WRITTEN QUESTION E-3591/98

by Freddy Blak (PSE) to the Commission

(3 December 1998)

Subject: Discrimination against Socialist organisations

The International Falcon Movement Socialist Educational International has international units in 60 organisations all over the world, all of them supporting left-wing values. They find themselves discriminated against by the European Commission because of their left-wing values.

This movement has been told that they should not always work with partners belonging to the same background, that they should open their partnerships to organisations from other horizons, so that their network can be approved.

From the figures they receive regularly, they can see that Catholic organisations are more often supported. This is not understandable because the Commission should be neutral, and should only base its decision on the quality of the projects.

111 organisations are receiving a subsidy under Budget line 3029.

How many socialist organisations are receiving a subsidy from this budget line 3029?

There has been an important decrease in the subsidy to socialist organisations during the last two years. What is the reason for this decrease?

Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission

(19 January 1999)

The organisations to be supported under budget heading A-3029 "Support for international non-governmental youth organisations" are selected and the level of grant decided each year on the basis of the eligibility and selection criteria published in the Official Journal (for the 1998 budget year, see the call for proposals(1)).

Of course, these criteria do not make any reference to the political or confessional character, if any, of the organisations, so the number of political or confessional organisations supported depends directly on the number of eligible grant applications received by the Commission from such organisations. In 1998, the Commission received four applications from organisations defining themselves as socialist, one of which was rejected because it did not meet the eligibility criteria (a national organisation (Austrian) rather than an international one). The grants awarded are also decided on this basis, i.e. mainly the quality of the programme of European youth activities, the development of the network and the multiplier effect.

As for the Commission's invitation to the International Falcon Movement Socialist Educational International (IFM) to open its activities to other organisations, the Commission would like to explain that it was not made in the context of budget heading A-3029 but in response to other requests for funding specific projects submitted under the Youth for Europe programme. It should be noted that a similar invitation was made to other organisations, as well, independently of their political persuasion.

Now to the question of the level of the grants awarded during the past two years. It should be remembered that the average grant has fallen from [fmxeuro] 17 400 in 1995 to [fmxeuro] 12 700 in 1997 and then [fmxeuro] 10 000 in 1998, as a result of the rapid growth in the number of applications received by the Commission and a drop in the total amount available ([fmxeuro] 1,25 million in 1995, [fmxeuro] 1,3 million in 1997 and [fmxeuro] 1,1 million in 1998). The situation of the IFM is therefore common to most of the organisations supported over the last few years, whatever their political or confessional orientation.

Furthermore, the Commission received this year the first application for funding from the European Falcon Network (EFN), the majority of whose members are also members of the IFM. In such a case, the published provisions (point 3. Eligibility Criteria) provide as follows: "In the event of parallel applications from a European organisation and an organisation more widely represented geographically with the same members in those countries (or a majority thereof) of the European Union represented and with similar objectives, priority will be given to the European structure." Having contacted the two organisations concerned, the Commission decided, in addition to giving a grant to the EFN, to continue to fund the IFM to the tune of [fmxeuro] 10 000.

(1) OJ C 374, 10.12.1997.