WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1139/99 by Arthur NEWENS Students from China
21. 12. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 370/169 Answer given by Mr van den Broek on behalf of the Commission (7 May 1999) 1. The furtherance of the independence of the media features amongst the accession partnership medium-term priorities for Slovakia. The Commission is monitoring progress in this area through the Europe agreement institutions and the regular reports. Should clear violations of media independence be detected, the Commission would raise them at the appropriate level. The Commission has no knowledge of any substantiated indications of discriminatory actions against journalists in Slovakia since the present Slovak government came into power in autumn 1998. The Commission is aware of a number of criminal cases brought against political 2. figures in compliance with Slovak law. In this context the Slovak parliament lifted the immunity of two people linked to the previous government. The Commission, however, has no evidence of any campaign to discredit politicians of the previous government. Concerning the murder of Mr Ducky, a criminal investigation has been undertaken and an arrest made. (1999/C 370/239) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1139/99 by Arthur Newens (PSE) to the Commission (27 April 1999) Subject: Students from China Will the Commission look at the possibility of increasing the number of scholarships and the like available to students from China until it is close to the number currently offered by the United States? Answer given by Sir Leon Brittan on behalf of the Commission (7 May 1999) President Santer announced during his visit to China at the beginning of November 1998 the intention of the Commission to prepare a new and comprehensive programme on scholarships for China. The programme, called Scholarships 2000, will allow 2000 Chinese to benefit from the support of the Community to study or carry out research in Europe. The programme is currently under preparation (experts visiting China, negotiation with the Chinese authorities, submission of the proposal to the committee of the Member States), in order to be operational in the year 2000. The Commission also believes that to encourage a significant increase in academic cooperation between the Community and China structural cooperation must be targeted which prepares the teaching and learning communities of both partners