WRITTEN QUESTION E-3214/02 by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Council. Arrest by the Danish government, at the request of the Russian government, of Akhmed Zakayev, Vice-President of the elected Chechen government.
Date: 2002-11-12
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Denmark, Russia, fundamental rights, homicide, human rights, illegal restraint, imprisonment, national independence, terrorism

3.7.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 155 E/113

(2003/C 155 E/122)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3212/02

by Paul Rübig (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(12 November 2002)

Subject: Airline price transparency

Airlines often run flyer, poster or other campaigns advertising particularly attractive fares. It is not usually
made clear to the consumer that these offers are subject to extremely restrictive conditions and that the
advertised fares only represent the basic price and not the final fare. This means that people are attracted
by the offer of a particularly low fare, which later turns out to have various airport or other taxes added to
it, to be valid only for a certain period or on particular days or to apply only to a certain length of stay.

In addition, different airlines which have confusingly merged into one supplier make one price offer in a
single advertisement, which in fact applies to only one of the corporation’s airlines.

Consumers, particularly those who do not fly frequently, are helpless in the face of this price jungle, and
even frequent flyers often take some time to find their way through the medley of fares on offer.

What is the Commission’s view of the problem of inadequate price labelling by airlines, and does it
consider it necessary to take measures to ensure greater transparency?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(18 December 2002)

Under Council Regulation (EEC) No 2409/92 of 23 July 1992, on fares and rates to air services (1) air
carriers are free to set fares themselves. This has encouraged the development of low fares and of
promotional offers, which generally benefit consumers even if they can be complex sometimes.

Advertising that deceives consumers is another matter. Council Directive 84/450/EEC of 10 September
1984 relating to the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member
States concerning misleading advertising (2) obliges Member States effectively to control misleading
advertising and to confer the necessary powers on the courts and the administrative bodies. It is their
responsibility to implement the national
laws transposing the Directive, although the Commission, of
course, can launch infringement procedures if it considers that a Member State has failed to fulfil its
obligations. In addition, the Commission is considering a legislative proposal on fair commercial practices,
designed to tackle a number of consumers’ grievances not covered by present legislation.

(1) OJ L 240, 24.8.1992.
(2) OJ L 250, 19.9.1984.

(2003/C 155 E/123)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3214/02

by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(12 November 2002)

Subject: Arrest by the Danish government, at the request of the Russian government, of Akhmed Zakayev,

Vice-President of the elected Chechen government

The Danish government, which had earlier tried to block a meeting of the World Chechen Congress in
Copenhagen and, on the request of the Russian authorities, to effectively force the Danish Presidency of
the Council to move the EU-Russia summit from the Danish capital to Brussels, has now arrested

C 155 E/114

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.7.2003

Mr Akhmed Zakayev, Vice-President of the elected government of Chechnya, in Copenhagen, where he
had been sent on official business by President Maskhadov. Coming on the heels of the barbaric action
against the hostages in Moscow and the hundreds of lives which it claimed, this unprecedented measure is
the latest excess in the record of President Putin, whose attitude is part and parcel of a growing tendency
worldwide to use the fight against terrorism as a pretext for overriding respect for human life which is
increasingly assuming the features of a new and dangerous form of militarist fascism that refuses to
acknowledge human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Can the Council state whether any remotely legitimate grounds exist permitting a government occupying
the EU Presidency to arrest the Vice-President of a government such as that of Chechnya, democratically
elected in a small country which is fighting for its independence?

Reply

(20 February 2003)

This matter is a subject for the judicial authorities of Denmark. For this reason, it is not appropriate for the
Council to make any comment whatsoever upon it.

(2003/C 155 E/124)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3222/02

by Eija-Riitta Korhola (PPE-DE) to the Council

(14 November 2002)

Subject: Accession countries and volume of ‘hot air’

Is there an estimate on how big a volume of so-called ‘hot air’ is possessed by the 10 (and later 12) new
Member States during the initial period of the EU emission trading scheme (2005-2007) or the subsequent
period(s)? What is the volume, in comparison, of the ‘hot air’ the German Federal Republic is able to sell
taking into account the fact of the German reunification which took place after the base year of the Kyoto
protocol?

Has the EU developed strategies on when and how this hot air should be put on the market in regard to
the price of emission allowances (and the actual reductions of emissions in the EU) (cid:1) and where have such
strategies have been published if they exist?

(2003/C 155 E/125)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3224/02

by Eija-Riitta Korhola (PPE-DE) to the Council

(14 November 2002)

Subject: Accession countries and joint implementation projects (Kyoto Mechanism)

Has the EU made any agreements in the accession talks for the ten new Member States to promote JI
projects during the initial period of the EU emission trading scheme (2005-2007) or the subsequent
period(s)?

Is there an estimate on how big a volume of such projects will be initiated during each of the ET periods
(absolutely and in proportion of ‘hot air’)? Has the EU made any models on how effective implementation
of JI projects would affect the price of emission allowances (and the actual reductions of emissions in the
EU) (cid:1) and where have such models been published if they exist?