WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1033/98 by Caroline JACKSON to the Commission. Recording the cause of death: EU practice
C 323/108 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 21. 10. 98 (98/C 323/162) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1033/98 by Caroline Jackson (PPE) to the Commission (6 April 1998) Subject: Recording the cause of death: EU practice The daughter of a constituent of mine recently died in Rotterdam from leukaemia. The Dutch authorities, when issuing the death certificate, did not state the exact cause of death, apparently because of the privacy laws in Holland. The death certificate therefore simply stated áno contagious diseaseí. When her body was brought back to the United Kingdom for burial, however, the British coroner had to rule on the cause of death. The Dutch statement was found to be so vague as to be unacceptable, and a post mortem was ordered. This added to the distress of the family. Can the Commission state whether there is in place, or under discussion, any system whereby the certification of death and cause of death in one Member State can be accepted in another Member State without further inquiry of the kind in Britain where a coroner has to open an inquiry and may order a post mortem? Answer given by Mr Santer on behalf of the Commission (30 April 1998) The civil status of people has been expressly excluded from the scope of the Brussels convention of 1968 on recognition and enforcement of decisions in civil and commercial matters. This question is therefore a matter of national law of Member States. The Commission is not aware of any instrument whereby the certification of death and cause of death by a contracting state would be automatically recognised in another contracting state. Under the aegis of the International commission on civil status (ICCS), a convention has been signed in Istanbul, in 1958, dealing with international exchange of information between officials in charge of civil status in contracting states. However, this convention does not provide any rule on legal effects in a contracting state. These legal effects are ruled by national laws. In addition, the United Kingdom, although it has become a member of the ICCS in 1996, did not ratify this convention so far. (98/C 323/163) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1036/98 by Fernando Ferna·ndez Mart ·n (PPE) to the Commission (6 April 1998) Subject: Human rights and democracy Budget heading B7-7020 allocates ECU 19 million to strengthening human rights and democracy in the developing countries. It covers measures relating to the exercise of public authority (support for recently elected national parliaments, increasing the independence of the judiciary, transparency in the administering of public funding, etc. ) and the development of civil society (awareness-raising and education in the field of human rights, support for independent media, etc). What measures have been financed in this way? Does the Commissionís monitoring of these measures enable it to provide any information about their long-term impact? Answer given by Mr Pinheiro on behalf of the Commission (29 April 1998) For 1997 budget heading B7-7020, human rights and democracy in the developing countries, was allotted ECU 17 million. In that year it was used to finance 56 projects in ACP countries and Asia. Of those, 22 were for strengthening the exercise of public authority, accounting for 51% of the total amount. The rest was spent on strengthening civil society