91998E3629

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3629/98

by Hartmut Nassauer (PPE) to the Commission

(3 December 1998)

Subject: Repercussions of the legislation in force in the Czech Republic on the assessment of its application for accession

To date, the infringements of human rights committed by expelling citizens of various nationalities from Czechoslovakia after the end of the Second World War have not been remedied. Many of those people are still alive. Pursuant to decrees issued by the President of the Republic and other legislation, in 1945 and 1946 all the property owned by certain people, mostly Germans and Hungarians, was expropriated. Although the adverse effects of this situation continue to be felt, the provisions ordaining this expropriation are still enshrined in the legal order of the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic persists in the view that the Law of 8 May 1946, which confers immunity from criminal proceedings with regard to the excesses committed in connection with that expulsion, is still in force.

Does the Commission believe that the fact that basic human and civil rights are or are not infringed must affect the way in which the European Union views the application of the Czech Republic for accession to the European Union?

Joint answer

to Written Questions E-3626/98, E-3628/98 and E-3629/98 given by Mr van den Broek on behalf of the Commission

(3 February 1999)

The accession negotiations concern the future membership of the Czech Republic in the Union and its acceptance of Community rules ("the acquis").

Property ownership is not as such part of the acquis. Article 222 of the EC Treaty stipulates that the Treaty in no way prejudices Member States' rules governing the system of property ownership. The Commission, therefore, considers the questions raised by the Honourable Member a bilateral issue between Germany and the Czech Republic.

At the same time, the acquis contains a number of basic freedoms - such as the free movement of people and the freedom movement of establishment - that will apply in the future equally to citizens of new and old Member States. The application of these rights by the Czech Republic should ease the solution of the issue mentioned by the Honourable Member.