WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1042/98 by Jens-Peter BONDE to the Commission. Particular advantages for national minorities in elections
21. 10. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 323/109 A full list of projects financed by all the budget headings in title B7-7020 (European initiative for democracy and the protection of human rights) is attached to the annual report on the implementation of the resolution of the Council and of the Member States meeting in the Council on human rights, democracy and development adopted on 28 November 1991. Through the implementation reports from the organisations responsible for carrying out projects financed by the budget heading in question, the Commission is able to monitor its implementation, its results and, consequently, its short- and medium-term viability. Monitoring is improved and supplemented by information and comments from Commission delegations in the countries where projects take place. Ad hoc evaluations are also scheduled for politically sensitive projects and those requiring heavy spending. Project-identification missions are used by the Commission for the gradual mapping-out of cooperation strategies for each country in the medium and long terms. They have to identify not only the priorities to be financed in the human rights field but also sources of finance to be used (budget headings, national indicative programme, counterpart funds and incentive amounts) and organisations for their implementation. Following the tragic events of April 1994 in Rwanda, for example, strengthening of the legal system was chosen as a priority sector for cooperation. From 1994 the budget heading was used to finance projects in this sector with the support of specialised non-governmental organisations (Re·seau des citoyens, Avocats sans frontie‘res and Penal Reform International), in aid of the Rwandan International Penal Tribunal and the Rwandan Ministry of Justice, to the tune of ECU 7. 5 million. Over and above that › and coordinated with those projects › the rehabilitation programme approved an ECU 7 million project for rehabilitating legal infrastructures. The fact that a cooperation strategy is worked out for each country, with effective coordination and complementarity of the funds available, makes projects financed by the Commission more effective and viable. (98/C 323/164) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1042/98 by Jens-Peter Bonde (I-EDN) to the Commission (6 April 1998) Subject: Particular advantages for national minorities in elections Is a provision of an electoral law giving a national minority in a Member State a particular advantage in connection with parliamentary elections, local elections and elections to the European Parliament etc. in contravention of the Amsterdam Treaty? Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (5 June 1998) The Commission is conducting a detailed investigation of the problem raised by the Honourable Member and will inform him of the outcome as soon as possible. (98/C 323/165) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1044/98 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (6 April 1998) Subject: Conversion of an Armenian Monastery into a hotel in the occupied part of Cyprus The Turkish-Cypriot authorities have decided to allow a private individual to run the tenth-century Armenian Monastery of Aghios Mangar as a hotel