WRITTEN QUESTION E-3567/01

by Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Leader+

On 4 December 2001, the Commission approved the Leader+ programme for Greece with a budget of 392,6 million. Can the Commission provide details of the implementation of the previous Leader programmes in Greece, comparing their results with those obtained in other Member States where the corresponding programmes were carried out?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(1 March 2002)

Briefly comparing the results and impact achieved in Greece under the Leader I programme, which was implemented mainly during the period 1990-1993, with the 12 EU Member States as a whole shows that:

- of 215 local action groups (LAGs) in total, Structural Funds aid final beneficiaries set up 25 LAGs in Greece (11,6 % of the total);

- of 417 million in total committed and used from the Structural Funds, the Greek programme's share amounted to 52 million (12,5 % of the total); it should be pointed out that, in terms of financial implementation, Greece was among the top five Member States (along with Germany, France, Ireland and Portugal) in which more than 60 % of LAGs attained over 95 % of their objectives within the period stipulated;

- of 22 000 projects and operations in total, 1 730 (8 % of the total) were carried out in Greece; of 25 000 new full-time equivalent jobs in the 12 Member States, 1 990 (8 % of the total) were created in Greece;

- over half the LAGs in Greece focused mainly on developing rural tourism, a marked trend in all the regions of southern Europe.

The above bears out the view that, overall, implementation of Leader I in Greece produced satisfactory results comparable to those in all the Member States and particularly close to those in the regions of southern Europe. Greece applied the principles specific to Leader regional approach, local partnership, bottom-up method, multisectoral and integrated LAG plans, innovation, networking, decentralised financing easily as well as other Member States.

For further information on the results and impact of Leader I, the Honourable Member may find it helpful to consult the ex post evaluation report for the Community as a whole at http:/europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/eval/index_en.htm.

The Commission has received and is currently examining a number of national and regional Leader II ex post evaluation reports, including that for Greece. Once it has received all the reports, the Commission will publish an invitation to tender in order to select an external expert to conduct the ex post evaluation of Leader II for the EU as a whole. In addition, the final reports on the programmes' implementation are expected towards the end of the first half of 2002, accompanying the final declarations of expenditure which must be submitted to the Commission for financial closure of the programmes. It is therefore too soon to draw any even tentative conclusions regarding the implementation, results and impact of Leader II, either in Greece or in other Member States; and it is certainly too soon to make comparisons between them.

At this stage, the Commission is merely able to confirm that for Leader II in Greece 167,65 million from the Structural Funds were committed in their entirety up to 31 December 1999 and that expenditure and payments continued to be incurred until 31 December 2001. Greece must submit the final declaration of expenditure and the final report on implementation of the programme during the first half of 2002. In Greece, 56 local development organisations (49 LAGs and seven other collective agencies) have received support under Leader II.