WRITTEN QUESTION E-0835/00 by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Council. Environmental damage inflicted on the Danube and neighbouring regions by NATO bombing.
13. 2. 2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 46 E/57 (2001/C 46 E/061) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0835/00 by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Council (20 March 2000) Subject: Environmental damage inflicted on the Danube and neighbouring regions by NATO bombing The Romanian Minister for the Environment has alleged that the Danube has suffered greater environ- mental damage from NATO bombing which destroyed bridges, oil refineries and chemicals plants than from the recent cyanide spill. The environmental, economic and cultural damage to the Danube and the local population extends beyond Serbia and affects all the regions through which the Danube flows and will have distressing consequences for many years to come. Will the Council say whether it is aware of the extent of the damage and, if so, what measures it proposes to assist the countries concerned, so that the environment, the economy and the culture of this sensitive region rapidly recover? Reply (10 July 2000) 1. The report submitted at the end of 1999 by the United Nations Balkan Task Force clearly stated that some of the bombardments during the Kosovo conflict contributed to pollution of the Danube but also noted that the Danube had for a long time (and certainly since before the conflict) been one of the most polluted waterways in Europe, affected by a considerable number of sources of pollution directly attributable to the countries bordering it. The report also noted that owing to the high level of pollution of the region before the conflict it 2. was difficult to carry out a comparative assessment of damage. The Council also notes that, following the Baïa Mare accident, Hungary and Romania have set up a committee of experts to assess the damage to the Danube. The Council will certainly study their conclusions with interest, together with the conclusions of the Task Force organised by the Commission following that same accident. In any case, as stated by the CFSP High Representative when opening the Regional Financing 3. Conference on 29 March 2000, the EU commitment towards South Eastern Europe cannot be disputed. That commitment, in the framework of the Stability Pact, already includes a financial aspect which is important both to the Community and to its Member States, and may take the form, inter alia, of support for the Regional Environmental Reconstruction Programme for South Eastern Europe, which is currently being drawn up. That programme is also an illustration of the cooperation effort between those countries, which is encouraged by the EU and which is necessary if we wish effectively to restore the environment in the region. (2001/C 46 E/062) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0838/00 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission Subject: Use of chemical substances against demonstrators (21 March 2000) In repressing demonstrations the Greek police use chemical substances which affect the respiratory system, the skin and the mucous membrane, causing breathing difficulties, muscular contractions and impaired