WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2168/98 by Astrid THORS to the Commission. Transparency and access to documents
22. 2. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 50/131 organisation of education systems and their cultural and linguistic diversityí. Community action must also be aimed at ádeveloping the European dimension in education, particularly through the teaching and dissemination of the languages of the Member Statesí. In effect the Commissionís action in support of regional and minority languages is based on this article. The European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL) was financed under Budget line B3-1006 in the framework of the action Promoting and safeguarding regional and minority languagesí. 2. The European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages received Community funding in the amount ECU 742 900 for the period October 1997 to September 1998. For the period beginning in October 1998 the Commission has already received the EBLULís draft plan of work and budget. Approval will depend on an examination of the situation of the general problem of budget lines without a legal basis. 3. The action Promotion and safeguarding regional and minority languages and culturesí now being implemented by the Commission makes a very useful contribution to the language communities. The future enlargement of the Community to the central and eastern European countries will lead to a substantial increase in the number of minority and regional language communities. To this end, work to promote and safeguard the numerous minority languages spoken in these countries will help avoid potential conflicts that are always liable to flare up between the different language communities and will also help European citizens to become more active and responsible. In the framework of the action Promoting and safeguarding regional and minority languages and culturesí 4. the Commission has launched the so-called Euromosaïc study to inventory the regional and minority language groups in the Community. It is planned to extend this study to the central and eastern European countries. (1999/C 50/189) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2168/98 by Astrid Thors (ELDR) to the Commission (13 July 1998) Subject: Transparency and access to documents Parliamentís resolution on the legislative programme for 1999 called for the necessary measures to be taken before the Amsterdam Treaty enters into force in regard to the rules on transparency and access to documents. According to an announcement in the House and statements to the committees, an interinstitutional working party is dealing with this matter. Does the working party now have a clear idea of how the register of documents of the institutions concerned, particularly the Commissionís, should be organized and how does the Commission intend to draw the line between executive and legislative activities? Answer given by Mr Santer on behalf of the Commission (31 July 1998) The Working Party referred to by the Honourable Member was set up to pave the way for the implementation of the new Article 255 introduced by the Amsterdam Treaty. The task of the Working Party, consisting of officials from the Commission, Parliament and the Council, is to review the various questions raised in connection with the presentation by the Commission of a legislative proposal of the kind provided for by Article 255. The three institutions are not bound by preparatory work done by this purely informal Working Party, which has not made an in-depth study of the two problems referred to by the Honourable Member with a view to laying down guidelines