WRITTEN QUESTION E-2167/98

by Vincenzo Viola (PPE) to the Commission

(13 July 1998)

Subject: Granting of an extension of the deadlines for the admissibility of expenditure for the Ulixes programme

Because of investigations carried out by the Italian judicial authorities the Local Action Group for the Leader Ulixes in Pantelleria asked the Commission to suspend the deadlines for the Ulixes programme during the current investigations. This suspension was granted on 23 November 1995. Subsequently, on 16 April 1997 the Commission granted the Ulixes Local Action Group an extension of the deadline for admissibility of expenditure for a period of 19 months, during which administrative activity would be suspended. 31 July 1998 was set as the new deadline.

Since the Italian Ministry for Agricultural Policies only informed the Local Action Group about the extension of the deadline on 6 May 1997 and hence the extension granted by the Commission was in effect only 14 months, instead of the 19 mentioned in Decision (97) 996 of 16 April 1997, can the Commission state the reasons for this obstacle to benefiting from the entire 19-month extension granted previously and put back the actual final deadline to 31 December 1998, not least because of the serious administrative problems the Ulixes Local Action Group has experienced as a result of the unjustified suspension of the administrative activities envisaged for the implementation of the Leader programme for Pantelleria?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(22 September 1998)

On 6 December 1991, the Commission approved the global grant for the Leader Community Initiative in Italy for the 1990-93 Structural Funds' programming period.

The decision fixed deadlines of 31 December 1993 for commitments and 31 December 1995 for payments by the final beneficiaries.

The deadline for payments by the final beneficiaries under the Italian Leader I programme was extended initially to 30 June 1996 by a Commission decision of 3 April 1995 and then to 31 December 1996 by a Commission decision of 28 July 1995.

The Commission can in certain circumstances, grant an extension of the deadlines for implementing requirements, such as the deadline for making payments, if properly justified. Thus, in cases where legal proceedings are under way, the Commission can grant an extension usually corresponding to the length of time the activities are suspended.

As regards the projects currently subject to legal proceedings, the Commission informed the Ulixes local action group and the Italian Ministry of Agriculture in a letter dated November 1995 that legal proceedings do not waive one's right to the contribution, they just suspend it for the duration of the proceedings.

As the Honourable Member points out, the Commission, at the Italian Ministry of Agriculture's request, granted the Ulixes local action group alone an extension to the deadline by which payments had to be made, from 31 December 1996 to 31 July 1998, because of the legal proceedings. This extension, following on the heels of the two earlier extensions to the Leader I programme in Italy mentioned above, was granted for the months in which the Ulixes local action group's activities were suspended on legal grounds.

The Italian authorities informed us that the local action group's activities were suspended from 25 March 1995 until 28 October 1996, i.e. for a 19-month period. The Commission accordingly decided on 16 April 1997 to extend the last date for the final beneficiaries to make payments by 19 months from 31 December 1996. An extension lasting longer than the 19 months suspension for legal proceedings was not justified.

In the specific case of the Ulixes local action group, it was able to resume activities two months before the deadline set by the Commission, since it was released from the legal proceedings on 28 October 1996. So, while the Italian Ministry for Agriculture's request for a 21-month extension was accepted in principle, it was reduced by two months to take account of this.