WRITTEN QUESTION E-1791/02 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission. Implementation of legislation on equal treatment in employment and occupation.
Date: 2002-06-24
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU employment policy, United Kingdom, age discrimination, equal treatment, job access, national implementing measure

5.12.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 301 E/229

for a work-related accident where there has been such delay in the dispensation of justice and such
suffering for the victims and their relatives? Can the Commission take steps to find out the reasons for the
delay, the lack of redress and the suffering of the victims and their relatives?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(24 July 2002)

The Commission does not have any information concerning work-related accidents resulting from the
earthquake in Athens in 1999, or about the compensation paid in this connection. Compensation for
occupational accidents is a matter for the Member States, and the Commission therefore does not have at
its disposal the information requested by the Honourable Member.

For more details on social protection and occupational accidents occurring in the Member States and the
European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the Honourable Member can consult the Mutual Information
System on Social Protection (MISSOC) (1), Table VIII, which sets out the risks covered in the event of
accidents at work or occupational diseases.

(1) http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/soc-prot/missoc98/english/f_main.htm.

(2002/C 301 E/242)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1791/02

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(24 June 2002)

Subject: Implementation of legislation on equal treatment in employment and occupation

Could the Commission explain to the best of its knowledge the current state of implementation in the
Member States, and in the United Kingdom in particular, of the provisions of the Council directive on
equal treatment in employment and occupation?

How would the current state of implementation of this directive in the UK affect a citizen who had been
the victim of discrimination in access to employment on the basis of their age?

Is there any other existing European legislation which could protect citizens against such cases of
discrimination in the labour market or does the Commission intend to bring forward any such further
measures in this field?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(18 July 2002)

Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment
in employment and occupation (1) must be transposed into national law by 2 December 2003. Moreover,
in order to take account of particular conditions, Member States may, if necessary, have an additional
period of three years from 2 December 2003, that is to say a total of six years, to implement the
provisions of the Directive on age and disability discrimination. In that event they must inform the
Commission forthwith and must report annually to the Commission on the steps it is taking to tackle age
and disability discrimination and on the progress it is making towards implementation.

No Member State has so far notified its transposition of the Directive to the Commission.

C 301 E/230

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

5.12.2002

there is currently no legislation in the United Kingdom which
The Commission understands that
specifically protects individuals against discrimination in access to employment on grounds of age. This
situation will change with the transposition of Directive 2000/78/EC. The Commission currently has no
plans to bring forward further measures in the field of age discrimination in employment.

(1) OJ L 303, 2.12.2000.

(2002/C 301 E/243)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1797/02

by Benedetto Della Vedova (NI) to the Commission

(24 June 2002)

Subject: Wind farm in the Tolfa Mountains

The Spanish company ‘Gamesa Eólica’ has put in a request to build a wind farm in the Tolfa mountains, in
Allumiere, a commune in the Lazio region, in a Special Protection Area (SPA) as defined in Directive
79/409/EEC (1). The area in question, a volcanic plateau lying behind the coast to the north-west of Rome,
is totally untouched and unspoilt, and entirely covered in woods and pastures. It is of great natural value
due to its considerable biodiversity, and is also highly significant in terms of both its panoramic and its
picturesque qualities. In particular, the site contains several wooded areas which are a valuable source of
information being amongst the highest in Italy. At present, the use of wind energy in Italy is devastating
areas which are extremely valuable natural habitats and which, in many cases, such as the above, are areas
protected under national legislation or are sites of Community interest (SPAs and SCIs). Both SPAs and
SCIs play host to endangered animal species and habitats which merit special protection, and therefore are
considered to be important at European level on the basis of international conventions and Community
rules such as Directive 94/43/EEC (2) and Directive 79/409/EEC. Given that the programming instruments
of the EU Structural Funds, designed by a number of regions, provide for wind installations in Italy to be
financed from European Union resources, there appears to be a manifest contradiction in the fact that
Community resources are allocated for measures which cause irreversible damage to the natural heritage,
declared to be of environmental importance under the above directives.

Does the Commission not consider that a wind farm equipped with wind generators of considerable size
and power, would be incompatible with an SPA which is valuable not only for its strictly natural qualities,
but also for its highly significant overall panoramic and picturesque aspects since, amongst their other
attributes, the Tolfa mountains look out onto the sea?

Does the Commission not consider, moreover, that it is extremely contradictory to use European funds,
intended for promoting energy production from renewable sources, to finance the establishment of
electricity-generating wind farms in areas considered to be of significant natural value, which are included
on the list of SPAs and SCIs and which merit special protection under European Union directives?

(1) OJ L 103, 25.4.1979, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(30 July 2002)

Article 6 of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of
wild fauna and flora provides for protection requirements with reference to Special Conservation Areas
(SCA). Under Article 4(5), of Directive 92/43/EEC these requirements are applied also to Sites of
Community Importance (SCI) when, on the basis of the list of proposed Sites of Community Importance
(pSCI), they are adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 4(2). At present, the
Community list of the Sites of Community Importance (SCI) has not been adopted yet. However, with