WRITTEN QUESTION P-2570/99 by W.G. van Velzen (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Secretariat of the Energy Charter.
C 203 E/174 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 18. 7. 2000 (2000/C 203 E/225) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2474/99 by Manuel PØrez `lvarez (PPE-DE) to the Commission Subject: Safety standards in old peopleís homes (16 December 1999) Disturbing news reports appear daily of deaths of senior citizens, operational difficulties and other problems in old peopleís homes. Can the Commission state whether there is any Community regulation harmonising the minimum safety standards for old peopleís homes in the Member States, or whether it intends to propose any such measure? Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission (14 January 2000) Minimum standards, and systems for monitoring and enforcing adherence to them, are found at appropriate national and regional levels in most Member States. There is no Community competence. The Commission is aware of attempts by some European associations of professionals in residential care ü such as the European association of directors of residential care homes for the elderly (EDE) ü to develop European codes of good practice and a system of certification for the training of residential care personnel, but it is not involved in these endeavours. (2000/C 203 E/226) WRITTEN QUESTION P-2570/99 by W. G. van Velzen (PPE-DE) to the Commission (16 December 1999) Subject: Secretariat of the Energy Charter The Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad reported on 20 November that the Netherlands Government is concerned at in Brussels. A year ago the management consultancy firm of Arthur D. Little issued a report on the management of the Secretariat at the request of the then chairman of the Governmental Council of the Energy Charter, Mr Rutten. the Energy Charter Secretariat the poor management at 1. What progress has been made on the Energy Charter Protocol? Is the Commission aware of the Arthur D. Little study on the operation of the Secretariat of the 2. Energy Charter? 3. What is the status of this report, and when can it be made available to the Member States and the European Parliament? Is it true that the Finnish Presidency has requested Mr Schütterle, Secretary-General of the Energy 4. Charter, to communicate the report to the Member States? 5. Is it true that Germany considers it inappropriate to publish this report? Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission (10 January 2000) The Commission has been informed of the existence of the report by a consultancy firm concerning the management of the Energy Charter Secretariat. This report is classified as confidential and has not been transmitted to the Commission. 18. 7. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 203 E/175 from the Community, the Energy Charter Conference supported by its chairman, On a proposal Mr Christophersen, decided on 7 December 1999 by consensus to replace the present Secretary general, Mr Schütterle (Germany) as of 1 January 2000 by Mrs. Kemper (Germany) for four years with an option for an additional period of two years. (2000/C 203 E/227) WRITTEN QUESTION P-2579/99 by Fernando FernÆndez Martín (PPE-DE) to the Commission Subject: Wording of Article 158 of the Treaty, relating to islands (16 December 1999) The Treaty of Amsterdam amended Article 158 of the Treaty, which relates to economic and social cohesion, so that it now contains a reference to islands. The way in which the article is worded varies, and is sometimes contradictory, depending on which language version is referred to. In some language versions, Article 158 only covers áthe least favoured regions or islandsí while in other language versions it applies áto disadvantaged regions or to islandsí. These two phrases clearly have very different meanings: the first version states that the islands are merely a subcategory of the regions designated as disadvantaged on the basis of socio-economic criteria while the second version clearly identifies the fact of being an island as a separate criterion, and calls for special treatment. The fact that inconsistencies have been allowed to appear in a text as important as the Treaty is quite astounding. What is even more amazing is the way in which the wording of the French version developed between June 1997 (following the IGC) and November of the same year (when it was published in OJ C 340). In June 1997, the European Councilís Web site published a summary of the agreement reached in Amsterdam. The French text was as follows: (g) Island Regions Article 130a(2) of the EC Treaty shall be amended as follows: In particular, the Community shall aim at reducing disparities between the levels of development of the various regions and the backwardness of the least favoured regions or of the islands, including rural areas. A few months later, the wording had been changed and, in the text published in the Official Journal, became: In particular, the Community shall aim at reducing disparities between the levels of development of the various regions and the backwardness of the least favoured regions or islands, including rural areas. It should be pointed out that the alterations seem, as far as we know, to have been made only to the French version, since in the other published language versions of the Treaty (such as the Italian version) Article 158 refers to áthe least favoured regions or the islandsí. It would therefore appear that the discrepancies cannot be attributed to the harmonisation of the text by lawyers and translators following the agreement reached in Amsterdam, which would have been subject to the unanimous consent of the Member States. Commissioner Barnier, in both his current capacity as the Commissioner responsible for regional policy and as the former French Minister for European Affairs, responsible for the IGC negotiations until June 1997, would appear to be in a better position than anyone to explain to Parliament why the wording of Article 158 changed. Could he explain to Parliament why the wording of the French version of Article 158 of the Treaty changed between June 1997 and November 1997? Which of the two versions, áof the least favoured regions or islandsí or áof the least favoured regions or of the islandsí corresponds, in letter and spirit, to the text which he negotiated, and to which France agreed, at the Intergovernmental Conference? Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission (18 January 2000) At the Amsterdam European Council of 16 and 17 June 1997, the Intergovernmental Conference of Heads of State or Government reached an agreement on a draft Treaty on the basis of the texts set out in document CONF 4001/97. This document was disseminated to a restricted circle. As stated in the