WRITTEN QUESTION P-2587/02 by Ingo Schmitt (PPE-DE) to the Council. Directed energy weapons.
Date: 2002-09-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: personal weapon, public safety

C 155 E/34

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.7.2003

Protocol. The Council also acknowledged the important active role that can be played by Member States
individually, as well as by the Community as a whole. To this end, the Plan identifies where coordination
at European level will have the greatest
impact and where complementarity of Member State and
Community actions can be sought. The responsibility for implementing the Plan rests mainly with Member
States, while the role of the Commission is more coordinative in nature.

(2003/C 155 E/037)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2586/02

by Bruno Gollnisch (NI) to the Council

(10 September 2002)

Subject: Identity checks on air passengers

Passengers on French domestic flights have their identity checked repeatedly. Passengers who have flown
from to Lyons from Paris will thus have been checked when they checked in their luggage and again when
they boarded the aircraft, whereas no such identity checks are carried out, either at the time of departure
or on arrival, on passengers flying from Brussels, Berlin, Madrid, etc.

Do airlines insist on these checks in order to keep track of fares or do the French authorities require them
to be carried out for security reasons? In either case, does the Council consider the checks to be
compatible with European rules?

If exceptions are having to be made to the Schengen provisions for security reasons, could the Council
explain why the resulting security regulations are (cid:1) paradoxically (cid:1) tighter on domestic flights than on
international flights?

Reply

(4 March 2003)

The Council does not comment on the compatibility with Community legislation of
arrangements made by the Member States in relation to checks on travellers.

the internal

The question raised by the Honourable Member should be addressed to the Commission, which is the
guardian of the Treaties.

(2003/C 155 E/038)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2587/02

by Ingo Schmitt (PPE-DE) to the Council

(11 September 2002)

Subject: Directed energy weapons

Is the Council aware of the continued existence of large numbers of directed energy and radio frequency
weapons (from the Cold War period), many of them in private hands?

Will any checks be carried out in this connection?

Has the Council acted on Parliament’s resolution A4-0005/1999, and if so, what action has it taken?

3.7.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 155 E/35

Reply

(4 March 2003)

The Council has never had occasion to consider the question raised by the Honourable Member regarding
directed-energy weapons.

(2003/C 155 E/039)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2590/02

by Mario Borghezio (NI) to the Council

(16 September 2002)

Subject: Failure to circulate the complete mint set of 1996 euro coins

Some eight months after the euro officially came into circulation, the complete mint set of the 1996 euro
coins issued by the twelve participating countries is still not available to collectors.

These coins are not even available in the European Parliament buildings in Strasbourg and Brussels, where
they are only to be seen on posters.

I understand that the philatelic office on the EP’s premises in Strasbourg, which receives vain visits and
requests from visitors and collectors from Europe and the rest of the world, has itself not received a single
complete set of euro coins, despite having requested these in good time.

Does the Council not feel it should ask the European Central Bank to take steps to ensure that a suitable
number of complete mint sets of euro coins are made available to collectors?

Reply

(4 March 2003)

It is for Member States having adopted the Euro as their single currency in conformity with the Treaty
provisions to lay down the precise modalities of the issue of Euro coins intended for circulation, subject to
measures adopted by the Council in order to harmonise the denominations and technical specifications of
these coins.

As for the issue raised by the Honourable Parliamentarian, it is not for the Council to intervene on the
matter.

(2003/C 155 E/040)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2592/02

by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Council

(18 September 2002)

Subject: Electoral rolls and illegal acquisition of Greek citizenship

Following a change in the electoral roll system, local and regional elections will be held in Greece using
voting cards instead of voting booklets. According to reports in the Greek press and complaints by the
opposition, a significant number of individuals who are not entitled to Greek citizenship are registered on
the electoral rolls. The Ministry for Internal Affairs claims that these individuals have been removed from
the rolls but gives no details of the exact numbers involved or any data concerning the granting of
citizenship.