WRITTEN QUESTION P-0307/00

by Nicole Thomas-Mauro (UEN) to the Commission

(4 February 2000)

Subject: Financial aid for the disaster areas in Champagne-Ardennes (France)

Following the comments by Commissioner Barnier at the January 2000 part-session on the damage caused by the recent storms, what practical measures can the Champagne-Ardennes Region expect from the Commission, in terms of

1. emergency aid, in view of the risks of pollution to public health and the water supply,

2. financial aid:

- under the EAGGF Guarantee Section, since Article 33 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999(1) provides for measures in the event of a natural disaster,

- in areas eligible under Objective 2,

- outside the areas,

- under the LIFE Programme,

- to supplement national or local aid programmes,

3. logistical aid?

What coordination may we expect under the Community action programme for civil protection which the Council adopted on 9 December 1999?

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 80.

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(6 March 2000)

The Community budget no longer has a specific heading for emergency aid for natural disasters. The Commission will accordingly use the existing instruments when seeking to provide affected regions with the assistance needed for reconstruction.

Like the other regions of metropolitan France, Champagne-Ardenne will continue to be partly eligible for Structural Fund assistance in 2000-2006 under the new Objective 2. The decision in principle on zoning for that Objective in France was adopted by the Commission on 18 January 2000. The final decision should be taken in the next few days, after consideration by the three Advisory Committees concerned. The French authorities will then have four months to present their regional conversion plans to the Commission. If the plans received by 30 April 2000 are declared admissible, expenditure under the categories of operations included in the Single Programming Document will be eligible retroactively from 1 January 2000.

In the case of France, Structural Fund assistance available for the new Objective 2 amounts to 5 400 million for the period 2000-2006. Furthermore, disaster areas not included in the zoning plan but previously eligible under Objectives 2 and 5(b) will also be eligible for 620 million of transitional support.

It is worth stressing that the Community's structural and cohesion policies are basically designed to help reduce economic and social disparities and the Structural Funds do not constitute emergency aid. Nonetheless, given their scope, they can provide meaningful assistance for the economic and social reconstruction of the regions affected.

For example, the Objective 2 programmes can finance the rebuilding of infrastructure, production plant and equipment (areas zoned for economic and craft-trade activities, productive investments, aid to enterprises), training, and the restoration of the historical and cultural heritage with a view to tourism. Programming of operations under the future Objective 2 programme will be the responsibility of the regional authorities. All Structural Fund assistance is provided by way of part-financing of national expenditure.

The goal of the Life programme is to finance demonstration projects in the field of environmental protection, in conjunction with the Community priorities defined in that area. The projects are submitted each year and are assessed mainly on the basis of their innovative and demonstrative nature. The LIFE programme is thus not intended to provide structural financial assistance in disaster zones.

Under the Community action programme in the field of civil protection the Commission is ready to trigger its information exchange network between the Member States should the French authorities responsible for civil protection so request.

Lastly, the reform of the common agricultural policy means that rural development measures throughout the Community's rural areas can for the first time be part-financed by the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and France will be the main beneficiary. Measures eligible under this policy include the rebuilding of agricultural and forestry production potential damaged by natural disasters and the introduction of suitable prevention instruments.