WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3368/97 by Kirsi PIHA to the Commission. Ensuring the funding of enlargement
Date: 1997-10-22
Institutions: European Parliament, PIHA
Subjects: Community budget, GNP contribution, Member States' contribution, enlargement of the Union, financing of the EU budget, financing policy, gross national product, own resources

C 158/92

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

25. 5. 98

Answer given by Mr Pinheiro on behalf of the Commission

(26 November 1997)

1.
The Commission is extremely worried about the situation of children in third world countries in general,
and  about  any  form  of  exploitation,  forced  labour,  even  slavery,  in  particular.  It  supports  the  position  the
Community  conveyed  to  the  UN  Human  Rights  Commission  in  which  it  condemned  serious  violations  of
children(cid:146)s human rights and urgently appealed to all signatories to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to
ratify  the  Convention  without  delay  and  implement  it  in  full  everywhere.  The  Commission  stresses  that
eliminating child slavery and sexual exploitation of children should be considered a priority for all.

2. More specifically on Africa, the Commission would remind the Honourable Member that observance of
human  rights,  democratic  principles  and  the  rule  of  law  is  an  essential  element  of  the  revised  fourth  Lome·
Convention. Child slavery is an issue that is covered by the Convention.

The Commission feels that positive measures, notably in the field of education, are crucially important in
3.
this context. As part of its development programmes, it is financing schemes designed to improve the situation of
children in various countries and will continue to do so in conjunction with international and non-governmental
organisations.

(98/C 158/120)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3368/97

by Kirsi Piha (PPE) to the Commission

(22 October 1997)

Subject: Ensuring the funding of enlargement

In the chapter in the Commission(cid:146)s (cid:145)Agenda 2000(cid:146) on the funding of enlargement it is stated that each current
Member  State(cid:146)s  share  of  the  cost  of  enlargement  may  not  exceed  1.27%  of  its  GNP.  Although  a  surplus  for
distribution  for  structural  reforms  to  the  EU(cid:146)s  support  policy  will  be  available  partly  as  a  result  of  strong
economic growth, the assessment that this funding will be enough at the current level seems over-optimistic.

Recent  discussions  both  in  the  Council  and  in  the  European  Parliament  show  that  it  is  unlikely  that  the
membership negotiations will begin in the (cid:145)five plus one(cid:146) form which the Commission proposes. This may lead
to  the  total  funding  package  diverging  significantly  in  the  medium  and  long  term  from  the  Commission(cid:146)s
estimate.

In  view  of  the  above,  does  the  Commission  believe  that  its  total  funding  package  will  remain  under  all
circumstances within the framework set out in Agenda 2000 in all circumstances? How has the Commission
insured, and how will it in future insure, against a situation in which the current funding estimates may turn out to
have been under-estimated?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(9 December 1997)

In (cid:145)Agenda 2000(cid:146) (1), the Commission set out the conditions and assumptions underlying its belief that it would
be  possible  to  finance  both  the  development  of  Community  policies  and  the  integration  of  the  first  wave  of
applicant countries without going above the present 1.27% GNP limit on own resources, and even maintaining a
margin for manoeuvre within that limit. As that limit applies to the Community as a whole, it will be calculated
after enlargement by reference to the GNP of the enlarged Community.

However, the overall financial framework table appearing in Agenda 2000 proceeds from a number of working
hypotheses in relation to enlargement (number of new Member States, timing, terms of accession). One of these
hypotheses is that five applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Cyprus will accede in 2002. If the
enlargement followed a substantially different pattern from the one assumed by the Commission, the amounts set
out in Agenda 2000 might have to be revised accordingly.

(1)  COM(97) 2000.