WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3637/97 by Luciano VECCHI to the Commission. Guarantees required in respect of participation in the employment initiative in Sweden
Date: 1997-11-13
Institutions: European Parliament, VECCHI
Subjects: EU financing, EU initiative, EU programme, Sweden, competence of the Member States, employment policy, financial solvency, non-profit organisation, terms for aid

16. 6. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 187/33

Given that such matters are subject to different regulations in the various Member States of the Union, would the
Commission  state  whether  Spain  requires  non-profit-making  undertakings  (and,  in  general,  firms  in  the
cooperative, mutual and non-profit sector) to provide financial or bank guarantees and, if so, on what terms?

(98/C 187/57)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3637/97

by Luciano Vecchi (PSE) to the Commission

(13 November 1997)

Subject: Guarantees required in respect of participation in the employment initiative in Sweden

As has already been pointed out in earlier questions, the Italian authorities(cid:146) decision to require non-profit-making
undertakings to provide bank guarantees in order to participate in employment initiatives has proved costly and
punitive for undertakings which obviously have difficulty in providing financial guarantees of their own.

Given that such matters are subject to different regulations in the various Member States of the Union, would the
Commission  state  whether  Sweden  requires  non-profit-making  undertakings  (and,  in  general,  firms  in  the
cooperative, mutual and non-profit sector) to provide financial or bank guarantees and, if so, on what terms?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-3624/97, E-3625/97, E-3626/97, E-3627/97, E-3628/97, E-3629/97,
E-3630/97, E-3631/97, E-3632/97, E-3633/97, E-3634/97, E-3635/97, E-3636/97 and E-3637/97
given by Mr Papoutsis on behalf of the Commission

(30 January 1998)

The Commission has no information on the obligation imposed by Member States on non-profit organisations to
provide a bank guarantee in order to gain access to funding under the various Community programmes. This is a
matter of national law.

As regards the granting of subsidies under the Employment initiative, it is up to the national authorities which
sign the agreements with the project promoters to require bank guarantees in accordance with the national rules
in  force.  In  Austria,  Germany,  Greece,  Portugal  and  Spain,  such  guarantees  are  not  normally  required  from
potential promoters to gain access to the Employment initiative.

While it is true that the provision of a bank guarantee may be an additional burden, particularly for enterprises
operating in the context of the social economy, it is nonetheless true that this is essential when the consequences
of failing to fulfil a contractual obligation may exceed the debtor(cid:146)s financial means.

The  Financial  Regulation  applicable  to  the  general  budget  of  the  European  Communities  of  21  December
1977 (1),  as  last  amended (2),  requires  the  provision  of  security  by  contractors  when  very  large  contracts  are
awarded  or  when  subsidies  are  granted  for  the  performance  of  projects  involving  high  sums.  However,  the
majority of non-profit associations are rarely affected by this obligation, given the small scale of the projects they
propose.

(1)  OJ L 356, 31.12.1977.
(2)  OJ L 240, 7.6.1995.

(98/C 187/58)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3638/97

by Christof Tannert (PSE) to the Commission

(13 November 1997)

Subject: EU-wide recognition of training in special needs teaching and social work professions in Berlin

The Berlin Senate is planning to introduce legislation on State recognition of special needs teaching and social
work professions in Berlin (the Social Professions Recognition Act › SozBAG). The intention is change the
training of social workers and special needs teachers (currently comprising three years of study plus practical
training) by halving the period of practical training from the current 12 months to six, for a transitional period
lasting at most until 31 December 2006.