WRITTEN QUESTION E-0332/03 by Dominique Souchet (NI) to the Council. Election of Libya to chair the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
Date: 2003-02-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Libya, UN Commission, UNO, common foreign and security policy, human rights, image, the EU's international role

C 222 E/186

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

18.9.2003

The question proposed that one of the functions of European agencies was to facilitate the operation of
the European single market by acting as regulators, offering various services to industrial sectors, etc., and
that the setting-up of a European agency for islands was a necessary and appropriate step to compensate
for non-remote island regions’ lack of access to the free-trade area. It was pointed out that such an agency
would also be able to provide assistance on technical matters in connection with the very specific
problems experienced by island regions, and that more than 14 million people in Europe live in island
regions.

The Commission was asked for its views on the fact that it was difficult for certain European regions to
benefit on equal terms from one of the EU’s key principles (cid:1) that of the free market and free competition
(cid:1) and whether it agreed that a European agency for islands should be set up. The Commission replied that
it had initiated a study of the situation of islands in the Union, and that as part of this study a database on
island regions would be set up and their situation analysed objectively, which would involve a comparative
analysis and evaluation of the problems arising from the geographical position of islands and of their
special needs. This scientific study would not, however, attempt to assess the merits of setting up a
European agency for islands since that would be premature. The study was to last for one year.

Has the Commission now completed its study and if so have discussions on this issue been entered into?
Will it now support the setting-up of a European agency for islands? Would the Commission entertain the
possibility of siting that agency in the Balearic Islands?

(1) OJ C 81 E, 4.4.2002, p. 148.

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(10 March 2003)

As the Honourable Member notes, the Commission has initiated a study on the situation of the Union’s
islands.

The Commission is currently considering the consolidated final reports of the study, which the contractor
provided on 31 January 2003.

The study, which was a scientific one, did not consider the question of a European agency for the islands.

When it has considered the reports, the Commission will make public the results of the study, which it
hopes will be followed by a debate. Such a debate could include the points raised by the Honourable
Member.

The Commission has taken note of the Honourable Member’s suggestions but does not at this stage intend
to establish a European agency for the islands.

(2003/C 222 E/212)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0332/03

by Dominique Souchet (NI) to the Council

(10 February 2003)

Subject: Election of Libya to chair the United Nations Commission on Human Rights

Did the concurring vote of the EU Member States, who abstained from the vote on Libya for chair of the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights,
thereby allowing Libya to become the international
community’s spokesman on respect for human rights, stem from a common position adopted within the
framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), or from another arrangement? Does the
Council feel that this appointment is likely to enhance the credibility of the United Nations system?

18.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 222 E/187

Reply

(13 May 2003)

The Council can confirm to the Honourable Parliamentarian, that the decision of the 7 EU Member States
to abstain from the vote on 20 January 2003 was the result of a common position of the European Union
adopted within the framework of the CFSP.

Whether Mrs al-Hajjaji’s appointment will enhance the credibility of the UN system very much depends on
how she conducts the work of the UNCHR during CHR 59. From her previous track record in the CHR,
there is every reason to hope that Mrs al-Hajjaji will carry out her duties in chairing CHR 59 with all the
competence and professionalism required.

(2003/C 222 E/213)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0353/03

by Marco Cappato (NI) to the Council

(6 February 2003)

Subject: Statement by the Italian Minister for Health on EU Member States ‘guilty of crimes against

humanity’

Girolamo Sirchia, the Italian Minister for Health, stated publicly at the official opening of the High
Technology Centre for Biomedical Sciences at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Campobasso on
28 November 2002 (as reported by all the news agencies that day) that reproductive cloning was without
doubt a crime against humanity and that laws should be passed qualifying it as such. He also said that
therapeutic cloning was no better than reproductive cloning because it did not differ substantially from it
and that the two could only be differentiated on a philosophical level (AGI news agency, 28 November
2002). On the same occasion, the Minister stated that he viewed both reproductive and therapeutic
cloning as crimes on a par with slavery, child abuse and the atrocities committed by the Nazis (ANSA
news agency, 28 November 2002).

What is the Council’s reaction to the fact that the Minister for Health of an EU Member State has indirectly
accused other Member States that authorise and practice therapeutic cloning in the hope of curing and
extending the life of millions of sick people in Europe of besmirching themselves with crimes against
humanity?

Should the Council not ask the Italian government, especially with an eye to Italy’s presidency of the EU
Council, to clarify a statement accusing Member States of the same types of crime committed in Nazi
Germany, in order to establish whether this stance represents the Italian government’s official line?

Reply

(13 May 2003)

It is not the Council’s intention to comment on public statements by the Minister for Health in the Italian
Government.

(2003/C 222 E/214)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0367/03

by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission

(12 February 2003)

Subject: Electromagnetic pollution

There have been a series of studies on the phenomenon known as ‘electromagnetic pollution’ or
‘electrosmog’. Can the Commission say what its latest views are on the subject and whether there are any
legislative implications?