WRITTEN QUESTION E-1789/02 by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Illiteracy and pupils dropping out of primary and lower secondary school in Greece.
Date: 2002-06-24
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, Unesco, dropout, illiteracy, primary education, school legislation, secondary education, statistics

17.4.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 92 E/93

Consequently:

(cid:1) does the Commission plan to institute a programme of decentralised cooperation with the

Mediterranean countries similar to those with Latin America and Asia?

(cid:1) would the Commission agree to entering into close consultation with the Eurocities steering
committee for the Euro-Mediterranean cities of the Euromed Pact when drawing up the next MEDA
regional programme?

(cid:1) does the Commission envisage substituting Euromed Pact measures for programmes which have not
given the expected results, on the occasion of the MEDA Programme evaluation scheduled for the
second half of 2003?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(19 July 2002)

The Commission takes a keen interest in initiatives by local and regional authorities as part of the Euro-
Mediterranean partnership, notably those by associations such as Eurocities or Coppem (Standing
Committee of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership) which seek to involve local communities more closely
in the Barcelona process.

Municipal administrations have a key role to play in bringing the Mediterranean partner countries’ civil
society organisations together with their counterparts in the Member States. They can and must play an
important role in cooperation in the fields of social and human development, notably where those areas
come under local administrations such as local government, transport, environment, cultural heritage and
social services, etc. The Commission feels that this cooperation can be further developed through local
authorities.

It is worth pointing out that regional and national MEDA programmes, which are the subject of calls for
proposals, are open to local communities or networks of local administrations. They can receive funding
under programmes such as SMAP (Short and Medium-term Priority Environmental Action Programme),
Eumedis (Telecommunications), Euromed Heritage (cultural heritage and exchanges) and Euromed Jeunesse
(Youth), which comprise projects in which local authorities may cooperate.

(2003/C 92 E/096)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1789/02

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(24 June 2002)

Subject: Illiteracy and pupils dropping out of primary and lower secondary school in Greece

In reply to my question No E-0897/02 (1), Commissioner Reding sent me a table labelled: ‘Drop-out rates
from compulsory education broken down by EU Member State, together with Iceland and Norway
(percentage of young people aged between 18 and 24 who only completed the first cycle of lower
secondary school education) for 2001’. Unfortunately, the table does not show how many Greeks and how
many Europeans in the rest of the EU dropped out of primary school and lower secondary school, nor
does it define the ‘first’ and ‘second cycle of lower secondary school education’ which are referred to in the
text of the reply.

I am forced to repeat my question: what are the compulsory education drop-out rates (in Greece: for
primary school and lower secondary school) in the 15 Member States? Why are there no ‘full and reliable
statistics on the current rate of illiteracy in the 15 Member States’ as the Commissioner says? Where will
the missing statistics on illiteracy in the European Union come from? What is the illiteracy rate in Greece,
as far as the Commission is aware?

(1) OJ C 229 E, 26.9.2002, p. 156.

C 92 E/94

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

17.4.2003

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(26 July 2002)

The remarks of the Honourable Member are correct. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organisation (Unesco) has traditionally collected illitteracy rates and statistics and these may be
available at national level, but they have never been put together and harmonised (ie, the definitions made
similar so that comparisons may reasonably be made) at European level. The Commission is aware of the
importance of the issue and considers that the possibility of obtaining data about it should be explored,
although it has never been signalled as a priority by Member States.

A table with the estimated number of illiterates by age in Greece in the years 1985, 1990 and 1995
according to the Unesco Institute for Statistics is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament’s
Secretariat.

(2003/C 92 E/097)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1799/02

by Wolfgang Ilgenfritz (NI) to the Commission

(19 June 2002)

Subject: Security-related customs duty for sugar imports from the former Yugoslavia

Since mid-May 2002, Austria has been levying a security-related customs duty on sugar imported from the
former Yugoslavia (Serbia and Croatia).

The levying of this duty is jeopardising the existence of small and medium-sized firms, given that, firstly,
Italy is clearly not levying this duty, which places Austrian firms at a disadvantage in terms of competition,
and secondly the checks to be carried out by the Anti-Fraud Office are allegedly taking too long. The result
is that small and medium-sized firms are having to pay customs duty running into millions of euros which
they are unable to finance.

Can the Commission answer the following questions:

(cid:1) Does it consider that this represents a breach of competition rules?

(cid:1) What will

it do to ensure that small and medium-sized firms are not driven into bankruptcy by

measures of this kind?

(cid:1) Has it also received information that the requisite checks by the Anti-Fraud Office are taking too long?

(cid:1) If so, what steps will it take to ensure that the requisite checks are carried out as swiftly as possible

and thereby prevent firms being driven into bankruptcy?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(18 July 2002)

In accordance with Community customs rules (Community Customs Code and its Implementing
Provisions), customs authorities are entitled to require the provision of a security in order to ensure
payment of a customs debt.

In the case of imports of sugar from countries in the Western Balkans, the Commission has recently
identified a significant increase in their volume, together with an increase of Community exports to those
countries. There is reasonable doubt as to the nature of this trade in both directions. At the same time,
there are indications pointing to an incorrect declaration of origin.