WRITTEN QUESTION E-1278/03 by Dana Scallon (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Uniates in Romania.
Date: 2003-04-04
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Catholicism, Romania, accession criteria, confiscation of property, freedom of religious beliefs, ownership, religious discrimination

C 78 E/364

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

Does the Commission know how much the Turkish government charges citizens of other EU Member
States for a residence permit?

If the Commission prepared to bring pressure to bear on the Turkish authorities with a view to ending this
discrimination against Netherlands citizens, and possibly citizens of other EU Member States?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(16 May 2003)

The Commission is aware that different fees are charged for residence permits according to the nationality
of Union citizens and intends to take this issue up in the context of its regular contacts with the Turkish
authorities.

A new law on ‘Work Permit for Foreigners’ was adopted by the Turkish Parliament on 27 February 2003.
The law states that Union citizens will be granted a work permit without any time limitation in Turkey.
Union citizens with a work permit will automatically be granted a residence permit covering the same
period. The law also sets fixed fee rates for work permits to be issued to all foreigners (regardless of their
nationality). The provisions in the recently adopted law may have implications on fee rates applied for
residence permits.

(2004/C 78 E/0384)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1278/03

by Dana Scallon (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(4 April 2003)

Subject: Uniates in Romania

On 7 February 2002, after having gained legal title in the courts, the Greek Catholic minority (also called
Eastern Rite Catholic, or Uniates) Church of Ocna Mures, Transylvania, Romania, could recover their
church. A few weeks later, on 16 March 2002, they were driven out of their church by a mob led by three
orthodox priests, aided and abetted by the local police.

Another case happened a few years ago: in the town of Ardud, the police warned the Greek Catholic priest
that he would be arrested then called the members of the congregation one by one and told them the
same.

In 1995, in the city of Craiova, the orthodox bishop had the Greek Catholic church demolished, with the
help of the army and the police.

Is the Commission aware of any discrimination against the Uniate minority in Romania?

Could you please tell me what action the Commission has taken or is aiming to take in order to avoid
religious persecution within applicant countries? In this case, in what way? Could the Commission detail
the action taken or to be taken?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(16 May 2003)

The Commission is aware of the allegations of discrimination against the Greek Catholic Romanian Church
United with Rome raised by the Honourable Member.

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/365

Respect of human rights, including the freedom of religion, is one of the basic criteria for accession to the
Union and is as such closely monitored by the Commission. The results of this monitoring exercise are
published annually, and in its 2002 Report on Romania’s Progress to Accession (Regular Report) the
Commission concluded that:

Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Constitution and is observed in practice. The Government
does not restrict the observance of religious belief, although human rights organisations have reported
cases of Orthodox clergy, sometimes working with local officials, restricting the religious activities of
other churches.

There is no evidence that discriminatory actions against any religious group are systematically applied nor
are part of a deliberate policy of the Romanian government. The appropriate course of action would be to
use the Romanian legal system to challenge any illegal actions against church property.

At the same time the Commission is aware that the legal framework covering the return of confiscated
churches is as yet incomplete and the Commission has therefore urged the Romanian authorities to
introduce legislation that explicitly covers the restitution of churches. On this subject the 2002 Regular
Report noted:

In July 2002, Parliament adopted legislation that clarified the process of restituting property
confiscated from churches. The legislation extends the scope of the previous law in several important
respects. However, only church property is covered and there is presently no legal framework for the
restitution of actual churches. This is a particularly important issue for the Greek-Catholic Church
which had a large number of properties confiscated by the Communist regime but still has no legal
redress. The Government has committed itself to producing specific legislation on this issue but delays
in preparing such a law means that there has been no substantial progress.

In conclusion, this is a matter that the Commission takes very seriously. However, it is important to note
that the Commission cannot judge if specific cases constitute violations of the freedom of religion.
Romania is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 9 of which sets out basic
rights concerning ‘freedom of thought, conscience and religion’. This means that once domestic remedies
have been exhausted a complaint can be addressed to the European Court on Human Rights in Strasbourg
in order that it may assess these questions.

(2004/C 78 E/0385)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1322/03

by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission

Subject: Zimbabwe: land, violence and nepotism

(8 April 2003)

Last week saw the first anniversary of the murder of the Zimbabwean farmer Terry Ford, on his own
Gowrie Farm, in the Norton District to the west of Harare.

A report published in The Independent of 23 March 2003 states that Sabina Mugabe, the Zimbabwean
President’s elder sister, a ZANU (PF) MP for Zvimba South and a member of the Ad Hoc Parliamentary
Committee on the Indigenisation of the Economy, has reserved the Norton District farms for her own
family; they occupy some of the country’s prime land. Some dozen farms around Lake Darwendale have
already been occupied, including Terry Ford’s.

Local bodies had apparently described these farms as being reserved for the ‘royal family’.

The farmers believe that as things die down, the ‘war veterans’ deployed to occupy the farms will be driven
out and the farms will be taken over and run by members of the President’s family and other high ranking
government and ZANU (PF) officials. Leo Mugabe, the President’s cousin, apparently holds Diandra Farm
(500 hectares), while it is believed that Sabina has demanded Audley End Farm (1 000 hectares) for herself.