WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3117/98 by Graham WATSON to the Commission. Regulation of foreign exchanges
C 182/44 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 28. 6. 1999 (1999/C 182/055) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3113/98 by Thomas Mann (PPE) to the Commission (16 October 1998) Subject: Harassment of persons travelling to and from Gibraltar Why do the Spanish frontier police inflict excessive delays on tourists and other persons travelling between Spain and the United Kingdom, or in this instance Gibraltar, with the result that EU nationals are in effect trapped in their cars for hours on end in sweltering conditions? What measures will be taken to remedy this unacceptable situation? Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (7 December 1998) The Honourable Member is referred to the answers given by the Commission to Written Question E-1744/98 by Mr Mather (1), Written Question E-1404/95 by Mr Seal (2) and to the oral questions H-269/95 and H-353/ 95 posed by Mr Lomas and Mr Megahy respectively during question time at the Parliament’s May 1995 session (3). (1) OJ C 13, 18. 1. 1999, p. 76. (2) OJ C 213, 17. 8. 1995. (3) Annex OJ 4-463, 17. 5. 1995. (1999/C 182/056) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3117/98 by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission (16 October 1998) Subject: Regulation of foreign exchanges Is the Commission aware of the problem of abuse, physical and sexual, of foreign exchange children in host family accommodation, which is often unregulated? If the Commission is aware of the problem, what action has been taken to protect minors, in particular have any steps been taken towards the regulation of language schools and host families throughout the EU? Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission (5 February 1999) The programmes for education, training and youth do not offer transnational exchanges for children below 14 years. No case of abuse of participating young people has been reported to the Commission, and the risks of abuse are likely to be limited since young people are not sent abroad unaccompanied. The Socrates programme provides support to Lingua joint educational projects which normally involve two groups of young people aged 14 years and older. One important part of the project is a reciprocal stay of at least 14 days in the partner institution when joint project work is carried out. Preferably the students should stay with each others families, i. e. with a youngster of the partner group, in order to learn as much as possible of the language and culture of the host country. The groups of students are always accompanied by teachers, one male and one female in the case of a mixed group, and normally the families are involved in the project