WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3285/97 by Marie-Paule KESTELIJN- SIERENS to the Commission. Telecommunications
C 158/78 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 25. 5. 98 (98/C 158/99) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3284/97 by Leonie van Bladel (UPE) to the Council (21 October 1997) Subject: Threat to the Okavango delta in Botswana Is the Council aware of Namibiaís intention, given the serious drought, to pump water out of the Okavango 1. river in Botswana? Is the Council aware that this is being carried out with financial aid from China, in exchange for which 2. Namibia is granting China fishing rights off the Namibian coast? 3. Given the unspoilt nature of the flora and fauna peculiar to the Okavango delta,is the Council prepared to consult the governments of Namibia and Botswana on ways of using financial aid from the European Union to find an alterative to Namibiaís water shortage? Is the Council prepared to use specialist knowledge on water supplies in Europe, and in particular the 4. British Wetlands Institute, which has offices in the Netherlands, to find a solution to this problem? Answer (16 February 1998) The Council has no information on Namibiaís alleged intention to pump water out of the Okavango river in Botswana. Moreover, it has no direct jurisdiction to intervene in this matter. This type of problem could be raised in the context of management of the Lome· Convention, which is primarily the responsibility of the Commission. (98/C 158/100) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3285/97 by Marie-Paule Kestelijn-Sierens (ELDR) to the Commission (20 October 1997) Subject: Telecommunications We are aware that liberalization of the telecommunications market is to take place on 1 January 1998, and that this will encourage competition. Is the Commission empowered to take other initiatives to ensure that the tariffs charged by telecommunications companies in the European Internal Market are not influenced by internal borders? Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission (12 November 1997) The Commission has taken and will continue to take all initiatives within its powers to tackle the cross-border effect in the tariffs of the telecommunications organisations. The main reasons why cross border tariffs are higher than domestic long distance tariffs are, firstly, that the former are still not cost-oriented, secondly, that the current networks have been designed on a national basis and, thirdly, that high interconnection or settlement rates are applied to terminate cross border calls. Under Directive 96/19/EC of 13 March 1996 amending Directive 90/388/EEC with regard to the implementation of full competition in telecommunications markets (1) Member States have to allow their telecom organisations to re-balance their tariffs before 1 January 1998 and, where such rebalancing cannot be completed before that date, to provide the Commission with a detailed time-table for the future phasing out of the remaining imbalances