WRITTEN QUESTION E-1437/02 by Sérgio Marques (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Disabled persons' access to public websites.
Date: 2002-05-23
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU programme, Internet, access to information, disabled person, information society, public awareness campaign, research and development

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 277 E/203

press reports, Belgian Railways assets are to be sold off to ABX at extremely low prices. For example, the
Brussels site of Klein-Eiland, 70 000 square metres in size, is to be sold for € 10 000, although the true
value of the land is estimated at € 260 million.

I would like to know whether the Commission considers that these low estimates of the value of assets
with a view to selling them to a subsidiary company about to be privatised are consistent with Community
legislation on competition and state subsidies.

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(21 June 2002)

According to information available to the Commission the SNCB plans to restructure its organisation and,
amongst others, transfer its road haulage activities that are currently carried out by SNCB and via
subsidiaries under the brand name ABX, to an independent company, wholly owned by SNCB (ABX
Logistics Group). As part of this re-organisation SNCB intends to make a capital increase in the holding
company in exchange for shares by way of, inter alia, a transfer of assets. The Commission has not yet
been informed of the details of the financial elements of this re-organisation and is therefore, as the
Honourable Member will understand, not in a position to give a view on whether it may involve state aid
and, if so, whether it would be compatible with the Community rules on competition and state aid.

The Commission considers seriously requesting the Belgian authorities to notify their plan to restructure
SNCB/ABX, according to Article 88(3) of the EC Treaty.

(2002/C 277 E/224)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1437/02

by Sérgio Marques (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(23 May 2002)

Subject: Disabled persons’ access to public websites

There are some 37 million disabled persons in the EU, and for many of them access to websites frequently
constitutes a source of insuperable difficulties. With the development of on-line public administration
services in particular, there is a serious risk of the social exclusion of this sector of the population.

Over the last ten years, there has been growing world-wide and European recognition of the barriers to full
participation in society which disabled people encounter. The e-Europe action plan 2002, adopted by the
Feira European Council of June 2000, is a wide-ranging initiative intended to speed up and extend the use
of the internet to the whole of European society, in keeping with the principle of non-discrimination. One
of the plan’s objectives is to improve Internet access for disabled people. This is to be implemented by the
European institutions and the Member States, via the adoption of guidelines on internet access to public
sites. These guidelines are a voluntary mechanism, whereby providers of public information accept a set of
rules which take the form of principles, tools and methods.

Given the Commission’s own acknowledgement of the need for a global, consistent strategy to guarantee
the existence of a policy for involving and including people with special needs:

1. What type of measures does the Commission intend to carry out with regard to awareness-raising,
publicity, education and, particularly, training, in connection with achieving full access to web sites for
disabled people? When will there be a specific programme for joint training activities involving web
site programmers and disabled users’ representatives?

2.

Since the guidelines are a voluntary mechanism, and there is a real need to eliminate existing barriers,
when will there be a directive, with the requisite binding character, in this field?

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3.

Since the Member States and the European institutions have agreed to exchange information and carry
out comparative evaluations of progress achieved, when will the results of this activity be available?

4. What type of measures does the Commission believe should be taken to develop a permanent
dialogue with disabled people and their representatives, and specifically the European Disability Forum
and individual experts with disabilities?

5. What type of measures does the Commission intend to carry out in order to guarantee that existing
Community programmes, for example, on Internet security, are better coordinated, so as always to
take account of the needs of people with disabilities?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(27 June 2002)

The Commission wants to express its thanks to the Honourable Member for addressing the eEurope
actions and for the interest in the domain of promoting an inclusive Information Society by means of
actions to improve web accessibility for people with special needs, including persons with disabilities and
the elderly.

1.
In relation to the envisaged actions, a number of such, related to awareness, dissemination, education
and targeted training effort to promote accessibility of persons with disabilities to web sites will be
recommended to be taken by the Commission in the frame of the European Year of People with
Disabilities 2003. Limited actions have already been taken within the 5th Framework Programme of
Research and Development, namely the Information Society Technologies (IST) Programme to make
progress within the web accessibility domain (projects such as WAI-DA (Web Accessibility Initiative
Guidelines E Design for All) and DASDA (Dissemination Activity Supporting Design-for-All).

2.
The approach of the Commission is to voluntarily ensure good accessibility and to raise awareness by
a variety of actions. Accordingly, it is at present not planned to produce any directive on this subject in
the near future. However, it is expected that progress of adoption and implementation of WAI Guidelines
by the Member States and the European Institutions public web sites on basis of benchmarks and exchange
of best practices will be followed and monitored by the ESDIS High Level Group (Employment and Social
Dimension of Information Society) appointed by Member States.

The ESDIS High Level Group will report on web accessibility progress in the Union as a contribution
3.
to the European Year of People with Disabilities 2003. Meanwhile, monitoring results indicating Member
States web accessibility progress will also be made available on the Europa web site as part of the eEurope
2002 Action Plan.

4.
The European Disability Forum (EDF) is presently participating as an observer organisation in the
eAccessibility Expert Group, which acts as an advisor for ESDIS High Level Group for accessibility issues,
including web accessibility. Also some of the members of this group are disabled persons themselves. In a
Commission report on e-accessibility, currently in preparation, a strong recommendation will be made for
direct participation of disabled persons groups in all activities concerning this theme, including research
and development and standardisation activities. This report
is expected to lead to a new Council
Resolution, under the Danish Presidency, based on its recommendations.

5.
The Commission is well aware of the need to maintain and further develop co-ordination between
existing programmes and activities to ensure that such needs as the concerns of persons with disabilities,
covering a wide spectrum of different domains, will have horizontal visibility and the scope of activities are
well defined to avoid overlaps and to fill the gaps.

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Several key activity domains like web security, require a multidisciplinary approach to deliver acceptable
results and solutions. The new funding instruments for the 6th Framework Programme for Research and
Development, such as integrated projects (IP) and networks of excellence (NoE), have been prepared to
bring together constituencies in a coordinated manner.

In addition, the ‘Participation for all in the knowledge based economy’ part of the eEurope 2002 action
lines are integrated in nature, bringing together technology as well as societal, legislative, economical and
standardisation knowledge and expertise.

(2002/C 277 E/225)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1439/02

by Sebastiano Musumeci (UEN) to the Commission

(15 May 2002)

Subject: Desertification emergency in Sicily

The drought which has affected Sicily for two years now is clearly no passing phenomenon but an
alarming situation and a veritable disaster.

The water shortage is seriously damaging not only agriculture and stock-farming, but also the water supply
in inhabited areas, in some of which rationing has started.

The disaster, due to the dramatically reduced rainfall,
is exacerbated by the lack of appropriate and
adequate facilities in the regional water supply, so that no suitable solution can be implemented in the
short or medium term.

The ordinary measures carried out by the regional and national governments are totally inadequate to
tackle the seriousness of the situation.

Can the Commission say:

E what special measures can be adopted to tackle the slow but inexorable process of desertification in

Sicily, doomed to share the fate of the neighbouring continent of Africa;

E whether it does not consider that it should set up a special committee of experts to examine possible
in order to prevent, whilst there is still time, a disaster on an

solutions as rapidly as possible,
unimaginable scale from overwhelming the largest island in the Mediterranean?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(7 June 2002)

In the framework of the Structural Funds, the operational programme for Sicily during the 2000-2006
programming period foresees measures related to water
supplies for about
€ 170 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and € 94 million from the European
Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) E Guidance Section. The Commission would
emphasise that, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, both the selection and implementation of
projects are under the responsibility of the regional authorities charged with the management and
monitoring of the programmes co-financed by the funds mentioned above.

resources and water

An update and revision of those programmes including the financial resources in order to respond more
effectively to a changed situation is foreseen for 2003. In case the severe situation described by the
Honourable Member is confirmed, the revision of the programme could incorporate the required changes,
which should allow to face more effectively the shortage in water supply. The initiative for the revision of
the programmes for Sicily lies, however, with the national and regional Italian authorities.

Water policy issues including water supply for human use are primarily regulated by Directive 2000/60/EC
of the Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 and establishing a framework for Community
action in the field of water policy (1).