WRITTEN QUESTION P-1247/00 by Pasqualina Napoletano (PSE) to the Commission. Abduction of Somali children from the Italian families charged with their custody.
6. 3. 2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 72 E/31 The project was drawn up and financed without an environmental impact assessment and phases of the project have allegedly been paid for without the prescribed checks being carried out. Can the Commission give details of the whole process of granting funding for this project, in particular the checks carried out when phases of the project are paid for, and specify what amounts are involved? Answer by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission (6 June 2000) The multifund operational programme for Sicily for the 1994-1999 programme period includes (measure 3,5) aid for urban rail transport projects. The Region of Sicily applied for proposed part-financing of a tramway at Messina (Gazzi-Annunziata route). The project is at present under examination by the Commission, which recently asked the regional authorities for additional information covering the aspects of the environmental impact assessment to which the Honourable Member refers. Following its examination the Commission will decide on financing of the project. (2001/C 72 E/035) WRITTEN QUESTION P-1247/00 by Pasqualina Napoletano (PSE) to the Commission (11 April 2000) Subject: Abduction of Somali children from the Italian families charged with their custody In recent years there have been numerous cases of children, mainly of Somalian nationality, who had been entrusted to the custody of Italian families being abducted by their (real or alleged) áparentsí and illegally taken to other countries (including various European Union countries). In some cases it has proved possible to trace the children concerned, but the families to whom they had previously been entrusted encountered considerable problems in seeking to ensure that the rights of such children were protected by the judicial authorities of some Member States of the Union. There is reason to believe that, in many cases, these minors were not abducted by their real parents but by third parties intent on exploiting them for financial gain. In particular, many problems have arisen as a result of the fact that in some cases the provisions of the Convention of The Hague on international child abduction have not been fully applied in practice, which has caused difficulties in ascertaining how children are being treated and whether they are in good health, and in exercising the right to visit the children and ensuring that minors are repatriated, as laid down by the Convention. This is due to the tendency of the judicial authorities in some signatory states to consider the merits of the original custody proceedings, in flagrant breach of the spirit of the Convention, which limits the requirement to review the merits of custody arrangements to a few special cases only. In view of the foregoing: ü Would the Commission state what measures the Union institutions intend to adopt to ensure effective judicial cooperation with regard to the custody and international abduction of children? ü What measures do the Union institutions intend to adopt to ensure harmonisation of the Member Statesí rules on recognition of child custody arrangements? ü What measures do the Union institutions intend to adopt to ensure that existing international agreements (including the Convention of the Hague) are fully and effectively applied by the Member Statesí authorities? C 72 E/32 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 6. 3. 2001 Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission (23 May 2000) The Commission is not currently planning measures to ensure judicial cooperation with regard to the international abduction of minors. With regard to the harmonisation of the provisions of the Member States relating to the recognition of child custody arrangements, the Commissionís scoreboard includes measures on mutual recognition in civil matters, including family matters. Moreover, a seminar, to be attended by the Commission, will be held in Paris on 3 and 4 July 2000 in order to discuss mutual recognition. The French Presidency will be giving priority to an initiative to launch a European enforcement order in respect of family matters (visiting rights). The Commission has no powers top constrain the Member States to apply the Hague Convention in the appropriate manner. (2001/C 72 E/036) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1256/00 by Armando Cossutta (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (14 April 2000) Subject: Radioactive bombs in Kosovo During last eleven weeks of the war in Kosovo, NATO aircraft dropped depleted uranium bombs in quantities amounting to hundreds of kilos of radioactive material. The bombs, devised as anti-tank weapons, are fairly cheap since depleted uranium is a by-product of other processes. They release a very fine uranium oxide powder (the diameter of each particle is 400 times smaller that that of a grain of sand), which is dispersed over tens of kilometres by the wind or carried in surface water. The radioactivity produced in this way is extremely dangerous if inhaled or ingested as it causes internal contamination. The uranium particles are easily soluble in body fluids and lodge in the victimís organs, such as kidneys, liver and bones. People in the contaminated area thus suffer serious damage to their organism, as a result of radiation or direct contamination. From the experience of the Gulf War, when similar bombs were used and hundreds of US soldiers are still suffering the effects, it has emerged that the most immediate effects on human beings include cancer, leukaemia, miscarriages and congenital malformations and diseases of the liver and nervous system. Then there are the long-term effects on the environment. Does the Commission: 1. Not consider that it is necessary to adopt measures to ascertain the extent of the radioactive pollution in Kosovo? 2. Not think it should encourage decontamination measures? 3. Not think it should introduce a specific screening programme for high risk groups, such as pregnant women and children? 4. Not consider it necessary to promote an international campaign to ban depleted uranium bombs?