WRITTEN QUESTION No. 14/98 by Gordon ADAM to the Council. Response of the Council to the Greenpeace paper on energy and the environment
22. 6. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 196/107 (98/C 196/149) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0014/98 by Gordon Adam (PSE) to the Council (28 January 1998) Subject: Response of the Council to the Greenpeace paper on energy and the environment Will the Council state what response the Luxembourg Presidency gave to the Greenpeace paper on energy and the environment, which called on: The EU to develop policies to limit further exploitation of all existing oil and gas reserves in the European Union and European Union territories. prevent the exploitation and exploration of oil and gas in the European Union and non-European Union territories. phase out the production and use of coal as an energy source. í If the Council did not respond to this specific point, would it please do so? Answer (7 April 1998) The Council would point out that it does not adopt positions on documents submitted to it outside the institutional framework. The Council would confirm that it considers the relationship between energy and the environment a matter of great importance and a key factor in energy policy choices. For that reason it has given the issue consistent consideration on the basis of the Commissionís communications and proposals. In that context it recently adopted, on 18 December 1997, a Resolution on a Community strategy to promote combined heat and power (1). Furthermore, the Council is continuing its discussions on the basis of the Commissionís White Paper on renewable sources of energy › a Community Strategy and Action Plan. At its meeting on 11 May 1998 the Council is to hold a public debate devoted to energy and the environment. It is also giving careful study to the Commission communication on a multiannual framework programme for actions in the energy sector, which tackles all the issues relating to Community actions in the energy sphere. (1) OJ C 4, 8. 1. 1998, p. 1. (98/C 196/150) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0019/98 by Nikitas Kaklamanis (UPE) to the Commission (29 January 1998) Subject: Need to protect Schengen system data According to European press reports, an official of the Belgian police auxiliary unit has been arrested and is being held by the Belgian authorities in Brussels on charges that he has passed on confidential information contained in the Schengen European system to criminal gangs, mainly from the Netherlands. The press reports in question note that the above system contains information regarding the sex, sexual preferences, political and religious beliefs and the state of health of citizens of the Union. Will the Commission give its official view on this matter and say how it intends to respond to these very grave charges which raise issues concerning democratic freedoms and the need to protect the private lives of EU citizens?