WRITTEN QUESTION E-1961/99 by Gerhard Hager (NI) to the Council. General amnesty in Italy ‐ Compatibility with the Schengen Agreement.
1. 8. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 219 E/53 being located 50 kilometres from Milan. The Italian authorities have said that the other airlines operating at Malpensa are free to take the same commercial step and enter into a similar arrangement with Malpensa Express. The Commission is unable, on the basis of the information currently available to it, to determine whether the contract includes elements of State aid favouring one or other of the parties. (2000/C 219 E/062) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1961/99 by Gerhard Hager (NI) to the Council (9 November 1999) Subject: General amnesty in Italy ü Compatibility with the Schengen Agreement Whenever it is unable to cope with the persistent infringement of its laws, it is the Italian Governmentís habit to have recourse the ácondonoí or amnesty. This happened again at the beginning of this year when it used this device to legalise some quarter of a million illegal immigrants. The fact that the Italian State is clearly unable to police its borders efficiently does however inevitably affect the other Member States of the EU and the Schengen Agreement. 1. 2. 3. 4. Is the Council aware of this practice? Is this course of action by Italy compatible with the Schengen Agreement? If so, on what grounds is it compatible? If not, what action does the Council intend to take, or what action has it already undertaken? Reply (31 January 2000) In the context of the exchange of information on migration policy taking place routinely within the Council, Member States that have introduced programmes to regularise the situation of illegal migrants, or plan to introduce such programmes in the near future, have informed the Council thereof. The measures to strengthen the effectiveness of controls by Member States of external borders developed in the Schengen framework (which, following the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty, have been integrated in the framework of European Union) are without prejudice to the Member Statesí right to determine the conditions for allowing third-country nationals who have entered or are staying on their territory without the required documentation and who have been staying there for a fairly long period of time, to continue to do so. (2000/C 219 E/063) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1965/99 by Gerhard Hager (NI) to the Council (9 November 1999) Subject: EU project Natura 2000í ü Repercussions on the situation of individuals under private law The Federal State of Lower Austria has registered 31. 63 % of its total surface area under the EU project Natura 2000í. Under this project, the Member States are obliged to ensure compliance with the directive on the preservation of bird life and the áflora-fauna-habitat directiveí in the designated areas. In drawing up the corresponding lists of designated areas, most landowners were neither asked nor informed even though this entails major restrictions on property rights and use