WRITTEN QUESTION E-1331/02 by Elspeth Attwooll (ELDR) to the Council. Fish exports to Poland.
Date: 2002-05-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Poland, United Kingdom, abolition of customs duties, fish product, import tax, protocol to an agreement, trade agreement (EU)

6.3.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 52 E/59

Special mention should also be made of support provided for the decommissioning of the Chernobyl plant,
where EUR 230 million were committed from 1994 to 2001, including a contribution of EUR 190 million
to the Chernobyl Shelter Fund managed by the EBRD. Concerning the replacement capacity after the
closure of the Chernobyl plant, Ukraine is carrying out the completion and safety upgrading of two VVER
1000 reactors at Rovno and Khmelnitsky. Financing of this project includes loans from EBRD and Euratom
of USD 215 million and the Euro equivalent of USD 585 million, respectively. However, although both
loans were approved in December 2000, certain conditions remain to be fulfilled before the loan decisions
can become effective.

the Communication from the
As regards total Community funding for nuclear safety operations,
Commission to the Council and the Parliament on ‘Commission support to nuclear safety in Newly
Independent Countries and Central and Eastern Europe’ of 6 September 2001, provides detailed
information on the nature and scope of Community-funded support throughout the 1990s. Annex 1 of
this report gives a year-to-year breakdown of TACIS and PHARE-funded support, amounting respectively
to EUR 531,78 million and EUR 192,94 million for the period 1990-1999, for nuclear safety measures.
To this amount, a further EUR 22,85 million need to be added from the 2001 PHARE nuclear safety
programme (no such allocations were made in 2000), as well as EUR 53 million and EUR 51 million
committed for TACIS nuclear safety programmes in 2000 and 2001.

During the same period since 1990, the European Investment Bank has not financed any nuclear power
plant either within the Community or in Central and Eastern Europe. Within the Community, the
European Investment Bank provided a total of EUR 238,03 million in support of three projects in the
nuclear energy sector during the years 1990 to 1993. These projects did, however, not relate to nuclear
power plants, but to a uranium enrichment plant at Tricastin (France, Rhône-Alpes), the treatment of
nuclear fuels at Sellafield (United Kingdom), and a nuclear waste treatment plant at Dessel/Antwerp
(Belgium).

(1) COM(2000) 493 final.
(2) OJ L 12, 18.1.2000.

(2003/C 52 E/067)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1331/02

by Elspeth Attwooll (ELDR) to the Council

(8 May 2002)

Subject: Fish exports to Poland

The fishing industry in the UK, and in particular in the Shetland Islands, is currently being denied a level of
access to the Polish market for their fish products equal to that of their Norwegian counterparts. Import
tariffs on imports of British fish remain in place, while Norway receives favourable access under a bilateral
agreement with Poland.

On behalf of the Community, the Commission recently approved an additional protocol to the EU/Poland
Europe Agreement phasing out import tariffs on fish products. Will the Council outline the agreed
measures and confirm the date on which they will definitively enter into force?

Reply

(11 November 2002)

The Honourable Member is referring to the Additional Protocol to the Europe Agreement with Poland,
from the
which, on 17 December 2001,
Commission, further to negotiations which the latter had conducted with Poland (and with the other
associated countries) with a view to the liberalisation of trade in fish and fishery products. As a result of
this Agreement, the duties applied by both Parties to the Agreement for imports of these products shall be
reduced by a third when the Protocol enters into force, and by a further third one year later, to attain full
liberalisation two years after the entry into force of the Protocol (or earlier if commonly agreed).

the Council decided to conclude acting on a proposal

C 52 E/60

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.3.2003

The Protocol was signed with Poland on 14 June 2002, and on 18 June 2002 the Parties notified each
other of the completion of their respective internal procedures. Consequently, pursuant to Article 6 of the
Protocol, the date of entry into force is 1 July 2002.

(2003/C 52 E/068)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1337/02

by Carlos Lage (PSE) to the Commission

(13 May 2002)

Subject: Management of the European Schools

The European Schools were set up with the aim of providing the children of European officials living
abroad with an education compatible with the school curriculum in their own countries.

Precisely because they are living away from their roots, it is important that officials should be able to
ensure their children normal schooling, with continuity in teaching and psychological and emotional
security.

Recently about 300 families the children of whom attend one of the three schools in Brussels were faced
with a decision taken by the Board of Governors of the European Schools, according to which their
children will change school as of September 2002.

This decision was taken quite arbitrarily, without any respect for the choice made by the parents on the
basis of the educational interests of their children and their own professional obligations.

In view of this, can the Commission say:

1.

2.

to what extent the European Schools, in particular those in Brussels, satisfy the needs of the officials
and other servants of the EU institutions;

to what extent respect for the principles set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European
Union, in particular Articles 24(2) and 41, is ensured;

3. how the European Schools are managed?

(cid:1) how they are funded and what percentage is paid by each participant?

(cid:1) what role is played by the European Commission in the Board of Governors? How many votes

the Commission has on the Board?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(8 July 2002)

In order to obtain general background to the issue which is of interest to him the Honourable Member
should refer to the information given by the Commission in its answer to written question E-0980/02
from Mr Stavros Xarchakos (1).

On 1 and 3, the Commission refers the Honourable Member to its answer to written question E-0944/02
from Ms Ilda Figueiredo (2).

On question 2, the European Schools are not bodies of the Union in the sense of Article 51 of the Charter
of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The legal basis for the European Schools is the 1957
intergovernmental Statute of the European School. The fundamental rights mentioned by the Honourable
Member are, consequently, ensured by provisions of national law and international agreements such as the
1989 New York Convention on the Rights of the Child. As the Commission indicated in its answer to
written question E-0944/02 from Ms Ilda Figueiredo, the Board of Governors of the European Schools
took steps to ensure that any transfer of pupils between schools in Brussels respected the fundamental
rights mentioned by the Honourable Member.