WRITTEN QUESTION E-0834/04 by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission. Nine years' imprisonment for supplying 0,5 grams of methadone in Russia.
Date: 2004-03-15
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU relations, Russia, drug addiction, legal system, penalty, repression

C 84 E/890

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

Answer given by Mr Dimas on behalf of the Commission

(29 April 2004)

The issue mentioned by the Honourable Member is generally an area of competence of the Member States.
It is not the responsibility or within the competences of the Commission to recognise any language. The
fact of the matter is that sign language varies across Member States and regions. Thus, recognition of any
sign language is the responsibility of each Member State, and the Commission notes that a number of
Member States have indeed recognised certain individual sign languages as official languages at national
level.

However, the Commission is very sensitive to the needs of people for whom sign language is their first
language and within a number of EU action programmes, such as the Lingua programme, the Commission
has made grants available for projects which promote the teaching and learning of sign languages. All the
EU events organised within the framework of the European Year of People with Disabilities 2003 included
interpretation in sign languages as well as spoken languages. For example, the Joint Research Centre (JRC)
organised a conference entitled ‘eAccessibility by voice’, which was entirely subtitled through the use of
stenotypists, and in part, automatically, subtitled through the prototype voice recognition technology
developed by the JRC.

It is also important to recognise that it is necessary to be able to respond to the needs of a variety of
different people, and in particular for those who are deaf or hard of hearing for whom sign language is not
their first language. For this reason, the Commission tries to ensure easy access to written documents and
for example tries, where feasible, to provide velotype or hearing loops at conferences. However, within the
various framework programmes for research and technological development,
the Commission has
maintained a particular priority for research projects which help to improve the quality of life for people
with disabilities. Other examples of Commission action include its collaboration with the European
Broadcasting Union and the Cenelec standard setting committee to bring advances in the area of the
development and harmonisation of subtitling and also on the use of voice recognition to generate
subtitling for conferences and television broadcasts. An interesting activity in this context is the VOICE
project (http://voice.jrc.it/) of the Joint Research Centre. Moreover, the VOICE project has contributed to
technological research and development through developing a ‘design for all’ approach based on subtitling,
suitable for both able and disabled people. In this sense, subtitling could be an apt choice, worthwhile
exploring further, for enhancing the participation of persons with hearing disabilities in cultural activities.
The European Social Fund (ESF) is the main Community financial instrument in support of Member States
policies in the fields of education, training and employment, with a global allocation of EUR 62,5 billion
for the period 2000-2006 (EU15).

Training of theatrical signers can be supported in the framework of ESF co-funded programmes managed
and implemented by national and regional authorities.

The outcomes of all these different actions can help to address the challenges related to deafness and
hearing loss, and to boost the accessibility of a wide range of goods, services and possibly cultural activities
to the benefit of all society.

(2004/C 84 E/0984)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0834/04

by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission

(15 March 2004)

Subject: Nine years’ imprisonment for supplying 0,5 grams of methadone in Russia

In 2003, the Moscow journalist Ulyana Belozerova, aged 32, was sentenced under Article 228(4) of the
Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to nine years’ imprisonment in a high-security penal colony. She
was alleged to have sold 0,5 grams of methadone. The accusation against her was based solely on the
testimony of a young drug addict who claimed that Mrs Belozerova had placed a package containing the
substance concerned in a sandpit at a kindergarten, thereby indicating her intention to sell it. The public
prosecutor stressed that, because Mrs Belozerova had intended to pass on a dose of the substance in

3.4.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/891

it was legitimate to equate this act with its consequences (cid:1) public
question to another drug addict,
endangerment with criminal intent (cid:1) and consequently to define it as murder aforethought. Mrs Ulyana
Belozerova, who is a drug user,
is one victim among hundreds of thousands of an undifferentiated
campaign against drugs in Russia, which results in people’s being incarcerated for years or even decades
and which involves large-scale repression of drug-users, while there is no consistent and effective policy on
drugs.

What information does the Commission have about this case and, in general, about the phenomenon of
wholesale repressive measures against drug users in Russia and the consequences of this repressive policy?
Does the Commission consider it legitimate to equate with murder aforethought an act consisting of giving
or even selling 0,5 grams of methadone? More generally, does the Commission agree that this case (cid:1) one
example among thousands (cid:1) is merely a symptom of the serious malfunctioning of the judicial system
and the rule of law as a whole in the Russian Federation?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(27 April 2004)

The Commission cannot comment on the specific case in question, which is an internal Russian judicial
matter. In principle, a sentence on drug trafficking depends (cid:1) also in Russia (cid:1) on the quantity of drugs
dealt with, whether the convicted person has been a persistent offender or not, previous convictions of the
perpetrator, etc. It is, nonetheless, the view of the Commission that Russia should ensure the fair, non-
discriminatory and proportional application of the law, principles which constitute essential elements of
the EU/Russia partnership. This view has been underlined (cid:1) and will continue to be underlined (cid:1) by the
Commission in its political dialogue with Russia.

The Commission is aware of the need for Russia to improve the functioning and independence of its
judiciary and of ongoing Russian efforts to reform the judicial system. The Commission is closely following
and actively supporting these efforts via the Tacis programme of technical assistance.

In regard to Russia’s efforts to combat drug abuse, the view of the Commission is that an effective anti-
drugs strategy must follow a balanced approach between supply and demand reduction measures, as for
example outlined in the EU Action Plan on Drugs 2000-2004. Particular priority should be given to
preventive measures and the medical treatment of drug addicts in order to reintegrate them into society.
This policy is reflected in dialogue with third countries, including Russia.

(2004/C 84 E/0985)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0842/04

by Daniela Raschhofer (NI) to the Commission

(9 March 2004)

Subject: Basis for economic growth

The Commission recently presented the first draft of the 2007-2013 financial perspective.

It bases its draft on the assumption of 4,5 % economic growth during that period.

1. What is the basis for the Commission’s assumption?

2.

How realistic is it?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(29 March 2004)

1.
The 4 ½% nominal growth rate refers to the EU27 (existing and new Member States + Bulgaria and
Romania) and is composed of a 2 ½% volume increase and a 2 % inflation forecast. The inflation forecast is