WRITTEN QUESTION E-2889/02

by Adriana Poli Bortone (UEN) to the Commission

(14 October 2002)

Subject: Coordination of Community aid measures

Knowing that:

(a) the objective of the European Union is basically to ensure optimal use of resources by achieving effective results in the regions concerned;

(b) to achieve this objective is essential to have a national administrative structure in place;

(c) however, a single programme may be managed by several directorates-general (in both the Member States and in non-member countries) or two programmes (e.g. CARDS and Interreg III) have the same task (in terms of technical assistance).

Can the Commission answer the following:

1. Should it not review the responsibilities of the various directorates-general, within its organisation, in order to optimise the coordination of measures;

2. Should it not also check that the objectives of programmes match the resources available?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(26 November 2002)

In improving its working methods and making them more effective the Commission constantly strives to improve the coordination of Community activity.

In relation to the management of the programmes supported by the Structural Funds, such coordination concerns, on the one hand, the authorities and actors at national, regional and local level and the Commission, and, on the other hand, the different specialist services of the Commission that contribute to the conception and implementation of the interventions. In general, the Community programmes financed by the Structural Funds include measures in several sectors (small and medium-sized firms, agriculture, training, the environment, etc.) which fall within the scope of various Directorates-General. At the programming stage, on the basis of the proposals submitted by the Member States, the coherence and coordination of assistance are guaranteed by the joint definition of priorities and general objectives. These concerns are also addressed as part of the monitoring of programmes through internal coordination within the various Commission departments concerned with the implementation of programmes. For all structural measures, the Regional Policy Directorate-General is responsible for coordinating matters of concern to all the Funds.

In the case of interregional cooperation programmes involving non-member countries, assistance in Community cross-border regions is carried out under the Interreg Community Initiatives programme, in coordination with similar measures financed by external financial instruments (CARDS, PHARE, TACIS, etc.). To improve this coordination, the managing and Monitoring Committees for many programmes include joint representation of the Community regions and non-member countries concerned; Interreg projects are selected jointly and joint information and technical assistance initiatives are organised.

There is also coordination within the Commission. The relevant Directorates-General (Regional Policy, External Relations and EuropeAid) work in close cooperation on these matters and, on the basis of the substantial progress achieved in coordination among Interreg, PHARE and CBC on the one hand and among Interreg and TACIS on the other, departments are currently drawing up a framework for Interreg and CARDS.

The coordination of actions and the definition of responsibilities within the framework of the Structural Funds is a matter that the Commission keeps under constant review.

As regards the matching of resources for programmes to objectives, it should be noted that the rules governing assistance from the Structural Funds require for each programme the fixing of targets and quantified indicators which are checked throughout the life of the programmes by means of the ex-ante, mid-term and ex-post evaluations of assistance.