WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1866/97 by Johannes SWOBODA to the Council. Planned meeting schedule for the discussion on the ban of landmines
Date: 1997-05-30
Institutions: European Parliament, SWOBODA
Subjects: arms limitation, common foreign and security policy, disarmament, explosive, international agreement, joint action

11. 3. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 76/61

Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission

(16 July 1997)

The  Commission  agrees  that  the  incidence  of  irregularities  in  the  management  of  the  structural  funds  in  the
Member States is too high. However, all errors discovered are corrected. Moreover, in the great majority of cases,
as the Commission has made clear in its replies to the Court of auditors(cid:146) reports, the advance payments made by
the Commission to the Member States are nevertheless correct and do not need to be adjusted. This is because the
Member States(cid:146) payment requests are usually for a sum large enough, even after deduction of any ineligible
expenditure  because  of  irregularities,  to  trigger  the  advance  payment  made.  If,  after  deduction  of  known
ineligible expenditure, the net amount does not allow payment of the advance requested, the Member State is
invited  to  present  a  new  claim  based  on  eligible  expenditure.  The  question  of  recovery  does  not  therefore
immediately arise. But if, at the closure of the programmes, the Community contributions are higher than the
amounts justified by the final expenditure figures declared by the Member State, the Commission makes the
necessary recoveries.

One of the important objectives of stage III of the SEM 2000 initiative is to address the problem of errors and
irregularities  in  structural  fund  management.  In  this  context  the  Commission  adopted  on  23  April  1997
decisions (1)  clarifying  the  rules  on  eligibility  of  expenditure.  It  also  intends  to  adopt  in  the  near  future  a
regulation  specifying  minimum  standards  for  financial  control  of  structural  funds  operations  by  the  Member
States,  together  with  internal  guidelines  on  the  circumstances  in  which,  in  case  of  irregularity,  it  would  be
appropriate for the Commission to reduce its contribution under the funds to a given programme.

(1)  OJ L 146, 5.6.1997.

(98/C 76/144)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1866/97

by Johannes Swoboda (PSE) to the Council

(30 May 1997)

Subject: Planned meeting schedule for the discussion on the ban of landmines

What meetings will take place between May and December 1997 to determine the Council(cid:146)s position on the ban
of landmines as the issue is discussed in the Campaign for Disarmament and the Ottawa Process?

Answer

(25 September 1997)

As the Honourable Member will be aware, the framework for the Council(cid:146)s position on anti-personnel landmines
(APL) is determined by the joint action on APL which it adopted on 1 October 1996.  At the heart of this joint
action is the expression of the European Union(cid:146)s commitment to the goal of the total elimination of APL and to
working actively towards the achievement at the earliest possible date of an effective international agreement to
ban these weapons worldwide.

Since  adoption  of  the  joint  action,  the  EU  has  actively  pursued  its  implementation.    At  the  International
Conference in Brussels on achieving a complete ban on anti-personnel landmines, held from 24 to 27 June 1997
which was attended by a European Parliament delegation, the Council Presidency gave a presentation of the EU(cid:146)s
follow-up to the joint action.  At Working Group level, the issue of APL is handled by the CFSP Working Group
on Global Disarmament and Arms Control, which covers all disarmament issues dealt with in multilateral fora. 
The Working Group generally meets at least four times per Presidency.  Since May 1997, it has discussed APL at
three meetings, in mid-May, early June and in July.  Other meetings are scheduled for September and November. 
Additional  meetings  will  be  scheduled  as  the  need  arises,  either  in  Brussels  or  in  the  margins  of  sessions  of
international disarmament fora.