WRITTEN QUESTION E-0510/02 by Professor Sir Neil MacCormick (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Religious liberty.
Date: 2002-02-25
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: France, application of EU law, freedom of religious beliefs, religious sect

5.12.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 301 E/47

(2002/C 301 E/051)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0510/02

by Professor Sir Neil MacCormick (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(25 February 2002)

Subject: Religious liberty

Is the Commission aware of the French law of 30 May 2001 regarding restriction on religious liberty
aimed at protecting society from threats passed by dangerous sects? Given the importance of religious
liberty among European fundamental rights,
is the Commission satisfied that the law of 30 May is
sufficiently narrow in specification to avoid an infringement of rights that would be relevant to Article 6 of
the Treaty of the European Union?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(2 April 2002)

The attention of the Commission has been drawn several times to the French Law No 2001-504 aimed at
reinforcing the prevention and the repression of the sectarian movements affecting the human rights and
the fundamental freedoms to which the Honourable Member refers.

The above mentioned French legislation does not fall within the scope of Community legislation. The
Commission is therefore not in a position to intervene.

Although the Commission does have a right to take initiatives under the terms of Article 7 of the Treaty
on the European Union, this is limited to cases of serious and persistent violation by a Member State of the
principles stated in Article 6, paragraph 1, which is manifestly not the case.

The Commission would add that if a person considers that his or her fundamental rights have been
violated, there is always the possibility of a recourse before the European Court of Human Rights, after all
internal means have been exhausted.

(2002/C 301 E/052)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0592/02

by Marianne Thyssen (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(25 February 2002)

Subject: Compulsory civil

liability insurance in respect of motor vehicles- obligation for insurance

undertakings to accept applicants for insurance cover

Pursuant to Article 3 of Directive 72/166/EEC (1) on the approximation of the laws of the Member States
relating to insurance against civil liability, each Member State has drawn up the necessary rules so that civil
liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles normally based on its territory is covered by insurance.

In practice, however,
it appears that certain insurance undertakings are often only willing to insure
applicants who represent a low or very low insurance risk, the insurers basing their decisions chiefly on
the statistical probability of a particular applicant giving rise to an insurance claim. Insurance undertakings
are thus targeting niches in the insurance market where the risk of having to pay out on insurance claims
is lowest and hence the opportunity for making a profit is greatest.

This sort of business strategy means that it is increasingly difficult for drivers who, from a purely statistical
point of view, represent a greater insurance risk, e.g. young people and the elderly, to find an insurer who
is willing to insure them, even though their actions have not yet given rise to an insurance claim. This has
led in practice to an increase in the number of uninsured drivers, with all that this entails, such as an
increase in number of cases of hit-and-run in the event of accidents and the exclusion of some people
from using certain means of transport owing to one-sided arbitrary decisions by insurance undertakings.