WRITTEN QUESTION E-1927/99 by Reino Paasilinna (PSE) to the Commission. Criteria for respect for minority rights.
C 225 E/32 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 8. 8. 2000 The audit also clearly showed that Ekpizo did not dispose of the necessary own resources for the two large projects in 1999. The total cost of the two projects originally amounted to € 572 605, of which 50 % was to be financed from Ekpizoís own funds. Ekpizo therefore decided to withdraw one of the two approved projects. As far as the remaining 1999 project is concerned, a final deadline of 15 October 1999 was given to present a financially acceptable project. To date, no modified application has been received by the Commission. The decisions concerning the projects from Ekpizo concern therefore the basic rules concerning financial management, rather than Decision No 283/1999/EC as such. (2000/C 225 E/033) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1927/99 by Reino Paasilinna (PSE) to the Commission (4 November 1999) Subject: Criteria for respect for minority rights One of the criteria for enlargement is respect for minority rights. However, no Commission publication contains an official list indicating what minority rights comprise. The Commission is drawing up the second annual report on the progress made by the applicant countries. The conditions applicable to the various countries differ. Has the Commission drawn up a list of minimum requirements? What qualitative and quantitative criteria does the Commission use in order to assess whether minority rights are adequately respected, with reference to ethnicity, race, language and religion? Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission (2 December 1999) It is true, as the Honourable Member points out, that the Commission has not published an official list of minority rights. It notes, however, that such rights are set out in the 1996 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the 1992 UN Declaration on the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom and, above all, the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities drawn up in the framework of the Council of Europe in 1994. The rights referred to in these texts were taken into consideration when assessing the treatment and protection afforded to minorities by the countries applying for membership of the Union for the purposes of opinions on their accession requests in 1997 and the regular progress reports on individual countries sent to Parliament and the Council in 1998 and 1999. These opinions and reports show that the minority rights taken into account by the identity, particularly language, religion, Commission relate to the preservation of ethnic and cultural traditions and all other forms of cultural heritage. These rights also cover equality of treatment compared to people belonging to the majority in the various spheres of social and economic life, in particular access to employment, housing, education, goods and services, social protection and health care. The right to citizenship and the right on certain conditions to use the minority language in contacts with officialdom and in the courts, together with the right to association and freedom of expression, were also taken into account in the Commissionís analysis with a view to establishing whether the treatment of minorities was similar to the rest of the population. The rights in question also extend to protection of minorities against acts of hostility and violence on account of their ethnic, cultural and linguistic identity. The Commission can assure the Honourable Member that its analysis was carried out on the same basis for all the candidate countries and, while the terms of the appraisal might vary from one country to another, it is because the problems encountered differ, not the criteria used to assess them. The Commission also reminds the Honourable Member that the positions it adopted concerning the upholding of minority rights in these countries, both in the opinions and regular reports, were arrived at after consultations with the highest authorities and organisations acting in this area at international level, namely the High Commissioner for National Minorities of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), the Council of Europe, the Helsinki Federation and Amnesty International. 8. 8. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 225 E/33 This action has already produced results within the candidate countries: improvements concerning the naturalisation of members of the Russian-speaking minority in Estonia and Lithuania and the law on the use of minority languages in official proceedings that has finally been adopted in Slovakia, to cite only a couple of examples. Finally, the Commission would like to highlight the importance of its communication to the Cologne European Council on countering racism, xenophobia and anti-semitism in the candidate countries (1). The Commission trusts that its ongoing analysis and criticisms of the situation in the candidate countries will lead to minority rights being fully upheld and protected. (1) COM(1999) 256 final. (2000/C 225 E/034) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1935/99 by Nicholas Clegg (ELDR) to the Commission (4 November 1999) Subject: Commission staff How many full-time Commission áofficialsí are working either directly or indirectly in the administration of the EUís development and assistance programmes? What proportion of the total full-time staff of the Commission does this represent? Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission (10 January 2000) Following the recent reorganisation of the Commission services, there are approximately 2 600 head- quarters staff working in the six external relations services (external relations, trade, development, enlargement, humanitarian aid office and joint service for external relations). This represents 10 % of all personnel working in the Commission headquarters. Of this number, almost 400 are employed in DG Development, with an estimated further 900 staff working in other external relations services on development cooperation and assistance programmes. In addition, around 650 Commission officials are employed in the delegations in third countries. These staff are occupied on a wide range of external relations functions, including management of external aid programmes. The staffing of the external relations family is as follows: Headquarters External relations Trade Development Enlargement Joint service Humanitarian aid office Field Delegations (1) Grade 1 local staff: A grade equivalent. (2) ENDís, Auxiliaries, Interimaires. Officials External staff Total 666 379 346 214 551 118 2274 654 99 65 38 52 126 19 399 765 444 384 266 677 137 2673 local staff 28 (1) 682 (2)