WRITTEN QUESTION E-1065/04 by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission. Legal operation of paedophile networks in Europe — new Dutroux?.
Date: 2004-04-06
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Denmark, Europol, Internet, area of freedom, security and justice, child pornography, child protection, control of communications, database, paedophilia

C 88 E/562

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

(2004/C 88 E/0573)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1054/04

by Franz Turchi (UEN) to the Commission

(5 April 2004)

Subject: Increase in European School fees

The Board of Governors of the European Schools met in Brussels on 15 March this year. The topics
discussed at the meeting included the increase in fees paid for each pupil each academic year.

It was decided by 12 votes in favour to increase the fees for the 2005/2006 academic year by 11 %, plus
the average rate of inflation in Europe. Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands voted against.

Parents are extremely worried, since such decisions do not encourage broad access to education.

At the meeting the parents’ representative expressed his concern at the planned increases, since they would
lead to the elimination of category III pupils, i.e. those not automatically entitled to attend a European
School. What will the Commission do to ensure that access to the European Schools is not restricted in the
near future?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(30 April 2004)

The Honourable Member is referred to the answer given by the Commission to the written question E-
0237/04 by Mrs Miet Smet (1) concerning fees in European Schools and the reasons for the increases
decided by the Board of Governors, the body of representatives from all Member States on which the
Commission has one place and one vote.

The fees agreed by the Board of Governors on 15 March 2004 for all Category III pupils (that is, pupils
whose parents are not employed by any EU Institution) for the 2005/2006 school year amount to
EUR 2 400 for nursery school, EUR 3 300 for primary school and EUR 4 500 for secondary school. These
fees are well below the real average cost of almost EUR 11 000 per pupil. A Working Group is being set
up by the Board of Governors, at the Commission’s suggestion, to examine the issues of fees,
fee
exonerations and access for Category III pupils in future years.

(1) OJ C 84 E, 3.4.2004, p. 339.

(2004/C 88 E/0574)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1065/04

by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission

(6 April 2004)

Subject:

‘Legal’ operation of paedophile networks in Europe (cid:1) new Dutroux?

A ‘paedophilia association’ is operating legally in Denmark with its own website on the Internet which
coordinates and organises paedophile networks at European and international level. Denmark is not the
only example; the same phenomenon can also be observed in other countries.

This issue, in conjunction with the Dutroux trial being held in Belgium, after a delay of 7 years, has turned
the spotlight once again on the criminal activities of paedophile networks in connection with which the
EU recently adopted a framework decision on combating the sexual exploitation of children and child
pornography.

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Will the Commission say whether the legislative measures and political initiatives taken hitherto have been
effective, at European level, in combating this sordid business, which is a flagrant violation of human
rights and human dignity? In particular, what will
the Commission do to ensure Member States’
compliance with the law and to prohibit the use by such organisations of the facilities provided by digital
technology?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(30 April 2004)

The Commission fully shares the concerns expressed by the Honourable Member about the problem of
child pornography distributed through the Internet. There is a need for continuous efforts to combat
harmful and illegal content on the Internet based on international co-operation amongst governments,
particularly law enforcement and judicial authorities, but also between governments and the Internet
industry, dedicated hotlines and non-governmental organisations to effectively tackle this horrifying
phenomenon.

Primary responsibility for dealing with illegal content (including child pornography) is with the appropriate
law enforcement and judicial authorities of the Member States, which co-operate internationally in the
fight against child pornography on the Internet through the existing channels of communications, such as
Europol, Eurojust and Interpol. In that respect, the Commission would like to inform the Honourable
Member that European law enforcement authorities have recently closed down several electronic discussion
forums used by paedophiles.

The European Union has been a forerunner in the fight against illegal and harmful content since 1996,
with an approach agreed unanimously by the Parliament and the Council. The Safer Internet Action Plan
adopted by the Council and the Parliament in 1999 (1) is a major element in the Commission’s activity in
this field. It provides funding for a European network of hotlines allowing users to report illegal content,
including child pornography.

The Honourable Member is aware that the EU strategy to combat child pornography also consists of legal
instruments and practical measures against computer crime and child pornography. These include the
Council Framework Decision on approximation of laws and sanctions in the field of sexual exploitation of
children, with particular reference to child pornography on the Internet (2), and the Council Recom-
mendation of September 1998 (3) on the protection of minors and human dignity and the Council
Decision of May 2000 to combat child pornography on the Internet (4).

The Commission is currently supporting an effort made by several Member States, Europol and other third
Countries under the AGIS programme for funding an implementation study to establish a sophisticated
networked international child sexual exploitation image database, building on the fledgling system at
Interpol. Such a database, being both technically and legally possible, would have to take into account the
different national laws governing images of child sexual exploitation and protection of personal data.

The database will be an effective tool for law enforcement in identifying victims and offenders of child
sexual exploitation on-line around the world. It will reduce the international duplication of effort and
increase international co-operation in achieving these goals.

The Commission believes that the proposed database will have a major impact on the effective policing of
this horrendous crime by improving the exchange of information, reducing duplication and significantly
raising the analytical capacity.

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Official Journal of the European Union

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8.4.2004

Combating the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography and ensuring the respect of
fundamental human rights is a priority for the Commission. The Commission believes that the current
legislative measures in these fields, together with the continuous efforts in promoting a safer use of the
Internet and to combating illegal and harmful content on the Internet, are contributing substantially to
reaching these objectives.

(1) OJ L 33, 6.2.1999.
(2) Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA of 22 December 2003 on combating the sexual exploitation of children

and child pornography, OJ L 13, 20.1.2004.

(3) OJ L 270, 7.10.1998.
(4) OJ L 138, 9.6.2000.

(2004/C 88 E/0575)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1069/04

by Nicole Thomas-Mauro (UEN) to the Commission

Subject: Inconsistency of the Commission’s position on wine

(6 April 2004)

In late March, the Commission approved a series of campaigns designed to provide information about, and
to promote consumption of, agricultural products in third countries. The products concerned are wine,
fruit, olive oil, cheese and organic produce.

The Member States submitted to the Commission, for consideration, six promotion and information
programmes. The five programmes accepted are aimed at the United States, Canada, Japan, Switzerland,
Russia, Brazil and China.

The contribution from the European Union budget is estimated at about EUR 3 million (50 % of the cost of
the programmes).

However, the Commission is proposing to apply rules governing nutritional and health claims made on
food in order to exclude any promotional campaigns for wine.

On the one hand,
to encourage the
the Commission is using appropriations from the EU budget
promotion of wine, an agricultural product, in third countries (in order to boost the sector). On the other
hand, however, in its proposal for a regulation (1), it precludes any promotion of a moderate consumption
of wine on the territory of the European Union, although it has been scientifically proved that such
consumption forms a beneficial part of the Mediterranean diet.

Can the Commission justify the inconsistency between its campaign to promote the consumption of wine
outside the EU and its campaign to prohibit such consumption inside the EU?

Since the Commission has claimed for itself sole power to undertake ‘good’ promotion campaigns, could it
not, within the established regulatory framework, of course, allow wine producers to promote their wares?

(1) COM(2003) 424 final.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(30 April 2004)

The Commission in its Proposal for a Regulation on the use of nutrition and health claims made on

1.
foods has not proposed a ban on all promotion of wine, nor of any other food or drink.

However, the Commission is of the opinion that alcoholic beverages should not be promoted and
advertised on the basis of any nutritional and health benefits they may have, as the over-consumption of
these products leads to well-known serious health and social problems which the Commission is actually
trying to fight. In the Council Conclusions of 5 June 2001 on a Community strategy to reduce alcohol