WRITTEN QUESTION No. 760/96 by Nikitas KAKLAMANIS to the Commission. Operational programme for the environment
Date: 1996-03-26
Institutions: European Parliament, KAKLAMANIS
Subjects: Greece, State aid, competence of the Member States, environmental protection













EUR-Lex - 91996E0760 - EN






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91996E0760

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 760/96 by Nikitas KAKLAMANIS to the Commission. Operational programme for the environment  


Official Journal C 297 , 08/10/1996 P. 0024 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-0760/96 by Nikitas Kaklamanis (UPE) to the Commission (26 March 1996)Subject: Operational programme for the environmentAccording to Mr Laliotis, the Greek minister responsible, 130 projects amounting to Drs. 110 billion which cover all the measures of the programme have been entered in the operational programme for the environment adopted by Decision E(94) 1834/3 of the Commission on 29.7.1994 with a total budget of drachmas 150 billion. The relevant Greek ministry states that for 1995 Drs. 26 billion had been approved for this purpose.In respect of the very sensitive regions of the Delta of the River Axios and Lakes Koronia and Volvi, the scheduled funding so far amounts to Drs. 700 million.Will the Commission say:1. Whether this information is correct;2. Whether the funds for 1995 have been disbursed (Drs. 26 billion);3. Whether it is monitoring the implementation of the programme;4. Why no funds have so far been made available for the Delta of the River Axios (an outstanding biotope) and Lakes Koronia and Volvi?Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission (22 May 1996)The Commission has no knowledge of the Greek ministry statements to which the Honourable Member refers.The 'Environment' operational programme was approved by the Commission with a total budget of ECU 512 million; the inclusion subsequently of measures aimed at the private sector raised the total budget to ECU 515 million. In March 1996, 131 projects were in principal judged by the Greek authorities to qualify for part-financing under the programme. The total budget for these projects was estimated at ECU 330 million. In March 1996, the actual take-up of funds by the programme as a whole amounted to approximately ECU 10 million. Notwithstanding this modest sum, the take-up could improve considerably in the coming months.The Commission is keeping a close watch on work connected with the programme in view of its initial problems. These problems were due primarily to the complicated arrangements required to activate its sub-programme, the most important of which involving the national land register. In order to speed up proceedings and following suggestions by the Commission, a programme manager was recently recruited, and a specialist project manager will be taken on in order to expedite the national land register sub-programme.As regards the protection of Greek biotopes, the Commission considers that the Greek authorities themselves are primarily responsible for setting priorities. It would point out however that, apart from the programme in question, other Community programmes and initiatives such as Life, Leader II, Interreg II and the regional multifund operational programmes can provide part-financing biotope protection measures.