WRITTEN QUESTION E-2743/03 by Richard Corbett (PSE) to the Commission. Slovakia.
Date: 2003-09-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Slovakia, customs, customs profession, language teaching, official language, professional qualifications

C 88 E/112

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

Equally, there is no reciprocal obligation on the part of current Member States to allow citizens of
Acceding Countries entry onto their territory on simple presentation of an identity card.

The Honourable Member may be aware, for example, that the United Kingdom currently imposes a visa
requirement on citizens from the Slovak Republic.

(2004/C 88 E/0117)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2743/03

by Richard Corbett (PSE) to the Commission

(11 September 2003)

Subject: Slovakia

Does the Commission agree that, where possible, frontier and customs officials should be able to speak the
language of the neighbouring country whose border they are supervising? Is the Commission aware that
Slovak border officials on the frontier with Austria refuse to speak German, or indeed any language other
than Slovak or Russian?

In view of Slovakia’s imminent accession to the EU, will the Commission encourage Slovakia, and indeed
all Member States, to ensure that at least some frontier officials are able to converse in languages likely to
be useful on the frontier concerned?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(8 October 2003)

The Commission agrees that, whenever possible, customs officials both in the Union and in the candidate
countries should be able to communicate in the language of the neighbouring country whose border they
are supervising. With reference to candidate countries, the Commission has been advising their Customs
the administrative and
Administrations to provide language training to customs officials. However,
organisational aspects of the customs services do not fall within the Commission’s competence and are
fully within the national competence of the existing and future Member States.

As for the case mentioned by the Honourable Member, the Commission is not aware of any specific
problem, neither as regards customs officials nor border guards. Indeed co-operation between Slovak and
Austrian authorities at the border is considered as satisfactory. Concerning customs,
it is also worth
stressing that, as from the day of accession in 2004, all customs controls between the existing and future
Member States will be abolished and customs offices at the future ‘internal’ border will have to be
dismantled by that date. Consequently, there will be no more presence of customs officials between
Slovakia and Austria, and Slovakia will only manage part of the future Union external border with
Ukraine.

(2004/C 88 E/0118)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2744/03

by Richard Corbett (PSE) to the Commission

(11 September 2003)

Subject: Slovakia

Can the Commission confirm that the Bratislava authorities refuse to allow the town of Kosice to be linked
by motorway to the nearby Hungarian motorway network (and thereby connect easily to the Austrian and
other networks) until a motorway via the north of Slovakia has been completed linking Kosice to
Bratislava?