(2001/C 103 E/128) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2311/00 by Marco Cappato (TDI) to the Council

C 103 E/114 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 3.4.2001

(11 July 2000)

Subject: The European Union’s Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia

Speaking to the European Parliament’s Committee on Citizens’ Rights and Freedoms on 21 June 2000 Mrs Beate Winkler, Director of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia in Vienna, talked about the atmosphere of insecurity and intimidation in which she and the staff of the Observatory have to work, and said that staff had been the victims of theft both in their offices and at home.

Can the Council give the European Parliament more information about this, stating what thefts have occurred, who were the victims, when and where they occurred and what possessions or information were stolen? Furthermore, can it say whether and in which cases the thefts were reported to the Austrian authorities? Finally, can it assess the security situation with regard to the European Monitoring Centre and its staff?

(7 November 2000)

The Council has no information on the questions raised by the Honourable Member nor has it competence to deal with these questions.

(2001/C 103 E/129) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2312/00 by Marco Cappato (TDI) to the Council

(11 July 2000)

Subject: European Police Chiefs’ operational Task Force

The scoreboard drawn up by the Commission and added to by the French presidency envisages the creation of a ‘European Police Chiefs’ operational Task Force’ aimed at developing operational cooperation between police forces and the training of people carrying out public security duties at EU level. It would appear that the Council has launched discussions on the basis of a document submitted by the United Kingdom, whilst the Commission envisages a Council decision based on a Commission proposal or the initiative of a Member State. In its scoreboard the French presidency talks about ‘a structure linking the authorities responsible for European police forces’ responsible for discussing and devising strategic guide- lines, and announces a second meeting for 14/15 September 2000, since apparently an initial meeting was held in April.

Can the Council answer the following questions:

how exactly did this structure come into being and what are its actual aims;

what is the legal basis for its institutionalisation;

how many and what kind of meetings has it held so far;

what are the rules governing its operation and organisation;

who has taken part or is taking part in the meetings;

does it have a secretariat;

what working languages are used;

what were or will be the items on the agenda; 3.4.2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 103 E/115

are there any minutes of the meetings held so far and it is planned to compile minutes for the future meetings;

who has access to them;

what conclusions or decisions have been adopted;

what is the organisation’s future programme of work;

what relationship does it have with Europol, Eurojust, Loaf, Interpol and national police forces?

(10 November 2000)

1. The Tampere European Council on 15 and 16 October 1999 called in its resolution No 44 ‘for the establishment of a European Police Chiefs’ operational Task Force to exchange, in cooperation with Europol, experience, best practices and information on current trends in cross-border crime and contribute to the planning of operative actions’.

2. The Council would inform the Honourable Member that in accordance with that objective, the Presidency organised an informal meeting of European Chief Police Officers in Lisbon on 7/8 April 2000 with the participation of the European Commission, the Council General Secretariat and Europol in order to hold joint discussions in the context of the Tampere recommendation. Thirteen of the fifteen Member States were represented at that meeting, for which interpretation was provided into and out of English, French and Portuguese. The Presidency reported on the outcome of the discussions at the first informal meeting of European Chief Police Officers when they met in the Council (Justice and Home Affairs) on 29 May 2000.

3. The French Presidency organised the second meeting of Chief Police Officers of the States of the European Union on 14 and 15 September 2000 in Paris. Fourteen of the fifteen Member States were represented. Interpretation was available in all of the official Community languages.

The discussions focused on three topics: introduction of the Euro, combating illegal immigration networks and lower case Community policing. There will be an official Council document containing the Presidency conclusions, and this will be submitted to the Council (Justice and Home Affairs) for information.

4. At the first meeting of the operational Task Force the participants agreed, inter alia, that it was necessary:

(a) to create a flexible, evolving and initially informal structure which will serve as a forum for discussion and contributions by the highest officers of the police forces of the European Union and Europol, with the participation of the European Commission and the Council General Secretariat so that an area of freedom, security and justice can be established in the field of police cooperation.

(b) to establish the principle of one meeting per Presidency under the responsibility of the Member State holding the Presidency, without ruling out the possibility of convening extraordinary meetings in future on specific topics which are of common concern. Such meetings could be preceded by meetings of experts, if appropriate.

(c) to ensure that this informal forum does not cause confusion with regard to the institutionalised working parties at the level of the Council of the European Union and does not overlap with them or with the action carried out by Europol under its Convention.

(d) to ensure this Task Force contributes to the elaboration of common strategies to strengthen police cooperation, in particular in the context of the fight against cross-border organised crime in fields which initially coincide with those mentioned in Tampere, i.e. trafficking in drugs and human beings, and terrorism. C 103 E/116 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 3.4.2001

(e) to ensure that the analyses and contributions made by the operational Task Force initially also aim at defining strategies and joint operational actions in the field of maintaining public order whenever events occur which are likely to threaten it.

(f) for the sake of flexibility, that the composition of the operational Task Force takes account of the organisational diversity and specific responsibilities of the police institutions of the Member States.

(g) given its evolving character, to carry out an assessment of the functioning of the operational Task Force in December 2001 within the framework of the general assessment of progress in implementing the Tampere conclusions.

The Presidency takes note of the wish to include the Chief Police Officers of the applicant countries in Task Force meetings in due course.

(2001/C 103 E/130) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2317/00

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(11 July 2000)

Subject: Avoiding European involvement in Colombia’s domestic conflicts

1. Is the Council aware that the territory of a Member State of the European Union is becoming increasingly involved in the American intervention in the domestic politics of Colombia; i.e. the Caribbean islands of Aruba and Curaçao, which belong to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, are being used as a ‘Forward Operating Location’ for aircraft which, in the South of Colombia, are continuously spraying with toxic pesticides territory controlled by the resistance movement FARC which is fighting against big business and the traditional lack of democracy (source: Nederland 1 TV channel; ‘Netwerk’ current affairs programme of 21 June 2000)?

2. Is the Council also aware that the results of this intervention are that:

(a) after each spraying operation adults become ill and young children rapidly die;

(b) there is a significant reduction in the scope for normal cultivation of crops (manioc, bananas or other fruit) other than coca, with the result that the farmers become even more dependent on the drugs trade and there is a further increase in the 100 000 ha already under coca cultivation;

(d) the remaining jungle is being affected by the poison and by slash and burn to obtain arable land which is not yet poisoned;

(e) the peace talks between the Colombian government and FARC (even the government does not believe that FARC is involved with the drug mafia) are hampered?

3. Is the Council aware that a proposal is to be submitted to the Dutch parliament following an earlier agreement in April 2000 for an agreement to be signed between the Netherlands and the US for a further ten years to enable the flights over Colombia to continue, and that the Americans stationed on Aruba and Curaçao are automatically protected from criminal or civil proceedings?