WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1600/98 by Ana MIRANDA DE LAGE to the Council. State of disrepair of former frontier posts
C 354/116 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 19. 11. 98 (98/C 354/186) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1600/98 by Ana Miranda de Lage (PSE) to the Council (25 May 1998) Subject: State of disrepair of former frontier posts The abolition of the internal frontiers can be seen as one of the great achievements of the European Union. The physical disappearance of barriers between countries, viewed at the outset with incredulity, is today seen as something quite natural which helps to foster a greater sense of European citizenship. However, at some former frontier posts (Puente de Santiago, Behobia, Biriatou, etc. between France and Spain) the old buildings which used to house customs services are still standing. The state of disrepair into which these have fallen because of lack of maintenance and neglect on the part of the authorities is offensive and disgraceful. Windows have been broken, rubbish is piling up, doors have been torn from their hinges, and so on. In conclusion, the state of the former frontier posts could hardly be more deplorable, undermining the most high-profile political decision ever taken as part of the building of Europe. What measures will the Council promote to remove the physical frontiers once and for all? Should this prove impossible, who should be responsible for maintaining and looking after these buildings? Is the Council aware of any other frontier posts in the same conditions as those described above? Answer (20 July 1998) It is not for the Council to discuss the demolition or conversion of buildings previously used as frontier posts between Member States; these are matters for national customs authorities. (98/C 354/187) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1605/98 by Francisco Lucas Pires (PPE) to the Commission (25 May 1998) Subject: Rate of implementation of the various Community Support Frameworks What, according to the Commissionís latest assessment, is the rate of implementation of the Community Support Frameworks by the various countries for which Community funding is organised in this way? Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission (19 june 1998) Because of the length of the answer, which includes a number of tables, the Commission is sending it direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliamentís Secretariat. (98/C 354/188) WRITTEN QUESTION P-1608/98 by Hiltrud Breyer (V) to the Commission (11 May 1998) Subject: Genetic databases 1. Which EU Member States have DNA databases for criminal investigation purposes, and on what legal bases have they been set up? For what offences, and at what stage (suspicion, reporting of offence to the police, prosecution, sentence or 2. warning), is a genetic profile stored in the database?