WRITTEN QUESTION E-1634/01

by Rosa Miguélez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission

(12 June 2001)

Subject: Execution of Commission initiatives over the period 1994-1999

The Community initiatives created in 1989 enable the Commission to play a more active role, on the supposition that it has an overall vision allegedly lacking at the level of the Member States. The Commission has, in these Community initiatives, a leading role in dealing with specific problems affecting the EU as a whole.

Over the programming period 1994-1999 13 initiatives were adopted, with a total budget of EUR 13 450 m. These initiatives were characterised by a value added element vis-à-vis the other measures financed by the Structural Funds, since they were aimed at encouraging transnational, crossborder and interregional cooperation, the participation of local economic and social agents, and aid to real cooperation among all interested parties.

In view of all the above, the Commission and the Member States may logically be expected to have made efforts to execute, in their entirety, the resources allocated to each of the 13 initiatives for the period 1994-1999.

Can the Commission state the real execution level of the appropriations earmarked for this set of initiatives over the period 1994-1999?

What was the real execution level for each of the initiatives (Interreg II, Leader II, REGIS II, NOW, Horizon, Youthstart, Integra, ADAPT, Rechar II, Resider II, Konver, RETEX, SME, URBAN and PESCA)?

What is the Commission's assessment of the execution percentage? Why were the remaining funds earmarked for each initiative not executed?

In particular, what was the total amount of funds under these initiatives executed for Spain? What amount was executed in Spain under each initiative, and what percentage of the total allocated for the programming period does this represent? What is the Commission's assessment of the execution percentage? Why were the remaining funds earmarked for each initiative not executed?

Supplementary answergiven by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(17 September 2001)

At the end of 2000, total appropriations committed and paid for the Community Initiatives (CIs) for the 1994-1999 programming period were as shown in the table below:

>TABLE>

The amount of 13.45 billion referred to by the Honourable Member in her question is the total funding in 1994 prices for the CIs for 1994-1999 before the accession of Austria, Sweden and Finland. The amount actually committed is greater than this amount because of: indexation over the programming period 1994-1999; inclusion of the amount allocated to these three Member States who joined the Community in 1995; the additional allocation to the Peace Initiative and the general impact of the revision of allocations in 1998.

The final implementation of the final funding for the CIs as a whole was 100 %. This means that all the Community funds provided were fully committed for this assistance. However, the actually implementation of the programmes will not be known until they are closed, i.e. from June in 2002, in accordance with their implementing conditions.

The rate of implementation for Spain to the end of 2000 is shown in the table below. The figures for the Community Initiative for border areas (Interreg) are not shown because the amount per Member State is not always available for these programmes. The implementation rate and the Commission's assessment of that rate are the same for Spain as for the Member States as a whole.

>TABLE>