WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3917/97 by José APOLINÁRIO to the Commission. Measures eligible for funding under INTERREG II C
Date: 1997-11-28
Institutions: APOLINARIO, European Parliament
Subjects: EU aid, European Region, bad weather, balance of payments assistance, cross-border cooperation, drought, economic development, environmental risk prevention, regional aid, regional policy

16. 6. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 187/89

(98/C 187/135)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3917/97

by Jose· Apolina·rio (PSE) to the Commission

(28 November 1997)

Subject: Measures eligible for funding under INTERREG II C

Following  the  resolution  which  was  unanimously  adopted  by  Parliament  at  its  sitting  of  20  November  1997
(resolution B4-0932/97) and the Commission(cid:146)s answer to my question H-853/97 (1), which is clearly a purely
technical  answer,  is  the  Commission  considering  submitting  an  amendment  to  the  eligibility  criteria  for
expenditure under the INTERREG II C initiative so as to allow for intervention in Spain and Portugal in the event
of storms and floods (as is possible in certain EU Member States) and not just in respect of drought?

(1)  European Parliament debates (November 1997).

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

(19 January 1998)

The  Commission  does  not  envisage  amending  the  eligibility  criteria  for  expenditure  under  the  Community
initiative Interreg II C, for three reasons.

Firstly, the objective of the Interreg II C initiative is to support transnational cooperation in the field of spatial
planning. Measures and actions to be promoted must have a structural or preventive character and be justified by
the economic development of the area concerned. It has not been envisaged to use funding under Interreg II C to
provide support in the case of natural hazards or catastrophes.

Secondly, Interreg II C was adopted by the Commission in May 1996 and its guidelines were published in July
1996 (1). For the period 1997-1999 no allocation was made for either Spain or Portugal for flood prevention since
no such request was made by those Member States. The proposals for operational programmes were submitted to
the Commission in the first half of 1997. The Portuguese drought programme was approved on 29 September
1997 and the Spanish programme should be approved in the coming months. It should be noted that, whereas the
flood programmes are joint transnational programmes, the drought programmes have a national character.

Finally, existing drought programmes can contribute (although only indirectly) to improving water management
and therefore also to flood prevention to the extent that they support, among other actions, the hydrological study
of river catchment areas, studies on water resources and the ecological balance of specific areas, the development
of strategies, planning actions and measures on land use and sustainable hydrological management.

(1)  OJ C 200, 10.7.1996.

(98/C 187/136)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3919/97

by Edouard des Places (I-EDN) to the Commission

(28 November 1997)

Subject: Situation of the dried vegetables branch of the agri-foodstuffs sector

According to the regulation setting out the arrangements for aid to vegetable growing, aid is granted in respect of
vetches (Vicia sativa), ref. No 07 13 90 90 in the Common Customs Tariff published in the Official Journal of the
European Communities on 19 September 1996 (1).  This heading of the Common Customs Tariff comprises other
(cid:145)dried  leguminous  vegetables,  shelled,  whether  or  not  skinned  or  split(cid:146)  in  a  chapter  on  edible  vegetables  for
human consumption.