WRITTEN QUESTION E-2817/01

by Herbert Bösch (PSE) to the Commission

(10 October 2001)

Subject: Combating discrimination criteria for support for projects

A European Commission committee was set up last year in the context of the Action Programme to Combat Discrimination (2001-2006). The committee's aim is to take decisions on subsidising various projects on the basis of documents submitted by the Commission.

Criticism has recently been voiced in various quarters that the Commission does not make adequate background documentation available to the Member States' representatives. Because of a lack of balance sheets, financial plans and drafts showing how the subsidies would be used, the representatives of the Member States are unable to take definite decisions.

1. Is it true that not all the documentation at the Commission's disposal is made available to the other parties involved in assessing projects? If so, why?

2. Why are the criteria concerning content and their order of priority not made public? Why are the committee members not informed of the order of priority?

3. How are the approved projects evaluated after they have been carried out? On what criteria is the evaluation based? When and how are these evaluations published?

4. How long does it take, after an application for support for a project is submitted, for the applicant to find out whether the project will be subsidised? Are rejections justified? If not, why not?

5. Does the Commission consider that the Member States' representatives are sufficiently involved in the allocation of projects? If so, why? If not, why not?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(20 November 2001)

In accordance with the Council Decision of 27 November establishing a Community action programme to combat discrimination (2001-2006) (2000/750/EC)(1), the Commission is to be assisted by a committee made up of Member States' representatives.

This committee has met in Brussels four times since it was set up and has shown a real commitment to cooperation and to support for the activities proposed by the Commission. The Commission is therefore very pleased to have excellent relations with this committee.

Article 5 of the Council Decision defines as follows the committee's mandate concerning the selection of projects for funding under the programme: The measures necessary for the implementation [of the programme] () shall be adopted in accordance with the management procedure [concerning for example] the arrangements for selecting actions and organisations for Community support and the draft list of actions and organisations submitted by the Commission for such support.

In accordance with these provisions, the committee has already approved the eligibility and selection criteria to be applied by the Commission in calls for proposals for 2001, the documents to be submitted in support of grant applications and the draft lists of actions or organisations pre-selected under the 2001 budget. For the sake of transparency and openness with regard to the members of this committee and the public in general, the documents submitted to the committee and the minutes of the meetings at which these documents were discussed and approved are available on the Commission's website(2).

The Commission would also point out that, during the discussion on procedures for selecting actions and organisations for 2001, which took place before any calls for proposals were issued, the committee did not consider it necessary to ask the Commission to forward all documents submitted by the applicant organisations.

All eligibility and selection criteria are explained in the guidelines to the calls for proposals which begin the grant award procedures. The Commission fully respects this requirement, which is necessary to guarantee total transparency and the equal treatment of applications. All procedures followed by the Commission in the course of its work are in line with the rules in force.

The Commission has provided for an evaluation of the impact of actions and grants to organisations under the programme. The committee was consulted in January 2001 on whether it would be appropriate to begin an evaluation exercise focused on the impact of transnational actions for 2002-2004 which are financed by the programme and on criteria for selecting the organisation to be assigned to this external evaluation. More generally, all of the actions in the anti-discrimination programme will be evaluated, and this question will certainly be included on the committee's agenda in due course.

All of the organisations which submitted a grant application are informed of the final result no later than six weeks after the deadline for submission. However, this information can be provided only once the committee has agreed on the list of pre-selected actions or organisations. Those organisations wishing to find out in greater detail why their applications were not accepted by the Commission are invited to do so. Moreover, the Commission has on several occasions provided assistance to organisations which requested it.

In conclusion, the Commission believes that the Member States' representatives on the committee set up under the programme to combat discrimination are involved and consulted in full accordance with the provisions of the Decision establishing the programme, in particular Articles 5 and 6, which refer to Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission(3).

(1) OJ L 303, 2.12.2000.

(2) http://europa. eu. int/comm/employment_social/fundamri/prog/comite_en. htm.

(3) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999.