WRITTEN QUESTION P-2019/99 by Astrid Thors (ELDR) to the Commission. EU-PHARE R09893-02 Support for child protection reform in Romania.
C 203 E/116 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 18. 7. 2000 in the Commissionís The main ideas to emerge from these wide-ranging consultations are set out communication of 20 May 1999, The status of OCTs associated with the EC and options for OCT 2000í (1) in which the Commission describes the OCTs and their position under Community law, opens a fundamental debate on the OCT association and offers policy proposals for 2000. Shortly, the Commission will draw up a proposal to present to the Council concerning arrangements to succeed the current Association Decision after 1 March 2000. The substance of the proposal is still under discussion and should be largely based on the suggestions of the OCTs themselves. Proposals will include: a better definition of their status under secondary legislation, substantial simplification of the Communityís aid by more decentralisation of its management to the beneficiary countries and territories; extension of cooperation to new areas in order to help the OCTs meet the new challenges of the global economy; and a greater effort to meet the OCTsí wishes on the subject of non-reciprocity of the rules of establishment. (1) COM(1999) 163 final. (2000/C 203 E/147) WRITTEN QUESTION P-2019/99 by Astrid Thors (ELDR) to the Commission (29 October 1999) Subject: EU-PHARE R09893-02 Support for child protection reform in Romania The Commission has suspended the invitation to tender in respect of the above programme of aid for structural reforms in the childcare sector in Romania. Instead, it is allocating the entire 1998 budget for childcare in Romania (€ 10 million) to providing basic supplies of food, medicine and the like for children in institutions. Budgetary resources are being allocated in a similar way for 1999. Children in Romania live in exceptionally harsh conditions which necessitate both short-term support measures and long-term reforms in order to safeguard their rights and ensure that they are cared for. The reallocation of budgetary resources means that the long-term measures will not be implemented. This will delay the reforms that the Commissionís strategy document on enlargement says are a precondition for opening EU membership negotiations with Romania. The Commission President placed particular empha- sis on this condition when he spoke to Members of the European Parliament on enlargement on 13 October 1999. Is the Commissionís suspension of support for structural reforms in the childcare sector not inconsistent with the priority it accords to such reforms? Are there no other means of ensuring short-term support for children in institutions in Romania that would not jeopardise the long-term reforms, and when does the Commission intend to resume providing support for the reform effort? Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission (24 November 1999) The 1997 Commission opinion (1) and successive regular reports (2) have highlighted the serious situation in the field of childcare in Romania. PHARE has contributed funds since the early nineties, first as humanitarian assistance, later focussing on the preparation of a reform of the child protection sector. The Commission has always worked on both the short term and longer term aspects of child care in Romania. Living conditions in all child care institutions have deteriorated very seriously in 1999 as a result of financial and administrative problems. The Prime Minister of Romania, Mr Vasile, requested urgent assistance in May 1999. At the request of the Commission, inspectors have visited institutions to identify humanitarian needs and have reported that while conditions are not equally bad in all institutions, the general situation in summer 1999 could only be described as unacceptable in terms of basic infrastructure as well as hygiene, medical care, nutrition and general assistance. 18. 7. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 203 E/117 Faced with a very grave humanitarian situation the Commission has made every effort to mobilise funds quickly. The Commissionís Humanitarian Office (ECHO) initiated a programme (€ 1,75 million), but much larger sums were needed. The most effective way to mobilise PHARE funds was to cancel the tender in order to make € 8,5 million of the € 10 million immediately available for basic needs. Food, vitamins and other basic supplies will be provided for a period of nine months to the 157 child care institutions in greatest need. The reallocated funds will also provide for basic repairs of heating, roofs and sanitary equipment. At the same time, the Commission has been pressing the Romanian authorities to set up a single authority responsible for all children in care, to provide adequate funding from the national budget and to pursue longer standards and practice. term child care strategies based on international The remaining € 1,5 million will be used to set up a technical assistance team in Romania to monitor the humanitarian assistance, the single authority and to help Romania set norms for appropriate standards for all residential childcare institutions. to support In the 1999 PHARE budget a further € 25 million has been allocated for child protection. Part of this amount will be used to assist the authorities with the structural reform of the childcare sector and part will be needed for basic supplies. The decision on the division of the funds will be based on information provided by the technical assistance team which monitors the humanitarian assistance. The reform, based on the decentralisation to local authorities of responsabilities for child protection, and the development of new child protection services should provide an alternative to the traditional approach of placing children in institutions and thus eventually lead to a reduced number of children in the existing institutions. (1) COM(97) 2003 final. (2) COM(1999) 510 final. (2000/C 203 E/148) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2021/99 by Gunilla Carlsson (PPE-DE) to the Commission (9 November 1999) Subject: National interpretation of Article 86 of the EC Treaty Article 86 meets the criteria for interpretation pursuant to Article 81 (national interpretation) as regards public undertakings and undertakings that are granted special or exclusive rights. This point is dealt with inter alia in the Commission White Paper on modernisation of the rules implementing Articles 85 and 86 of the EC Treaty (1). If Article 86 is watered down (for instance by introducing an extended rule-of-reason principle), Member States would then be able to provide indirect support for publicly owned undertakings at the expense of their competitors. Does the Commission take the view that the principles referred to above must also be applied in full to Article 86 and, if so, what criteria must be used to decide whether the Commission, rather than a national authority, is to examine and interpret a point of law? (1) OJ C 132, 12. 5. 1999, p. 1. Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (19 November 1999) In the Commissionís 1997 notice on cooperation between national competition authorities and the Commission in handling cases falling within the scope of Article 85 or 86 of the EC Treaty, (1) cases involving the application of Article 86 (formerly Article 90) of the EC Treaty are identified as being of particular significance to the Community (point 36). The notice states that such cases will more often than not have to be dealt with by the Commission. The White Paper does not alter the position in any way. In proposing that national authorities and courts should be empowered to apply Article 81 (formerly Article 85) of the EC Treaty in its entirety, it does not