WRITTEN QUESTION E-0141/04 by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission. Child labour.
Date: 2004-01-26
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: child labour, child protection, clothing industry, film industry, labour law, organised crime, paedophilia, programmes industry, young worker

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3.4.2004

It is the responsibility of the Portuguese government to ensure access for residents of the outlying regions
on the same conditions as mainland residents. However, under Article 299(2) of the TEU there is a strong
case for Community support and funding to meet the costs of providing free and universal access to
Portuguese television channels.

Can the Commission state its position on the possibility of support measures with a view to ending both
this discriminatory situation over access to national media in the Azores and Madeira and TV Cabo’s
practice of charging higher subscriptions than those required for other limited-access channels in mainland
Portugal?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(11 March 2004)

The Portuguese television channels’ signal
broadcasting network and which the television channel owners pay for the broadcasting service.

is distributed by an organisation which owns the television

RTP (Radiotelevisao Portuguesa) pays that organisation for broadcasting the signal of its first channel
throughout the country. The requirement to supply that channel to the whole population is among the
public-service obligations stipulated by the Portuguese Government. RTP is not subject to the same
requirement for channel A2, however, nor as regards mainland access to the regional channels RTP Madeira
and RTP Azores).

TV Cabo, to which the Honourable Member refers, is a service supplied by a private organisation which,
under agreement with a number of national and foreign channels, provides access to them for its
customers throughout the country. In return for payment, that service not only provides access to the
Portuguese channels referred to above but also to foreign channels, either via cable or via small dishes and
individual satellite-reception equipment.

Admittedly there are differences due to geographical location as regards cost and accessibility in the more
isolated regions, and this is aggravated in the remotest regions because of the distances involved. Such
differences are noticed not only as regards access to Portuguese commercial television channels, but also in
relation to various ‘imports’ and ‘exports’ of products, raw materials, equipment and services, and the
movement of people.

However, the Commission considers that this is a matter for the national and regional authorities in
Portugal and that Article 299(2) of the EC Treaty does not alter that division of responsibility. If the
Portuguese authorities wish to grant aid to promote access to broadcast services, the aid must nevertheless
comply with Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty.

With regard to infrastructure which may be financed under the Structural Funds, decisions are taken on
the basis of the priorities which the national and regional authorities and the Commission set jointly in
advance, and do not cover television channel distribution objectives. That financing cannot therefore be
extended to include all areas in which deficiencies are found.

According to the latest information available to the Commission, the Portuguese Government is currently
examining the possibility of inducing the private channels TVI and SIC to distribute their broadcasts in
clear to the Azores and Madeira regions. An agreement with those television channels could meet the
wishes expressed by the Honourable Member.

(2004/C 84 E/0364)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0141/04

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission

(26 January 2004)

Subject: Child labour

Despite the existence in all the Member States of specific and solicitous laws on the protection of children’s
rights, the scourge of child labour has not been totally eradicated. Quite the contrary, in many cases

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criminals have taken a hold on this area, creating a veritable world market which very often uses cheap
child workers who are immigrants, and therefore more easily exploitable.

Furthermore, it seems that industries such as the film, audio-visual and fashion industries, which have a
certain allure, are using increasingly sophisticated techniques to attract child workers, and so use teenagers
of school age who under the legislation in force would not be permitted to work in other sectors.
Unfortunately (cid:1) and this is the most repugnant aspect of this phenomenon (cid:1) it has been proved that
some of the agencies concerned are a cover for operations linked to drugs, prostitution and paedophilia.

Can the Commission therefore indicate:

1. whether an enquiry has been conducted to verify the true scale in Europe of this phenomenon which,
even in the best-case scenarios where there is no violence, can clearly be seen to profoundly effect
teenagers’ development by depriving them of some of their basic rights;

2. what initiatives it will take to identify new methods of combating child labour, with particular
reference to industries such as the fashion, film and audio-visual industries, which call for regulation
of a type that lays down transparency criteria for the granting of licences to agencies and limits
children’s activities to tasks corresponding to their age.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(8 March 2004)

Council Directive 94/33/EC of 22 June 1994 on the protection of young people at work (1) prohibits work
by children under 15 years or who are still subject to compulsory schooling. It obliges Member States to
ensure that young people under 18 years are protected against economic exploitation and against any
work likely to harm their safety, health or physical, mental, moral or social development or to jeopardize
their education.

Member States may authorize employment of children for the purposes of performance in cultural, artistic,
sports, or advertising activities on condition that the activities are not likely to be harmful to the safety,
health or development of children, and are not such as to be harmful to their attendance at school, their
participation in vocational guidance or training programmes or their capacity to benefit
from the
instruction received.

The Directive has been transposed in all Member States. Even though the legislative measures may be
satisfactory, there are indications that the monitoring is not always sufficient. The Commission therefore
envisages an exchange of best practices regarding monitoring young workers.

(1) OJ L 216, 20.8.1994.

(2004/C 84 E/0365)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0145/04

by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission

(26 January 2004)

Subject: International Rice Year

Resolution 2/2001 of the Food and Agriculture Organisation Conference meant that at the 57th sitting of
the UN General Assembly, on 16 December 2002, 2004 was declared to be International Rice Year.

The resolution highlights the fact that rice is the basic food of half the earth’s population, proclaims the
need to increase collective awareness of its role in the fight against poverty, under-nutrition and food
safety, and invites the FAO to promote the marking of International Rice Year in collaboration with
government and other bodies.

The slogan is ‘Rice is Life’, which takes rice as its starting point and seeks to tackle issues concerning
production, nutrition, agro-biodiversity, soil and water management, employment and income, as well as
social issues affecting rice-based systems.