WRITTEN QUESTION E-3477/03 by Baroness Sarah Ludford (ELDR) to the Commission. Women in prison.
Date: 2003-11-24
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU Member State, care of mothers and infants, position of women, prisoner, statistics

C 78 E/560

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

(cid:1) Has the Commission ever become aware of consultancy work being carried out to an unsatisfactory

standard? What criteria does the Commission apply when assessing consultancy services?

(cid:1) Has a consultancy contract ever proved damaging to the Commission, and, if so, to what extent?

(1) OJ C 192 E, 14.8.2003, p. 220.

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(5 February 2004)

The allocations to the Cabinets cover the organisation of meetings (heading A-7030) and appropriations
for the employment of auxiliary agents, but do not cover consultants.

The principal heading, A-7002, and also headings A-7050 and A-7060 depending on the field of activity
(cid:1) some of which may cover the use of consultants (cid:1) fall within the responsibility of the various
Commission DGs and Services.

No Cabinets of Commissioners have concluded any contracts with consultants since 2000.

Members of the Commission may also use the services of special advisers, either without remuneration or
using heading A-1113 for which EUR 300 000 has been allocated for 2004.

(2004/C 78 E/0595)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3477/03

by Baroness Sarah Ludford (ELDR) to the Commission

(24 November 2003)

Subject: Women in prison

Can the Commission supply details of the number of women currently in prison in each European Union
Member State?

Can the Commission provide a total number of mothers with dependent children in prison in each
European Union Member State?

What percentage of the total prison population do women constitute in each European Member State?

Per capita of the population, can the Commission list which Member States have the most women in
prison in the European Union?

What is the most common offence committed by women imprisoned in each European Union Member
State?

How do all the above contrast with the male prison population in each European Member State?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(27 January 2004)

The Commission does not have the statistics to give the Honourable Member an appropriate reply to her
written question.

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/561

The Commission has obtained a number of statistical data on the prison population in the Member States
and in the Accession Countries in the context of the preparation of two Green Papers, one on possible
measures to be taken at Union level for safeguarding the rights of individuals in pre-trial detention and
alternatives to such detention and a second on the approximation, recognition and enforcement of
criminal sanctions in the Union.

At the request of the Italian Presidency, the Commission sent a questionnaire to the Member States,
wherein they were asked to provide statistical data on their total prison population: They were invited to
provide figures on people in pre-trial detention and convicted prisoners. Additionally, they were asked to
supply (cid:1) in each case (cid:1) statistics for nationals and non-nationals and amongst the non-nationals, between
those of other Member States, those of the Accession Countries and those of third countries. Questions
regarding the number of female prisoners etc. did not enter into the scope of that questionnaire (as it does
not have any relevance for the two above-mentioned Green Papers) and it is not the intention of the
Commission to obtain information on this particular issue.

(2004/C 78 E/0596)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3479/03

by Christine De Veyrac (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(24 November 2003)

Subject: Transposition of Directive 2002/46/EC seeking to harmonise Member State legislation on food

supplements

In July 2002, the European institutions adopted a directive seeking to harmonise Member State legislation
on food supplements (2002/46/EC (1)).

This directive has made the food supplements sector ‘readable’ again, clarifying the boundary between food
and medicine, and making food supplements both safer and more trustworthy. Furthermore, the Directive
is doing specific rules for defining products, their contents, dosages and usage for vitamins and minerals,
and imposes the same rules on the consumer information throughout Europe. However, it leaves it up to
the Member State to regulate the issue of the use of plants in food supplements.

This text was to be transposed into national law on 31 July 2003, which is not yet the case in all Member
States.

Can the Commission provide:

(cid:1) the list of those Member States which have in fact transposed the directive before the deadline, and

the list of those which did not;

(cid:1) a list of those Member States which transposed the Directive to the letter, and the list of those which

chose to go further, by incorporating aspects not harmonised by the Directive?

Furthermore, does the Commission believe that the principle of the freedom of movement provided for in
the Treaty of Accession can be applied to those aspects not harmonised by the Directive, and not dealt
with in the transposition process?

Does the Commission intend to take fresh initiatives on those aspects not harmonised by Directive 2002/
46/EC so as to encourage greater harmonisation of European legislation on food supplements?

(1) OJ L 183, 12.7.2002, p. 51.