WRITTEN QUESTION E-1248/00 by Ioannis Souladakis (PSE) to the Council. Turkish green passports.
13. 2. 2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 46 E/155 (2001/C 46 E/178) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1244/00 by Raffaele Costa (PPE-DE) to the Commission (14 April 2000) Subject: Ministerial concessions for radio-relay systems frequencies Italian operators in the dedicated radio-relay systems sector, a telecommunications technique used by the police, Provinces, Forestry Service and emergency services among others, have been complaining for some time about the confusing and bureaucratic procedures used by the Italian Ministry of Communications for granting the necessary frequencies, which often takes two years or more. Apart from this inefficiency, the fees charged for licences for the frequencies have apparently suddenly in a sector in which market forces and recent liberalisation have, on the increased almost threefold, contrary, pushed tariffs down. Can the Commission say whether the relevant Italian legislation complies with Community competition rules and whether this increase, which, significantly, coincides with the advent of cellular mobile is in any way attributable to more or less visible cartels operated by mobile phone communications, companies? Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (8 June 2000) It is true that Italian operators have complained to the Commission about the time taken for this procedure and the fees charged by the Italian Communications Ministry for granting frequencies for mobile communications for closed user groups. Italian law governs telecommunications services offered to the public differently from those offered to closed user groups, although Commission Directive 90/388/EEC of 28 June 1990 on competition in the markets for telecommunications services (1) makes no such distinction. This Directive requires the Member States to take the necessary measures to guarantee the right of any economic operator to provide these telecommunications services. It also provides that as long as frequencies are available a Member State may not refuse to allocate them. The requirement is all the simpler to implement for mobile communications for private use as these services do not, in general, require exclusive frequencies to be allocated. The Italian authorities have announced that a regulation intended to solve the curent difficulties is to be adopted, though this has not yet been done. The Commission has contacted the Italian authorities on this subject several times, most recently by letter dated March 2000. If no progress is made, the Commission will be obliged to send a formal letter of complaint to the Italian Government. The Commission has no information suggesting that the increase in frequency fees may be intended to favour mobile network operators. (1) OJ L 192, 24. 7. 1990. (2001/C 46 E/179) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1248/00 by Ioannis Souladakis (PSE) to the Council (27 April 2000) Subject: Turkish ágreen passportsí In spite of representations from various European governments to date, Turkey is continuing to issue ágreen passportsí to Turkish nationals who are travelling abroad, especially to Europe. These passports enable Turkish citizens to avoid obtaining a visa for countries which they are about to visit and are usually issued to high-ranking Turkish state officials and members of their families. C 46 E/156 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 13. 2. 2001 Estimates put the total number of these passports at the excessively high figure of 1,5 million (see the Turkish newspaper Milliyetí, 14 March 2000). The most worrying aspect of the Turkish ágreen passportí industry is the fact that many of these passports are held by individuals with direct links to the Turkish mafia, organised crime, drug trafficking, espionage and the smuggling of weapons of mass destruction. Contrary to the assurances it has given on various occasions, Turkey has not stopped issuing ágreen passportsí or set about recalling them to the Turkish issuing authority. What action does the Council intend to take to control and restrict the entry into the EU of individuals from Turkey with ágreen passportsí in order to prevent the ábackdoorí entry of individuals who have links with international smuggling and organised crime? Reply (10 July 2000) The Council would inform the Honourable Member that, except in the cases covered by Article 17(2) of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement, the movement of bearers of diplomatic, official and service passports is, in the current state of development of Community law, within the competence of the Member States. (2001/C 46 E/180) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1249/00 by Ioannis Souladakis (PSE) to the Commission (14 April 2000) Subject: Turkish ágreen passportsí In spite of representations from various European governments to date, Turkey is continuing to issue ágreen passportsí to Turkish nationals who are travelling abroad, especially to Europe. These passports enable Turkish citizens to avoid obtaining a visa for countries which they are about to visit and are usually issued to high-ranking Turkish state officials and members of their families. Estimates put the total number of these passports at the excessively high figure of 1,5 million (see the Turkish newspaper Milliyetí, 14 March 2000). The most worrying aspect of the Turkish ágreen passportí industry is the fact that many of these passports are held by individuals with direct links to the Turkish mafia, organised crime, drug trafficking, espionage and the smuggling of weapons of mass destruction. Contrary to the assurances it has given on various occasions, Turkey has not stopped issuing ágreen passportsí or set about recalling them to the Turkish issuing authority. What action does the Commission intend to take to tackle the issue of Turkish ágreen passportsí, with the additional aim of preventing the ábackdoorí entry of individuals who have links with international smuggling and organised crime? Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission (8 June 2000) The Commission is aware that the Turkish authorities issue green passports to people such as senior officials and their families. The special passports are recognised by several Member States, which exempt holders from the visa requirement for entry in to their countries, whereas the holders of ordinary Turkish passports need a visa to cross the external borders of the Member States. This practice is in conformity with the law as it stands, since Article 4 of Council Regulation No 574/1999 of 12 March 1999 determining the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders of the Member States (1) states that áa Member State may exempt nationals of third countries subject to visa requirements from such requirements. This shall apply in particular to holders of diplomatic passports, official duty passports and other official passportsí