WRITTEN QUESTION E-1692/99 by Manuel Pérez Álvarez (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Measures to support the elderly.
20. 6. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 170 E/77 In line with these guidelines, the EU has taken the initiative to introduce jointly for the first time, at 2. the 55th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (1999), the draft resolution on the death penalty which had hitherto been introduced by Italy. This initiative was very successful; not only did it contain stronger language than previous resolutions, it also attracted more co-sponsors ü 72 States against 65 in 1998. The EU has also taken the initiative to organise in the margins of the CHR a discussion panel on the death penalty in which NGOs and government representatives from different countries participated. 3. In view of the success encountered by the draft resolution on the death penalty at the 55th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the EU also presented a draft resolution on the death penalty for the first time at the UN General Assembly (54th session), which took place this year. The resolution calls upon all States that still maintain the death penalty to establish, inter alia, a moratorium on executions with a view to completely abolishing the death penalty. The Council is confident that this EU initiative will further reinforce the international trend towards abolition of capital punishment. 4. In addition to general initiatives in multilateral or bilateral contexts, there are occasions when the European Union makes specific demarches concerning individual cases. The European Union is particularly concerned with cases which violate minimum standards in terms of human rights. For instance, the death penalty should never, in any circumstances, be imposed on persons below 18 years of age at the time of the commission of their crime, pregnant women and mothers, and persons who have become insane. The European Union also attaches great importance to the respect of standards offering minimum legal guarantees, such as clear and convincing evidence, the competence of the court and its strict observation of procedures as well as adequate legal assistance. In the case of Mr Joaquín JosØ Martínez, the European Union will closely follow the results of his 5. appeal to the Florida Supreme Court and will react in the light of the principles set out above. (2000/C 170 E/087) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1692/99 by Manuel PØrez `lvarez (PPE-DE) to the Commission (29 September 1999) Subject: Measures to support the elderly The budget items designed to support the elderly for 1996 ü Item B3-4104 ü and 1997 were blocked owing to the case brought before the Court of Justice by the United Kingdom on the grounds of a lack of legal basis. Can the Commission outline the current situation with regard to the above items in support of the elderly, and does it see any possibility of these two lines corresponding to 1996 and 1997 being unblocked? Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission (12 November 1999) An inter-institutional agreement on legal bases and implementation of the budget was reached on 17 July 1998 between the Parliament, the Council and the Commission. This stated that using funds from the Community budget required a ábasic instrumentí (secondary legislation providing a foundation in law for Community action and for incurring the expenditure entered in the budget), with only certain specified exceptions. In the light of this inter-institutional agreement, the United Kingdom did not feel it necessary to continue with case C-239/96 challenging the Commissionís call for applications for grants from budget line B3-4104 and the case was withdrawn. One exception allowed by the inter-institutional agreement is for funding for preparatory measures intended to prepare the way for proposals for the adoption of future Community action. On this basis, actions relating to older people were supported in 1998 by budget line B3-4116 (co-operation with C 170 E/78 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 20. 6. 2000 non-governmental organisations and associations formed by the socially excluded and the elderly), in the form of preparatory measures for Community action on the basis of Article 137 of the EC-Treaty (ex Article 118) regarding combating social exclusion. A first call for proposals for preparatory actions was issued in October 1998, under which 40 projects were funded. In the 1999 budget, budget line B3-4104 was incorporated into budget line B3-4112 (preparatory measures combating and preventing social exclusion). Further calls were issued in June 1999 under this line addressing exclusion of older people as well as all other types of exclusion, and the Commission is currently evaluating the proposals received. (2000/C 170 E/088) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1695/99 by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission (29 September 1999) Subject: EU coordinator Hombach For weeks, the EUís international coordinator for reconstruction of the Balkans, Bodo Hombach, has been publicly suspected of involvement in bribery cases with considerable ramifications (relating to his private house in Mülheim and his luxury home in Canada). On 27 August 1999, in response to these serious allegations, he decided of his own volition to resign from his party posts. In view of this situation, which still remains very unclear, as well as the utterly incomprehensible plan to locate his office in Brussels rather than in the immediate vicinity of the region to which his duties pertain, which will hardly be conducive to efficiency, the following question is surely inescapable: does the Commission intend to suggest to Mr Hombach that he should resign from his highly responsible post as EU representative for the democratic and economic reconstruction of the Balkan region? Under the circumstances, it would moreover be desirable, in the interests of transparency, to announce publicly what remuneration was promised to Mr Hombach when he took up the post. Will the Commission do so? Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission (9 November 1999) According to the Treaty on European Union (Article 18 ex Article J8), the appointment of special representatives is the responsibility of the Council. The requested elements relating to the remuneration of the special representative are established in a áfinancial statementí which, in accordance with Article M of the inter-institutional agreement regarding financing of the Common foreign and security policy of 16 July 1997, is communicated by the Council to the Parliament. (2000/C 170 E/089) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1699/99 by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (29 September 1999) Subject: Discrimination against immigrants in Luxembourg as regards entitlement to social aid Immigrant workers from other Member States living in Luxembourg suffer discrimination when they apply for social aid. In order to be eligible for aid, they have to submit a declaration of capital assets held in their country of origin, and the decision to grant the aid depends on the content of that declaration