WRITTEN QUESTION P-1399/02 by Hanja Maij-Weggen (PPE-DE) to the Council. Precise target figures for EU Member States' childcare capacity.
Date: 2002-05-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU Member State, child care, community facilities, female work, social policy

12.12.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 309 E/117

(2002/C 309 E/137)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1393/02

by Glenys Kinnock (PSE) to the Council

(15 May 2002)

Subject: Enlargement and the potential impact on ACP countries

Does the Council agree that it is regrettable that there has been no attention paid (cid:1) until now (cid:1) to the
impact of enlargement on ACP countries?

Reply

(30 September 2002)

As the Honourable Member is certainly aware, with their accession to the Union, the new Member States
will be required to apply the entire ‘acquis’, which includes all the commitments entered into under
policies pursued by the Union externally, and the Common Commercial Policy. The Union has a scheme
under the system of generalised preferences for the benefit of developing countries and, through the
Cotonou Agreement, which builds on twenty-five years of cooperation under the Lomé Conventions, a
comprehensive system of relations with the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. The new Member
States will be required to take on all the obligations of the Community and its Member States in these
areas, including that of contributing to the European Development Fund. Therefore, the ACP countries will
enjoy the same treatment and preferences by the countries acceding to the EU, and the new Member States
will be obliged upon accession to open their markets unilaterally for ACP products as is the case for the
present EU. Already now, the progressive alignment of the candidate countries’ positions with those of the
EU in the framework of external trade relations and in multilateral fora makes relations more reliable and
predictable for the ACP countries. Enlargement should enhance and improve the ACP countries’ trade
opportunities,
leading to increased trade flows and opening a wider market to their products under
harmonised conditions. It is worthwhile noting that, as a result of enlargement, the ACP export market will
grow from 380 million consumers to 500 million consumers.

In accordance with Article 94(3) of the Cotonou Agreement, during the ongoing accession negotiations
both Parties exchange their views on relevant issues resulting from the enlargement of the EU. Enlargement
has been on the agenda of the annual meeting of the ACP-EU Council of Ministers and will also be
discussed during the up-coming Council in Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) on 28 June. The Honourable
Member’s attention is also drawn to the last paragraph of the aforementioned Article of the Agreement,
stipulating that ‘the Parties shall review the effects of the accession of new Member States on this
Agreement. The Council of Ministers may decide on any transitional or amending measures that might be
necessary’.

The Spanish Presidency convened a high-level meeting in April which brought
together the ACP
Ambassadors, the Ambassadors of the candidate countries, the Presidency and the European Commission
to allow an exchange of views on the state of play in the accession negotiations and the present ‘acquis’ in
the field of development cooperation. Discussions focused on perspectives for the European Development
Policy, the Cotonou system and the European Development Fund financing as well as the evolving trade
preferences given by the EU to the ACP countries under the Lomé and Cotonou Agreements. It was
concluded that consultations should be continued in the future in view of the developments in the
enlargement process.

(2002/C 309 E/138)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1399/02

by Hanja Maij-Weggen (PPE-DE) to the Council

(8 May 2002)

Subject: Precise target figures for EU Member States’ childcare capacity

Can the Council confirm that the Presidency conclusions of the recent Barcelona summit include precise
target figures for childcare capacity in the EU Member States?

C 309 E/118

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

12.12.2002

Can the Council tell me exactly what these target figures are?

Can the Council say what the precise current situation is in each of the EU Member States (i.e. how many
childcare places are available per inhabitant) and what efforts each Member State must make (also in
figures, please) in order actually to achieve these target figures?

Reply

(30 September 2002)

The Council can confirm that the fifth indent of Paragraph 32 of the Presidency conclusions of the
Barcelona European Council in March 2002 states the following:

Member States should remove disincentives to female labour force participation and strive, taking into
account the demand for childcare facilities and in line with national patterns of provision, to provide
childcare by 2010 to at least 90 % of children between 3 years old and the mandatory school age and
at least 33 % of children under 3 years of age;

The Council is not aware of the precise situation in each of the Member States, and cannot indicate what
efforts are needed to achieve the targets. However, the European Commission, and the Member States
themselves, may be able to provide these figures.

(2002/C 309 E/139)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1406/02

by Carlos Bautista Ojeda (Verts/ALE) to the Council

Subject: Conflict concerning Spanish clementines

(13 May 2002)

Can the Council say whether the current conflict between the United States and Spain concerning Spanish
clementines was discussed during the last meeting between the Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar
and the US President George Bush held last week (29 April to 5 May 2002)?

If talks were held, can the Council say what the outcome was?

Reply

(30 September 2002)

Last December the United States Department of Agriculture suspended imports of Spanish clementines on
plant-health grounds. Despite good technical cooperation between the two parties it has not to date been
possible to solve the problem.

The European Union has raised the matter on several occasions at bilateral meetings with the United States
it has stressed the need to find a
authorities and, at the most recent EU-USA summit in particular,
satisfactory solution so that exports may be resumed before the start of the next marketing year.

Consultations between the two parties continue to that end.