WRITTEN QUESTION E-2933/02 by Jorge Moreira Da Silva (PPE-DE) to the Council. Application of the European Convention on the Academic Recognition of University Qualifications (ETS 32).
Date: 2002-10-17
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Council of Europe, Council of Europe countries, European convention, equivalence of diplomas, interpretation of the law, recognition of diplomas

C 155 E/66

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.7.2003

(2003/C 155 E/073)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2933/02

by Jorge Moreira Da Silva (PPE-DE) to the Council

(17 October 2002)

Subject: Application of the European Convention on the Academic Recognition of University Qualifications

(ETS 32)

If a State signatory to the European Convention on the Academic Recognition of University Qualifications
(ETS 32) withholds equivalence of (non-vocational) qualifications from a graduate because certain parts of
the syllabus concerned do not meet its requirements, thereby requiring all graduates from another State
signatory to retake all or part of their syllabus, can this be considered as contravening the aforementioned
convention?

Does Article 4 of the convention oblige the authorities competent to deal with issues of equivalence,
including the education ministries of the States signatory, to notify applicants for equivalent status of the
subject areas of the syllabus that fail to meet their requirements? Must they also provide holders of foreign
university qualifications with a list of the examinations they must pass?

Reply

(3 March 2003)

The Council would inform the Honourable Member that it is not for the Council to interpret the content
of the European Convention on the Academic Recognition of University Qualifications. That is a Council
of Europe Convention, not an act of the Council of the European Union.

(2003/C 155 E/074)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2948/02

by Sebastiano Musumeci (UEN) to the Council

(14 October 2002)

Subject: Shipwreck of illegal immigrants off Sicily

The burning issue of illegal immigration in Sicily is increasingly taking on emergency proportions.

The number of illegal immigrants landing in Sicily has risen from 2 759 in 2001 to 12 124 at present, not
including the number of dead.

In the last few days, yet another tragic incident has occurred, first with the shipwreck of non-Community
immigrants, and then the deaths of several men, women and children, victims of criminal organisations
involved in the traffic in human beings and willing to sacrifice the lives of desperate people who will try
anything to avoid being captured.

The author of this question tabled an earlier written question (E-3653/01 (1)) on setting up an immigration
monitoring centre.

Given the above:

(cid:1) has the Council already drawn up a bilateral regional cooperation programme with the various
countries of the Mediterranean Basin in the field of justice and home affairs, aimed at limiting and
regulating migration flows towards the southern European coastline?

(cid:1) does this programme make provision for the establishment of an immigration monitoring centre,
responsible for neutralising at source the vast and alarming problem of illegal immigration, and the
establishment of a multinational police force, responsible for identifying and combating those who
exploit people forced to leave their countries out of despair?

(cid:1) why has the monitoring centre not been set up and by what reasonable deadline does the Council

plan to set it up?

(1) OJ C 92 E, 17.4.2003, p. 3.