WRITTEN QUESTION No. 436/98 by Mark KILLILEA to the Commission. Take-up of EU agri-environmental measures
9. 10. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 310/63 (98/C 310/81) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0431/98 by Leonie van Bladel (UPE) to the Commission (24 February 1998) Subject: Refusal by Slovenia to grant citizenship to 70 000 residents According to the Slovenian human rights organization Helsinki Monitor for Sloveniaí, almost 70 000 residents of the Republic of Slovenia, who have lived there since before the collapse of the former Yugoslavia in 1991, have still not been granted Slovenian nationality. According to this organization, which speaks in some cases of áadministrative ethnic cleansingí, between seven and ten thousand of these are the children of mixed marriages (i. e. with one non-Slovene parent). Does not the Commission consider that the failure to grant nationality to persons who are entitled to it under Slovenian law (because they were already resident in Slovenia in 1991) is a violation of their human rights? Is the Commission prepared to ask the Slovenian Government for clarification on this issue and to urge this matter to be settled as soon as possible? Answer given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission (3 April 1998) According to current United Nations high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) estimates, there are approximately 5 000 to 10 000 stateless people in Slovenia, who, for a variety of reasons, have neither requested Slovene nationality nor claimed refugee status inside the deadline of 31 December 1991 set by the Slovene government after independence. The Slovene authorities have undertaken to take steps to resolve the issue. In the first instance, the Slovene Ministry of Interior, in co-operation with UNHCR, is carrying out a special project to identify more precisely the number of stateless people living in Slovenia. The Commission and UNHCR continue to monitor this issue closely and have impressed on the Government the importance of resolving it as soon as possible. (98/C 310/82) WRITTEN QUESTION P-0436/98 by Mark Killilea (UPE) to the Commission (16 February 1998) Subject: Take-up of EU agri-environmental measures Under the incentives launched by the Commission under Regulation No (EEC) 2078/92 (1), can the Commission state what amount Ireland has drawn down under these agri-environmental measures to date, and what percentage this is of the total amount made available by the EU? Is it not possible to give a breakdown in terms of headings, i. e. environmentally friendly farming, non-productive land management, training or demonstration projects? (1) OJ L 215, 30. 7. 1992, p. 85. Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (27 February 1998) Ireland has launched a single programme to implement Council Regulation (EEC) No 2078/92 of 30 June 1992 on agricultural production methods compatible with the requirements of the protection of the environment and the maintenance of the countryside (1). This is called the rural environment protection scheme (REPS) and is available to all farmers throughout the country, who agree to carry out environmental activities and observe certain restrictions on production practices for at least five years. Payments were first made under the REPS programme in 1995 and the amounts contributed by the European agriculture guidance and guarantee fund (EAGGF) for the first three years were 19 MECU in 1995, 43 MECU in 1996, and 98 MECU in 1997