middle East is worrying and worsening by the day. The Israeli army has penetrated
into Palestinian-controlled territory. According to newspaper reports and press releases, continuing
tensions between Palestine and Israel have led to the deaths of thousands of people since 2000, most of
them Palestinians. As recently as last Sunday two people were killed and more than 100 wounded in a
suicide attack in Jerusalem. The number of people killed and wounded in the Middle East conflict is
alarming. In my opinion, a peaceful solution between the parties in the conflict is still a long way off.

How does the Council view the current situation in the Middle East?

What measures will it take to resolve the conflict?

What steps will it take in the first half of 2002 in order to contribute to a peaceful solution to the conflict?