WRITTEN QUESTION E-3255/01

by Daniela Raschhofer (NI) to the Commission

(23 November 2001)

Subject: Programme execution and assistance for border regions

Michel Barnier, Commissioner responsible for regional policy, made a statement on 9 October 2001 to the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism on the implementation of programmes for border regions. Among other things, he said that within the framework of assistance for Objective 1 regions the Commission had already approved 112 out of 114 programmes. Interreg had proved very successful and 103 of the 156 eligible regions had already applied this year. He went on to discuss the ISPA and said that pre-accession aid would not be decentralised this year as the candidate countries were not yet ready.

In connection with this statement, can the Commission indicate:

1. Exactly which programmes are involved in the case of Objective 1 assistance? What financial framework has been established for which programmes from which regions (a detailed list is requested)?

2. How many of the 103 applications submitted so far for Interreg come from Austria?

3. Which applications have so far been approved under Interreg and how much money has the Union disbursed for individual projects (a detailed list is requested)?

4. When does the Commission expect to decentralise the ISPA and exactly what assistance will it be providing to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe for decentralising the ISPA?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(11 February 2002)

1. The Commission is sending direct to the Honourable Member and to the Parliament's Secretariat the list of the 113 programmes co-financed under Objective 1 for the 2000-2006 programming period as well as the relevant amounts.

2. The 156 eligible regions mentioned by the Honourable Member referred to the Innovative actions and not to the Interreg Community initiative.

All Interreg programmes are prepared, by definition, by more than one Member State, although a Member State can submit the programme proposal on behalf of all the Member States involved. All Interreg programmes involving Austria have been submitted. The following programmes have been approved under the cross-border strand of Interreg III.

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The following programmes involving Austria were approved at the end of the year 2001 under the transnational strand of Interreg III:

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Finally, under the inter-regional co-operation strand of Interreg III, Austria is participating in the East Zone programme, which has a Community contribution of 60 million, along with Germany, Italy and Greece.

3. The complete list of the programmes adopted under Interreg as well as the related budgets for the 2000-2006 programming period are being sent direct to the Honourable Member and to the Parliament's Secretariat.

4. The legal framework for decentralisation is set up by Article 12 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1266/99 of 21 June 1999 on co-ordinating aid to the applicant countries in the framework of the pre-accession strategy(1). There are certain pre-condition for the decentralisation of the Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA) resources, structures and systems for the management of Community assistance and effective internal controls. These include an independent audit function and effective accounting and financial reporting systems meeting international audit standards. Central government's financial control over the implementing agencies must also be ensured. The target is to move from the ex-ante approval of projects to an ex-post control. The decentralisation of the ex-ante approval requires a Commission decision based on a detailed country-by-country screening of project management capacity and financial control procedures. Concerning invitations to tender, appraisal, evaluation of tenders, the award of contracts and the implementation of public procurement directives.

Decentralisation may not be possible in all ten candidate countries benefitting from ISPA at the same time. The Commission has encouraged the use of the Technical Assistance (TA) funds under ISPA to promote the reform of management and control functions in preparation for decentralisation. TA projects are underway in a number of candidate countries, and the objective is to put in place an extended implementation system in the course of 2002 in a number of countries and for sectors (subject to progress in the different sectors transport and environment it is conceivable that the ex-ante waiver is not granted to both sectors at the same time).

For some aspects of this exercise the candidate countries can also rely on TA already provided through PHARE and Sigma.

(1) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999.