WRITTEN QUESTION E-0392/01

by Johannes Voggenhuber (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(15 February 2001)

Subject: Assistance for Euroteam group

The Euroteam group of companies associated with entrepreneur Lukas Stuhlpfarrer(1) is the subject, in its capacity as a recipient of assistance, of a committee of inquiry in the Austrian lower house of Parliament, the Nationalrat. It is being investigated by the committee in connection with use of assistance(2) which is not in accordance with the intended use.

Is the Commission acquainted with the Euroteam group connected with Lukas Stuhlpfarrer or is it acquainted with individual companies in the group? If so, in what way?

What assistance has been paid, or what payments have been made in respect of contracts, by the European Commission from Community funds or under EU programmes, to companies in the Euroteam group either directly or indirectly through Austrian bodies (listed according to providers, recipients, projects, period and project cost)?

What has been the nature of the correspondence with project sponsors and recipients and providers of assistance?

In what way has the conduct of individual projects involving EU funds been checked? Do the Commission or the Commissioner responsible have financial reports or audit reports from the project managers or recipients of assistance?

Have penalties been called for by the Commission or the Commissioner responsible? If so, on what scale, against whom and when?

(1) Euroteam Beteiligungsverwaltungs-AG (formerly L.S.-Beratungsgesellschaft für europäische Integrationsfragen GesmbH) and Verein Euroteam Vienna. These comprise: Verein Euroteam Burgenland; BFI (Berufsförderungsinstitut) Wien-Euroteam Fachhochschulstudiengangsbetriebsgesellschaft mbH.; Euroteam Vienna gemeinnützige Forschungsprojekt GesmbH.; Euro-Team B (Burgenland) gemeinnützige Forschungsprojekt GesmbH; Euroteam Beratungsgesellschaft, Consulting Group Euroteam-Europe SPRL; tbk-Euro-team Call Center GmbH; Vienna Immobilienverwertungsgesellschaft m.b.H.; Projektzentrum 15.

(2) Euroteam and its companies have received inter alia assistance under the Employment Youthstart Community Initiative Professionet, the Adapt Community Initiative European teleworking market, the Employment Now Community Initiative- Employment Anticipated, the Employment Integra Community Initiative, Professions for Roma Pro-roma and the Adapt Community Initiative project Euro Adaption Programme. In addition, independent contracts in respect of assistance have been concluded with the above companies under the European Social Fund (ESF) on a cofinancing basis, e.g. for the project Betriebsberatung 1 and Entwicklung eines Fachhochschulstudienganges für Exportwirtschaft.

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(28 May 2001)

In the area of employment and social affairs, the Euroteam group of companies receives several grants from the European Social Fund (ESF), mainly for cofinancing projects for various Community initiatives.

These subsidies are not managed by the Commission itself but by the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Labour and by the Austrian employment service (Arbeitsmarktservice (AMS)). The Commission was in fact aware of problems relating to the management of the projects and the declarations submitted by the promoter.

This question was on the agenda of the annual bilateral meeting with the Austrian monitoring services, in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 2064/97 of 15 October 1997 establishing detailed arrangements for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 as regards the financial control by Member States of operations cofinanced by the Structural Funds(1).

At this meeting, the Commission and the relevant national services agreed:

(i) to abandon on-the-spot checks by the Commission for the time being. Due to a parliamentary investigation, all administrative documents from the Ministry and the AMS have been seized and are now with the Federal Assembly; as a result of the police investigations under way, the managers of the Euroteam group have the right to refuse to reply, and parallel controls are impossible without jeopardising the investigations already taking place;

(ii) to continue with the work of an independent auditor, the internal revision work called for by the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Labour, and the exchange of information which will be used jointly by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the Employment and Social Affairs Directorate-General.

As part of the process to conclude the ESF programmes, the national authorities do not rule out removing the disputed projects from the list of cofinanced projects and having the national budget cover the costs and risks involved in recovering sums unduly paid, so that the relevant ESF programmes can be ended.

As the Commission does not directly manage the Euroteam group's projects, it is not in a position to supply a list of projects and financial details. It must also be emphasised that these data change as the investigations progress. The Commission has not been informed either of the conclusions of the Austrian auditing authority, whose report has not yet been published.

In the field of education and culture, Euroteam compiled a guide to placements and exchanges which was indirectly financed ( 6 368) in 1996 by appropriations from the Leonardo da Vinci programme via an Austrian body: this work was assigned to Euroteam by Austria's national Leonardo da Vinci agency. The Commission was satisfied with the quality of this work and approved its expenditure in the breakdown submitted by the Austrian national agency.

No Leonardo da Vinci funding has been paid to Euroteam directly or indirectly through Austrian bodies. Two projects submitted by Euroteam in 1997 had been rejected.

Euroteam is a partner in five projects submitted by promoters from countries other than Austria in 1996, 1997 and 1998; the contracts for these projects are not with Euroteam but with the promoters who submitted them. In two of these cases there are sums to be recovered; the other three are currently being examined.

(1) OJ L 290, 23.10.1997.