WRITTEN QUESTION E-2432/99 by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Reintroduction of wolves, bears and lynx.
1. 8. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 219 E/161 Furthermore, the General Affairs Council has repeatedly called for intensified efforts by the Kosovars and the international presence to fight against organized crime in Kosovo. In this context, the Council welcomed, in its meeting on 6 December, the intention of the Commission to include the fight against organized crime in its programming for assistance to Kosovo in the year 2000 and invited member States to identify appropriate assistance in this field. (2000/C 219 E/204) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2432/99 by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission (16 December 1999) Subject: Reintroduction of wolves, bears and lynx Will the Commission say whether there are any specific measures in progress (co-financed or not) to reintroduce wolves, bears and lynx? Have any measures been co-financed in the past for this purpose and are there any plans to do so in the near future? Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission (11 January 2000) Many projects have been financed under the financial instrument LIFE-Nature and its predecessors since 1988 aiming either directly or indirectly at the conservation of wolf, brown bear and lynx. In particular the wolf has been one of the species targeted in 21 projects, the lynx in 14 and the brown bear in 17. These projects certainly represent the major Community investment for the protection of these species. Further to that, Member States may have taken similar or complementary initiatives in the framework of other Community funds. Other projects for the conservation of these species may be financed in the future under LIFE III, provided good quality projects are presented for this purpose. (2000/C 219 E/205) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2436/99 by Diana Wallis (ELDR) to the Commission (16 December 1999) Subject: Data-Protection Directive Is the Commission aware that, owing to disparities in implementation at national level of the 1995 EU Data-Protection Directive, national data-protection laws are prejudicing cross-border trade and that this will have a considerable impact on the development of e-commerce within the EU? One example is the extension of the scope of data-protection laws to cover not only personal data, as envisaged by the Directive, but also the processing of corporate data. Does the Commission plan any action to limit the damage to the principle of the internal market caused by excessive ágold-platingí of the Directive on its transposition by the Member States?