WRITTEN QUESTION E-0958/03

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(26 March 2003)

Subject: Utilisation by the municipality of Prato of funding under EQUAL, the ESF and the Fourth action programme on equal opportunities for women and men

In September 2002, the monitoring committee of the Italian ministry of the economy presented its statement on the expenditure of funding made available by the European Union.

Its research showed that some local authorities were worryingly slow and inefficient in awarding projects.

The European Commission has also emphasised concern on various occasions at the under-utilisation of European funding by local authorities.

Considering that, in particular, some local municipalities such as Prato are in great need of European funding for vocational training and employment, equal opportunities and social integration,

Can the Commission indicate:

1. whether the municipality of Prato has submitted any projects under EQUAL, the ESF or the Fourth action programme on equal opportunities for women and men;

2. whether the municipality of Prato has received funding for those projects;

3. whether that funding has been utilised?

Joint answerto Written Questions E-0948/03, E-0949/03, E-0950/03,E-0951/03, E-0952/03, E-0953/03, E-0954/03, E-0955/03,E-0956/03, E-0957/03, E-0958/03, E-0959/03 and E-0960/03given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(29 April 2003)

The documents in the Commission's possession show that all the municipalities referred to have participated in EQUAL projects. This Community initiative started a year behind schedule, and the Italian development partnerships are nearly all in phase II. It is therefore still too early to assess the utilisation of EQUAL funds by the regional authorities. As regards the detailed monitoring of projects submitted and selected, the Commission invites the Honourable Member to consult the EQUAL website, and in particular the EQUAL Common Database (ECDB), where all the requested information is available: https://equal.cec.eu.int/equal/jsp/index.jsp?lang=en.

However, the Commission would remind the Honourable Member that these Community funds are managed decentrally. Responsibility for implementation lies with the managing authorities (regions, autonomous provinces, ministries) which distribute the available funding among the various projects, including those on equal opportunities for men and women. The Commission is not involved in selecting the projects to be financed and, generally speaking, can only emphasise the efficiency of the managing authorities responsible for the municipalities concerned.

The list of projects that were awarded funding under the Fourth Action Programme on equal opportunities for women and men, for the years 1999 and 2000, is available at the following address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/equ_opp/fund_en.html, under the section Fourth Action Programme on Equal Opportunities for women and men (1996-2000). The publications entitled Directory of projects 1999 and Directory of projects 2000, also provide information about the project promoters, as well as a short description of the activities, target groups and results. As for the remaining years, none of the Italian municipalities referred to in the above-mentioned written questions was awarded funding under the Fourth Action Programme on equal opportunities for women and men.