WRITTEN QUESTION E-2239/03 by Mario Borghezio (NI) to the Commission. Plague in Algeria and checks on illegal and legal immigrants from areas at risk.
Date: 2003-07-07
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Algeria, disease prevention, foreign national, health control, identity document, infectious disease, migration control, public health

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WRITTEN QUESTION P-2201/03

by Marie-Arlette Carlotti (PSE) to the Commission

Subject: Observation of the presidential elections in Mauritania

(27 June 2003)

Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in November 2003 in Mauritania. Preparations for these
important elections are being hampered by an unprecedented wave of repression which is affecting every
political and religious grouping.

Mauritania constitutes a bridge between the Mediterranean and Black Africa and is an essential factor for
regional stability.

These presidential elections must constitute a decisive step along the road to stability and to the restoration
of the rule of law in Mauritania.

That means that the preparations for and the conduct of the elections must be free, transparent and
democratic.

As a supporter of democratic processes, the European Union must monitor the proper conduct of the
ballot by providing logistical support and sending observers.

Is the Commission planning to send an election observation mission to Mauritania?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(17 July 2003)

The Commission shares the Honourable Member’s analysis of the issues at stake in the presidential
elections scheduled for November 2003 in Mauritania. It is also concerned about the wave of arrests made
before the attempted coup at the beginning of June and the conditions in which the arrests and dismissals
that have taken place since then have been conducted.

More specifically on the question of sending an election observation mission to Mauritania, the EU deploys
between eight and ten election observation missions a year. Indeed, the Commission communication on
election assistance and observation, and the Council conclusions and Parliament’s Fava resolution, stress
the need for the EU to observe a limited number of elections each year. A list of priority countries for
election observation is therefore drawn up, after consultations with Council’s geographical groups and
Parliament’s electoral coordination group. Mauritania was not included among the priority countries for
election observation in 2003. In addition, the Commission has received no official request from the
government of Mauritania to send international observers, an essential prerequisite for sending an EU
election observation mission.

The Commission is in favour of stepping up the political dialogue with the Mauritanian authorities in
order to make them aware of the importance that the EU attaches to compliance with the basic rules of
law and the organisation of free, transparent and democratic elections.

(2004/C 11 E/281)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2239/03

by Mario Borghezio (NI) to the Commission

(7 July 2003)

Subject: Plague in Algeria and checks on illegal and legal immigrants from areas at risk

The total information black-out imposed by the Algerian authorities on cases of plague reported in Oran is
reminiscent of the mistake made by the Chinese government in the first days of the SARS virus outbreak.
The appalling health and hygiene conditions prevailing in Algeria, however, mean that there is a very real
risk of a plague epidemic in European ports, in a region from which many illegal immigrants travel to the
European Union Member States.

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Has the Commission looked into this problem?

Does it not consider that it should alert the competent authorities of the Member States to this serious
danger, so that they may take the necessary preventive measures relating to health?

Does the Commission not believe that there is an urgent need to create a health passport for non-EU
citizens legally travelling to the European Union?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(31 July 2003)

As of 2 July 2003 the Algerian Ministry of Health has reported a total of 10 cases of plague to the World
Health Organisation (WHO) of which eight have been laboratory confirmed. These include eight cases of
bubonic plague and two of septicemic plague, of which one was fatal. Eight additional cases are under
investigation. Most cases were near Oran, in the town of Kehalia, 400 kilometer (km) west of Algiers.
Patients have been treated with antibiotics and preventive measures have been taken.

The Commission sent an early warning message alerting Member States about the outbreak through the
Union’s Communicable Diseases Network, which links surveillance structures and public health authorities
(Decision No 2119/98/EC (1)). This network ensures the rapid exchange of information within the Union
and for the co-ordination of the responses. Candidate and European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
Countries fully participate in the network and there is close collaboration with the WHO for the
transmission of early warnings.

The Commission considers that there is no benefit to be gained in the effort to control communicable
diseases by the issuance of health passports. Plague is one of the three epidemic diseases subject to the
International Health Regulations and notifiable to the WHO, and it is endemic in many countries in Africa,
the Americas and Asia. Effective treatment is available (antibiotics and supportive therapy) and enables
plague patients to be cured if diagnosed in time. Health passports cannot guarantee the level of health
protection that is required and might even encourage a false sense of security.

(1) Decision No 2119/98/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 24 September 1998 setting up a network for the
epidemiological surveillance and control of communicable diseases in the Community, OJ L 268, 3.10.1998.

(2004/C 11 E/282)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2242/03

by Uma Aaltonen (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(30 June 2003)

Subject: Spread of rabies to countries where the disease is under control

Rabies has been diagnosed in a horse imported into Finland from Estonia in May 2003. The disease was
last ascertained in Finland in 1989 and has since been brought under control through vaccination of dogs
and cats and of wild animals in south-east Finland,
in this case using bait containing the vaccine.
According to the WHO classification, Finland is a rabies-free country. Rabies is prevalent throughout
Eastern Europe as well as in parts of the Baltic region and Russia close to Finland. In Estonia 422 cases in
all were recorded in 2002, namely 355 in wild animals and 67 in domestic animals. Although the
eradication of rabies intrinsically lies within the province of national legislation, the situation will become
significantly more difficult once the new Member States have joined the EU. Because it will be easier for
animals to be transported and moved from one Member State to another and quarantine is to be abolished
(the incubation period for rabies can be as long as six months), rabies prevention will pose a much greater
challenge at national level.