ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1004/96 by Richard Howitt (PSE) to the Commission (26 April 1996)

Subject: EU development programmes in South America

Can the Commission outline decisions, communications and agreements it is seeking to initiate in relation to the countries of South America, either individually or en blocs, during the next two years, together with an indicative timetable when these may be completed?

What arrangements is the Commission making to ensure that development principles underlie these initiatives, and that there is full consultation with civil society, including trade unions, women's groups and indigenous communities within the countries concerned?

Answer given by Mr Marín on behalf of the Commission (30 May 1996)

The Commission's current work programme with regard to the European Union's relations with Latin America was determined by the Madrid European Council on 15 and 16 December 1995. It provides for implementation of the conclusions concerning cooperation between the two regions in the period 1996-2000, the negotiation of agreements with Chile and Mexico, the presentation of appropriate measures to strengthen relations with the Andean Pact, renewal of the generalized scheme of preferences and the submission of draft negotiating directives for a trade and economic cooperation agreement with Cuba.

The ultimate objective of the agreement with Chile, scheduled for signature on 22 June 1996 in Florence, is a political and economic association. The proposed negotiating brief for a future 'political, economic and trade' agreement with Mexico is currently being considered by the Council and Parliament.

The initiatives taken by the Commission are governed by the development principles that are contained in the legal bases for its activities which are to be found in the treaties, were reiterated in Regulation (EEC) No 443/92 ((OJ L 52, 27.2.1992. )) and underlie the communication on new guidelines for cooperation with Latin America. ((Doc. COM(95) 495 final. )) The preparation of such initiatives is a lengthy process which, in addition to consultations within the Commission and approval by the European institutions concerned, entails active involvement on the part of a variety of organized groupings such as trade unions, women, indigenous communities and other manifestations of civil society in the countries concerned by means of studies, preliminary enquiries conducted among the population groups targeted and seminars.

Secondly, the involvement of civil society is fundamental to the horizontal programmes such as ALFA, AL-Invest, and, in the near future, Alure and Urbs-Al, in that they are based on the principle of partnership.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1120/96 by Terence Wynn (PSE) to the Commission (13 May 1996)

Subject: European Community Investment Programme (ECIP)

Can the Commission provide information on European companies who receive funding from the ECIP, with particular reference to Morocco and Mauritius?

Answer given by Mr Marin on behalf of the Commission (12 June 1996)

The Commission is sending to the Honourable Member and to the General Secretariat of the Parliament the latest available European Community investment partners (ECIP) annual report (1994) and leaflet, the list of ECIP financial institutions and the eligible country list relating to the new ECIP Regulation ((Regulation (EC) No 213/96 of 29 January 1996 - OJ L 8, 6.2.1996 )).

From this documentation it will be noted that Mauritius, being a member of the EC Convention, is not on the list of eligible countries for ECIP. Therefore no ECIP funds have been approved for Mauritius. As regards Morocco, from December 1988 until 30th April 1996, under the ECIP budget lines the Commission has approved 90 separate actions for ECIP budget financing of 7.6 Mecu. This figure of 90 actions breaks down into 36 under facility 1 for identification of projects and partners which benefit groups of Community companies and 54 actions under facilities 2,3 and 4 benefit individual companies.
WRITTEN QUESTION P-1576/96 by Hugh McMahon (PSE) to the Commission (12 June 1996)

Subject: Black and minority ethnic older people in Europe

There is an increasing number of older people from minority ethnic groups within the EU and although their needs are similar to those of the majority of the elderly population, they face additional issues as a result of their experience of being a minority and a migrant/refugee, in terms of ageing, poverty and social exclusion. The Europe-wide picture is that social care and welfare services are inconsistent and even non-existent in certain areas, despite the rising numbers.

In view of the above, what specific measures are taken by the Commission to:

1. facilitate and exchange experience of countries who are initiating developments in this area;

2. support development in meeting the social needs of the minority ethnic elderly population;

3. enlarge developments where specific gaps in social care and welfare are identified;

4. enhance the process of 'social inclusion' for the growing numbers of black and minority ethnic older people in Europe?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (2 July 1996)

The Commission is aware of the additional strains faced by many older people of ethnic minorities, and has supported actions in favour of these groups.

With regard to the exchange of experiences and practices between Member States the Commission has for a number of years supported the work of the European network on ageing and ethnicity. This is concerned with research, information, education and training as well as developing policy recommendations in the area of older people.

The Commission has recently increased its attention to ethnic minorities in several areas, not least by the multiannual Employment-Integra initiative. New emphasis will be put on the integration into employment of migrants and refugees as a contribution towards reducing social tensions and combatting discrimination, racism, xenophobia and anti-semitism. This approach includes support to development of model approaches and practices to improve access to quality public services, to develop grass-root capacities and to promote community-based approaches to reintegration.

Since the multiannual programme against social exclusion has not yet been adopted by the Council, there is a very limited budget available to co-finance pilot projects which combat social exclusion and promote solidarity. However a number of projects were carried out in 1995 relating to socially excluded older people from minority ethnic groups in Belgium, Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and the United Kingdom.
WRITTEN QUESTION P-1213/96 by Richard Howitt (PSE) to the Commission (10 May 1996)

Subject: Operation of commitology procedures in relation to the common position at first reading on the draft regulations concerning food aid, rehabilitation and humanitarian aid

Bearing in mind its experience of operating the commitology procedure, can the Commission make an approximate estimate in relation to the new commitology requirements concerning the above draft regulations of the additional

- number of pages of papers to be translated and considered

- cost of setting up and attendance at the committees

- number of decisions required

in a full calendar year?

Does the Commission agree that the common positions would entail bureaucracy, delay, cost, secrecy and inflexibility for crucial European Union development aid?

Answer given by Mr Santer on behalf of the Commission (20 June 1996)

The Commission is unable to give a figure for the numbers of pages of documents to be translated or to examine the costs of reproduction and translation. These are charged to its administrative expenditure budget and are not accounted for separately.

The overall cost of the 340 or so committees and joint committees charged to budget item A-2510, comes to ECU 16 million in 1996 (including ECU 8 million entered as a provision in Chapter A-100). As the three committees in question hold relatively few meetings, costs associated with the meetings represent only a very small fraction of these appropriations. The 1996 budget for the Food Aid Committee (the only one functioning at present) is ECU 153 000.

The number of opinions the new committees will be required to deliver cannot yet be estimated. As an indication, the existing Food Aid Committee delivered 28 opinions in 1995.

The Commission always bases its proposals for committee procedure on objective criteria and complies with the 1987 Council Decision.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1085/96 by Laura De Esteban Martin (PPE) to the Commission (13 May 1996)

Subject: VAT exemption for sports organizations

In October 1994 the Commission delivered a reasoned opinion for the Kingdom of Spain concerning VAT exemption for sports organizations. Can the Commission say what measures have been adopted pursuant to this opinion and what the current situation is in this regard?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (3 June 1996)

Regarding the infringement procedure against Spain about VAT exemption for sports organizations the Commission would inform the Honourable Member that the matter has been brought before the Court of Justice and entered as Case No C-124/96.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1406/96 by Laura De Esteban Martin (PPE) to the Commission (6 June 1996)

Subject: Med-Invest

Could the Commission say what use is being made of the budgetary line allocated to projects including the Med-Invest programme?

Further, could it state what projects have been funded by this budgetary line recently?

Answer given by Mr Marín on behalf of the Commission (24 June 1996)

Med-Invest is one of four decentralized multilateral cooperation programmes ((Med-Urbs/Med-Campus/Med-Media/Med-Invest. )) launched in 1992 by the Community under its New Mediterranean Policy. The general aim of the programme is to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Mediterranean countries with the cooperation of similar firms and trade bodies in the EU. Aid comes in the form of grants from budget heading B7-4080, which is for multilateral, regional and subregional cooperation activities in the Mediterranean. The Community contribution of ECU 10 million covers the pilot phase, initially due to last two years and subsequently extended up to the end of 1995.

The programme has two complementary parts. Part A attempts to bring SMEs from both sides of the Mediterranean together in specific forums like Europartenariat, Medpartenariat, Interprise, Medinterprise. It also extends to Mediterranean countries the inter-business cooperation networks already tried out in the Community (Business Cooperation Network (BC-Net) and the Business Cooperation Centre (BCC). Part B provides specific experimental tools of a sectoral or localized nature to support the creation and development of SMEs in Mediterranean countries. In so doing, it draws on experience with similar tools in the Community.

By the end of last year, the following operations had been or were being financed:

- Part A: 6 Mediterranean SMEs involved in Europartenariat, 3 in Medpartenariat, 8 in Interprise, 7 in Medinterprise;- Part B: Pilot projects for specialized financial centres in Egypt and Tunisia, export management firms in Morocco and Tunisia, service centres in Morocco, Cyprus and Turkey and development agencies in Turkey and Egypt.

A new stage in the programme will be submitted for approval at the end of the year, this time focusing on business partnership (continuation of those aspects of Part A extended into 1996) and new Euro-Mediterranean technical operators' networks.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1106/96 by Katerina Daskalaki (UPE) to the Commission (13 May 1996)

Subject: Suspension of Cohesion Fund finance for water supply projects in eight Greek towns

Does the Commission intend to suspend Cohesion Fund financing of water supply projects for Khalkida, Ptolemais, Yiannitsa, Veroia, Trikkala, Florina, Argos and Tripolis?

Given that:

- the first stage of the projects has already been approved for funding and that work is already in full swing,

- the projects concerned form part of a distinct, global, water supply strategy and policy, which exempts them from the provisions of Regulation 1164/94 ((OJ L 130, 25.5.1994, p.1 )) which stipulate that funding will not be provided for projects whose total cost is less than ECU 10 million,

- the region of Khalkida, in particular, but also Florina, Ptolemais and the other towns are suffering acute environmental and social problems which are known to the Commission,

what grounds are there sufficiently to justify suspending funding of the project and, in any event, why would the Commission originally approve this and similar projects if it did not intend to provide all the necessary assistance to complete them?

Joint answer to Written Questions E-1093/96 and E-1106/96 given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission (14 June 1996)

In accordance with Article 9 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 792/93 of 30 March 1993 establishing a cohesion financial instrument, ((OJ L 79, 1.4.1993. )) in October 1993 the Commission approved technically and financially discrete stages of water supply projects in the districts of Halkida, Ptolemaïs, Yiannitsa, Veroia, Trikkala, Florina, Argos and Tripolis. The works in question were completed in October 1995.

Subsequently, in July 1994 and November 1995, the Greek authorities submitted other technically and financially independent stages of water supply projects in the those same districts, under Article 1(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 of 16 May 1994 establishing a Cohesion Fund. ((OJ L 130, 25.5.1994. )) Those projects, costing between ECU 1.4 million (for Halkida) and ECU 3 million (for Ptolemaïs), were not adopted, and in December 1995 the Commission informed the Greek authorities of its decision not to part-finance them.

The Cohesion Fund has not received an application from the Greek authorities for these projects as a group of related projects pursuant to Article 10(3) of the Cohesion Fund Regulation. If such an application were presented, the Commission could reconsider the cases in question.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1148/96 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (15 May 1996)

Subject: Vocational training programmes in Greek prisons

The Community has allocated a sum of 500 000 drachmas for vocational training programmes in Greek prisons. Five programmes are being financed:

- management and data-processing programme and psychological support for prisoners;

- training programme in car maintenance and repair for 15 juvenile prisoners in Korydallos;

- employment programme for ten women recently released from prison;

- training programme in bookbinding and carpentry for 20 prisoners in Thessalonika;

- training programme in mechanical engineering and carpentry for 30 juvenile prisoners in Kassavetia (Volos).

Will the Commission say:

1. who is responsible for the management and implementation of the programmes?

2. what progress has been made with these programmes?

3. what has been the take-up of funds?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (13 June 1996)

In the operational programme 'Combatting exclusion from the labour market' (Community support framework for Greece 1994-1999), measure 1 'Prisoners, ex-prisoners, young delinquents' of subprogramme 3 'Other excluded groups' provides for the development of packages of measures which form the pathway for the integration or re-integration of this target group into the labour market. These packages of measures could include retraining, training and accompanying and support services such as psychological support, care for dependants, and temporary housing.

The measure's total cost for the 1994-1999 period is 38.2 MECU of which the European social fund contribution is 28.65 MECU. In 1994 a total amount of 73 198 ECU was absorbed. In the 1995 call for tender for actions under the above measure a total budget of around 9.41 MECU was foreseen.

Due to the delays in the application of the transitional period (1994-1995) procedures for the selection of action proposals and the accreditation of proposed implementing agencies, the actions referred in the Honourble Member's question have not yet been launched. According to information from the ministry of Labour the relevant approval decisions have recently been issued. In the case of actions for prisoners, proposals cover prisons nationwide.

The ministry of Labour is responsible for the financial management of actions of this nature and the ministry of Justice provides the national contribution. These actions may be implemented by accredited agencies for vocational training and accompanying and suppport services in either the public or the private sector.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1113/96 by Jesús Cabezón Alonso (PSE) to the Commission (13 May 1996)

Subject: Support for SMEs

What initiatives has the Commission considered submitting to recommend simplifying certain administrative procedures to encourage and promote the setting-up of small- and medium-sized undertakings?

Answer given by Mr Papoutsis on behalf of the Commission (20 June 1996)

The Commission is aware of the extent of the administrative burden on enterprises and therefore established, in December 1994, a committee for the improvement and simplification of the business environment, comprising representatives from Member States and enterprises. This committee is responsible for organising fora for the sharing of best practices and innovative ideas to ease the burden of regulatory and administrative formalitites, with the aim of encouraging Member States to improve their own fiscal, legal, social, administrative and statistical practices.

The first subject chosen by the Committee was the creation of new enterprises. It seems, in fact, that in a considerable number of Member States, setting up a new enterprise is not easy due to the numerous and complex administrative processes and formalities which have to be gone through. Furthermore, various regulations, particularly those concerning taxation, accounting and social measures, when hiring an employee for example, could discourage new businessmen. To initiate this exchange of good practices between Member States, the committee organised its first forum in Paris, in June 1995. Work was then carried out with experts to identify which concrete simplification measures should be taken in the Member States.

These examples of best practices will be the subject of a Commission communication and will provide a point of reference for all those interested in the simplification of the formalities involved in enterprise creation. In fact, the upshot of the joint action between the Member States and enterprise representatives was that it is important to take concrete action in this area and that the exchange of information between Member States is very useful in this respect.

The Commission will continue to encourage the establishment of simplification programmes in the Member States. Above all, it hopes to foster a change of attitude in the relations between public authorities and small and medium-sized enterprises. This is a very important factor for enterprises and, in particular, new enterprises, whose role is essential in the creation of employment.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1353/96 by Jean-Yves Le Gallou (NI) to the Commission (3 June 1996)

Subject: Community subsidies to associations, NGOs and various bodies

Can the Commission provide a full list of the associations, NGOs and bodies receiving Community subsidies under budget heading B7-5014 (Community aid to non-governmental organizations operating in Vietnam)? Can it state the exact total of these subsidies at the close of the last financial year?

Answer given by Mr Marin on behalf of the Commission (24 June 1996)

The table below indicates the non-governmental organization (NGO) projects financed under the budget line B7-5014 during 1995:

>TABLE>
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1020/96 by Dominique Baudis (PPE) to the Commission (3 May 1996)

Subject: Situation of civilians in the former Yugoslavia

For too many months now there have been massacres of civilians.

The International Criminal Court appears to be encountering difficulties in successfully pursuing its action to ensure recognition for human rights.

Will the Commission make available to the International Criminal Court resources to assist it in its task?

Answer given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission (28 May 1996)

The Commission can inform the Honourable Member that, since 1994, the Community budget has financed projects to assist the International criminal tribunal to a total of 1.644.400 ECU. These projects include the provision of legal assistants for the judges, library facilities and the protection and counselling of witnesses.
WRITTEN QUESTION P-1230/96 by María Izquierdo Rojo (PSE) to the Commission (10 May 1996)

Subject: Specific programmes to guarantee continuing education for Moroccan girls over the age of 10 in rural areas

In the country areas of Morocco, girls have real problems with continuing their schooling beyond the age of 10.

Would the Commission be prepared to propose measures to prevent their education from ending so prematurely? Would it not be appropriate to develop policies to support these girls, guaranteeing their safety, transport and access to local centres of population? Does the Commission not think that Moroccan women's associations and NGOs could run projects of this kind? What sort of form would such a programme have to take in order to ensure that it really made an impact? What has been done so far in this connection under the aegis of Euro-Moroccan cooperation?

Answer given by Mr Marín on behalf of the Commission (29 May 1996)

Plans for bilateral cooperation between the Community and Morocco for the period 1996-98 include an ambitious ECU 50 million project to support basic education.

The project's fundamental aim is to develop basic education in rural areas, and it specifically addresses the factors that prevent girls from attending and staying on at school.

The project will follow the principles of Community development aid, which accord with those agreed by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and which favour a participatory approach to development projects, and will seek to involve associations and other participants in civil society and to take into account the beneficiaries' express needs.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-1310/96 by Richard Howitt (PSE) to the Commission (3 June 1996)

Subject: Successor to EU Helios Programme

Why has the Commission tabled a PDB of 6 MECU for 'B3 - 4102 - Helios' when the previous Helios Programme represented a budget of 12.5 MECU per year? In which fields of activity does the Commission propose to cease activity in response to this cut, and what proportion of the figure does the Commission envisage will be devoted to grants towards disability NGOs and the further development of Handynet respectively?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (28 June 1996)

In accordance with the Council Decision of 25 February 1993 establishing the third Community action programme to assist disabled people (Helios II 1993-1996 ((OJ L 56 of 9.3.1993 ))), the Helios II programme will end on 31 December 1996.

The Commission intends to carry out preliminary activities to analyse and evaluate new forms of cooperation in implementing the principles of equal opportunities for disabled persons with a view to taking significant action to assist such people. The Commission estimated that the 6 MECU proposed to the budget authorities in the 1997 preliminary draft budget would be sufficient to cover all the planned actions.

Finally, the Commission is not in a position to give precise information about the allocation of the appropriations as the budget authorities have not yet adopted the 1997 budget.