WRITTEN QUESTION E-3766/02 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Avoiding irritations and delays during controls of traffic in transit between Russia and Kaliningrad via future EU territory.
Date: 2002-12-23
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU visa policy, Lithuania, Russia, accession to the European Union, border control, carriage of passengers, cross-border transport, rail transport, transit

20.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 70 E/23

(2004/C 70 E/025)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3766/02

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(23 December 2002)

Subject: Avoiding irritations and delays during controls of traffic in transit between Russia and Kaliningrad

via future EU territory

Does the Commission realise that, in 2001, 960 000 people travelled by train via future EU territory,
1.
Lithuania, between the separate Baltic province (oblast) of Kaliningrad and other, non-contiguous areas of
Russia, many paying the cheap ‘platzkartni’ fare, as opposed to 105 000 who went by air (which is more
expensive)?

2.
Can the recently introduced strict controls on train passengers by customs authorities other than
Lithuania’s (cid:1) in the course of which mobile telephones and foreign exchange are checked and, at the
border between Belarus and Lithuania, non-Russians are required to return to Minsk to buy a visa (cid:1) be
accounted for as preparation for future application of the transit arrangements agreed in November 2002
between the EU and the Russian Federation?

3.
To what extent have irritations experienced by train passengers since November 2002 been
deliberately provoked in order to be able blame the EU subsequently for time-consuming controls,
confiscation of property and high transit costs?

4. Who is going to pay for a new, high-speed, direct rail
link to be built between Belarus and
Kaliningrad via Lithuanian or Polish territory? Will it be part of the Trans-European Networks? When will
it be ready, thus making border controls unnecessary?

Source: 4 December 2002 edition of the Dutch newspaper ‘De Volkskrant’

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(10 February 2003)

1.
The Commission is aware of estimates by the Russian authorities that, in 2001, the total number of
crossings between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of Russia were 960 000 by train, as compared with
620 000 by car. The Commission has not received Russian figures relating to air transit. The Commission
would however note that, in the absence of a transit regime for Russian citizens, all figures should be
treated with extreme care. In particular,
it is not clear whether the various figures which have been
publicised refer exclusively to direct transit from Kaliningrad to the rest of Russia, or whether they also
include passengers engaged in small border traffic or traveling to and from Belarus. Estimates by the
Lithuanian authorities, for example, of total transits by Russian citizens by all forms of land transport via
Lithuania to the Kaliningrad region in 2001 were significantly lower (cid:1) 500 000 to 600 000 transits.

2.
As a result of the accession negotiations, the new Member States have been requested to implement
the Community visa ‘acquis’ by accession at the latest. No transitional periods have been granted in this
area. The new Member States have actually been urged to align their visa policy well
in advance of
accession. Any measures undertaken by the new Member States to reorganise the traffic across their
national borders should be seen in this light. The agreement reached with Russia on transit to and from
Kaliningrad refers only to citizens of the Russian Federation.

3.
No particular difficulties for train passengers have been reported to the Commission since November
2002. Nor does the Commission have any basis for assuming that provocations have recently been staged
at the future external borders of the Union with Belarus or the Russian Federation.

Furthermore, the Joint Statement agreed by the Union and Russia at the Summit on 11 November 2002,
and the agreement on mutual travel of citizens between Lithuania and Russia of 30 December 2002,
which succeeds the earlier bilateral agreement between the two countries, should ensure that in future,
bureaucratic controls are kept to the minimum.

C 70 E/24

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

20.3.2004

It will now be possible for Lithuania and Russia, with the participation of the Union, to ensure that transit
of people between Kaliningrad and the rest of Russia takes place as smoothly as possible while respecting
Lithuania’s sovereignty and the obligations Lithuania has agreed to take on under the Community’s acquis.
Thus, direct rail passengers will gradually be required to obtain additional travel documentation from
1 January 2003. In addition to the possibility of obtaining a national Lithuanian visa there will from 1 July
2003, be the option of a ‘Facilitated Rail Transit Document’ which passengers may request on reserving a
ticket and which will be issued by the Lithuanian authorities.

4.
The General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) conclusions of 30 September 2002 and
22 October 2002, confirmed by the Brussels European Council on 30 October 2002, state that, while the
Union should explore, in full cooperation with the Republic of Lithuania, the feasibility of visa-free travel
by non-stop trains for Russian citizens travelling between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of Russia,
any eventual decision on such a scheme: ‘could only be taken by an enlarged Union, on the basis of a
thorough evaluation of
the political and legal aspects and once the technical obstacles have been
overcome.’

The GAERC conclusions of 22 October 2002 further agree that: ‘A decision to launch a feasibility study in
2003 by independent consultants will be taken by the Union with the agreement of Lithuania when there
is agreement with Lithuania on the Terms of Reference for the study’

The Union/Russia Summit on 11 November 2002, therefore, agreed that the Commission would, as soon
as possible after the Copenhagen European Council
initiate the process of
developing Terms of Reference for a study on visa free travel by high-speed non-trains in cooperation in
Lithuania.

(12/13 December 2002),

In this context, it is clear that neither the technical, political nor legal feasibility of such trains has been
established. The Commission has therefore made no proposal, nor the Council discussed, the prospects for
Community subsidies, or designated any specific rail route connecting Kaliningrad with mainland Russia.

(2004/C 70 E/026)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3790/02

by Jules Maaten (ELDR) to the Commission

(6 January 2003)

Subject: Treatment of tourists by police officers in the applicant countries

An inquiry carried out by ANWB (cid:1) the largest Dutch organisation active in the field of tourism, leisure
and travel (cid:1) has revealed that reports have been coming in of corruption among police officers in the
applicant countries in their treatment of foreign tourists. There have been many instances of tourists being
improperly stopped and forced to pay on-the-spot fines. For example, there is a series of successive border
controls at the Bulgarian border, with money having to be paid at each one for permission to continue or
on the grounds of alleged infringements (of the speed limit, say). In most cases, tourists are asked to hand
over their passports, and the officials do not return the passports until money has been handed over.

Is the Commission aware of tourists (from EU Member States) being treated in this way in the applicant
countries?

What is the Commission doing to prevent tourists from being improperly stopped and fined?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(10 February 2003)

Considering that the criteria for membership agreed by the Copenhagen European Council
in 1993
(21/22 June 1993) include the guaranteeing of the rule of law and human rights, the Commission attaches
great importance to the development of effective and non-discriminatory law enforcement in all candidate
countries. The Commission monitors respect of this commitment and informs the Parliament and the
Member States periodically through its Regular Reports.