WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2957/98 by Nikitas KAKLAMANIS to the Commission. Destruction of ancient monument in Izmir
21. 5. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 142/61 As for the details of an eventual transition period the Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its reply to his Written Question E-1276/98. It is the Member States that formulate collectively the Community negotiation positions. No decision has been taken so far on transition periods with respect to the free movement of workers. (1) ‘Ostmitteleuropa auf dem Weg in die EU − Transformation, Verflectung, Reformbedarf’ by the Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, published in 1997, and ‘Auswirkungen der EU-Osterweiterung auf den österreichischen Arbeitsmarkt’ by the ‘Osterreichisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung’, published in 1998. (1999/C 142/074) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2955/98 by Gerhard Hager (NI) to the Council (19 October 1998) Subject: Viclas System According to press reports, during its Presidency Austria intends to break new ground in the fight against crime, by the introduction throughout Europe of the Viclas System installed in Austria in 1997 for the identification and detection of serial offenders. Can the Council answer the following: 1. On what legal basis is it to be introduced? 2. What actual form does the system take? 3. What legal data protection precautions does it contain? 4. What progress has been made in the negotiations? 5. Has there been any opposition to the plan? Reply (18/19 January 1999) The Council has not been seized with any proposal relating to the so-called Viclas system and has no information on the subject other than that the Austrian Presidency organised a seminar in Vienna from 23 to 27 November 1998 to explain the features of the system to experts of the Member States. (1999/C 142/075) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2957/98 by Nikitas Kaklamanis (UPE) to the Commission (8 October 1998) Subject: Destruction of ancient monument in Izmir One of the most important buildings of the late Hellenist/early Roman period in Izmir has been totally destroyed by work to build an underground railway in that Turkish city. During tunnelling work in the Tsangaya district of Izmir, an ancient public building was discovered at a depth of some 20 metres with fluted columns and Corinthian-like capitals made of white marble. This building (which in all probability was the Temple of the Goddess Athina) is now a pile of rubble, as not even the archaeologists were allowed to intervene. This incident demonstrates − yet again − how little the Turkish authorities are interested in preserving the culture of the peoples who once flourished on the territory of present-day Turkey, and it attests to the contempt in which they hold the monuments that are part of the European cultural heritage