WRITTEN QUESTION E-0931/03 by Jorge Moreira Da Silva (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Policy on reducing the risks of drug dependency.
Date: 2003-03-26
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, drug addiction, health policy, health risk, social policy

C 222 E/244

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

18.9.2003

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(25 April 2003)

The European Institute of Oncology (IEO) in Milan is presently reviewing and updating the ‘European Code
against Cancer’, a project financed under the ‘Europe against Cancer’ programme. This review will include
recommendations on avoiding excessive Ultra-violet (UV)-light exposure, and more recent epidemiological
evidence on the link between sunlight UV exposure and skin cancers. The exposure induced by UV
sunbeds is going to be included in the discussion. The new recommendations will be announced in June
2003 in Milan. The draft version is already accessible for discussion on a special web site (http://
www.cancercode.org/code_06.htm). The Commission will actively disseminate the outcome of this project
in order to enable citizens to take adequate precautions with regard to this issue.

(2003/C 222 E/274)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0931/03

by Jorge Moreira Da Silva (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Policy on reducing the risks of drug dependency

(26 March 2003)

Our policy on combating drug dependency has proved a failure. Trafficking has thrived on prohibitionism,
proliferating and becoming ever more profitable, providing a boost for organised crime and petty
delinquency, corrupting regimes and humiliating us for our inability to tackle it.

On the other hand, from the point of view of public health, concern is sparked not only by the physical
and mental harm caused by drug dependency, but also, owing to the number of people using injectable
drugs (cid:1) almost one million in the European Union (cid:1) by the health risks linked to infection with HIV and
hepatitis C among drug dependents, as well as the growing number of deaths caused by overdoses and
poisoning. It might be pointed out that mortality among opiate users is 20 times higher than that of the
population in general.

In the context of policy on reducing the risks of drug dependency:

1. What is the Commission’s assessment of the methadone substitution programmes carried out at

Member State level?

2. Does the Commission not consider that pilot programmes involving the administration of opiates
under medical supervision to sufferers with a long history of unsuccessful treatments, such as those
carried out in Bern, Liverpool and most recently in Asturias, should be analysed by the Commission
and implemented in the remaining countries? It might be pointed out that those programmes achieved
positive results, namely a reduction in crime, in the number of overdoses and deaths from poisoning,
and in the number of cases of infection with HIV and hepatitis C.

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(16 April 2003)

1.
The Commission itself has not conducted any study on the methadone substitution programmes
carried out at Member State level, but the preparation of an inventory of risk reduction methods used in
the Member States is planned for 2003 in collaboration with the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs
and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

The EMCDDA commissioned a study of substitution treatment in all 15 Member States and published the
results in a book called ‘Reviewing current practice in drug-substitution treatment in the European Union’
in 2000. This study concludes that substitution treatment leads to increased physical, psychological, and
social well-being and reduces criminality.

18.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 222 E/245

The Commission cannot comment on individual programmes in Member States. The Commission
2.
has supported pilot projects addressing methadone substitution programmes within the Community
Action Programme against drugs and drug dependence, such as the work of the network Euro-Methwork.
It currently supports the project ‘Quality Improvement Substitution Treatment in Europe’. The aim of this
project is to stimulate in the European Region the provision of substitution treatment to opiate addicts for
is done in a
whom this medication is indicated, and that
professional manner.

the provision of substitution treatment

In December 2002, the Commission adopted a proposal for a Council recommendation on the prevention
and reduction of risks associated with drug dependence, based on Article 152 of the EC Treaty. The
Parliament gave a favourable opinion on the proposed recommendation in February 2002, and the
recommendation is expected to be adopted by the Council shortly. Member States are recommended to
provide comprehensive substitution treatment, supported by adequate psycho-social care and to take into
account that a wide variety of different treatment options, including drug-free treatment, should be made
available according to the drug user’s needs. Member States are also recommended to establish measures to
prevent diversion of substitution substances while ensuring appropriate access to treatment.

(2003/C 222 E/275)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0939/03

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

Subject: Resurfacing of Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere

(26 March 2003)

Rome city council has recently published a booklet entitled ‘Città Storica’ which lists a series of restoration
projects that are to be carried out at sites in the historic centre of Rome. One of the projects envisaged is
the resurfacing of Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere, which is a square of great historical value.

The square is to be resurfaced using new cobblestones. However, these will not be laid in the pattern
traditional to Rome and will therefore be out of keeping with the city’s characteristics and traditions.

Much of the restoration work already carried out in the squares and streets of Rome’s historic centre (e.g.
Piazza Mastai) has in fact been unsuccessful, and has actually had a detrimental effect on the physiognomy
of its thoroughfares and the aesthetics of its urban landscape.

Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere is already largely pedestrianised and in the main its paved surface is well
preserved. This is due to the cobblestones themselves, which have lasted well because they have remained
untouched, and to the techniques used to lay them, which enabled a primary incline and a series of
secondary inclines to be created using a series of repeated motifs. The contours of the square as it is today,
which derive from the original
layout, allow rainwater to run off towards four large drains, thereby
preventing flooding in the square, which is built on alluvial soil. This is also aided by the fact that the
long-forgotten techniques used to lay the vast majority of the cobbles did not require them to be
embedded in cement. The resurfacing of the square using modern techniques would therefore have an
adverse effect on its architectural physiognomy.

Can the Commission indicate whether there are any directives or recommendations which, in order to
prevent the deformation of the old quarters of European cities, safeguard historical and artistic heritage in
the event of major alterations being made to monuments, as is the case with the resurfacing of Piazza
Santa Maria in Trastevere?

Answer given by Ms Reding on behalf of the Commission

(25 April 2003)

The responsibility for the specific case raised by the Honourable Member remains strictly with the Member
State concerned.