WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2644/98 by John McCARTIN to the Commission. Coordination of NGO action in Sudan
8. 4. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/127 2. Is the Commission aware of the sometimes unreasonable conditions under which visas are issued to Bulgarian and Romanian nationals for entry into a Member State of the EU? Does the Commission intend to ease the requirements and conditions for the issue of such visas and to abolish them in the foreseeable future? 3. Does the Commission regard the proportion of Roma people in the two countries as an obstacle to the removal of the latter from the common list compiled pursuant to Article 100c of the Treaty establishing the European Community? If so, why? Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (10 November 1998) The Commission is collecting the information it needs to answer the question. It will communicate its findings as soon as possible. (1999/C 96/181) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2642/98 by John McCartin (PPE) to the Commission (1 September 1998) Subject: Coordination of action in Sudan Does the Commission consider that there is any coordination of action between national governments of the Member States active in the Sudan in the relief of the famine and does it consider that such coordination could improve the effectiveness of their efforts? Answer given by Mrs Bonino on behalf of the Commission (17 September 1998) Most humanitarian assistance for those affected by war and drought in Sudan is channelled through organisations (United Nations or non governmental organisations (NGOs)) working under the umbrella of Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS). OLS is a coordination mechanism, as well as a legal framework. Under OLS auspices, regular coordination meetings are held, both in Khartoum and in Nairobi. Some of these meetings are exclusively for donors, including Member States. In the view of the Commission, such meetings serve to ensure a reasonable level of coordination between donors. On a more general level, a revised system for exchange of information between the Commission and the Member States on funding decisions for humanitarian assistance was introduced in 1997. This system aims to strengthen coordination by means of a 48 › hour turn-around retransmission on Internet of funding decisions and statistics. (1999/C 96/182) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2644/98 by John McCartin (PPE) to the Commission (1 September 1998) Subject: Coordination of NGO action in Sudan Can the Commission state which NGOs using EU resources are active in the Sudan in the area of famine relief and whether there has been any effort at EU level to coordinate the work of these NGOs?