WRITTEN QUESTION E-1360/02 by Gerhard Schmid (PSE) to the Commission. Legislation on the manufacture and the placing on the market of drugs in the applicant countries.
Date: 2002-05-14
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU law, accession criteria, accession to the European Union, chemical product, drug traffic, marketing, national implementing measure

14.11.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 277 E/193

Answer given Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(28 May 2002)

As the Honourable Member has so rightly stated, the Commission’s position on nuclear energy remains
that which is clearly set out in the Green Paper entitled ‘Towards a European strategy for the security of
energy supply’ (1).

Any statement made by a Member of the Commission must therefore be interpreted solely in the light of
that document.

The Honourable Member is requested to refer also to the reply given by the Commission during Question
Time at the Plenary Session of the Parliament in May 2002 (2) to Oral Question H-0287/02 on this very
subject.

(1) COM(2000) 769 final.
(2) Written answer 14.5.2002.

(2002/C 277 E/214)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1360/02

by Gerhard Schmid (PSE) to the Commission

(14 May 2002)

Subject: Legislation on the manufacture and the placing on the market of drugs in the applicant countries

1. Which applicant countries have transposed into their legislation Council Directive 92/109/EEC (1) on
the manufacture and the placing on the market of certain substances used in the illicit manufacture of
narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances?

2.

In which countries are improvements necessary?

3. Where exactly are the improvements necessary?

(1) OJ L 370, 19.12.1992, p. 76.

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(26 June 2002)

In the framework of the pre-accession strategy, candidate countries are aligning their legislation to the
Community acquis. The Commission is following this process via the national programmes for the
Adoption of the Acquis (NPAA) from the candidate countries, the organisation of screening sessions of the
relevant acquis and the assessment of updated and detailed information on legislative developments in the
context of the negotiation process. For Turkey a process of legislative scrutiny is being implemented aimed
inter alia at identifying gaps in Turkish legislation with the acquis.

According to the available information, the candidate countries have adopted measures which either refer
specifically to control and monitoring the trade of substances that can be diverted to the manufacture of
illegal drugs, or address the issue under more general legislation. Details of the legal instruments concerned
are as follows: Poland adopted Law No 125 item 1367 on 6 September 2001. Hungary has recently
revised its regulations through Government decree No 272/2001 (.XII.21.) Korm. which entered into force
on 1 January 2002. Slovenia, adopted the Illicit Drug Precursors Act (Ur.l. RS, št. 94/2000) in 2000. In the
same years the Slovak Republic adopted Act No 268/2000 and Romania adopted Law No 143/2000.
Lithuania deals with the issues mainly through Law No VIII-1207 of 1 June 1999. Cyprus adopted the
Precursor Substances (Manufacture and Placing on the market) Regulation in 2001. Estonia has adopted
Government Regulation No 231 of 28 November 1997 on the procedure for handling of precursors.
Latvia controls the trade of these substances through a law of 1996, further implemented by various legal
orders. Other countries include the measures of control and monitoring of drug precursors not in a
specific legal act, but within the framework of a general law on illegal drugs. In the Czech Republic the
transposition of the Directive is included in the Act No 167/1998 Coll. on Dependency Producing
its Law on Control of Narcotic
Substances (amended in 1999). The situation in Bulgaria is similar:

C 277 E/194

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

14.11.2002

Substances and Precursors was adopted in March 1999, and in Malta, whose Dangerous Drugs Ordinance
provides the framework for the implementation of the Directive. In the case of Turkey, Law No 2313 on
Control of Narcotic of 1933 was amended in 1996 by Law No 4208 to provide that the production,
import, export, transfer, possession, purchase and sale of substances listed in Tables I and II annexed to the
1988 United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
requires the permission of the Ministry of Health; failure to obtain the permission is a criminal offence.

(2002/C 277 E/215)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1376/02

by Michael Cashman (PSE) to the Commission

(14 May 2002)

Subject: Electromagnetic fields

Can the Commission confirm that the European standard of compliance on base stations is expected to be
published by July 2002 and give assurances as to whether this timetable will be met? Could the
Commission reiterate that the standard will define the conditions for putting antennas into service, taking
into account other existing installations and their emissions?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(28 June 2002)

Directive 1999/5/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 1999 on radio equipment and
telecommunications terminal equipment and the mutual recognition of their conformity (1)
(hereafter
R & TTE Directive) governing radio equipment (including mobile telephone masts) obliges manufacturers to
ensure that they are safe.

In particular, Article 3.1.a of the Directive provides a general obligation for manufacturers to protect the
health of the user and of any other person from risks arising from radio equipment when used for their
intended purpose. Article 7.2 of the same Directive enables national authorities to impose restrictions on
the intended use of radio equipment for the purpose of protecting public health. This may include the
observation of minimum distances between telephone masts and the public.

Council Recommendation 1999/519/EC of 12 July 1999 (2) provides guidance on the safety levels to be
respected. This recommendation invites Member States to limit the exposure of the general public to
electromagnetic fields between 0 Hz and 300 GHz to certain levels. The basic restrictions and reference
levels included in the Recommendation aim to ensure users are provided with a high level of protection
against potential acute and long-term that effects of non-ionising radiation emitted by radio equipment.

The Commission mandated the European Standardisation Organisations (mandate M/305) to ensure that
devices, which are placed on the market and/or put into service, comply with the R & TTE Directive.
European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (Cenelec) has responded to this request and has a
number of standards relating to base stations in its work programme.

In particular, Cenelec is developing the following standards:

J Harmonised standards covering the placing on the market of base station products. These standards
ensure that the requirements on these products are harmonised within the Community. They ensure
that, when installed in isolation, a base station will, in the safety zone declared by the manufacturer,
not expose the public (or workers) to levels above those recommended by the Council or otherwise
regulated. A positive vote on this standard was finalised on 24 May 2002.

J A harmonised standard covering the putting into service of base stations when there are also other
sources of exposure. This standard will enable the network operator to determine how the safety zone
around a base station should be extended as a result of these other sources. The technical draft on this
standard will be completed in September 2002, after which the adoption process will take about six
months;