WRITTEN QUESTION E-2811/96 by Sérgio Ribeiro (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (25 October 1996)

Subject: European Year against racism

At its May part-session Parliament approved the proposal for a Council Decision designating 1997 as European Year against racism ((OJ C 152, 27.5.1996, p. 62. )) and the further support to be given to various related ventures.

According to the Commission departments responsible for the matter (DG V), full details of the deadlines for submitting proposals, conditions of eligibility, and so forth will not be published until January 1997. The numerous organizations in the EU which campaign against racism will consequently not be able to obtain the necessary information until that date.

Can the Commission explain the reasons for this delay, the practical effect of which will be to shorten any activities that might be organized and supported by the Community, reducing the 'European Year' to a few months? Would it be willing either to extend the deadlines or to alter certain aid arrangements so as to make up for the time that will be lost? What kind of information can be provided at this stage to Member States or organizations which intend to launch initiatives to mark the European Year?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (12 December 1996)

As the Honourable Member rightly points out, Parliament gave its opinion ((OJ C 152, 27.5.1996. )) on the proposal for a Council Decision designating 1997 as European Year against Racism ((OJ C 89, 26.3.1996. )) in the course of its May 1996 part-session. The resolution of the Council and the representatives of the governments of the Member States concerning the European Year against Racism (1997) ((OJ C 237, 15.8.1996. )) was not adopted until 23 July 1996.

Following the adoption of the resolution, the Commission invited the Member States to appoint the members of the ad hoc working party and to set up the national coordinating committees provided for in points 3 and 4 of the resolution.

The Commission has since consulted with the Member States and certain non-governmental organisations (European and national) with a view to ascertaining their wishes and priorities regarding the European Year. In November or thereabouts the Commission is to send out an initial memo, showing the resultant priorities and procedures, to all the organisations (non-governmental and other) requesting the information from the Commission. At the time of receipt of the Honourable Member's question, more than 600 requests had been registered, with the number rising steadily each day.

However, the call for projects will not in fact be published until early 1997. Over and above the administrative constraints, the sheer extent of the interest aroused by the European Year necessitates such a timescale, since the information has to be available to all interested parties for the sake of transparency. Moreover, the amount of funds available will not be known until the budgetary procedure is completed in December 1996.

The deadlines for submitting applications for Community joint financing will be calculated in such a way as to give the interested parties all the time they need to prepare their projects. Finally, while some projects may be late in starting, this does not mean that the time available for carrying out the projects will automatically be reduced, since the principle of Community joint financing for projects lasting a year is in no way called into question.