WRITTEN QUESTION P-3020/03 by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission. Human rights in Romania — underage marriages in the gypsy community.
Date: 2003-10-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Roma, Romania, child protection, children's rights, customs and traditions, matrimonial law

C 88 E/446

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

(2004/C 88 E/0454)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3006/03

by Joachim Wuermeling (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(14 October 2003)

Subject: Tax exemptions in the Czech Republic

1.
Is the Commission aware that the Czech Republic grants a 10-year exemption from corporation tax
for first-time investments in manufacturing sectors, and a 10-15 % reduction in the income tax base for the
purchase of new machinery?

Are these tax breaks compatible with the aid rules under the Association Agreement, and will they be

2.
compatible with the provisions of the EC Treaty on the granting of aid?

3.

If not, is the Commission taking steps to ensure that the relevant tax regulations are amended?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(5 December 2003)

1.

Yes, the Commission is aware of the schemes mentioned by the Honourable Member in his question.

2.
Through a protocol to the Europe Agreement adopted in July 1998, the Czech Republic committed
itself to aligning its legislation on the State Aid rules of the Community. This commitment was translated
into Czech legislation by the State Aid Act that entered into force on 1 May 2000. The Act made the
Office for the Protection of Economic Competition the Czech State Aid monitoring authority. Therefore, in
the pre-accession period, while the content of the applicable State Aid rules in the Czech Republic are
aligned on the State Aid rules of the Community, the enforcement of these rules rests with the Office for
the Protection of Economic Competition. The investment scheme requires every individual aid granted
under it to be notified to the Office for the Protection of Economic Competition. This office has assessed
whether the individual tax exemptions are compatible with the ‘acquis’,
in particular the Community
guidelines on national regional aid.

Under the Europe Agreement, the Commission has engaged itself in an ongoing process of contacts with
the Office for the Protection of Economic Competition and other Czech authorities, in order to ensure that
tax breaks and other investment schemes are compatible with the State Aid rules of the Community. These
contacts have led the Czech authorities to enact amendments to the investment incentives legislation in
order to align the schemes further with the practice in the EU.

After accession, any new aid, or any modification of existing aid has to be notified to the Commission in
accordance with Article 88(3) of the EC Treaty.

The Commission will ensure, possibly under the ‘interim procedure’

3.
laid down in the Accession
Treaty, otherwise under the normal rules applicable after accession, that the tax exemption scheme will
fully respect the ‘acquis’. To that effect, contacts with the Czech authorities have been ongoing to ensure
that the investment incentives legislation is fully compatible with the State Aid rules of the Community.

(2004/C 88 E/0455)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3020/03

by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission

(8 October 2003)

Subject: Human rights in Romania (cid:1) underage marriages in the gypsy community

The shocking case of Ana-Maria Cioaba, a 12-year-old gypsy girl regarded as a princess by the Roma
community in Romania, who was forced into a marriage which she desperately opposed, has spotlighted
the serious violations of fundamental human rights in an applicant country due to join the European
Union in 2007.

8.4.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 88 E/447

Adherence by the gypsy community to its traditions in cases such as this constitutes flagrant violation of
the human rights of children belonging to the gypsy community who are not asked whether and whom
they wish to marry but are compelled by force to comply with the choice of their male relatives. This is
tolerated if not actually covered up by the Government, which chooses not to implement its own laws,
particularly regarding the Roma. For example, the legal age for marriage in Romania is 18 while, under
certain conditions, it may be allowed at the age of 16. Concerning the Roma community, however, the
authorities tend to turn a blind eye, allowing the practice of forced marriages such as that referred to
above to be perpetuated.

it make to the Romanian
What measures will the Commission take and what representations will
Government with a view to protecting the human rights of underage members of the gypsy community
given that Romania’s application for European Union membership must denote a significant step forward
by the country regarding the protection of human rights?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(24 October 2003)

The Commission is aware of the traditional Roma wedding of two minors that recently took place in
Romania. This wedding does not have legal force because the two minors have not reached the legal age
for marriage under Romanian law.

The Commission can inform the Honourable Member that the Child Protection Department of the
province where the traditional wedding took place reached an agreement with the parents concerned. As a
result both children have returned to their parents’ homes, they will go to school and will attend
counselling sessions at the Child Protection Service until they reach the legal age of marriage.

(2004/C 88 E/0456)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3023/03

by Anders Wijkman (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 October 2003)

Subject: Combating meningitis in Africa

Meningitis epidemics frequently occur in Africa, killing and permanently disabling thousands of people.
The emergence of a new strain of the meningitis bacteria (cid:1) W135 (cid:1) has rendered the traditionally used
vaccine insufficient, if not useless. In record time, a public-private partnership, under the leadership of
WHO, has been able to produce a vaccine against the new strain. In order to ensure an effective response
in the case of a likely outbreak in parts of Africa early in 2004, a stock of several million doses of the new
vaccine will be needed. The estimated cost for an effective preparedness programme is estimated at
EUR 8,5 million. Most of that money has to be spent immediately and cannot wait for an epidemic to
occur.

What will be the role of the EU in the efforts to prevent a serious meningitis epidemic in the so-called
meningitis belt countries in the short term?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(18 November 2003)

The European Commission is aware of
particularly in view of the emergence of the new W-135 strain.

the worrying situation of meningitis epidemics in Africa,