WRITTEN QUESTION E-2267/03 by Jules Maaten (ELDR) to the Commission. Discrimination against women.
Date: 2003-07-09
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European social policy, censorship, gender equality, pornography, position of women, proposal (EU), sexual discrimination

6.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 33 E/241

(EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds (1). Interim
payments and payments of
the balance shall relate to expenditure actually paid out, which must
correspond to payments made by the final beneficiaries, supported by receipted invoices or documents of
an equivalent nature.

The Scottish authorities have so far claimed approximately EUR 201 million. This represents about 12 % of
the allocations under the Structural Funds to Scotland for the programming period 2000-2006, which
amounts to EUR 1 688. This amount does not include payments on account which represent 7 % of the
contribution from the Funds to the assistance in question.

The only programme supported by the Structural Funds in Scotland subject at this stage to the application
of
the so-called ‘N+2’ rule under Article 31 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 was the High-
lands & Islands Special Transitional Programme. In accordance with this rule, financial commitments made
in the year 2000 had to give rise to payment requests of equivalent value by 31 December 2002 or risk
decommitment of unclaimed amounts. No such risks exist for the European Regional Development Fund
and the European Social Fund, nor for the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance for which there
were no commitments for 2000. In the case of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund
the matter is still under discussion involving the Commission and the Scottish authorities on the extent of
decommitment.

For the other programmes in Scotland, the N+2 rule will apply for the first time at the end of 2003. The
Commission will only be in a position to determine the potential amounts for decommitment per
programme after 31 December 2003, once it has received and processed all payment requests from the
Managing Authority concerned.

the period 1994-1999, Scotland received EUR 1 353 million from the Structural Funds. The
For
the
Commission received the necessary documents from the Scottish authorities for the closure of
programmes before the deadline of 31 March 2003. Only when all the documents are assessed, including
the audit controls statements, will the closure process be completed. At that stage, the Commission will be
in a position to determine the extent of any decommittment.

It should be noted that the Commission does not establish the amounts which should be decommitted per
project but per programme on the basis of final payment claims and closure documentation. Such closure
shall, however, be without prejudice to later decisions cancelling or reducing assistance and ordering the
reimbursement of payments rongfully paid out, pursuant to Article 24 of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/
1988 (2), as amended (3).

(1) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999.
(2) Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 of 19 December 1988, laying down provisions for implementing Regulation
(EEC) No 2052/88 as regards coordination of the activities of the different Structural Funds between themselves and
instruments, OJ L 374,
with the operations of the European Investment Bank and the other existing financial
31.12.1988.

(3) OJ C 118, 28.4.1993.

(2004/C 33 E/247)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2267/03

by Jules Maaten (ELDR) to the Commission

(9 July 2003)

Subject: Discrimination against women

On 24 June 2003,

1.
the Commission was preparing further
proposals to combat discrimination against women, which would include a ban on ‘degrading’ images of
women on television and in newspapers and proposals for banning discriminatory insurance premiums. Is
this correct?

the Financial Times reported that

If these plans are being prepared, who is to decide what is ‘degrading’? Will a ‘bad taste’ committee

2.
be set up for the purpose?

C 33 E/242

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.2.2004

Is it true that the proposals in question would result in women’s paying lower pension contributions

3.
but higher car insurance premiums?

Is it more appropriate for such rules to be adopted by the European Union rather than the Member

4.
States? If so, why?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(22 August 2003)

The Commission would draw the Honourable Member’s attention to the fact that a large body of
Community legislation already exists to implement the principle of equal treatment for men and women in
the area of employment and work.

Since the Treaty of Amsterdam came into force in May 1999, a new legal basis, Article 13 of this Treaty,
exists, empowering the Council, on the basis of a proposal from the Commission, to take appropriate
action in the areas of Community competence and without prejudice to the other provisions of the Treaty,
to combat discrimination based, inter alia, on sex.

It should be remembered that, in 2000, on the basis of Article 13 of the Treaty, the Council adopted a
directive to combat all discrimination based on race or ethnic origin (1) in employment, access to goods
and services, including housing, social protection, social advantages and education.

In this context, the Commission is looking at ways of implementing Article 13 in order to combat sex-
based discrimination in areas other than employment and work.

(1) Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons

irrespective of racial or ethnic origin, OJ L 180, 19.7.2000.

(2004/C 33 E/248)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2268/03

by Giorgio Celli (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(3 July 2003)

Subject: Heavy metal traces in wild mushrooms

increase in recent years,

There has been a substantial
in the marketing and
consumption of edible wild mushrooms. According to data supplied by AIIPA (1) in 1998, Italy imports
some 20 000 tonnes per annum of non-cultivated mushrooms (fresh, dry, frozen, canned, etc.), of which
almost half belong to the Boletus edulis group (B. aereus, B. aestivalis, B. edulis, B. pinophilus). These latter
originate mostly in Europe, but growing quantities are now coming from Africa (especially South Africa),
China and Central America. In Italy, there are approximately 1000 businesses operating in the import,
processing and distribution sectors.

in Italy and elsewhere,

Regulation (EC) No 466/2001, published in the Official
the European Communities on
16 March 2001 (2) and based on the opinion of the Scientific Committee on Food (SCF), lays down the
including cultivated mushrooms. The
admissible thresholds for certain pollutants in food products,
threshold for all cultivated mushrooms is 0,2 mg/kg (fresh weight) for cadmium and 0,3 mg/kg (fresh
weight) for lead.

Journal of

Is the Commission aware that no such thresholds for wild mushrooms exist in Community law?