WRITTEN QUESTION E-0572/02 by Carlo Fatuzzo (PPE-DE) to the Council. The plight of dogs in Bucharest.
Date: 2002-03-04
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Romania, accession to the European Union, animal welfare, competence of the Member States, domestic animal, protection of animals, public order, urban problem

26.9.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 229 E/107

On the other hand, China’s accession does not mean substantially new commitments for the Community,
except the phasing out of specific quantitative restrictions applied to China by 2005 (which will take place
in parallel to the phasing out of China’s own quota). This applies to the three industrial products for which
the Community still maintains quotas: footwear, ceramic tableware and porcelain tableware, and to the
Community’s remaining textile quotas, which must be dismantled since China fell under the normal rules
of the Agreement on textiles and clothing (ATC), implying an elimination of quotas by the end of 2004.
Immediately upon accession, the Community has granted China integration under phase 2 and 3 under the
ATC, thus liberalising some restrictions and granting the corresponding increased growth rates for the
quotas remaining. As from 2002 restrictions are in force for a total of 39 textile and clothing products.

In the period until the end of 2004 the impact of China’s accession on its exports to the Community will
be modest as the growth rates of the quotas are low, and will only marginally increase during this period.
Beyond 2005, and on the basis of China’s past performance characterized by a very high utilization of
quotas, it is possible, however, that Chinese operators may be able to draw substantial commercial benefit
from increased export possibilities to the Community market, either directly or by substituting other
countries’ exports. In the latter case the impact on the Community market should of course be less harshly
felt.

The Commission will be launching shortly a study on the policy implications of
liberalisation on the Community Textile and Clothing sector and trade, where the impact of
elimination of textile and clothing quotas vis-à-vis China will be examined.

the 2005 trade
the

(2002/C 229 E/122)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0572/02

by Carlo Fatuzzo (PPE-DE) to the Council

(4 March 2002)

Subject: The plight of dogs in Bucharest

Romania has applied for membership of the European Community, which is based on law and the civic
sense of the population.

Stray dogs are being treated in a barbaric way in Bucharest, in that they are rounded up and transported 3
if they survive the journey 3 to large-scale municipal kennels, where they are brutally killed by an
injection of magnesium sulphate.

The method adopted by the Basescu city council to eliminate the stray dogs living in the city by catching
them and killing them, after abandoning the previous policy of sterilisation, is ineffective, since it does not
tackle the root causes of the problem. Mass sterilisation could remedy or at least contain the problem.

The Basescu administration is not infringing any Romanian law, but has adopted an ethically unacceptable
approach, since Romania,
in the context of its accession to the EC, should comply with Community
legislation on the protection of animals.

Does the European Community not intend to ascertain whether the behaviour of the Bucharest city
council and Romanian law are in line with the ‘acquis communautaire’, to which Romania will soon have
to adhere as a candidate for accession to the European Union?

C 229 E/108

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

26.9.2002

Reply

(26 June 2002)

At present there is no European Community legislation regulating the welfare of pet animals. Since the
Commission is not considering any proposals at this stage, it is unlikely that the question will be dealt with
before the completion of the accession negotiations;
it will therefore not be covered by the acquis
communautaire.

There is a Council of Europe Convention for the protection of pet animals. However, its general nature
prevents it from regulating the problems raised by the Honourable Member.

Moreover, the Council is currently completing its examination of a proposal on the movement of pet
animals, which is subject to the codecision procedure and on which the European Parliament has already
delivered its first-reading opinion. This text, which deals only with aspects of animal health and non-
commercial movement of pet animals, does not affect the measures taken by a Member State for reasons
relating to public order.

(2002/C 229 E/123)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0589/02

by Elisa Damião (PSE) to the Council

(6 March 2002)

Subject: The Lisbon strategy

The targets set by the Lisbon strategy for employment growth up to 2005 and 2010 were employment
in the expectation that growth would
rates of 60 % for women and 70 % for the total workforce,
simultaneously be underpinned by technological innovation and social cohesion. However, the Prospective
Analysis 2020 synthesis report by the European Science and Technology Observatory on the ‘Impact of
Technological and Structural Change on Employment’ contradicts this view and goes so far as to say that
productivity will speed up, with a positive impact on the economy, but not on employment, which will
continue to grow in the traditional business sectors.

What does the Council intend to do 3 correct the Lisbon targets or adopt more realistic strategies for
employment growth?

Reply

(26 June 2002)

At the Barcelona summit on 15 and 16 March 2002, the European Council reviewed progress made in the
first two years of the Lisbon strategy. It noted that there had been important successes, but also that there
were areas where progress had been too slow.

The Barcelona European Council confirmed the Lisbon objectives and gave a reminder
full
employment is the essential goal of economic and social policies and that it is therefore necessary to
continue paying special attention to the reform of policies aimed at a high level of employment.

that

The Barcelona European Council also asked the social partners to place their strategies in the various
territorial (European, national, regional and local) and sectoral spheres at the service of the Lisbon Strategy
and Objectives and to that end to produce an annual report on their efforts both at national level and at
European level. The multiannual programme which they will submit in December 2002 should already
include that contribution, particularly with regard to the adaptability of businesses in matters such as
collective bargaining, wage moderation, improved productivity, life-long training, new technologies and
the flexible organisation of work.