WRITTEN QUESTION E-2807/03 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. The Vatican's crusade against homosexual marriages within the EU and the Vatican's right to acquire revenue by issuing euro coins.
Date: 2003-09-19
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Holy See, LGBTIQ persons, euro, issuing of currency, marriage, monetary agreement

C 78 E/758

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

Does the Council not believe that, if they were to be implemented, these measures would be most
4.
damaging for the most outlying European regions, such as the Murcia region which remains an Objective
1 region? Does this measure not represent flagrant discrimination among regions?

Does the Council not believe that, at a time of economic recession in the euro zone, these measures

5.
would damage economic recovery in a key sector such as the transport of goods by road?

Reply

(4 March 2004)

The Council is aware of the fact that German authorities intend to impose in the near future tolls on heavy
goods vehicles,
levied per kilometre. The Council does not dispose of any information which might
indicate that France, apart from the tolls it already applies on its highways, intends to impose additional
tolls on all heavy goods vehicles travelling through France.

The Council recalls that any levying of tolls for heavy goods vehicles must respect the provisions of
Directive 1999/62/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the charging of heavy goods
vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures (1).

Provided that a Member State respects these provisions, it is free to impose tolls on heavy goods vehicles;
it may be recalled that in some ‘transit countries’, such tolls (cid:1) also levied on transport operators from
other countries which make use of their infrastructure (cid:1) constitute a contribution to the financing of the
transeuropean networks concerned.

Furthermore, the Council
informs the Honourable Parliamentarian that it is currently examining the
Commission’s proposal for a Directive on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain
infrastructure (2), which aims to ensure that a harmonised methodology will be used for the calculation of
tolls and to render toll systems more transparent;
in the context of this examination, the particular
concerns of peripheral countries and regions will be duly taken into account.

(1) OJ L 187, 20.7.1999, p. 42.
(2) COM(2003) 448 final (2003/0175 (COD)).

(2004/C 78 E/0806)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2807/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(19 September 2003)

Subject: The Vatican’s crusade against homosexual marriages within the EU and the Vatican’s right to

acquire revenue by issuing euro coins

1.
Is the Commission aware that in the Netherlands and Belgium it is now legal for two people of the
same sex to marry, and is the Commission aware of the European Parliament’s resolution of 4 September
2003 on fundamental rights in the EU in 2002 (Sylla report, A5-0281/2003), which calls for homosexuals
to be given the right to marry and adopt children and mentions the recent Belgian legislation as one of the
ways in which progress was made in 2002?

2.
Is the Commission aware of the position adopted by the Roman Catholic Church’s Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican City opposing this, the Congregation’s recent explicit rejection of
such marriages and its call for Catholic parliamentarians to oppose their legalisation?

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/759

Can the Commission confirm that (cid:1) in addition to the states which are members of European
3.
Economic and Monetary Union (cid:1) the small non-member states San Maríno, Monaco and Vatican City,
whose only land borders are with EU Member States, have the right to issue and distribute their own euro
coins? What is the basis for this? Is it intended to allow the states concerned to issue a proportionate share
of the coins circulating in the currency union or is it mainly or exclusively a matter of coins from which
these states derive special financial advantages because, on account of the coins’ rarity, collectors buy them
at a price far above face value?

If the Vatican continues to pressurise parliamentarians in the EU and its Member States to restrict the
4.
right to marry, will the Commission give a clear indication so as to dispel the impression that the Vatican
can act on behalf of the EU or EMU by issuing and distributing its own euro coins or that the EU
indirectly confers financial advantages on the Vatican, and to this end, abolish or at least temporarily
suspend the Vatican’s coinage rights?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(4 November 2003)

The Commission is aware of the changes in the legislation of Belgium and the Netherlands which enable
two people of the same sex to get married and of the Parliament Resolution of 4 September 2003 on
fundamental rights in the Union in 2002 which calls on Member States to abolish any form of
discrimination against homosexuals in particular as regards to marriage and adoption.

The Commission is also aware of the document issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of
the Vatican entitled:
‘Considerations regarding proposals to give legal recognition to unions between
homosexual persons’.

In this context, the Vatican represents the view of the Catholic Church. The document, to which you refer,
is thus an expression of religious conviction of one particular church, and the Commission does not wish
to comment on questions of religious interpretation. Freedom of religious conviction and expression are
also parts of the fundamental values that we wish to respect.

At the level of the Union, the commitment to the policy of anti-discrimination on the grounds of sexual
the Council adopted a directive prohibiting
orientation, amongst others,
discrimination in employment and occupation on a variety of grounds,
including sexual orientation
(Directive 2000/78/EC (1)). Member States have until 2 December 2003 to transpose this directive into
national law.

In 2000,

stands

firm.

The Commission confirms that Vatican City is entitled to issue a certain quantity of euro coins each year.
This is laid down in a Monetary Agreement, which was concluded between the Italian Republic on behalf
of the Community and the Vatican City State in December 2000 (2). It was concluded to ensure legal
continuity with an agreement that existed between the Italian Republic and the Vatican City prior to the
introduction of the euro, which allowed Vatican City to issue a certain number of coins denominated in
Italian lira. Similar agreements exist with San Maríno and Monaco.

The coin issuance of Vatican City is in full compliance with the Monetary Agreement. The recent
Recommendation by the Commission (3) to amend this Monetary Agreement ensures legal continuity, in
particular in respect of the maximum number of coins which can be issued. The Commission does not
intend to propose any other amendments to this Agreement.

(1) Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in

employment and occupation, OJ L 303, 2.12.2000.

(2) OJ C 299, 25.10.2001.
(3) OJ C 212, 6.9.2003.