distributor had the effect of partitioning the geographical market in a a manner contrary to national
competition law. The power purchase agreement concluded between Northern Ireland Electricity andScottish Power is different because it does not contain an exclusive supply clause and does not provide foran absolute resale prohibition outside the territory covered by Northern Ireland Electricity.
2. The Commission would point out that the agreements concluded between Northern Ireland
Electricity and Scottish Power will lead to the creation of the first electricity interconnection betweenIreland and Scotland, and that half of the new transmission capacity will be made available to third-partiesfrom the beginning of the operation of the cable. Moreover, the duration of the power purchase agreementat issue in this case is limited to less than six years.
In its second report on harmonization requirements (
1) quoted by the Honourable Member, the Com-
mission pointed out that even long-term capacity reservation agreements may be indispensable in order topromote the construction of new interconnection capacity.
The Commission would also draw the Honourable Members attention to the fact that the present
agreements do not deal with the allocation of unused capacity. Indeed, the capacity used by the parties
under the power purchase agreement will be subject to the general rules governing the use of theinterconnector which are in the process of being drawn up by the Office for the regulation of electricityand gas in Northern Ireland.
(1) COM(99) 164 final.
(2000/C 27 E/118) WRITTEN QUESTION P-1492/99
by Christa Klaß (PPE-DE) to the Commission
(1 September 1999)
Subject: Innovative schemes for women in agriculture
What stage has the implementation of the programme Innovative schemes for women in agriculture
reached? How many projects have been assisted under the programme? How many applications have stillto be processed? What proportion of the resources has already been disbursed, and what happens tomoney that is not disbursed?
Various German associations of rural women applied in good time for project assistance under this
programme. So far many of the applicants have received neither notification that the documents have beenreceived by the Commission nor a decision on the eligibility of their projects.
Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission
(7 September 1999)
The procedure for the evaluation and selection of projects under calls for proposals for pilot and
demonstration projects concerning innovative actions for women in agriculture and rural areas, while in
its final stage, is not yet complete. It is, therefore, not possible at this stage to reply to the HonourableMembers questions concerning the number of projects financed and the level of Community contributionconcerned. This information is scheduled for adoption before the end of this year.
The Commission can however confirm that every applicant who submitted a proposal within the specified
deadline has received a letter of confirmation of receipt. Applicants have also been sent follow-upcorrespondence concerning the various stages in the evaluation and selection process. Further, thoseapplicants whose projects have been excluded during those stages of the evaluation and selection processwhich have been completed have already been notified that their project cannot be taken into considera-tion for Community financial support under this call for proposals.C 27 E/96 EN 29.1.2000 Official Journal of the European Communities