WRITTEN QUESTION E-1743/99 by Hanja Maij-Weggen (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Enforcement of CITES Regulation.
C 203 E/36 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 18. 7. 2000 to conduct checks and maintain surveillance along external borders; finally, the Member States concerned have undertaken to assist each other and maintain constant, close cooperation with a view to the effective exercise of checks and surveillance. From the data supplied by the Honourable Member the Commission cannot conclude that Italy is failing to meet these commitments entered into under the Schengen agreement and now incorporated into the Union framework. (2000/C 203 E/044) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1743/99 by Hanja Maij-Weggen (PPE-DE) to the Commission Subject: Enforcement of CITES Regulation (1 October 1999) On 2 June 1999 a shipment of 35 Fennec foxes and 10 Demoiselle cranes (both in Appendix II of CITES) were flown by Lufthansa Cargo from Sudan to Frankfurt and from there to Johannesburg. On arrival at Johannesburg, three foxes were dead, one was dying and the others were in distress. Owing to the condition of the animals and a lack of proper health certification, the remaining 31 foxes were sent back to the Sudan, again via Frankfurt. The suffering of the foxes would have been alleviated if the proper obligatory veterinary checks had been carried out at Frankfurt airport. Would the Commission say what steps it has taken to ensure that the conditions of the CITES Regulation are being enforced at airports in the EU, particularly Frankfurt, through which many millions of animals pass every year? Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission (12 November 1999) The Commission regrets that the terms of Article 9(5) of Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 of 9 December 1996 on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein (1) appear not to have been respected in the case mentioned by the Honourable Member. The Commission intends to draw the attention of the enforcement group, as set up by Article 14 of the Regulation, to this particular incident as well as to the control of transport of live animal specimens under International air transport association (IATA) live animal regulations and the necessity of appropriate controls at airports and other places of import for transit or transhipment purposes in the Community. (1) OJ L 61, 3. 3. 1997, p. 1. (2000/C 203 E/045) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1755/99 by Klaus-Heiner Lehne (PPE-DE) to the Commission Subject: Costs of employing Mr Hombach and his staff (1 October 1999) On 10 June 1999 EU foreign ministers appointed Mr Bodo Hombach Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe. This gives rise to the following questions: 1. Which persons are on Mr Hombachís staff, and by which Member States have they been sent? 2. What are the staffing costs for employing Mr Hombach and his staff? 3. What proportion of the costs of employing Mr Hombach and his team comes from the EU budget?