WRITTEN QUESTION E-3140/03 by Koenraad Dillen (NI) to the Commission. Death-penalty-related projects.
Date: 2003-10-23
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU initiative, United States, death penalty, democratisation, human rights, public awareness campaign, the EU's international role, third country

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/471

(2004/C 78 E/0495)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3140/03

by Koenraad Dillen (NI) to the Commission

(23 October 2003)

Subject: Death-penalty-related projects

Statements by senior Commission staff suggest that the European Commission is funding a number of
projects in the United States and other countries that apply the death-penalty to raise public awareness of
the death-penalty issue in retentionist countries. The statements were issued on World Day against the
Death Penalty, Friday 10 October.
(Source: The European Weekly (cid:1) New Europe, 12 October, p. 6
‘Commission seeks abolishment of death penalty’).

Exactly what sorts of projects are involved?

How many of these projects have been launched in United States and in which states of the Union?

What is the overall cost of the projects? Is this the first year in which projects of this kind have been
started?

Have similar projects been launched in Cuba and the People’s Republic of China? In which countries other
than the United States have such projects been set up?

Are these one-off projects or do they run for several years?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(1 December 2003)

The Commission has been funding projects in view of abolition of the death penalty for a number of
years. Providing funding for such projects was also re-affirmed as a priority in the Commission’s
Communication of 8 May 2001 on the Union’s role in promoting human rights and democratisation in
third countries (1). This Communication specifically indicates that:
‘Support for abolition of the death
penalty should include projects intended to reduce its use,
for example by promoting debates at
government and civil society level on its ineffectiveness in reducing crime.’

The Community funding, provided under the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights, covers
a wide range of areas such as awareness campaigns in countries where capital punishment is still practised
and direct assistance to sentence of prisoners. A specific call for proposals on death penalty projects was
launched in 2002. Following this call, projects amounting to a total of EUR 4 897 328 were selected.

Two of the projects selected under this call include activities in the United States:

(cid:1) Capital Punishment activities, informing and supporting strategies to establish alternatives to the death
penalty. This project aims to increase awareness of issues surrounding capital punishment and provide
support to those engaged in the fight against it. Activities include the establishment of specialised
databases to support lawyers engaged in capital litigation, particularly in the United States and the
Caribbean, a lecture series on capital punishment, the setting up of a capital punishment studies
library, research activities and public awareness raising actions.

(cid:1) A study of How States’ Death Penalty systems Comport with Minimum Standards designed to Protect
Due Process and Fairness. The overall objective is to convince the 40 American jurisdictions that
retain the death penalty to implement a moratorium on executions and to complete thorough,
comprehensive studies of their death penalty systems.

The total number of running projects promoting the abolition of death penalty worldwide at present
amounts to 13, with a maximum total Union contribution of EUR 8 136 217.

C 78 E/472

Official Journal of the European Union

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27.3.2004

As concerns projects in China, one project pertaining to this country was selected under the 2002 call.
The title of this project is: ‘Strengthening the defence of death penalty cases in the People’s republic of
China’. Defence and legal aid for defendants facing the death penalty are provided under this project.

There are currently no specific projects aiming at the abolition on the death penalty in Cuba.

Concerning the last question asked by the Honourable Member, the duration of such projects is usually
between 24 and 36 months.

(1) COM(2001) 252.

(2004/C 78 E/0496)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3141/03

by Koenraad Dillen (NI) to the Commission

(23 October 2003)

Subject: European week against cancer (cid:1) scientific research

To mark the annual European week against cancer, the European Commission has announced that a
number of new projects have been selected for grants from the Sixth Framework Research Programme.
The Commissioner responsible for research, Philippe Busquin has issued a statement saying that over the
next few years the EU plans to invest EUR 400 million in cancer research. In the first instance 19 projects
will receive a sum of approximately EUR 100 million.

Which are the 19 projects concerned and what is the amount of the grant that each of them will receive?

In which Member States will the projects be carried out?

On the basis of what criteria were the projects selected? What is the grant application procedure for firms
and research centres?

When grants are allocated for scientific research is a geographical quota applied to ensure that research
centres, universities and companies from all Member States have equal access to the funds available?

Answer given by Mr Busquin on behalf of the Commission

(1 December 2003)

As a result of the first call for proposals of the Programme ‘Life Sciences, genomics and biotechnology for
health’ (deadline March 2003) within the ‘combating cancer’ area, 19 projects were selected for funding for
an overall Community contribution of EUR 100 million.

The selected projects, which are still currently under contract negotiation, are undertaken by large,
multidisciplinary and multinational consortia including academia,
industry, research organisations and
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the Member States as well as associated states, candidate
countries and,
in some cases, third countries. The titles of the selected projects, the countries of the
participants as well as the Community proposed budgetary contribution, are shown in a table which will
be sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament’s Secretariat.

The evaluation and selection of proposals is carried out, with the assistance of independent experts, in
compliance with the ‘Guidelines on proposal evaluation and selection procedures’, as foreseen in the ‘Rules
for the participation of undertakings, research centres and universities in the implementation of the Sixth
Framework Programme’ (1).

The evaluation process rests on a number of established principles such as quality, transparency, equality
of treatment, impartiality, efficiency, speed and ethical considerations.