WRITTEN QUESTION No. 255/98 by Jan SONNEVELD to the Commission. Imports of fish from third countries
17. 7. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 223/147 Finally, the Commission is aware of the added value which international structures represent for the national, regional or local organisations of which they are made up. The existence of networks and central structures has a direct impact on the volume and quality of international activities proposed. At the end of 1997, the Commission drew up a report on the use of this funding between 1995 and 1997, and this will be sent directly to the Honourable Member and to the Secretariat-General of the Parliament. The report shows how the number of applications for funding has grown, partly because, since 1997, calls for proposals have been published in the Official Journal and are thus more widely publicised, partly because, in the interests of transparency, information is now available on the Internet, and finally because of the creation of new international structures. This trend will probably continue in 1998. The report shows, too, that the beneficiariesí operating costs are also rising, chiefly because of the geographical expansion of the networks. In this situation, it is only because of the trade-offs which have been necessary under Heading 5 of the Financial Perspective in view of the current budgetary difficulties that the Commission has been obliged to reduce the amount proposed for this item in the 1998 preliminary draft budget. (98/C 223/193) WRITTEN QUESTION P-0254/98 by John Corrie (PPE) to the Commission (5 February 1998) Subject: Cattle deaths The British Press has reported that 12 cattle imported into the United Kingdom have died from BSE. Can the Commission say from which countries these cattle came and where they were born? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (23 February 1998) The Commission has contacted the British authorities as a result of the reports mentioned by the Honourable Member, and has received the following information. At 30 January 1998 bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) had been diagnosed in 13 cattle imported into the United Kingdom. The countries from which they came were Belgium (1), France (5), Ireland (1), Italy (3), Netherlands (2) and Canada (1). No information is available on their countries of birth. The British authorities have indicated that if the period of time between importation and diagnosis suggests that an animal could have been infected at the time of importation, they would pursue the matter with the authorities of the exporting country. So far, they have not found this to be necessary. (98/C 223/194) WRITTEN QUESTION P-0255/98 by Jan Sonneveld (PPE) to the Commission (5 February 1998) Subject: Imports of fish from third countries Decision 97/296/EC (1) contains arrangements for the import of fish and fishery products from a number of third countries. The list of countries satisfying the requirements laid down in this scheme was most recently updated by Decision 97/877/EC (2), according to which with effect from 1 July 1998 no imports will be possible from countries which are not listed. A considerable number of countries which are not listed meet the ápaperí requirements, but it appears that because of a shortage of manpower the EU is unable to verify whether this is the case