WRITTEN QUESTION E-0200/03 by Emilio Menéndez del Valle (PSE) to the Council. Gibraltarian police violence.
Date: 2003-02-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Gibraltar, Spain, competence of the Member States, ecology movement, freedom of communication, non-governmental organisation, public order

C 222 E/162

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

18.9.2003

Several members of the Sahara section of the Truth and Justice Forum and Saharawi human rights
militants have currently been targeted by intimidation measures.

What is the Council doing against these violations of human rights?

As the Kingdom of Morocco is the occupying power in Western Sahara, what kind of action at diplomatic
level is the Council taking in this respect to improve the situation of the above-mentioned persons who
met the Ad Hoc Delegation?

What kind of measures can the Council provide concerning the next European Parliament missions to this
non-self-governing territory?

Reply

(13 May 2003)

The Council takes note of the facts reported by the Honourable Member.

The Council is following the Western Sahara issue closely. It fully supports the efforts of the United Nations
and in particular those of the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General, Mr James Baker, in the quest
for a sustainable solution that fully respects international law, human rights and democracy. Mr Baker
went to the region in January 2003 to present to the parties the terms of a proposal for a political solution
to the conflict. The United Nations Security Council decided at the end of January to extend the mandate
of Minurso until 31 March 2003, to allow the parties to take full advantage of the time and to consider
the proposal constructively.

the political dialogue meetings that

for democratic principles and fundamental human rights are an essential element of

Respect
the
association between the European Union and third countries. These subjects are regularly raised in that
connection at
the EU conducts with the countries concerned,
particularly in the framework of the association agreements. At the last EU/Morocco Association Council
meeting on 24 February 2003 in Brussels, the Council again emphasised the need to comply fully with
civil and human-rights guarantees in Western Sahara. The EU attaches particular importance to the
humanitarian dimension of this conflict. It has always taken the position that humanitarian measures
should be taken without delay in order to re-establish trust between the parties.

At the meeting on 24 February 2003, Morocco assured the EU that it was willing to negotiate a political
solution, with the Algerian side in particular, and that it wanted to bring an end to this 30-year dispute.
The European Union expressed the hope that this rapprochement would be beneficial both for the final
settling of the Western Sahara dispute and for the fate of the peoples and the regional integration of the
Maghreb as a whole.

The Council
further
Ms Marianne Eriksson.

refers the Honourable Member

to its reply to question P-2254/02 put by

Regarding this last question, the issue falls outside the responsibility of the Council.

(2003/C 222 E/187)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0200/03

by Emilio Menéndez del Valle (PSE) to the Council

(3 February 2003)

Subject: Gibraltarian police violence

On 20 January 2003, in the bay of Algeciras, whose waters Spain considers Spanish, Greenpeace activists
carried out a peaceful demonstration against the single-hulled Maltese-registered oil tanker Vemamagna.

Public opinion in Spain and various other European countries is extremely sensitive to issues like this,
thanks to the ‘Prestige’ disaster, and all the more so now, thanks to the sinking of a barge carrying over a
thousand tonnes of fuel in the very waters of the bay of Algeciras on 21 January 2003.

18.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 222 E/163

There was considerable media coverage of the Greenpeace demonstration. Reporters from El País, El
Mundo, Tele-5, Antena 3, RTVE, Canal Sur and Associated Press were, in the course of their professional
duties, violently harassed by the Gibraltarian police and arrested (in waters which are, to say the very least,
the object of international
legal dispute), and the Tele 5 reporter was punched by the Gilbraltarian
policeman, as highlighted on the front page of El Mundo (21.1.2003).

Quite apart from the fact that the Member State of which Gibraltar is a dependency is unwilling to
persuade Gibraltar that
is rather
surprising that one of the principles or values which distinguishes us as Europeans, namely respect for the
freedom of expression enjoyed by those working in the media, should have been so fragrantly violated in
Gibraltar.

it has to apply Community directives on single-hulled tankers,

it

Given that with enlargement under way the moment could not be more opportune, does the Council
intend to suggest to the Member State whose colony Gibraltar is that, for the sake of the Union’s good
name, that Member State’s government should both respect this principle and ensure that it is respected?

Reply

(13 May 2003)

The Council recalls to the Honourable Parliamentarian that Article 33 of the Treaty on European Union
considers the maintenance of law and order a matter for which the Member States are responsible.

(2003/C 222 E/188)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0209/03

by Joan Vallvé (ELDR) to the Commission

(3 February 2003)

Subject: Environmental impact of the enlargement of Eivissa airport

The Commission needs to assess the Eivissa airport (Balearic islands) extension scheme in terms of its
environmental impact on the Ses Salines d’Eivissa i Formentera Natural Park which borders the airport.
This is an area of the highest ecological value, protected by various EU directives.

The environmental impact study carried out by the Eivissa i Formentera Island Council concludes that:

1. The extension of the runway and the construction of the covered parking area would involve
extending the airport’s current perimeter to the northeast, which means occupying land which lies
within the outlying protection zone of the Ses Salines d’Eivissa i Formentera Natural Park (Law 17/
2001 of the Parlament de les Illes Balears). This would directly affect the entire protected area; there
would be major social economic effects thanks to the new take-over of privately owned land and
housing; there would be increased acoustic and air pollution of the sand-dune ecosystems of the Es
Codolar area, which are classified as a predominantly conservation area and there would be effects in
landscape terms; and furthermore, the area belongs to the special protection area for birds under the
Birds Directive (79/409/EEC) (1).

2.

Extending the perimeter of the airport’s service area would involve the direct takeover and complete
remodelling of the parcels of land lying within the Natural Park’s boundaries. The occupied area
belongs to the extreme southwest corner of the Es Codolar sand dune system, which is classified as a
conservation area and protected by the EEC Habitats Directive as an ecosystem of Community interest.
Furthermore, the enlargement will mean a whole range of major changes in other areas bordering the
Natural Park of Ses Salines d’Eivissa i Formentera, changes which will in their turn impact on the
Natural Park.