WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3996/97 by Friedhelm FRISCHENSCHLAGER to the Commission. Free movement of workers
C 196/50 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 22. 6. 98 As the Honourable Member will know, Tunisia was the first Mediterranean country to sign a new Euro-Med Association Agreement. This Agreement establishes a political dialogue which allows both parties to discuss openly a range of political issues, including human rights. Furthermore, it includes a áhuman rights clauseí which stipulates that bilateral relations, áas well as the provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles which guide their domestic and international policies and constitute an essential element of the Agreementí. As a delegation from the European Parliament recently did, the Council has raised and will continue to raise the question of human rights and fundamental freedoms, both in general terms and with respect to specific cases, including that of Khe·ma ¤s Ksila, reminding its Tunisian interlocutors of their human rights responsibilities and undertakings in the framework of both the EC-Tunisian Agreement and the Barcelona Process. (98/C 196/68) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3996/97 by Friedhelm Frischenschlager (ELDR) to the Commission (14 January 1998) Subject: Free movement of workers During the past 30 years the autonomous province of Bolzano-Bozen (Italy) has adopted for its territory an extensive series of legal and administrative provisions concerning grants from public funds towards the purchase of property for use as a main residence, and other housing assistance (including the provision of subsidized building land, rent subsidies, crisis payments, etc. ) for low-income families and individuals. Apart from financial need, the main criterion on the basis of which subsidies are granted and their level fixed is the length of time that the recipient has resided within the territory of the autonomous province of Bolzano-Bozen (Article 4, regional law No 4 of 2 April 1962). Residence in other EC Member States is not taken into account. Is the Commission aware of this arrangement? Does the Commission take the view that this arrangement, particularly in so far as it applies to workers from other Community Member States, is consistent with the ban on discrimination in Community law and, in particular, with Article 9 of Council Regulation 1612/68/EEC (1) of 15 October 1968, particularly with respect to the long period of residence required? If the Commission takes the view that this arrangement violates Community law, can it say what steps it has taken, or will take, to ensure that Community law is complied with? (1) OJ L 257, 19. 10. 1968, p. 2. Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (24 February 1998) The Commission will ask the Italian authorities to provide full details of the arrangement in question. These details will make it possible to establish whether the situation described by the Honourable Member constitutes indirect discrimination against a Community worker in comparison with an Italian worker