WRITTEN QUESTION E-2511/99 by María Sornosa Martínez (PSE) and María Valenciano Martínez-Orozco (PSE) to the Commission. Infringement of the principle of sex equality in chess tournaments within the European Union.
C 225 E/154 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 8. 8. 2000 (2000/C 225 E/168) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2508/99 by Jaime Valdivielso de CuØ (PPE-DE) to the Council (22 December 1999) Subject: Trade On 9 November 1999, following the Council meeting of EU Industry Ministers, it became clear that the difficulties currently facing European shipyards in general and Spanish ones in particular are largely due to the ádumpingí practised by South Korea. Why has no action been taken against the country in question, whose dumping practices are partly financed out of international funds? Reply (28 February 2000) In its Conclusions of 9 November 1999 on the situation in world shipbuilding, the Industry Council shared the Commissionís view that the shipbuilding sector is facing a critical situation world-wide with very low prices and a serious overcapacity caused by the Republic of Korea, which severely affects the European shipbuilding industry. The Council also expressed its serious concern on the results of the Commissionís investigations which indicate that contracts have been awarded in the Republic of Korea at prices below cost, thus causing damage to the interests of EU yards. Consequently, the Council called on the Commission to pursue its efforts to establish a level playing field for the sector by immediately engaging the Republic of Korea in constructive consultations with a view to halting the unfair competition. On the basis of these conclusions, a joint meeting between the representatives of the EC Commission and of EU industry on one side and the representatives of the Government of Korea and Korean Industry on the other side took place in Paris on 14 December 1999 in the framework of the OECD. The two sides had a constructive dialogue on EUís concerns over the world shipbuilding market situation which covered supply and demand, over-capacity and low prices and the question of the financing of Korean shipyards in difficulties like Halla and Daewoo. (2000/C 225 E/169) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2511/99 by María Sornosa Martínez (PSE) and María Valenciano Martínez-Orozco (PSE) to the Commission (22 December 1999) Subject: Infringement of the principle of sex equality in chess tournaments within the European Union By law, all the EU Member States specifically ban mixed chess tournaments involving matches between players of the opposite sex. However, playing chess (which is an intellectual pursuit) does not require any particular muscular or physical capacity which could justify segregating players on the basis of their sex. Last year the Commission, in reply to a petition submitted by the Spanish citizen JosØ Eduardo Da Riva Alfonso (Petition No 253/98), took the view that there was no justification whatever for such discrimina- tion. Although it was true that, in certain sports, men and women competed in different categories, chess did not require any specific physical preparation or ability which was beyond the reach of women. To quote from the Amsterdam Treaty and, in particular the following Articles thereof: ü Article 2: The Community shall have as its task, by implementing common policies or activities , to promote equality between men and womení, 8. 8. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 225 E/155 ü Article 3: á the activities of the Community shall include a contribution to education and training of quality ; the Community shall aim to eliminate inequalities, and to promote equality between men and womení; ü Article 13: á the Council, on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting the European Parliament, may take appropriate action to combat discrimination based on sex í, the fact that discrimination in chess-playing and coaching is not covered by and in view of Directive 76/207/EEC (1) treatment as regards employment) since chess players cannot be regarded as salaried employees, does the Commission not think that, on the basis of the above-quoted articles, the sexes is discriminated against in the pursuit of sport in general and chess in particular? legislative initiatives should be launched in order to ensure that neither of (on equal Does the Commission believe that it has done all it can to provide the Council with proposals intended to eradicate sex discrimination, which is one of the priority objectives laid down in the EC Treaty? (1) OJ L 39, 14. 2. 1976, p. 40. Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission (14 February 2000) The Commission is keen to emphasise that, just like the Honourable Member, it is very attentive to the issue of non-discrimination between women and men. As pointed out by the Honourable Member, sport is an area in which equal opportunities are of particular In certain sports men and women compete in separate categories in order to ensure importance. opportunities for women and so one can speak of positive discrimination. In order to assemble all the relevant information with a view to assessing whether this principle applies to chess, the Commission will contact the competent international organisations in this field. The Commission shares the Honourable Memberís opinion that this issue must be seen in the general context of equal opportunities. A standing group of Commissioners has been put in place, chaired by the President of the Commission; the groupís Vice-President is the Commissioner for employment and social affairs. The groupís mandate is mainly to ensure that the gender dimension is taken into account in all relevant Community policies and actions, pursuant to Article 3(2) of the Treaty (1). Besides, on 26 Novem- ber 1999 the Commission transmitted to the Council and, for consultation, to the European Parliament, a proposal for a Council Decision establishing a Community action programme to combat discrimination (2) and proposals for directives establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (3) and on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin (4). SEC(1999) 1483 ü COM(1999) 567 final. (1) Communication from the President Groups of Members of the Commissioní. (2) (3) COM(1999) 565 final. (4) COM(1999) 566 final. (2000/C 225 E/170) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2514/99 by Pedro Marset Campos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (22 December 1999) Subject: Siting, in a rural tourism area (AbarÆn, in the Murcia area of Spain), of a waste water purification plant financed by means of the EUís Leader II programme and the Spanish Governmentís Future programme On 18 June 1999 the Commission approved, for country holiday accommodation in the Caæada Hidalgo district, to be financed by means of the Leader II programme (file No B. B3. 080, name of Trinidad GonzÆlez Maquilón, 1 370 096 pesetasí worth of funding to be provided). in AbarÆn (Murcia), a project