WRITTEN QUESTION P-0820/02 by Sebastiano Musumeci (UEN) to the Commission. Shipwrecked illegal immigrants: request to set up a crisis unit.
Date: 2002-03-18
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU migration policy, Mediterranean third countries, illegal migration, maritime safety, maritime surveillance, migration control, trafficking in human beings

5.12.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 301 E/57

(2002/C 301 E/061)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0807/02

by Christopher Heaton-Harris (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(15 March 2002)

Subject: Convention financing

In the supplementary and amending budget passed by the European Parliament at its February II plenary
session, EUR 150 000 was put aside for ‘Entertainment’. For what, exactly, will this ‘entertainment’ fund be
used?

In the interests of
allowances and other expenses payable to the President and individual members of the Presidium?

transparency and openness, could the Commission please detail

the payments,

Answer given by Mrs Schreyer on behalf of the Commission

(22 May 2002)

The Commission submitted the Preliminary Draft SAB 1/2002 after the conclusion of an inter-institutional
agreement with the Parliament and the Council, organising the contribution of the three institutions to the
financing of the Convention. The Commission’s proposal, adopted without amendment by the Council and
Parliament, merely aimed at introducing in the budget the changes necessary to allow the transfer of
appropriations to the Convention as agreed in the inter-institutional agreement. The Commission’s
proposal does not include any forecast on the use of the budget allocated to the Convention.

The Decision of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council,
which created the Convention, provides that the draft Convention’s budget is to be established by the
Convention’s Secretary General.

By letter of 13 March 2002, the Secretary General of the European Convention transmitted the draft
budget of the Convention to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission. The Commission
gave its approval on 3rd April 2002, and the Parliament voted its approval on 10th April 2002. The
Budget of the Convention for 2002 was adopted on 18 April 2002 by the Representatives of the Member
State Governments meeting within the Council.

The Honourable Member could raise directly both questions to the Convention’s Secretariat, or to the
representatives of the Parliament in the Convention’s Praesidium,
in the framework of the approval
procedure of the draft budget.

(2002/C 301 E/062)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0820/02

by Sebastiano Musumeci (UEN) to the Commission

(18 March 2002)

Subject: Shipwrecked illegal immigrants: request to set up a crisis unit

Yet another vessel carrying non-Community nationals has been shipwrecked in the Sicilan Channel,
causing fifty deaths. This kind of accident is occurring more and more frequently.

The measures so far taken by individual European states of the Mediterranean area have proved inadequate
in tackling such a serious problem.

Would the Commission agree to set up a crisis unit with representatives of the Member States and
Mediterranean countries with a view to the adoption of a common strategy to put an end to this long
series of tragic accidents which has led to the deaths of hundreds of people, including many women and
children?

C 301 E/58

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

5.12.2002

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(6 May 2002)

The tragic event referred to by the Honourable Member and very recently the arrival of the ship ‘Monica’
in the port of Catania are just two examples of a wider phenomenon of the arrival of vessels of all kinds
and sizes with illegal immigrants on the coasts of Member States. Irregular migrants face various dangers,
including being smuggled by ruthless criminal networks and dangers of unsafe passage. As recently
mentioned in the reply to written question P-2079/01 by the Honourable Member (1), this is an issue of
major concern for the Commission and it demonstrates how important it is for the Union to develop
policies for the prevention of and the fight against illegal immigration and in particular against irregular
maritime arrivals.

Various initiatives have been taken recently. In June 2001 the Council reached a political agreement on a
Directive defining the facilitation of unauthorised entry, movement and stay and an accompanying
Framework Decision on the strengthening of
the facilitation of
unauthorised entry and residence. The Council also adopted Directive 2001/51/EC of 28 June 2001
supplementing the provisions of Article 26 of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement of
14 June 1985 (2) in order to further define the obligations of carriers. In December 2000, the Commission
adopted a Communication on combating trafficking in human beings and combating the sexual
exploitation of children and child pornography (3). This includes a proposal for a Council framework
decision on combating trafficking in human beings.

framework to prevent

the penal

An overall Union policy framework to address illegal migration was published on 28 February 2002 when
the Council adopted a comprehensive plan to combat illegal immigration and trafficking of human beings.
This action plan,
largely based on the Communication on a Common Policy on Illegal Immigration
adopted by the Commission on 15 November 2001 (4), presents a comprehensive set of measures in the
areas of visas, legislation, readmission and return policy. The action plan outlines concrete initiatives to
improve practical co-operation between the government departments responsible for such matters. Specific
attention will be paid to improving sea border controls. As a direct follow-up, a future Commission’s
Communication on an integrated border management will propose a set of measures to enhance co-
operation of Member States’ border guard authorities where the surveillance of maritime borders will
receive special attention.

(1) OJ C 40 E, 14.2.2002.
(2) OJ L 187, 10.7.2001.
(3) COM(2000) 854 final.
(4) COM(2001) 672 final.

(2002/C 301 E/063)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0826/02

by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission

(18 March 2002)

Subject: State of OLAF inquiries

Would the Commission provide details of the OLAF (European Anti-Fraud Office) inquiries concluded and
still in progress in the period January to December 2001 and in 2002.

For each of the inquiries, these details should include:

(cid:1) the name of the body which is the subject of the inquiry;

(cid:1) the date the inquiry was opened (and, where appropriate, closed) and the amount thought to have

been defrauded (and, where appropriate, the amount found to have been defrauded);

(cid:1) the action taken on inquiries which found that

fraud affecting the interests of

the European

institutions had taken place.