WRITTEN QUESTION E-1652/02 by Ioannis Marínos (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Earthquake forecast.
Date: 2002-06-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, EU research policy, Greece, seismic monitoring, seismology

C 301 E/204

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

5.12.2002

Are there any plans to lift the ban on snus in the rest of the EU and to replace that ban with a

3.
regulatory environment designed to reduce tobacco’s health toll? If not, why not?

Are there ways that medicinal nicotine products (such as gum and patches) could be used more

4.
effectively as a way to replace cigarettes in the way that snus appears to have done in Sweden?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(19 July 2002)

The health risks of tobacco products are twofold. Firstly, they are addictive and therefore, after long-term
and life-long exposure, lead to serious health risks and damages. From the addiction point of view, tobacco
products, including ‘snus’, are similar. The main question is if ‘snus’ is a dangerous product, to which the
answer is yes. There is substantial and growing evidence that ‘snus’ has serious health risks and should
therefore not be allowed into the Community market as a new product. Here Sweden is an exception.

‘Snus’ serves to recruit new tobacco product users,

Situating ‘snus’ as a replacement for cigarettes does not adequately highlight the health issues surrounding
this new product.
in particular young ones. The
evidence in Sweden and in Finland shows that there is a significant number of very young ‘snus’ users,
becoming addicted to nicotine, running increased health risks and, encountering an increased risk of
becoming smokers. Therefore,
‘snus’ cannot be considered as a form of replacement
therapy for cigarettes but more importantly as a gateway to nicotine addiction. For this reason lifting the
ban on the sale of ‘snus’ in the rest of the Community would not reduce the damage related to the use of
tobacco nor help to promote the health of the European citizens, but would rather serve a contrary
purpose of increasing health damage of tobacco products.

in this context,

Regarding nicotine replacement therapy, as a part of tobacco control programmes to help people to quit
smoking, there are encouraging examples of effective practices leading not only to quitting smoking but
also curing nicotine addiction. The Commission,
in its Communication on the present and proposed
Community role in combating tobacco consumption (1), refers to the question of reducing nicotine
dependency identifying several policy options and providing some examples of best practice (such as the
availability of smoking cessation medications at minimal or no cost to smokers and toll free numbers to
inform and help consumers on the dangers of smoking).

(1) COM(96) 609 final.

(2002/C 301 E/215)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1652/02

by Ioannis Marínos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(11 June 2002)

Subject: Earthquake forecast

The publication in the Greek press on 23 May 2002 of a report by the Greek professor of seismology
Papazachos concerning the probability of a major earthquake in four regions of Greece between the
present time and the autumn of 2004 caused an uproar in Greece. The eminent Greek professor pointed in
his report to the possibility of a major seismic tremor occurring in the short term in the region between
Crete and the Peloponnese, in the Dodecanese, the eastern Aegean and in the region where the borders of
Greece, Albania and FYROM meet.

In his reply to my question E-0799/01 (1) on 21 June 2001, Commissioner Philippe Busquin stated that the
earthquake prediction programme, Prenlab, had been funded by the Commission, as had SM-Site

5.12.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 301 E/205

(Developing Stress Monitoring Sites and Infrastructure for Forecasting Earthquakes) as a project under the
5th Framework Programme (1998-2002) with a Community contribution of EUR 1,3 million. Has the
Commission funded any earthquake forecasting project or network in Greece or does it intend to do so in
the near future? If so, which, when and to what amount? What is the Commission’s view of the report by
the Greek professor of seismology?

(1) OJ C 340, 4.12.2001, p. 95.

Answer given by Mr Busquin on behalf of the Commission

(8 July 2002)

Earthquake research continues to be an important priority for the Commission.

Seismic risk assessment, including research into the seismic mechanisms which cause earthquakes and
methods for analysing and monitoring seismic phenomena, is one of the priorities of the Community’s
Sixth Framework Programme for research and technological development under the heading ‘Sustainable
development, global change and ecosystems’.

In order to disseminate and make effective use of the results of projects funded by the Commission, the
EU-MEDIN initiative (Mediterranean Disaster Information Network) was launched in November 2000 with
the aim of improving coordination within the scientific community and promoting risk prevention,
communication and rapid information exchange.

The decision was taken to contribute to seismic risk prevention rather than short-term prediction, which
has been regarded as unreliable and likely to have significant economic and social repercussions. The
Commission is also running schemes designed to help decision-making on prompt action in response to
major seismic events.

In April 2003, as part of the EU-MEDIN initiative, a seminar to review the state of the art in seismic risk
the Institute of Engineering Seismology and Earthquake
prediction and prevention will be held at
Engineering (ITSAK) in Thessaloniki, Greece, which will be attended by the leading European researchers in
the field.

As to the report by Professor Papazachos, the Commission does not comment on the scientific merits of
individual reports.

(2002/C 301 E/216)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1653/02

by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(11 June 2002)

Subject: Air pollution on Greece-FYROM border

Air pollution levels constituting a public health hazard have been observed on the border between Greece
and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, which are particularly perceptible in Greece when the
north winds blow. The high concentrations of sulphur dioxide (SO2) are reportedly in excess of
1600 mg/Nm3, or four times the levels permissible in the European Union. This air pollution originates in
the region of the town of Bitola in FYROM (17 km from the border) where high-sulphur, brown coal-fired
electricity generating plants are in operation which have no special filters to restrict pollutant emissions.