WRITTEN QUESTION E-0883/03 by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission. Use of funds from the Customs 2002 programme by the municipality of Fiumicino.
Date: 2003-03-21
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Latium, action programme, administrative cooperation, customs cooperation, customs inspection, eligibility criteria, fund (EU), use of aid

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Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

(2004/C 78 E/0022)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0733/03

by Sebastiano Musumeci (UEN) to the Commission

Subject: Air transport safety and use of passengers’ mother tongue

(4 March 2003)

The safety of air passengers partly depends on the crew’s ability to provide information and communicate
easily for preventive purposes and also in the event of an emergency.

On international flights the crew do not always speak the languages of the two countries between which
they are flying.

Furthermore, a large percentage of passengers (especially the elderly and less prosperous or less educated
people) on aircraft only speak their mother tongue.

This makes it impossible for them to communicate with the crew, increases their feelings of panic and
isolation in the event of an emergency and makes it difficult, if not impossible, to comply with the safety
instructions for the evacuation of the aircraft.

Can the Commission say:

1. whether it does not consider that this situation, caused by airlines, constitutes a serious violation of

the most basic right of passengers, the right to safety;

2. what steps it intends to take to guarantee the assistance required by passengers who have the

misfortune not to know the languages most often used by aircrew, i.e. English and French?

Answer given by Ms de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(31 March 2003)

Most airlines endeavour to employ cabin staff who speak the language of the majority of the passengers
they transport. Furthermore, international rules require them to equip their aircraft with cards bearing
safety instructions set out in the form of pictograms which allow passengers to understand the vital steps
that must be taken in an emergency regardless of their language knowledge.

The Commission does not know of any cases where passengers’ lives may have been endangered when an
accident occurred because they did not understand a particular language.

(2004/C 78 E/0023)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0883/03

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(21 March 2003)

Subject: Use of funds from the Customs 2002 programme by the municipality of Fiumicino

In September 2002, the monitoring committee of the Italian Ministry for Economic Affairs issued a report
on the spending of EU funds.

The report reveals the alarming slowness and inefficiency with which EU funds are allocated to projects by
some regional authorities.

The grave concerns about the inadequate use of European funds by local authorities have frequently been
echoed by the Commission.

Bearing in mind that some local authorities, such as the municipality of Fiumicino, urgently need to use
European funds for measures to enhance the spirit of partnership and cooperation created between the

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Commission and the Member States, for monitoring and anti-fraud measures and in order to improve the
tools used by customs authorities in their work, can the Commission state:

1. whether the municipality of Fiumicino has submitted projects for the Customs 2002 programme?

2. whether the municipality of Fiumicino has secured funding for these projects?

3. whether this funding has been used?

(2004/C 78 E/0024)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1061/03

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(28 March 2003)

Subject: Use of funds from the Customs 2002 programme by the municipality of Ancona

In September 2002, the monitoring committee of the Italian Ministry for Economic Affairs issued a report
on the spending of EU funds.

The report reveals the alarming slowness and inefficiency with which EU funds are allocated to projects by
some regional authorities.

The grave concerns about the inadequate use of European funds by local authorities have frequently been
echoed by the Commission.

Bearing in mind that some local authorities, such as the municipality of Ancona, urgently need to use
European funds for measures to enhance the spirit of partnership and cooperation created between the
Commission and the Member States, for monitoring and anti-fraud measures and in order to improve the
tools used by customs authorities in their work,

can the Commission state:

1. whether the municipality of Ancona has submitted projects for the Customs 2002 programme?

2. whether the municipality of Ancona has secured funding for these projects?

3. whether this funding has been used?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-0883/03 and E-1061/03
given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(8 May 2003)

The Customs 2002 programme financed activities that aimed to improve co-operation between the
Customs administrations of the Member States in the internal market (1). The programme distinguishes
between two type of activities: IT activities (2) and Joint and Other actions (3).

The IT activities concern the Customs IT systems. For instance Transit. The Joint and Other Actions were
organised by the Commission and the Customs administrations of the Member States. The participants in
the events were officials from these administrations.

The financial management of Joint and Other Actions part of the programme is organised in the following
way: the Commission pays an advance to the administrations of the Member States concerned while these
administrations make the necessary payments. Examples of payments are paying for a plane ticket of a
participant or paying an invoice for a conference facility when an administration hosts a seminar. The
administrations of the Member States have to report twice a year to the Commission on the expenses
financed from the programme budget.