WRITTEN QUESTION No. 896/97 by Johanna MAIJ-WEGGEN to the Commission. EU-Surinam cooperation
Date: 1997-03-12
Institutions: European Parliament, MAIJ-WEGGEN
Subjects: EU aid, EU financing, European Development Fund, Surinam, development aid, development plan, technical cooperation













EUR-Lex - 91997E0896 - EN






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91997E0896

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 896/97 by Johanna MAIJ-WEGGEN to the Commission. EU-Surinam cooperation  


Official Journal C 319 , 18/10/1997 P. 0188 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-0896/97 by Johanna Maij-Weggen (PPE) to the Commission (12 March 1997)Subject: EU-Surinam cooperationHas the Commission recently signed a financing agreement with Surinam for the purpose of setting up a programme management unit to support EU projects in Surinam?How many staff members does the unit have and how much funding does it receive?Is it true that the unit was set up because large amounts of EU money earmarked for Surinam are still unused and projects are being implemented much too slowly, and how great is the actual backlog of money and projects?How much EU money was/will be available in all in the past 3 years and in the coming 3 years, and what were/are the projects in question?Answer given by Mr Pinheiro on behalf of the Commission (11 April 1997)The Surinamese government has indeed requested the financing of a programme management unit in order to reinforce the capacity of the ministry of planning and development cooperation to carry out its functions of national authorising officer, which it has taken over from the planning office. The unit will assist the ministry with the speedy and efficient execution of its specific tasks, while providing additional training in Community procedures and work methods. Total cost of the project over a 2 year period is ECU 880 000, providing for 2 technical assistants supported by 5 local staff, plus office premises and equipment.Implementation of Lomé III and IV has been relatively slow in Suriname because of the political situation which was marked by two coups, one in the early 1980s (which led to a suspension of aid by the main donor, the Netherlands) and another in the early 1990s. Both led to a relative slowdown in the implementation of Community aid and contributed to the lack of qualified staff, which was an additional reason for creating the programme management unit. Further delays occurred due to the long electoral process in 1996.Most significant however in explaining the relative backlog in Community cooperation were the negotiations between the government and the Commission over a structural adjustment programme which were finally aborted by the government. These lengthy discussions meant however that Suriname signed its Lomé IV national indicative programme - 1st financial protocol - as late as April 1994.However, thanks to the combined efforts of the government and in particular its planning and development cooperation ministry, and the Commission, the commitment rate for the combined European development fund (EDF) 6 and 7 resources has reached 73.5 % by end 1996. Further projects are now in the pipeline which will allow commitments to surpass 87 % by the end of this year. Outstanding funds have been earmarked for environment and forest-related actions, requiring careful preparation which is now in progress.Recent joint efforts between the Surinamese government and the Commission have thus allowed the cooperation to regain momentum and to create promising perspectives, including finalising of the 8th EDF national indicative programme which was signed in Paramaribo on 4 March 1997.