WRITTEN QUESTION P-0705/04 by Sebastiano Musumeci (UEN) to the Commission. Creation of an observatory to study the phenomenon of organised mafia-type crime and similar forms of criminality in the EU.
Date: 2004-03-04
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU office or agency, EU police cooperation, Eurojust, Europol, economic survey, fight against crime, judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the EU, organised crime, social survey, statistics

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They include (see Article 1(10) of Regulation (EC) No 316/2004 (3) amending Article 37(1)(e) of Regulation
(EC) No 753/2002) the following:

(cid:1) the third country must present a substantiated request to the Commission and provide the justificatory

data for recognition of the traditional term;

(cid:1) the language of the traditional term must be the official language of the third country and the term in

that language must have been used for at least 10 years;

(cid:1) if the language of the traditional term is not the official language, its use must be provided for in the
language must have been used

in such cases the traditional

term in that

country’s legislation;
continuously for at least 25 years;

(cid:1) other requirements such as that the term be specific and distinctive and that there is no risk of

consumers being misled.

the Portuguese traditional

In the case of
terms the Honourable Member mentions a number of
requirements must therefore be met if they are to be used in the Community by third countries. Thus
for a term such as Ruby, Tawny, Vintage (whether or not followed by Late Bottle), Canteiro or Frasqueira
to be used on a liqueur wine other than Port or Madeira in the first place either English or Portuguese as
appropriate must be the official language of the third country and the term must have been used for at
least 10 years, or English or Portuguese must be a second language recognised in the country’s legislation
and in that case the term must have been used for at least 25 years. Secondly, the term must be specific
and distinctive and not such as to mislead the consumer when the wine is marketed in Europe. There must
also be some tradition behind use of the term in the third country.

It should be noted that this category of traditional term (List B) was attacked by the third countries on the
grounds that the Community had created a new industrial property right (additional to geographical
indications) debarring them from using the terms in question for their wines on the Community market
(e.g. Fino, Claret, Vintage, etc.) although some of these terms had long been in use elsewhere in the world.

The requirements for use of the traditional terms Reserva velha, Solera, Vinho regional, Vinho generoso
and Vinho doce natural by third countries remain unchanged, since they were already included in List A to
Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 753/2002.

(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 of 29 April 2002 laying down certain rules for applying Council
Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 as regards the description, designation, presentation and protection of certain wine
sector products, OJ L 118, 4.5.2002.

(2) Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine,

OJ L 179, 14.7.1999.

(3) Commission Regulation (EC) No 316/2004 of 20 February 2004 amending Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 laying
down certain rules for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 as regards the description, designation,
presentation and protection of certain wine sector products, OJ L 55, 24.2.2004.

(2004/C 84 E/0944)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0705/04

by Sebastiano Musumeci (UEN) to the Commission

(4 March 2004)

Subject: Creation of an observatory to study the phenomenon of organised mafia-type crime and similar

forms of criminality in the EU

Increased economic and financial flows and the globalisation of the economy have given rise to the
appearance and consolidation of transnational organised crime in Europe, which grows and proliferates
through structures and strategies whose territorial boundaries no longer correspond to the confines of an
individual state.

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The reported presence in the EU of a veritable crime multinational entails the management of vast
immigration and the sexual
activities,
exploitation of women and children, drug trafficking,
trading waste (including
radioactive waste) and trafficking animals and works of art.

including the trafficking of human organs and tissues,

illegal arms trading,

illegal

Recent high-level police investigations have confirmed the existence of operative links between the mafia
in Europe in its various forms, international terrorism and South American paramilitary organisations.

The ‘European crime prevention network’ produces
participation of MEPs.

limited operative evidence and excludes

the

In view of the above, does not the Commission consider it vital to set up, as a matter of urgency, an
observatory, with a representative from the European Parliament, to carry out a far-reaching and coherent
study of the phenomenon of organised mafia-type crime and similar forms of criminality in European
countries by means of an in-depth investigation of the causes and the devastating effects of such crime in
social and economic terms, and to propose suitable solutions to reduce existing discrepancies in penalties
between the different legal systems of individual Member States?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(6 April 2004)

In today’s world, the scope, nature and methods of organised crime change rapidly and constitute a serious
threat to the security of citizens and society.

The prevention of organised crime can greatly benefit from the reinforcement of actions, an enhanced
exchange of practices, the setting of common priorities, and the co-ordination of national approaches at
information and expertise.
European level,
Furthermore, value can be added to existing national efforts by developing at European level common
methods and infrastructures for the gathering, analysis and use of criminal intelligence and the elaboration
of common profiling methods.

through the gathering, analysis and exchange of

i.e.

Recent progress at European level in the field of law enforcement and judicial co-operation include in
particular the adoption of the Framework Decision (1) on the European arrest warrant and the Framework
Decision (2) on enforcement in the Union of decisions concerning the freezing of assets.

The establishment of Eurojust which has been operational
in The Hague since December 2002 is an
important part of ensuring proper coordination between the national prosecuting authorities, as regards
practical policing and judicial co-operation. On the basis of an initiative by several Member States,
agreement was also reached in principle on the establishment of joint investigative teams, which would
bring the entry into force of the 2000 Mutual Legal Assistance Convention.

Furthermore, the role of Europol has also been reinforced to extend its remit to all the serious forms of
international crime mentioned in the Annex to the Europol Convention. Europol publishes once a year the
EU Organized Crime Report, based on contributions from the Member States. The primary aim of the
report is to obtain and disseminate information about organized crime in the EU, thereby providing an
effective basis for governments and parliaments to formulate coherent policies at national and EU levels.
This process also supports law enforcement decision-makers in setting priorities and allocating resources as
appropriate.

As far as the detection, investigation and prosecution of criminal activities is concerned, cooperation at
Union level provides wider possibilities for effectively addressing organized crime, and increases the
viability of national law enforcement actions. This is supported by the gathering, sharing and exchanging
of information and intelligence through information networks, operational cooperation, the setting up of
common training programmes and other schemes for knowledge sharing. It is further supported through
cooperation in the field of scientific police information and forensic science, and in the coordination of
efforts undertaken in this context. Operational cooperation can receive strong impetus from supporting
the co-operation and coordination of actions of enforcement authorities, including on the basis of public-
private partnerships.

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Evaluation and monitoring of measures to fight organised financial crime will take on growing importance
for the Commission. To this end, the Commission will work towards establishing working methods as well
as targeting areas and objectives proposed in close co-operation with Member States and other relevant
bodies such as Europol, Eurostat and Member States’ statistical agencies, relevant sectors of the academic
community, and the private sector, as appropriate.

The Commission intends to create European expert groups on statistics and criminal research and set up
an EU network of national correspondents on crime statistics. Two ad-hoc experts’ meetings, organized by
the Commission under the Forum on the Prevention of Organised Crime, have already taken place with a
view to preparing this initiative.

In this context,
the Commission is also supporting the implementation of a set of economic risk
assessments on sectoral organised crime, with a view to formulating a European methodology on
economic risk analysis and to encourage the development of early warning systems, benchmarking
exercises and the identification and exchange of good practices in reducing crime, victimisation and fear of
crime.

Finally, the potential value added of dedicated observatories will also be assessed in this context.

(1) Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant and the surrender
the
procedures between Member States (cid:1) Statements made by certain Member States on the adoption of
Framework Decision, OJ L 190, 18.7.2002.

(2) Council Framework Decision 2003/577/JHA of 22 July 2003 on the execution in the European Union of orders

freezing property or evidence, OJ L 196, 2.8.2003.

(2004/C 84 E/0945)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0706/04

by Jaime Valdivielso de Cué (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(9 March 2004)

Subject: Wine

It came as a surprise when, in February, the Commission adopted an amendment to the Regulation on
wine labelling, allowing third countries to market wines using traditional EU nomenclature, such as
crianza, reserva or gran reserva, against the wishes of the producer countries.

Furthermore, for years now the Commission has been conducting thorny negotiations, both bilaterally and
through the WTO, with a view to preserving our traditional appellations. Only recently have various third
countries lodged complaints with the WTO against Regulation (CE) 753/2002 (1) on the labelling of wine,
since in practice, it does not authorise the use of the traditional Community terminology.

Why did the Commission not wait until the WTO returned its opinion before it made any amendment to
the EU legislation, and thus not throw away the chance of defending our interests at WTO level?

What criteria does this change in the traditional EU stance on this issue obey?

What does the Commission estimate the losses to the sector at?

(1) OJ L 118, 4.5.2002, p. 1.