WRITTEN QUESTION E-1948/02 by John Cushnahan (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Restriction of movement.
Date: 2002-07-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: China, EU national, Iceland, border control, competence of the Member States, free movement of persons, freedom of expression, human rights, official visit, public safety

C 92 E/122

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

17.4.2003

Moreover, the Council has, each year since early 2000, addressed, on the basis of Article 128(4) of the
Treaty and following a recommendation from the Commission, recommendations to the Member States on
the implementation of their employment policies.

As far as Greece is concerned,
18 February last, reads:

the second recommendation for 2002, adopted by the Council on

(Greece should therefore:) speed up the restructuring of the Public Employment Services and take
decisive and coherent action to prevent young and adult unemployed people from drifting into long-
term unemployment through inter alia swift implementation of the personalised approach; further
upgrade the statistical system so that indicators on prevention and activation are available in good
time and progress can be effectively monitored.

As far as disparities between the Member States are concerned, the recent Commission Communication
‘Taking stock of five years of the European Employment Strategy’ (1) states on page 2 that ‘there have been
significant changes in national employment policies, with a clear convergence towards the common EU
goals set out in the EEC policy guidelines’. The Council
is currently considering its response to the
communication.

(1) COM(2002) 416 final).

(2003/C 92 E/170)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1948/02

by John Cushnahan (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(3 July 2002)

Subject: Restriction of movement

Is the Commission aware that EU citizens and Chinese passport holders who are members of the Falun
Gong were denied entry into Iceland because of the impending visit of the Chinese President Jiang Zemin
in early June (2002)?

This is the first time the country has banned members of any movement or international organisation
from visiting Iceland.

What action will the Commission take to stop the violation of European and international laws and human
rights? Will the Commission let its views be known to the Icelandic government?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(29 July 2002)

Since March 2001, Iceland applies the Schengen ‘acquis’, according to which internal borders can be
crossed in principle without any checks on persons being carried out.

However, Article 2(2) of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement stipulates that Member
States can reintroduce border checks for a limited period where public policy or national security so
require. This is done under exceptional circumstances, as a preventive measure to avoid the risk that
people take advantage of free movement in order to endanger the public order or the public security of a
Member State, notably when a demonstration is planned to take place there.

Iceland informed the Commission and the other Member States before reintroducing border checks that
they would be carried out for the period between 7 and 16 June 2002 in relation to the official visit of the
Chinese President, Mr. Jiang Zemin.

It should be born in mind that, according to the Treaty, the maintenance of law and order and the
safeguarding of
Justice has no
internal security are incumbent upon Member States. The Court of
jurisdiction to rule on measures or decisions taken to reintroduce border checks for those reasons.
Therefore, the role of the Commission in relation to decisions reintroducing border checks is limited.

17.4.2003

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 92 E/123

As far as the restriction of the right of free movement of European citizens is concerned, the Commission
would refer the Honourable Member to its joint answer to the written questions P-1975/02 by
Mrs Figueiredo and P-1987/02 by Mr Lage (1).

In general, the rights of persons to freely express their opinion and to assemble peacefully are reflected in
the European Convention on Human Rights and in the Union Charter of Fundamental Rights. Persons
must be able to enjoy these rights without a threat to their security, to other people’s security or to
property. Member States are sometimes faced with the fact that people abuse these rights by taking
advantage of legitimate public demonstrations to carry out acts of violence.

The Commission recalls that the primary responsibility for the maintenance of law and order lies with the
Member States.

(1) See page 124.

(2003/C 92 E/171)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1949/02

by Bernard Poignant (PSE) to the Commission

Subject: Beneficiaries of the EAGGF (cid:1) Guarantee section

(3 July 2002)

The common agricultural policy (CAP) is the Community policy that accounts for the greatest part of the
European budget. Expenditure in this area must therefore be as transparent as possible.

The expenditure in question is the aid granted under the income guarantee provided by the CAP.

In the interests of fairness, justice and clarity, the following information would go a long way towards
restoring the confidence of the members of the public affected by this policy.

The Commission must be in a position to give precise answers to the following questions and to supply
accurate tables:

(cid:1) which Member State has the most beneficiaries?

(cid:1) how much do the beneficiaries of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)

receive in each of the 15 Member States of the Union?

(cid:1) what percentage of gross agricultural product is represented by the production of the 100 main

beneficiaries in each Member State?

(cid:1) what percentage of the EAGGF (cid:1) Guarantee Section in each Member State is received by the 100

main beneficiaries?

(cid:1) how many workers are employed by the 100 main beneficiaries?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(6 September 2002)

In the past it was not possible for the Commission for legal reasons to answer positively to the Honourable
Member and to other Honourable Members who have addressed similar requests to the Commission.
However, the Commission has adopted Commission Regulation (EC) No 419/2002 of 6 March 2002
amending Regulation (EC) No 2390/1999 (1). The new Article 2 of this Regulation allows the Commission
to use the accounting information to carry out its functions in the context of the clearance of account
procedure and to monitor developments as well as to provide forecasts in the agricultural sector. The
accounting information transmitted to the Commission remains, however, confidential and is communi-
cated only for the purposes given in Article 2 of (EC) Regulation No 2390/1999.