WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2344/97 by Mair MORGAN to the Commission. Expert and advisory groups
Date: 1997-06-30
Institutions: European Parliament, MORGAN
Subjects: EU aid, EU financing, European Commission, action programme, advisory committee (EU), eligibility criteria, project evaluation, self-employed person

25. 2. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 60/129

(98/C 60/215)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2344/97

by Mair Morgan (PSE) to the Commission

(30 June 1997)

Subject: Expert and advisory groups

Would the Commission please inform Parliament of the exact way in which juries were selected for the following
programmes:

›  Media;

›  Kaleidoscope;

›  Raphael (pilot);

›  Arianne (pilot).

Answer given by Mr Oreja on behalf of the Commission

(29 July 1997)

The groups of experts responsible for examining applications for financing under these programmes and pilot
projects work solely in an advisory capacity and take no actual financing decisions.  After obtaining the experts(cid:146)
opinions on the quality of the proposals submitted to it, it is for the Commission to prepare the list of projects to
which it will grant Community support.

The criteria for selecting experts are competence and experience in the professional areas (artistic and technical)
covered by the proposals for examination, the requisite language knowledge, preferably work experience in an
international multidisciplinary environment and availability during the period the proposals are assessed.

In order to appoint experts, the Commission can consult lists of experts proposed by national authorities.  Their
profile must meet the general criteria listed above.  The Commission can also call directly on experts who have
gained an international reputation in their field (for example, on the basis of work or cooperation with Europe,
Unesco, or specialised bodies such as Iccrom or ICOM).

The Commission ensures that there is no conflict of interest between the experts and the proposals they study and
maintains a balance between expertise and nationalities in the groups.

It also sees to it that the members of the groups of experts are renewed.  However, to secure continuity in the
work under certain programmes, membership of the groups is renewed only partially each year.

(98/C 60/216)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2393/97

by Carmen Fraga Este·vez (PPE) to the Commission

(10 July 1997)

Subject: Consideration of fish species in CITES

The United States has proposed setting up a CITES group on fish species, to tackle the issue of the resources
regulated by the various competent fisheries organizations.

Both the FAO Code of Conduct and the United Nations Agreement on the Management of Straddling and Highly
Migratory Fish Stocks recognize that the adoption of any CITES measure in such cases must be based on the
opinion  of  the  organizations  which  regulate  the  catching  of  these  species  and  hence  have  more  scientific
knowledge at their disposal and know about the relevant fishing activities.

The  Commission  has  nevertheless  shown  itself  to  be  in  favour  of  setting  up  the  CITES  group.  Can  the
Commission therefore state the reasons for its support of this proposal?