WRITTEN QUESTION E-1164/02

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(23 April 2002)

Subject: Tourism volunteer project in Casina (Italy)

In the municipality of Casina (province of Reggio Emilia, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy), young people's organisations and local councillors have drawn up a scheme for the training of tourism volunteers, with a view to developing an open-ended model of culturally and socially oriented tourism. This scheme would involve the training of groups of volunteers (the knowledge and skills concerned being in the areas of history, culture, the environment and languages), who, between the months of May and September, would accompany and guide tourists and visitors in the municipality. These guided visits would be completely free of charge to groups wishing to visit the municipality of Casina and the surrounding area in

the Reggio part of the Apennines, with its numerous historic and artistic treasures and rural beauty spots. The municipality of Casina, part of whose territory falls under Objective 2, occupies a hilly portion of Reggio Emilia province (average altitude: c. 540 metres); its territory includes approximately 25 km of footpaths (some of them falling within the Matilde Castles Circuit project). It is essential to develop tourism in Casina, and the municipality lacks resources.

Can the Commission state whether, under Objective 2 (which covers part of Casina), it is possible to secure funds for the development of cultural tourism or for regional development projects (under the ERDF), with a view to putting this scheme into practice?

What forms of cooperation or aids from the Commission could be utilised for this project?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(11 June 2002)

Under the principle of subsidiarity, the assessment and selection of projects proposed for part-financing by the Structural Funds and their implementation are matters for the regional and national managing authorities.

The single programming document (SPD) for the areas of the region of Emilia-Romagna eligible under Objective 2 during the period 2000-2006 includes two measures for action in the tourism sector which could be part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The first deals with skills and support for tourist businesses while the second concerns the development of mountain resources and proposes a series of integrated measures to increase and expand the capacity for tourism on offer.

The project in question, for the training of guides, could come under the type of measures part-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) under the operational programme for Emilia-Romagna under Objective 43 which applies throughout the region.

Any applications for part-finance and questions on access to the Structural Funds may be sent to the following authorities:

- for the Objective 2 SPD: Direzione Attività Produttive, Commercio e Turismo, Viale Aldo Moro 30, I-40127 Bologna, tel. +39 051 283 869, fax +39 051 283 615,e-mail: ubfontanesi@regione.emilia-romagna.it

- for the Objective 3 OP: Dott.ssa Cristina Balboni, Regione Emilia Romagna, Viale Aldo Moro, 38, I-40127 Bologna, tel. +39 051 283 374, fax +39 051 283 867,e-mail: fp_direz@regione.emilia-romagna.it

The European voluntary service of the Youth programme may also support voluntary service projects in Italy for young people from other countries. The aim of the European voluntary service is provide young people with learning opportunities through participation in a project in another country and to provide a European dimension for local projects.

For information on the European voluntary service, the Commission would request the Honourable Member to contact the Agenzia Nazionale Italiana Gioventù, Dott.ssa Cinzia Marulli, Via Fornovo 8 Pal. A; I-00192 Roma, tel. +39 06 3675 44 82, fax +39 06 3675 45 29; e-mail: azione2@gioventu.it