WRITTEN QUESTION E-2466/00

by Paulo Casaca (PSE), Isidoro Sánchez García (ELDR), Margie Sudre (PPE-DE), Roy Perry (PPE-DE), Mariotto Segni (UEN) and Jean-Claude Fruteau (PSE) to the Commission

(24 July 2000)

Subject: Islands

Article 154 of the Treaty, on trans-European networks, makes explicit reference to the need to link island, landlocked and peripheral regions with the central regions of the Community.

It seems, however, that in the case of islands, very little has been done to put this into effect.

Can the Commission give a list of TEN projects (involving transport, energy or telecommunications) that have benefited the European Union's islands to date?

At a time when the Commission is presenting Parliament and the Council with a report on the revision of TEN guidelines, could the Commission give a list of the projects concerning islands that are likely to be declared eligible?

Could it also say what proposals it has in mind so that in future greater priority is given within the TEN framework to strengthening links between the islands and the Community's central regions?

Joint answer to Written Questions E-2446/00 and E-2466/00 given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(10 November 2000)

Many trans-European transport (TEN) projects, in energy, transport and telecommunications, concern islands. For transport and energy, the projects are identified in the guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network(1) and in the guidelines for the development of the trans-European energy network(2). For transport, the most important projects for islands are generally those for ports and airports. For energy, the list of projects of common interest includes the introduction of natural gas and electricity connections by submarine cable to some islands. In TEN-Telecom, islands are directly or indirectly addressed in most of the projects as telecommunications by definition link the different regions in Europe. Particular examples exist in projects dealing with tele-medicine, and tele-education aimed at reaching remotely located citizens, and in projects dealing with emergency management.

In order to receive Community financial support, projects must first be agreed by national administrations. The full list of projects that have received financial support from the TEN budget can be found in the annual report on the TENs which is sent to Parliament. However, it should be noted that most of the financing of TEN projects in islands comes from the structural funds and Cohesion fund, as well as from national authorities. The information available on these projects can be found in the annual report on the Cohesion fund and the annual list of structural fund projects over 50 million, both of which are sent to the Parliament.

The Commission is currently preparing a report to revise the TEN-Transport guidelines, in which it will propose to continue to support TEN projects in islands. For TEN-Energy, the Commission will underline the importance of developing renewable energies, especially in islands, and linking the production units for these energies to interconnected networks. The revision of the TEN-Telecom guidelines will only start from September 2000. As the selection of TEN-Telecom projects is through open calls for proposals, there are no specific elegibility criteria for projects related to islands. However, a better dissemination of the support available for projects in islands at the different (European and national) TEN-Telecom information days could help to strengthen links with islands.

(1) OJ L 228, 9.9.1996.

(2) OJ L 161, 29.6.1996.