WRITTEN QUESTION P-0283/04 by Caroline Lucas (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Public procurement policy in timer.
Date: 2004-02-02
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Joint Research Centre, forest conservation, invitation to tender, sustainable forest management, urban renewal, wood industry, wood product

C 84 E/352

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

Can the Commission explain why it has not identified these regions correctly, i.e. as outermost regions,
and has used a term which could create confusion with the overseas territories listed in Annex II?

Has the Commission any objection to the future inclusion in the maps concerned of the designation
‘Autonomous Region of the Azores’ and the inclusion of the towns of Angra do Heroísmo and Horta?

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(26 February 2004)

The Honourable Member refers to maps which the Commission publishes with the aim of informing the
general public about Europe. They are not official maps and do not serve any legal or administrative
purpose. In order to ensure that a map is readable, some editorial standards are needed concerning what
names to use. Among the standards followed, one is that the maps made freely available to the public use
the short form of names of countries and regions and that only one city per region is mentioned. Islands
are named, but not on smaller scale maps. Similarly, the expression ‘outermost regions’ referred to by
Article 299 of the EC Treaty has not been used for strictly editorial reasons, as this term is not widely
known and understood among the general public of all the Member States.

(2004/C 84 E/0409)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0283/04

by Caroline Lucas (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(2 February 2004)

Subject: Public procurement policy in timer

Could the Commission clarify what timbers are being used in the supply of security and fire doors during
refurbishment of the EU Joint Research Centre in Brussels, from which countries and by which timber
companies these timbers have been supplied, and what evidence has been received to confirm that all
timber used comes from legal and sustainable sources?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(16 March 2004)

The refurbishment of the building occupied by the Joint Research Centre in Brussels which took place in
1995-1996 was carried out by its owner, a private company, according to a lease agreement signed with
the Commission in 1994.

the Commission revised the ‘immeuble type’ document (1) which dated from 1992, and
In 1997,
introduced a requirement that invitations to tender should specify that aspects of sustainable forest
management should be taken into account.

However, as the refurbishment of the JRC building took place before 1997, the requirements related to the
timber used in the supply of security and fire doors during refurbishment of the Joint Research Centre, as
defined in the lease agreement, did not include a specific requirement to provide evidence that the timber
came from such sustainable sources (through, for example, forest certification labels).

The renovation contract for the building was awarded by the owner of the building. Consequently, no
detailed information on the timber used for the refurbishment is available to the Commission.

As demonstrated by the revision of the ‘immeuble type’ document, the Commission attaches great to the
requirement to ensure that timber is provided from environmentally sustainable sources, and now has in
place arrangements to ensure that this requirement is respected.

(1) The ‘Immeuble Type’ document is the Commission’s standard specification for buildings and sets out the standards

for quality of space, use of materials and quality of technical installations.