WRITTEN QUESTION E-0696/02 by Eija-Riitta Korhola (PPE-DE) to the Council. The EU's objectives in the ILO world commission.
Date: 2002-03-19
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Finland, International Labour Organisation, World Trade Organisation, cooperation policy, economic and social cohesion, globalisation, international organisation, social policy, the EU's international role

26.9.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 229 E/123

tarian agencies and organisations comes within the sphere of competence of the Commission. It is
therefore the Commission’s responsibility to determine the conditions for financing and implementing the
humanitarian operations carried out by those bodies to monitor their execution and to assess the results.

3.
On a general level, the Council is watching very closely the development of relations between the EU
and the UN in this area. In response to the Commission’s communication of 2 May 2001 to the Council
and the European Parliament entitled ‘Building an effective partnership with the United Nations in the
fields of Development and Humanitarian Affairs’, the Council adopted conclusions on 31 May 2001 in
which it urged the Commission to strengthen and improve its relations with the relevant UN agencies in
this area. Among other things, the Council stressed the importance of enhancing dialogue to build a
strategic partnership between the Community and the UN in order to tackle humanitarian crises.

the EU,

in particular,

tasks. On the initiative of

4.
In addition, the EU is in the forefront of the international efforts to ensure that the personnel charged
with carrying out UN humanitarian measures meet the highest standard required for performing the
the UN General Assembly adopted on
relevant
21 December 2001 a Resolution entitled ‘Safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection
of United Nations personnel’ (RES/56/217), which reaffirms, among other things, in paragraph 15, the
principle whereby ‘all humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel [are obliged]
to observe and respect the national laws of the country in which they are operating, in accordance with
law and the Charter of the United Nations’. The principle is reiterated and developed in
international
paragraph 18, which requests the UN Secretary-General
‘to take the necessary measures to ensure that
United Nations and other personnel carrying out activities in fulfilment of the mandate of a United Nations
operation are properly informed about […] the standards that they are required to meet, including those
law, […] and reaffirms the necessity for all other
contained in relevant domestic and international
humanitarian organisations to provide their personnel with similar support’.

(1) OJ L 163, 2.7.1996, p. 1.

(2002/C 229 E/140)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0696/02

by Eija-Riitta Korhola (PPE-DE) to the Council

(19 March 2002)

Subject: The EU’s objectives in the ILO world commission

The ILO has set up a world commission to consider the relationships between globalisation,
liberalisation of trade and social development. Naturally these issues are also important to the EU.

the

One of the chairs of the world commission is the president of an EU Member State, Tarja Halonen,
President of the Republic of Finland.

The world commission intends to report its findings in March 2003.

What are the EU’s objectives in connection with the world commission’s work?

Are there any plans for debating the objectives and/or the world commission’s conclusions with the
European Parliament?

Reply

(27 June 2002)

The Council reminds the Honourable Member that on 12 November 2001, at the 282nd session of the
Governing Body of the ILO, the representative of the Danish government made a statement on behalf of
the European Union. This statement contained inter alia the objectives of the EU in connection with the
activities of the World Commission, as follows:

The European Union reaffirms the great
importance which it attaches to addressing the social
dimension of globalization. Recent events have underlined the effects which globalization has on

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Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

26.9.2002

everyone’s lives, employment and working environment. It is therefore important to discuss all of its
implications on the basis of
the widest possible consensus so as to provide a coherent and
constructive response. The aim should be to enable everyone to benefit from globalization in ways
which lead directly to the eradication of poverty, the achievement of social cohesion, the creation of
employment and improved governance. In this connection, the European Union confirms the great
importance it attaches to following up the 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at
Work through positive measures from all sides, including technical assistance and greater cooperation
between governments and social partners.

In addition, the statement confirmed the EU’s strong support for reinforcing the role of the ILO, and for
establishing under the auspices of the ILO a substantive international dialogue involving other international
fora, including the WTO. It also stressed the positive political and economic impact of a new round of
trade negotiations and its contribution to development and to strengthening international solidarity. It
the World Commission’s work could usefully embrace other globalisation
went on to note that
initiatives which help globalisation to contribute to greater
perspectives and enhance the value of all
social progress.

At the same meeting, the European Commission associated itself with the abovementioned EU statement.

So far, there are no plans for debating the objectives and/or the World Commission’s conclusions with the
European Parliament.

(2002/C 229 E/141)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0700/02

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: State-run Electronics and Telecommunications College

(14 March 2002)

The state-run Electronics and Telecommunications College is a vocational school run by the Ministry of
Education and situated in Lisbon, which was set up following under a cooperation agreement between
Portugal and the Netherlands and has been in operation since 1990 in provisional premises.

Its main aim is to train electronics and telecommunications technicians whose qualifications are recognised
by employers providing additional preparation for entry into higher education.

Given the electronics and telecommunications sector’s expansion, virtually all of its 100 students enter the
labour market on completion of their course, and are employed by leading companies in the sector.

The school’s successful results and the fact that technicians are needed in this field have not been sufficient
to ensure that new premises and additional teaching staff were made available or that the current project
was extended to eventually cater for twice the current number of students, as would be necessary, given
that the present 25 graduates per year are hardly sufficient to meet demand.

Will the Commission provide details of possibilities for funding the new facilities and the extension of the
current training project at the Electronics and Telecommunications College in Lisbon?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(26 April 2002)

The type of project mentioned by the Honourable Member could be part-funded by the Structural Funds
under measure 8 of the Education Operational Programme (PRODEP) and measure 3.8 of the Operational
Programme for the Lisbon Region (PORLVT), both of which form part of the Community support
framework for the Portuguese Objective 1 regions in the 2000-2006 period.