WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3621/98 by Ulf HOLM to the Council. Discriminatory checks within the Schengen area
28. 6. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 182/111 Joint answer to Written Questions E-3613/98, E-3614/98, E-3615/98, E-3616/98, E-3617/98, E-3618/98 and E-3619/98 given by Mr Santer on behalf of the Commission (26 January 1999) The Commission has carefully noted the seven questions on the ECHO case asked by the Honourable Member. The Commission would point out that, since the beginning of this affair, it has always honoured its obligation of transparency to Parliament and provided the information in its possession wherever this does not conflict with the rights of individuals or current disciplinary procedures. The Commission would therefore ask the Honourable Member to refer to the reasoned answers it has given on this case on various occasions. In particular, on 11 September 1998 and 23 October 1998, the Commission sent the Chair of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the relevant rapporteurs two series of responses to Mr Fabra Vallès’ working documents. Over the course of the last few months, the case has regularly appeared on the agenda for meetings of the Committee on Budgetary Control, which has been kept informed of developments in the case by the Commission’s representatives. Ms Bonino, Mrs Gradin and Mr Liikanen thus replied at length to the questions put by Members of Parliament at the meeting of the Committee on Budgetary Control on 23 September 1998. On 28 October 1998, Mr Liikanen again summed up the situation. On 26 November 1998, at a closed session of the Committee on Budgetary Control, Mr Liikanen gave an account of progress on current disciplinary proceedings. On the same day, the Committee on Budgetary Control also heard the Commission’s Financial Controller and the Director of UCLAF. The Commission will not fail to pass on any new information on this case via the regular contacts which it has with the Committee on Budgetary Control. (1999/C 182/150) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3621/98 by Ulf Holm (V) to the Council (4 December 1998) Subject: Discriminatory checks within the Schengen area A programme was recently broadcast on Swedish television in which two TV reporters with foreign backgrounds travelled through the EU to test freedom of movement for individuals. It turned out that they were subjected to systematic checks both at borders and after they had entered the country where they intended to stay, the apparent reason being that they were originally of a non-European background. They were subjected to visual discrimination even though they were born in Sweden and are Swedish citizens. Human rights organizations throughout the Schengen area confirm this discrimination. 1. Is it the Council’s view that such systematic discrimination is the price to be paid for Schengen? 2. What does the Council intend to do to prevent the visual discrimination that results from having no checks at borders within Schengen? Does the Council consider that a ‘non-European appearance’ 3. individuals within the Schengen area? is sufficient grounds for checks on Reply (8 February 1999) The question put by the Honourable Member relates to the implementation of the Schengen Agreement and is therefore not a matter for the Council