WRITTEN QUESTION E-2162/03 by Herbert Bösch (PSE) to the Commission. Budget line B7-7010: no call for proposals in 2003 and its consequences for addressing the human rights of disabled people.
Date: 2003-06-30
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU action, EU financing, budget, cooperation policy, development policy, disabled person

C 88 E/70

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

(cid:1) 2001/010-327:

title ‘Making the financial markets work for development’

(in consortium with

Informationsstelle Lateinamerika e.V.)

(cid:1) Duration 36 months, ending on 31 December 2003;

(cid:1) Community contribution EUR 594 998, 75 % of total;

(cid:1) Total cost EUR 793 331.

No contracts have been awarded to SHARE e.V. or to ATTAC e.V. by any budget line managed by
EuropeAid.

All contracts are subject to EuropeAid’s control and monitoring procedures for grants, established in
accordance with the provisions of successive Commission Regulations on the implementing rules of the
framework Financial Regulation.

(2004/C 88 E/0077)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2162/03

by Herbert Bösch (PSE) to the Commission

(30 June 2003)

Subject: Budget line B7-7010: no call for proposals in 2003 and its consequences for addressing the

human rights of disabled people

to poverty
In the Millennium Development Goals,
reduction. This goal cannot be met without considering the needs of disabled people, and yet disabled
people are still not sufficiently included in the development cooperation funded by the Union.

the European Union expressed its commitment

In the budget for 2003, budget line B7-7010 was amended so that actions undertaken in the field of
disability, as a follow-up to the Commission guidance note on disability and development cooperation,
could be funded under this budget line. However no Call for Proposals for budget line B7-7010 will be
issued in 2003. Rather the Commission will select and allocate funds from previously submitted projects.

Is there a possibility that the Commission therefore will pay particular attention to disability in its selection
of these previously submitted projects?

As no new projects can be submitted, how is the Commission intending to fund actions that need to be
taken as a follow-up to the guidance note on disability and development?

Is the Commission planning to adapt the priority actions of the programming document of the European
Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights so that it will be in line with the recent amendments on
disability to the B7-7010 budget line?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(16 September 2003)

The Commission Communication of May 2001 (1) underscored the need to focus limited funds available
under the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) more effectively. To that end,
it was decided that future funding should cover four thematic priorities: support for democratisation, good
governance and the rule of law; the fight against torture, impunity and promotion of international justice;
the fight against
the death penalty and combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination against
minorities and indigenous peoples. Those priorities were reflected in the EIDHR programming document
adopted for 2002-2004 and in the subsequent Calls for Proposals. Five Calls for Proposals were launched
in 2002, all of them covering two Budget years- 2002 and 2003. At the time these were published there
was no provision for the proposals to address disabilities issues, since such issues had not been referred to
in the EIDHR Programming document. Community rules do not permit the modification of proposals once
the texts have been published. The Commission is not in a position to select and allocate funds from
previously selected projects.

8.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 88 E/71

The Commission is reflecting on the future direction of the EIDHR beyond the current programming
period of 2002-2004 and organised a special seminar on 14 July 2003 to provide an opportunity to
discuss that issue with representatives of non-governmental organisations, Members of Parliament and
Member State officials. As the Communication remains the guiding document, discussions will focus on
how to programme the thematic priorities more effectively.

The Commission’s ‘Guidance Note on Disability and Development for EU Delegations and Services’, which
provides guidance on how to address disability issues effectively within development cooperation, has been
widely distributed throughout the services. It stresses the importance of mainstreaming disability issues in
policy dialogue and in country programming. This is the case in the mid-term review guidelines for
African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP) currently under preparation, which foresee exploring the extent
to which country programmes are responsive to the needs of persons with disabilities

Finally, the Commission attaches a great deal of importance to the question of disability. This is illustrated
by the legislation which the Commission has introduced and the active approach taken by the Commission
to the Ad Hoc Committee on a Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the rights of persons with
disabilities.

(1) COM(2001) 252 final.

(2004/C 88 E/0078)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2184/03

by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission

(30 June 2003)

Subject: Further violations of religious freedom in Turkmenistan

The Turkmen authorities have refused to allow any religious groups to register other than Russian
Orthodox and Muslim communities. All unregistered religious activities are regarded as illegal and, in any
event, subject to supervision by the sixth branch of the National Safety Committee (KNB, formerly KGB).

At the end of May, two Hare Krishna meetings were disrupted by the Turkmen authorities. In the course of
a raid in a village near Mari, officials joined in the ceremony to film those taking part. In the capital,
Ashgabad, a Ministry of Internal Affairs intervention group headed by Colonel Byashim Taganov burst into
a house occupied by a Hare Krishna devotee, Gaurabhakta Devi Dasi, and, without producing a search
warrant, removed icons and religious material. Gaurabhakta Devi Dasi was arrested, together with two
other Hare Krishna devotees. Of the three, two were fined and threatened with removal from the capital,
while the third was savagely beaten and threatened with criminal charges. Colonel Taganov denies any
involvement in this incident.

On 31 May, after local authorities had forced their way into a private house, Guzelya Syraeva was fined
for having held a meeting with other members of an unregistered Protestant group. Subsequently,
Ms Syraeva was pressurised by the authorities to leave her job as a teacher at the Abadan day nursery.
They also threatened to dismiss the director of the day nursery, Tazegyul Nurieva, unless she sacked
Ms Syraeva. The two women have also been subject to pressure from the Department of Education.

On 13 June,
the Baptist
the police forced their way into a private apartment where members of
denomination were praying. All those present were interrogated for several hours. The police chief,
Alaverdy Khudoberdiev, defended the police action on the grounds that activities by unregistered
organisations were illegal, whereas in fact the Turkmen law on religion does not prohibit activity by
unregistered religious organisations. Dieter Matthei, a political official with the Organisation for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has confirmed the difficulties encountered when attempting to obtain
reports on such incidents from the local authorities.