WRITTEN QUESTION E-0943/02 by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Road building.
Date: 2002-04-09
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, Madeira, environmental protection, road building

C 301 E/70

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

5.12.2002

(2002/C 301 E/075)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0937/02

by Monica Frassoni (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(9 April 2002)

Subject: Contact points for OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises

For the budget lines B7-300, B7-310 and B7-320 (Financial and technical cooperation with Asian and
Latin American developing countries and with the countries of Southern Africa, including South Africa)
the following remark has been adopted in the 2002 budget:

It also covers the creation and operation of contact points for the OECD guidelines for multinational
enterprises in the EU delegations of those countries where European companies operate.

In the EU delegations of which countries does the Commission intend to start with these contact points
and when will they begin to function?

By which means will the EU or the EU delegation make their existence known in each of the countries
concerned, and what are the intended activities for these contact points?

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(28 May 2002)

The Commission intends designating a ‘correspondent’ (1) for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) guidelines in each of its Delegations.

the Commission intends to make the Delegations aware of

the importance of
With this in mind,
promoting the OECD guidelines in contacts with the authorities of
the countries concerned, with
companies established there or planning investment and with civil society at large. An opportunity to do
this will be the annual training seminar for the Delegations to be held at the beginning of July.

Initially, a trade adviser (within each Delegation having one) (2) will designated correspondent; they will
have the double role of giving out information and promoting the guidelines. For the record, these cover
all areas of a company’s social responsibility, namely child labour and forced labour, relations with the
workforce, environmental protection, consumer protection, transparency and communication information,
the fight against corruption, technology transfers, competition and taxation.

In a second phase, correspondents will be appointed in all the other Delegations.
Delegations will work in close cooperation with the Commission.

In this area the

(1) The term ‘contact point’ or ‘national contact point’ is reserved for States party to the OECD or countries adhering to
the Declaration relating to the guidelines for multinational enterprises. The Commission, though playing a central
role in the OECD and in implementing the guidelines, is not strictly speaking a ‘national contact point’ and so the
term ‘correspondent’ is more appropriate.

(2) The Delegations having a trade adviser are: South Africa, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Korea,
Egypt, the United States, Geneva, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Morocco, Mexico,
Nigeria, Paris, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Senegal, Tanzania, Czech Republic, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay and
Vietnam.

(2002/C 301 E/076)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0943/02

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(9 April 2002)

Subject: Road building

There have been reports in the media that, as part of a project to build a new road close to the seafront in
the Parish of Jardim do Mar, the Madeira Regional Government is planning to erect a wall that will jut out
at the point where the waves break.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 301 E/71

This work, if carried out, would severely damage natural ecosystems and interfere with surfing in an area
internationally famed among surfing enthusiasts.

Given that the available alternatives to the projected route would have less of an environmental impact:

1. Will Community funding be provided for the new road to be built near the seafront in Jardim do
Mar?

If so, how does the Commission view the project submitted and the possible environmentally less

2.
damaging alternative routes?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(7 June 2002)

Under the subsidiarity principle assessment and selection of projects proposed for Structural Fund part-
financing is the responsibility of the regional and national managing authorities. The Commission has not
so far been informed of any part-financing for a new seafront road in the commune of Jardim do Mar and
has asked the Portuguese authorities for information.

As indicated in Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provisions
on the Structural Funds (1), all projects part-financed from the Funds must conform with Community law,
including that on environmental protection.

(1) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999.

(2002/C 301 E/077)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0947/02

by Marie Isler Béguin (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(9 April 2002)

Subject: Making sea traffic safe

The wreck of the tanker ‘Erika’ on 12 December 1999, spilling 28 000 tonnes of fuel oil along the Breton
coast, caused massive and irreversible damage to maritime fauna and flora and wrecked the economic
fabric in respect of maritime and coastal resources.

’Erika’-type accidental pollution, despite the immediacy of its spectacular scale, represents only a fraction of
the discharges of oil into the sea. The bulk of hydrocarbons and other harmful and polluting substances
discharged into the sea and its eco-systems are the result of deliberate (cid:1) and therefore criminal (cid:1)
degassing or deballasting on the pretext of saving time or money on tank cleaning services. A figure of 2
million tonnes of hydrocarbons dumped illegally and virtually scot-free into the oceans every year is
claimed. Officially, the French Assembly estimates that this ‘routine pollution’ totals 600 000 tonnes every
year for the Mediterranean alone, i.e. the equivalent (cid:1) every week! (cid:1) of the damage inflicted on the
economy, the eco-system and future generations by the wreck of the ‘Erika’.

Can the Commission draw up detailed current figures for the availability in the Member States and
candidate countries of port facilities and deballasting infrastructure, and likewise the networks for checking
and monitoring ships which are required to demonstrate the effectiveness of these installations?