WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1994/97 by Roy PERRY to the Commission. Regional policies
Date: 1997-06-09
Institutions: European Parliament, PERY
Subjects: EU Member State, EU aid, EU regional policy, Structural Funds, action programme, eligibility criteria, island, regional cooperation

C 60/76

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

25. 2. 98

Answer given by Mr Santer on behalf of the Commission

(17 July 1997)

As of 30 June 1997 Italy had still not informed the Commission of measures for the transposal into national law
of 88 Directives (out of a total of 1 346 that were due to be transposed by that date). In most of these 88 cases,
Italy had informed the Commission of its intended timetable for adopting the measures.

As  far  as  the  course  of  an  infringement  procedure  initiated  by  the  Commission  against  a  Member  State  is
concerned,  the  Commission  would  refer  the  Honourable  Member  to  Article  169  of  the  EC  Treaty.  The
Commission  has  described  this  procedure  in  its  annual  reports  on  the  monitoring  of  the  application  of
Community  law.  It  would  refer  the  Honourable  Member  in  particular  to  the  introduction  to  the  10th (1)  and
14th (2) reports.

(1)  OJ C 233, 30.8.1993.
(2)  COM(97) 299 final.

(98/C 60/111)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1994/97

by Roy Perry (PPE) to the Commission

(9 June 1997)

Subject: Regional policies

How much money from the EU Structural Funds is allocated to the islands of Europe and which inhabited islands
in Europe are not in receipt of EU Structural Funds?

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

(22 July 1997)

The  amount  of  money  that  can  be  specifically  identified  as  going  to  islands  in  the  Community  under  the
Objective 1 CSFs (Community support frameworks) and SPDs (single programming documents) in 1994-99 is
about  ECU  7  000  million,  of  which  almost  half  is  allocated  to  development  in  the  most  remote  regions.
Approximately ECU 2 300 million is earmarked for Sardinia and Sicily, while the Greek islands (1) and Corsica
are to receive ECU 900 million and ECU 300 million respectively. Various other islands (e.g. Shetland, Orkney
and  the  Western  Isles  in  Scotland,  Ru¤gen  in  Germany)  are  also  receiving  Structural  Fund  resources  under
Objective 1 but they are not covered by separate programming documents from which the exact amount could be
identified. A number of other islands are eligible, in whole or in part, under Objectives 2, 5(b) and 6, but here
again it is impossible to put a figure on the resources specifically granted to them because programming is at a
regional level.

To  these  amounts  we  need  to  add  the  Community  Initiative  programmes  being  implemented  in  the  relevant
regions.  In  particular  these  are  the  programmes  under  Regis,  which  total  ECU  600  million  over  the  period
1994-99  and  where  the  aim  is  to  mount  operations  which  complement  the  CSFs  and  SPDs  covering  the
Community(cid:146)s most remote regions. There is also an Interreg programme for Corsica and Sardinia, with a volume
of about ECU 35 million over the period, which is designed to finance projects of inter-regional cooperation
between  the  two.  Finally,  the  majority  of  other  Community  Initiatives  (Leader,  Adapt,  Employment,  SMEs,
Urban, Pesca) are available in these regions (but excluding the most remote regions). However, here too it is
difficult to separate out the specific amounts as some of these schemes have been programmed at a level covering
the whole country.

The inhabited islands which are not eligible under the regionalised Objectives of the Structural Funds comprise a
population of about 2.9 million, essentially in Denmark.

Details of the sums allocated to islands qualifying under Objective 1 and a list of the inhabited islands not eligible
under the regionalised Objectives are being sent directly to the Honourable Member and Parliament(cid:146)s Secretariat.

(1)  Crete, northern Aegean, southern Aegean, Ionian Islands.