WRITTEN QUESTION E-0658/02 by Mario Mantovani (PPE-DE), Giacomo Santini (PPE-DE)and Amalia Sartori (PPE-DE) to the Council. Restitution of property to Istrian and Dalmatian exiles.
Date: 2002-03-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Croatia, accession to the European Union, association agreement (EU), expropriation, indemnification, ownership, privatisation

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