WRITTEN QUESTION P-0125/03 by Nelly Maes (Verts/ALE) to the Council. Proposal for a Council regulation banning the export of torture equipment.
Date: 2003-01-21
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: arms trade, cruel and degrading treatment, export monitoring, human rights, market approval, torture, trade regulations

18.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 222 E/153

Article 2 of Directive 2003/2 requires Member States to adopt and publish the provisions necessary to
comply with the Directive by 30 June 2003 and to apply these provisions by 30 June 2004 at the latest.
The Commission is aware of the fact that there is a general ban in place on the import, sale and use of
arsenic treated wood in Denmark (4). Should Denmark wish to maintain these stricter national provisions,
it must notify them to the Commission in accordance with Article 95(4) of the EC Treaty. The Commission
will then assess whether these provisions fulfil the criteria set out in Articles 95 (4) and (6) of the EC
Treaty.

Further information on this can be found at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/sct/out18_en.html.

(1)
(2) OJ L 4, 9.1.2003.
(3) Directive 98/8/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 concerning the placing of biocidal

products on the market (cid:1) OJ L 123, 24.4.1998.

(4) Notification 96/0242/Dk.

(2003/C 222 E/176)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0125/03

by Nelly Maes (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(21 January 2003)

Subject: Proposal for a Council regulation banning the export of torture equipment

On 30 December 2002 the Commission submitted the proposal for a Council regulation (1) banning
torture equipment. I support this initiative, as exporting torture equipment promotes violations of human
rights, whereas respect for human rights is an important element in the principles on which the EU is
based.

Given that such equipment is not used in the EU, that its use is not permitted here and that the Council
now advocates a ban on exports,
it seems appropriate to introduce a total ban (on development,
production and sales).

Will the Council revise the proposal accordingly and supply me with an overview of all manufacturers and
Member States which have exported such equipment to third countries in the recent past?

(1) COM(2002) 770 final.

Reply

(8 May 2003)

The Guidelines to EU policy towards third countries on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment, adopted by the Council on 9 April 2001, state the EU will urge third countries
to ‘prevent the use, production and trade of equipment which is designed to inflict torture or other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’. In the explanatory memorandum to the proposal referred
to by the Honourable Member, the Commission considers that the EU itself should take the very measures
that it urges third countries to take.

The discussion of the Commission proposal has not yet begun in the competent Council bodies. Therefore,
the Council is not in a position to answer fully to the questions.

The Council does not possess a list of manufacturers and Member States which have exported such
equipment to third countries in the recent past.