WRITTEN QUESTION P-1918/99

by Francesco Turchi (UEN) to the Commission

(14 October 1999)

Subject: Russia

If it is true that over EUR 1 000 million have been given each year to Russia via the Tacis programme, in the light of the current scandals involving the Russian government can the Commission say what procedures have been put in place to monitor the granting of this aid and to check whether the aid is actually being used for humanitarian purposes?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(16 November 1999)

Tacis has provided 1 200 million to Russia over the period 1991 to 1998. The budget of the 1999 action programme for Russia is 99,5 million. Tacis does not provide humanitarian assistance. The Tacis programme provides grant finance for policy advice, technical assistance, studies and training and other measures to support the process of transformation to market economies and democratic societies. Full details of the 1998 Tacis programme can be found in the 1998 annual report, which was recently published.

All programmes and projects funded under Tacis are subject to monitoring, evaluation and audit procedure to be carried out, on the spot if necessary by the relevant Commission services and the Court of auditors.

The External relations common service (SCR), created in July 1998, included for the first time, an audit unit specifically dedicated to the audit of all external aid operations. In the context of aid provided to Russia under the Tacis programme, the unit has already launched a series of audits designed to improve control over the aid concerned, and to ensure that Community funds are properly used in accordance with the terms and conditions of the appropriate financing agreement. So far, these efforts have focussed on those activities where the need for rigorous audits is considered to be the most urgent. These include: audits of the programmes and contracts under which technical assistance is rendered to the nuclear safety industries in countries such as Russia; measures to initiate a series of audits to control aid provided under the programme of food aid to Russia and contracts and programmes under Tacis where the Commission has been made aware of potential problems in the financial control and management of Community funds.

Further measures to increase the degree of control over Community funds to Russia are underway, such as those to conclude a number of framework contracts under which it will be possible to respond with greater rapidity and flexibility to future requests for audits. Such a facility will enable the scope of audit activities to be enhanced to control a larger amount of the external aid channelled to Russia.

Should analysis of these audits reveal any suspicion of irregularities or possible fraud, OLAF will be informed immediately.

Evaluations have also been carried out of Tacis programmes. The SCR Internet site http://europa.eu.int/comm/scr/evaluation/index.htm (evaluation section) includes the full texts of all such evaluations carried out for the past three years. In addition, the current food aid programme and the overall country programme are both subject to major evaluation at present.

These evaluations analyse, in relation to their set objectives and the needs of the Tacis beneficiary countries, how Tacis actions met the criteria of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability.

The Community's humanitarian aid programmes are managed by the Commission. Its programmes are implemented in co-operation with professional humanitarian agencies, such as specialised United Nations agencies, European non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the Red Cross movement. The Commission has recently opened a technical office in Moscow in order to advise partners directly in the field.

In general, the Commission shares the cautious assessment of the reliability of distribution systems in the Russian Federation. In fact, this is one of the major reasons why the size of the Commission activities in this country has remained relatively modest (adequate monitoring possibilities being one of the essential criteria when it decides on a project proposal).