WRITTEN QUESTION E-0926/02 by Richard Howitt (PSE) to the Commission. The rights of ethnic minorities to be granted licences in St Lucia.
Date: 2002-04-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Commission, Saint Lucia, economic activity, ethnic discrimination, exchange of information, right of establishment, written question

C 229 E/160

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

26.9.2002

(2002/C 229 E/185)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0926/02

by Richard Howitt (PSE) to the Commission

(8 April 2002)

Subject: The rights of ethnic minorities to be granted licences in St Lucia

In response to an enquiry from one of my constituents, regarding a manifesto pledge of the St Lucian
Labour Party to introduce ‘a licensing regime whereby only indigenous operators will be granted licences
to operate key ancillary businesses,’ what is the Commission’s position on whether this policy would
breach European law on the rights of ethnic minorities if applied in the EU?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(13 June 2002)

(the
The Commission notes that the question concerned is phrased in terms which are too general
situation reported by the Honourable Member relates to the island of St Lucia, outside the territory of the
European Union) for it to be able to provide an appropriate, detailed answer.

The Commission notes,
particularly in so far as:

in particular, that several

important elements are not stated in the question,

1 it is not specified whether a particular Member State is concerned;

1 the legal source for restricting the granting of the licences in question is not identified: it is therefore
not known whether this concerns legislation or public- authority practice, public regulation or action
by a private entity;

1 the field concerned is not specified in sufficient detail: it is therefore impossible, by mere reference to
‘key ancillary businesses’, to establish whether it concerns one or more economic activities under the
terms of the EC Treaty, with respect to which it might be necessary to apply the principles of the
internal market and, in particular, the rules relating to one or more freedoms of movement;

1 the question does not state the reasons which might be put forward by the bodies or subjects
concerned in order to support this intended action: it is therefore impossible to know whether it
involves overriding requirements of public interest within the meaning of the case law of the Court of
Justice, and whether there is a cause-and-effect link between the intended measure and the possible
objective.

In the absence of the above-mentioned elements,
the
Commission is not in a position to reach any kind of assessment, even in summary terms, and cannot
provide him with a more detailed answer. In order to do this, the Commission would need additional
information relating to the various aspects mentioned above.

the Honourable Member will appreciate that

(2002/C 229 E/186)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0940/02

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(10 April 2002)

Subject: Harmful gas emissions from the Reggio Emilia incinerator between 1 January 2002 and

10 February 2002

Between 1 January and 10 February 2002 the waste incinerator situated in via dei Gonzaga in Reggio
Emilia in the Italian region of Emilia Romagna, managed by the firm AGAC under the control of the local
authority, repeatedly emitted harmful substances such as carbon monoxide, hydrochloric acid and total
organic carbon. The population and the authorities were not informed about the harmful emissions and
the excessive emission levels at the appropriate time. The facts only emerged one month later, when a
person living near the incinerator complained of feeling unwell.