WRITTEN QUESTION E-3913/02 by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE),Carlos Bautista Ojeda (Verts/ALE)and Josu Ortuondo Larrea (Verts/ALE) to the Council. Access to the Council of Agriculture and Fisheries Ministers denied to representatives of Galicia, the Basque Country and Andalusia.
Date: 2003-01-14
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Andalusia, Basque Country, Galicia, Spain, press release, relations between the State and the regions

18.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 222 E/127

(2003/C 222 E/147)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3913/02

by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE),
Carlos Bautista Ojeda (Verts/ALE)
and Josu Ortuondo Larrea (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(14 January 2003)

Subject: Access to the Council of Agriculture and Fisheries Ministers denied to representatives of Galicia,

the Basque Country and Andalusia

Before the Council of Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries met in Brussels from 16 to 19 December 2002
the delegations from Galicia, the Basque Country and Andalusia asked Spain’s Permanent Representation to
the European Union for a special pass for their fisheries experts, giving them access to the Council’s press
like the equivalent representatives from other
room,
countries directly affected by the issues dealt with on the agenda of that particular Council meeting. The
three delegations were not even asking for access to the Council meeting itself, but merely to the public
room where press agencies and journalists receive information directly.

to allow them to obtain information directly,

Can the Council comment on the attitude of the Spanish Government, which denied the regional
representatives of the Autonomous Regions of Galicia, the Basque Country and Andalucia access to the
Council’s press room?

Reply

(13 May 2003)

The Council has no knowledge of the events referred to by the Honourable Members and cannot therefore
comment on them.

It does stress, however, that access to the Council’s press room is primarily reserved for accredited
journalists. Representatives of professional bodies and regional delegations may also be admitted if there is
room.

For this purpose certain formalities, carried out by the relevant departments, are in place for the issue of
passes giving access to the Press Centre for a Council meeting. These formalities are based on the principle
of equal treatment within the number of seats available.

(2003/C 222 E/148)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3914/02

by Juan Naranjo Escobar (PPE-DE) to the Council

(14 January 2003)

Subject: Europol

Heading B5-822 in the 2002 EU budget contains EUR 5 million (p.m.) to provide Europol with the
necessary resources to support and coordinate Member States’ activities in the fight against terrorism and
to finance the creation of a crisis and communications centre. This amount was allocated under chapter
B0-04 (provisional appropriations) pending adoption of a legal basis which would, for the first time,
enable Europol activities to be financed directly by the European Union budget.

On the basis of the budgetary information provided by Europol, on 31 July 2002 the Commission
submitted a proposal for a Council decision making provision for a total of EUR 3 038 600.

The Council decided to consult Parliament two months later, on 8 October 2002. Parliament, for its part,
in order to allow the Council to adopt the proposal before the end of the year and to prevent the amount
allocated under the 2002 budget from being cancelled and enable appropriations to be carried over to the
2003 budget, promptly approved the Commission proposal in its legislative resolution of 5 December
2002 and forwarded it to the Council in order for it to be adopted in time.