EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 88/661

(2004/C 88 E/0680)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4014/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(9 January 2004)

Subject: Implementation of PHARE project BG 0102.06 in Bulgaria: delays in implementation and uncertainty regarding the disbursement of the resulting outstanding appropriations

1. Why did the national Projects Steering Committee, on which a member of the EU's delegation in Sofia must sit, not start work at the agreed juncture (December 2001 or January 2002)? Why did this Steering Committee only meet for the first time in September 2003 and was the deadline for submitting proposals postponed from June 2002 to 6 November 2003?

2. Why, in March 2003, did the official responsible in the EU's delegation ignore the call from the relevant specialist committee of the Bulgarian Parliament to give reasons for that postponement?

3. Is it true that between 2001 and 2003 only 33 % of the appropriations thus far approved for the project were disbursed because the number of proposals approved accounted for only one third of the funding available?

4. Are the unspent appropriations returned to the EU budget or can they then be disbursed as the EU's delegation in Sofia sees fit?

5. Irrespective of the Commission's answer to question 4, following the conclusion of the contract period on 30 November 2003 can the unspent appropriations still be used, prior to the repayment deadline on 30 November 2004, for their original purposes, on the basis that the Bulgarian authorities were consulted at an earlier date?

6. What improvements in the situation outlined above does the Commission regard as possible and desirable?

Joint answer to Written Questions E-3972/03, E-3973/02, E-4011/03, E-4012/03, E-4013/03 and E-4014/03 given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(25 February 2004)

The Honourable Member has tabled six questions, on 30 issues all related to PHARE tendering procedures for two projects in Bulgaria.

The Commission would like to recall that in line with the rules for decentralised management of pre-accession aid, the PHARE programme in Bulgaria is managed by the Bulgarian authorities under the decentralised implementation system (DIS).

The procedural rules for all PHARE projects are set out in the Practical Guide to PHARE, ISPA and Sapard contract procedures (PRAG). In the two cases referred to by the Honourable Member, these have, as usual, been strictly followed by the responsible Bulgarian authorities. The projects selected at the end of this process were submitted to the Commission Delegation to Bulgaria, in Sofia, for approval. The Delegation then endorsed those recommendations made by the Contracting Authorities.

The projects referred to by the Honourable Member are ‘Social Inclusion’ (BG 0102.06 for an overall amount of EUR4 863 000 including national co-financing) as well as the separate project ‘Civil Society Development’ (BG 0104.03 for an overall amount of EUR 2 500 000). The responsible Contracting Authority is the Ministry of Regional Development for the Social Inclusion project and the Ministry of Finance for the Civil Society Development project. They initiated open calls for proposals, selected the projects and oversaw the implementation of the projects.

For both call for proposals, a large number of offers were received. However, only those projects which met the required quality standards in line with the Practical Guide to PHARE, ISPA and Sapard contract procedures (PRAG) were selected for funding, irrespective of their geographical location. This leads to a certain in-balance in the number of grants received by the different regions. The Commission has received no complaint regarding any misappropriation and can therefore not comment on the particular case mentioned.

More specifically, and with regard to the PHARE project Social Inclusion (BG 0102.06 PHARE), the Commission confirms that appropriations totalling EUR 966 000 (including Bulgarian national co-financing) (1) were available to assist up to 12 existing Roma cultural and information centres and to provide literacy and numeracy training to 4 500 Roma. However, only a relatively small number of the proposals were selected.

After approval of the grants by the Commission, it is the responsibility of the Bulgarian Contracting Authority to notify and/or to proceed with the contract signatures. The Commission is aware of the short deadline given and has repeatedly discussed with the Bulgarian authorities the need to accelerate the procedures.

The results of the selection procedure were published on the websites of the relevant institutions, namely the Ministry of Regional Development (2) as a Contracting Authority and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy as a Project Implementation Unit.

As foreseen in the project description of the Social Inclusion project (BG0102.06), a Project Steering Committee has been set up by the Contracting Authority for the overall co-ordination of the project. It is the Contracting Authority which has the exclusive responsibility to convene this Committee. The Steering Committee composition is stipulated in the Project Fiche that is published on all relevant websites (3). It includes relevant ministries and agencies as well as the Bulgarian Industrial Association, the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce, the Confederation of the Trade Unions in Bulgaria, the ‘Podkrepa’ Trade Union, the Union of People with Disabilities in Bulgaria, the National Council on Ethnic and Demographic Issues and the Commission Delegation, Sofia.

The names of the members of the Evaluation Committee, including assessors, are not made public. The Commission is not in a position to confirm that any particular member of the Evaluation Committees was at the same time involved in some of the individual projects funded under BG0102.06.

As is general practice for PHARE projects which assist the Roma minority, it is ensured that these are implemented in close co-operation with Roma representatives. The Commission maintains the position it gave in its reply to the Honourable Member's written question E-1647/03 (4), namely that proper involvement of Roma and their representative organisations in identification of the needs, the project design preparation and implementation is crucial to the success of such projects.

The Commission has not been approached by the National Council for Ethnic and Demographic Issues nor by the Ministry of Culture concerning any decisions as referred to in written question E-4011/03.

The contracting period under the project Social Inclusion has expired. Any remaining commitment appropriations can therefore not be utilised. Any unspent payment appropriations will need to be returned to the Community budget. However, the Commission will continue to support social inclusion in Bulgaria under pre-accession aid and organisations not successful this time will, of course, be able to apply for any future projects of a similar nature. Each project will be judged on its own merits.

The Commission regrets that it is not in a position to verify or review general allegations as reported by the Honourable Member since these relate to tender procedures carried out by the Bulgarian authorities. The Commission is, however, determined to ensure transparent and correct allocation of funds and to assure that any substantiated and documented information of fraudulent or corrupt practices would be duly followed up, wherever these occur.

The Civil society development project (BG 0104.03) on which the Honourable Member also poses questions has no link to the Social Inclusion Project. It is a programme targeting development of nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and is managed by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (neither the National Council on Ethnic and Demographic Issues nor the Ministry of Culture are involved in this project). The Commission has received no evidence of any wrongdoing by any member of the Delegation staff. The Commission can assure the Honourable Member that the co-operation between the Commission's Delegation and the Parliamentary committee on civil society at the Bulgarian National Assembly is very close and productive.

(1) See also http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/fiche_projet/document/bg0102-06-social_inclusion.pdf

(2) http://www.mrrb.government.bg/pdocs/doc_618.htm

(3) For instance http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/fiche_projet/index.cfm?page=399702&c=BULGARIA&a=2001

(4) OJ C 78 E, 27.3.2004, p. 378.