92002E0087

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0087/02

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission

(25 January 2002)

Subject: Intra-Community repatriation of the bodies of dead EU citizens

The fact that a growing number of European citizens are established in a Member State other than their country of origin has led to an increase in the number of corpses needing to be repatriated from one Member State to another. However, repatriation raises all sorts of problems, in particular financial difficulties for the families, faced with bureaucratic obstacles, which vary from one country to another. The rules on cross-border carriage of human remains are based on the 1937 Berlin agreements and the 1973 Strasbourg convention. However, these agreements are based on the assumption that border checks are carried out and are therefore becoming more difficult to apply as borders are abolished.

In the light of the above, the Commission is requested to provide the following information:

1. Does the Treaty authorise the free transfer within the Community of the corpses of people who have died on EU territory?

2. What measures does the Commission intend to take to ensure that the rules on such transfers are not more complex or more restrictive than those in force in a Member State?

Joint answerto Written Questions E-0073/02, E-0087/02,E-0210/02, E-0344/02, E-0346/02, P-0407/02 and E-0679/02given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(25 March 2002)

The Commission recognises that the repatriation of mortal remains of a person who has died in another Member State than his/her own is a sensitive and difficult issue which can cause great suffering for the family involved.

The Commission is aware of some individual cases, in particular, through the recent written parliamentary questions, where the repatriation of a deceased person from one Member State to another has raised difficulties. However, the Commission does not have any information or statistics which would provide an overview of a possible problem and its scope.

These issues potentially raise a number of questions, some of them in relation to different Community policies, for instance, transport, health, free movement, etc. However, it does not appear that there would be a clear Community competence to cover all these various aspects. Moreover, the regulations governing the transfer of remains of dead persons are laid down in the International Agreement of Berlin (1937, No 4391 League of Nations Treaty Series) and by the Agreement on the transfer of corpses of the Council of Europe concluded in September 1973. In any event it should be recalled that Member States which regulate the transport of deceased persons, must, in conformity with the case law of the Court of Justice, apply any requirements on a non-discriminatory basis. Any derogation based on public health grounds must also be in conformity with the case-law of the Court.

In the light of the above, the Commission will continue to follow these issues closely, but does not envisage any specific initiative for the moment.