WRITTEN QUESTION E-0641/02 by Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (PPE-DE) to the Commission. MEDA funding and transparency.
Date: 2002-03-06
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, European Commission, administrative transparency, aid programme, award of contract, interinstitutional relations (EU), invitation to tender, operation of the Institutions

12.12.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 309 E/33

Apart from these legal requirements, the Commission has supported the development of self-regulatory
mechanisms by the international excipient industry. Several Good Manufacturing Practice codes have been
developed. The Commission intends to continue to encourage such self-regulatory mechanisms.

(1) OJ L 311, 28.11.2001, p. 67.
(2) COM(2001) 404 final.

(2002/C 309 E/037)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0615/02

by Rosa Miguélez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission

Subject: Discriminatory treatment of official languages

(5 March 2002)

Recent years, coinciding with the current Commission’s mandate, have seen an emerging imbalance in the
treatment of the various official languages in favour of English. In the specific case of the Commission, it is
not known whether the College of Commissioners has taken any decision favouring English above the
other languages.

This new predomination of one language runs counter to the spirit of political integration and harmonious
and balanced union among the peoples of Europe. At internal level it clearly places those Commission
officials who are not of Anglo-Saxon origin at a disadvantage. In certain services, someone (cid:1) it is not
known exactly who (cid:1) has decided to work solely in English.

Which Commission services work exclusively in English? Who approved this decision? On what legal
basis? What type of documents and materials has the Commission decided to have drawn up and
distributed exclusively in English?

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(26 April 2002)

The Commission has not taken any decision favouring English over the other official languages. Neither
the Commission nor the administrative hierarchy has given instructions that its departments should use
English exclusively to draft and distribute documents or materials. There is no department in which
English is used exclusively.

The Commission would draw attention to its policy in this respect:

(cid:1) documents intended for use outside the Commission are drawn up in the official languages of the
Community in the case of instruments of general application and in the languages of those to whom
they are addressed in other cases;

(cid:1) documents for internal use are drafted in the languages corresponding to the actual needs of the

Commission and its departments based on operational efficiency.

(2002/C 309 E/038)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0641/02

by Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: MEDA funding and transparency

(6 March 2002)

Article 8(c) of the amended MEDA Regulation (1) (No 2698/2000) requires the Commission, as part of the
policy to improve transparency and information, to publish he results of the invitations to tender,
including information on the number of received tenders, the date of the award of the contract, and the
name and the address of the successful tenderers, in the Official Journal of the European Communities and
on the Internet.

C 309 E/34

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

12.12.2002

How does the Commission explain its failure thus far to comply with this requirement, which is expressly
laid down in the Regulation, when at the same time it has taken care to publish the corresponding
information in respect of other funding programmes such as TACIS? Will the Commission publish the
information immediately and, if so, does it have a specific timetable for implementing this policy?

(1) OJ L 311, 12.12.2000, p. 1.

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(19 April 2002)

The Commission is aware of the obligations stemming from Article 8(c) of Council Regulation (EC)
No 2698/2000 of 27 November 2000 amending Regulation (EC) No 1488/96 on financial and technical
measures to accompany (MEDA) the reform of economic and social structures in the framework of the
Euro-Mediterranean partnership.

The results are published as and when the contracts are signed. In most cases they have already been
published and can be consulted on the Internet at the following address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/
europeaid/cgi/frame12.pl.

The contracts that have not been published are mainly decentralised contracts where the contracting
authority is the national authorising officer of the beneficiary country and has not yet communicated the
results to the Commission.

In view of the importance of the transparency policy, the Commission sees to it that information relating
to the award of contracts financed under the MEDA programme is published as rapidly as possible.

(2002/C 309 E/039)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0658/02

by Mario Mantovani (PPE-DE), Giacomo Santini (PPE-DE)
and Amalia Sartori (PPE-DE) to the Council

(8 March 2002)

Subject: Restitution of property to Istrian and Dalmatian exiles

The stabilisation and association agreement with Croatia makes no mention of the restitution of property
confiscated at the end of the Second World War despite the fact that, from the point of view of any future
enlargement, this issue must be one of the priorities for accession in terms of safeguarding the rights of
minorities in Croatia.

Recently the parliament
denationalisation law which in fact removed Istrian and Dalmatian exiles’
property returned to them.

in Zagreb also debated this issue and in particular approved a specific
last hopes of having their

Is the Council taking any measures apart from agreements at bilateral level, and if so what are they, on the
question of the restitution of property to Istrian and Dalmatian exiles in Croatia, and more generally,
compliance with the principles of non-discrimination and equal treatment of ethnic minorities, in order to
establish the latter as preconditions for any future accession of Croatia to the European Union?

Reply

(30 September 2002)

The Council would inform the Honourable Member that it has not discussed the question whether any
laws on the restitution of property expropriated after the war might be compatible with Community law.
If, in the future, the question of opening negotiations on Croatia’s accession were to arise, it would be with
full regard to the first paragraph of Article 49 of the EU Treaty