WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2449/97 by Leen van der WAAL to the Commission. Obstacles to the activities of the Uzbek Bible Society
C 60/132 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 25. 2. 98 Financial assistance from the Community Structural Funds may be provided in one or other of the forms listed in Article 5(2) of that Regulation, notably by part-financing of an operational programme or provision of a global grant, the latter being as a general rule managed by an intermediary designated by the Member State in agreement with the Commission and allocated by the intermediary in the form of individual grants to final recipients (local action groups or other collective bodies). The Community contribution to Leader II programmes is restricted to the maximum set in Article 13(3) of that Regulation. Payment of grants to the final recipients running innovative rural programmes under Leader II is conditional on their being implemented in conformity with the national or regional Leader II programme approved by the Commission, under which they fall. Article 14(4) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 laying down provisions for implementing the Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as regards coordination of the activities of the different Structural Funds between themselves and with the operations of the European Investment Bank and the other existing financial instruments (2) states that the respective commitments of the partners, in the framework of an agreement within the partnership, shall be reflected in the Commission’s decisions to grant assistance. The individual grants mentioned above are made in line with these decisions. Should a national financing agency (State, region, local authority) not meet its commitments under the individual grant agreement it signed jointly with the intermediary and the final recipient the legal implications would be a matter of national law and would therefore have to be dealt with in the Member State. (1) OJ L 185, 15. 7. 1988. (2) OJ L 374, 31. 12. 1988. (98/C 60/221) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2449/97 by Leen van der Waal (I-EDN) to the Commission (16 July 1997) Subject: Obstacles to the activities of the Uzbek Bible Society According to Open Doors, a Dutch foundation that offers help to persecuted Christians, some 25 000 copies of the New Testament were confiscated by Uzbekistanís customs authorities in late February. The Bibles were on their way from the Russian and Turkish Bible Society to the Uzbek Bible Society. They were confiscated on the recommendation of the Uzbek Council of Religious Affairs. The Uzbek Bible Society also received a letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs threatening it with closure for engaging in missionary activities. It appears that the Baptist Union also received a letter to this effect. 1. Can the Commission confirm these reports? Does the Commission agree that this action by the Uzbek authorities is inconsistent with the internationally 2. recognized right to freedom of religion and with the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement which has been concluded between Uzbekistan and the EU, but has yet to be ratified by the Member States and the EP? Is the Commission prepared to ask the Uzbek authorities to release the Bibles as soon as possible and to 3. permit the Uzbek Bible Society and the Baptist Union to operate freely? Answer given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission (11 September 1997) The Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its answer to Written Question E-2333/97 by Mrs Maij-Weggen (1). (1) See page 128