WRITTEN QUESTION P-0449/00 by Harlem Désir (PSE) to the Council. Political situation in Austria and amendment of the Treaties.
21. 11. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 330 E/161 Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission (21 March 2000) The mission report, together with the comments of the French authorities on the draft report, have already been published on the Internet. The Commissionís standard procedure for follow-up to veterinary mission findings is to give the Member State the opportunity to provide details of the action taken and planned in relation to the recommenda- tions contained in the mission report. In the case of the veterinary mission to France (DG SANCO/1058/ 1999) the Commission has requested a reply from the French authorities. The Commission will take whatever follow-up action is necessary, in the light of this reply. Follow-up action will apply to all deficiencies observed, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) monitoring, readmission of suspect cases into the food chain and implementation of the meat and bone meal (MBM) ban. The mission team found that fallen stock (i. e. animals which died on the farm) are excluded from BSE surveillance, but it found no evidence that fallen stock enters the human food chain in France. (2000/C 330 E/183) WRITTEN QUESTION P-0449/00 by Harlem DØsir (PSE) to the Council (14 February 2000) Subject: Political situation in Austria and amendment of the Treaties As was pointed out by Commission President Romano Prodi in his statement to Parliament on 2 February 2000, the Treaties as they stand make no provision for the departure ü voluntary or otherwise ü of a Member State of the Union even in the event of serious and repeated infringements of the founding principles enshrined in Article 6 of the Amsterdam Treaty. On the eve of the Unionís enlargement and at a time when an extreme right-wing party has joined the government of a Member State thus prompting the Portuguese Presidency and the heads of state or government of the 14 other countries to suspend their bilateral relations with that country, should not this question be placed on the agenda for the next IGC? Indeed, would it not be appropriate to envisage an amendment to the Treaties to include a clause providing for suspension or expulsion in the event of a country infringing the European Unionís founding values and principles of freedom, democracy and respect for human rights? Reply (2 May 2000) Pursuant to Article 48 of the the Treaty on European Union, 1. representatives of the governments of the Member States, and not for the Council, to determine by common accord the amendments to be made to the Treaties. is for the Conference of it 2. The Council would remind the Honourable Member that, as far as the present Intergovernmental Conference is concerned, provision has been made for two observers from the European Parliament to attend meetings of the representatives of the governments of the Member States and intervene to express the European Parliamentís view on all matters discussed