WRITTEN QUESTION P-2266/99 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Expulsion of the Greek section from the Médecins sans Frontières NGO.
C 203 E/160 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 18. 7. 2000 redeployment. The first results of the study are expected by the beginning of 2000. The Commission will communicate these immediately to the Member States and determine what follow-up action will be necessary. As for the question of possible unequal starting positions of competing companies due to the fact that some are state owned, whereas others are privately owned, the Commission will actively monitor the behaviour of competitors in the electricity industry, as it does in other industries. The Commissionís role is to ensure that state owned companies ü or any company for that matter ü do not have undue advantages, for instance because of state aid that is not available for other companies. The Commission examines mergers and acquisitions and other dealing on the competitive market in this light. (2000/C 203 E/206) WRITTEN QUESTION P-2265/99 by Ari Vatanen (PPE-DE) to the Commission (24 November 1999) Subject: Article 141 of Finlandís accession treaty In Article 141 of Finlandís accession treaty it is stated that, where serious difficulties remain resulting from Finlandís accession, the Commission may authorise Finland to grant direct national aid. During the five-year transition period, Finland has been able to pay transitional aid. At the end of 1999 the transitional period will come to an end and the payment of this aid will cease. It has been calculated that if compensatory aid is not paid, the incomes of farmers raising livestock and growing greenhouse produce and open-air vegetables in southern Finland will fall immediately by between 30 % and 90 %. In the conclusions of the Luxembourg summit in 1997 it was stated that agricultural production should be possible throughout the territory of the EU, even in unfavourable conditions. If the payment of the aid under Article 141 is discontinued, the aid gap between southern Finland and the rest of the country will grow to intolerable levels. This would also undermine the credibility of the EU, particularly in the eyes of farmers. What measures does the Commission propose to take to ensure that this aid pursuant to Finlandís accession treaty can continue to be paid? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (8 December 1999) The Commission is examining a report which has been presented by Finland on the difficulties facing agriculture in Southern Finland, together with a notification in accordance with Article 143 of the Act of Accession and Article 88 (ex-Article 93) of the EC Treaty of a national aid programme under Article 141 of the Act of Accession. Once this examination is complete, the Commission will take the appropriate measures. (2000/C 203 E/207) WRITTEN QUESTION P-2266/99 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (24 November 1999) Subject: Expulsion of the Greek section from the MØdecins sans FrontiŁresí NGO The Greek section of the MØdecins sans FrontiŁresí NGO was recently expelled on the grounds that it helped both sides involved in the Kosovo crisis without permission. This has prompted serious concern about the implementation of the principle that urgent humanitarian aid should be distributed to a population in distress without ethnic or religious discrimination ü a principle that the European Union itself subscribes to. Given that the activities and programmes of MØdecins sans FrontiŁresí are funded largely by the European Union. 18. 7. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 203 E/161 Will the Commission say: 1. Is the expulsion of Greek doctors for the reasons given above at odds with the positions adopted by the European Union on humanitarian aid? How does it intend to respond to this move, and what measures does it intend to take? 2. The Greek section of MØdecins sans FrontiŁresí has submitted for approval (ECHO) a humanitarian aid programme for the psychiatric hospital of Toponica (near the City of Nis). In view of the above, how does the Commission intend to deal with this application so as to endorse the principle that humanitarian non-governmental organisations should intervene in crises purely on the basis of humanitarian criteria without regard for any political or other considerations? Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission (7 December 1999) 1. In its relations with its partners, the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) scrupulously respects their independence, as is laid down moreover in the Framework Partnership Agreement (FPA) governing their mutual relations. MØdecins Sans FrontiŁres (MSF) is one of ECHOís most important partners, whose work at international level was recently recognised with the award of the Nobel Peace Prize. MSF is a non-governmental organisation, currently represented by 18 sections throughout the world. Six of these sections have been set up and recognised within MSF International as operational sections, i. e. MSF France, MSF Belgium, MSF Netherlands, MSF Spain, MSF Switzerland and MSF Luxembourg. The operational sections of MSF have signed the FPA with ECHO. Section MSF Greece implements its own projects, a fact which might appear to generate some conflict within the association. This is an internal matter for the organisation and concerns it alone. 2. MSF Greece submitted an application to sign the FPA in March 1997, at a time when the FPA was undergoing a review. ECHO nonetheless recorded the application with a view to examining it in detail once the review was complete. Since January 1999, the date when the new FPA came into force, ECHO has given priority to signature with its established partners. ECHO has now signed the new FPA with 159 non-governmental organisa- tions (NGOs). Pending the enlargement of the network of partners, whenever one of ECHOís operational units expresses interest in taking action on a measure proposed by an NGO which has not signed the FPA, ECHO requests the Member State in which the organisationís head office is located to certify the NGOís compliance with the criteria set out in Article 7(1) and (2 ) of Council Regulation 1257/96. The action that ECHO then takes will depend on the reply received from the Member State concerned. At present, ECHO is assessing a proposal from MSF Greece concerning the tuberculosis ward of the Topinica psychiatric hospital near Nis, which is urgently in need of assistance. Assuming that it endorses this proposal, ECHO will then apply the above-mentioned procedure to determine whether MSF Greece can be accepted as a partner. (2000/C 203 E/208) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2272/99 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission Subject: Financial support for the activities of consumer organisations (13 December 1999) Article 6(2) of Decision No 283/99 (1) of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a general framework for Community activities in favour of consumers states that: áunpaid work or donations in kind, if properly documented, may be taken into account, up to a level of 20 % of total eligible costs when assessing the organisationsí revenue and costsí