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(2004/C 33 E/191)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1908/03

by Eija-Riitta Korhola (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(11 June 2003)

Subject:   Delayed payment of development grants

In February 2003, a grant was awarded for a project to develop a particular business environment. The grant was awarded by a local manpower and business centre in Finland. However, the project leaders report that the project will not receive the promised money until December 2003.

How long does it generally take for payments to be made to EU-funded projects?

Why are payments delayed after grants have been awarded? Is this due to the slowness of Member States' own administrations or is it caused by EU rules?

In the light of feedback from Member States, how big a problem are delays in grant payments for EU-funded projects?

How could the award and payment of grants be accelerated?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(17 July 2003)

In accordance with the subsidiarity principle, the Commission's discussion partners as regards regional development are the Member States and not final beneficiaries. The Commission would therefore advise the Honourable Member to request further information from the managing authority or the paying authority for the programme concerned in Finland.

Since project management is decentralised, the Commission does not have statistics on the current intervals between a financing decision in a Member State and the first reimbursement received by the beneficiary. However, the Commission facilitates the launch of a programme by granting a payment on account as soon as it decides to part-finance the whole programme. The payment on account comprises 7 % of the amount of the programme under the rules for 2000-2006. Apart from a few pilot projects, the Finnish programmes were adopted by the Commission in 2000 or 2001. Since then the national authority has therefore had available the 7 % payment on account to finance the Community portion of the project to which the Honourable Member refers, without waiting for reimbursement of expenditure actually incurred.

Beyond that payment on account, the Commission reimburses the Member State solely on the basis of expenditure actually incurred (1). For the current programming period, the payment interval within the Directorate-General responsible for regional policy has been 37 days since the beginning of 2003. Although that payment interval cannot therefore be regarded as excessive (2), the Commission continually seeks to improve its internal procedures in the interests of efficiency and simplification. On 25 April 2003 the Commission endorsed 10 measures in a communication on management simplification, clarification, coordination and flexibility.

The administrative slowness to which the Honourable Member refers cannot therefore be regarded as a consequence of the provisions on the Structural Funds. Article 34(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 states that ‘in carrying out its tasks the managing authority shall act in full compliance with the institutional, legal and financial systems of the Member State concerned’. Article 3 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 438/2001 of 2 March 2001 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 (3) requires Member States' management and control systems to be devised subject to proportionality in relation to the volume of assistance administered.

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(1)  In accordance with Article 32(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds — OJ L 161, 26.6.1999.

(2)  Article 32(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 states that ‘the Commission shall make interim payments within no more than two months of receipt of an acceptable payment application’.

(3)OJ L 63, 3.3.2001.

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