WRITTEN QUESTION E-3433/03 by Mario Borghezio (NI) to the Commission. Eurostat scandal — unanswered questions.
Date: 2003-11-18
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU statistics, European Commission, Eurostat, Member States' contribution, administration of the Institutions, stability pact

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/547

(2004/C 78 E/0581)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3433/03

by Mario Borghezio (NI) to the Commission

(18 November 2003)

Subject: Eurostat scandal (cid:1) unanswered questions

The main tasks of Eurostat include assessing conformity with the Stability Pact and establishing the
Member States’ contribution to the EU budget. Does the Commission accept Eurostat’s conclusions on the
economic conditions of the Member States or does it obtain information elsewhere? To what extent has
the quality or reliability of Eurostat’s work been affected by the recent revelations? What quality controls
have been introduced to check the reliability of the data produced by external agencies concerning such
sensitive subjects?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-3416/03, E-3417/03, E-3418/03, E-3419/03,
E-3420/03, E-3421/03, E-3422/03, E-3423/03, E-3424/03,
E-3425/03, E-3426/03, E-3427/03, E-3428/03, E-3429/03,
E-3430/03, E-3431/03, E-3432/03 and E-3433/03
given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(12 January 2004)

The eighteen questions which the Honourable Member raises are connected with the follow-up to the
the
Eurostat case and concern anti-fraud policy, political
information available to the Commission on Eurostat-related matters, questions concerning cases of
whistleblowing, Eurostat controls and the quality of Eurostat’s work.

responsibility,

responsibility,

individual

When addressing the Conference of Presidents and the Committee on Budgetary Control (Cocobu) on
25 September, and more recently on 18 November before the Committee on Budgetary Control and then
the full House in Strasbourg, the President of the Commission set out the Commission’s position on all
these questions.

In addition, he also provided written answers to the 18 questions put to him after his appearance on
25 September 2003. These answers address in detail the Honourable Member’s questions and will be sent
direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament’s Secretariat.

(2004/C 78 E/0582)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3437/03

by Philip Claeys (NI) to the Commission

(20 November 2003)

Subject: Anti-Semitism among North African and other Islamic immigrants in Europe

During the annual commemoration of Kristallnacht in Amsterdam on 9 November 2003, Commissioner
Bolkestein drew attention to the fact that the vast majority of those who commit anti-Semitic offences are
currently of North African origin.
In many cases they are young people who sympathise with the
Palestinian intifada and wish to express their identification with the Palestinian cause by attacking members
of Jewish communities in Europe. This is not confined to verbal abuse but increasingly also involves
physical violence. This phenomenon may be observed not only in the Netherlands but also (‘inter alia’) in
France and Belgium.

Do the present campaigns and programmes against racism and discrimination which are organised and/or
subsidised by the European Union include any specific measures to combat the growing hatred of Jews
among Islamic and/or other North African immigrants?