WRITTEN QUESTION No. 4026/97 by Mair MORGAN to the Commission. Agenda 2000
Date: 1998-01-14
Institutions: European Parliament, MORGAN
Subjects: EU initiative, European Commission, Structural Funds, common agricultural policy, cross-border cooperation, employment policy, industrial region, regional cooperation, rural development, urban area

22. 6. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 196/63

In order to support this activity and as a preparation for the fifth framework programme several activities are
taking place in the transition period. Firstly, a call for tenders for study on (cid:145)Assessing the design for all approach
for the integration of disabled and older persons in the information society(cid:146) has been launched. Furthermore,
many  research  projects  and  studies  have  been  carried  under  the  Tide,  Telematics  and  COST  programmes,
disseminating the results and creating awareness.

The Commission has proposed the inclusion of design for all in the draft standardisation mandate addressed to
the standardisation organisations, in the field of information and telecommunication technologies dealing with
consumer requirements in the information society. Applications and services for the international standard (IS)
must therefore be designed for all and offer equal access to all consumers with or without special needs.

(1)  COM(93) 433 final.
(2)  COM(91) 539 final.
(3)  OJ C 17, 20.1.1998.
(4)  COM(97) 257 final.

(98/C 196/86)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4026/97

by Mair Morgan (PSE) to the Commission

(14 January 1998)

Subject: Agenda 2000

The  Commission  proposes  three  new  Community  Initiatives  in  Agenda  2000.  Will  these  three  initiatives  be
referred to in the framework regulation? Furthermore, while the Commission has referred to mainstreaming the
experiences of the Community Initiatives into the regional Objectives there are clearly inconsistencies in the
Commission(cid:146)s approach. Whilst rural areas will benefit from Objective 2 and Leader, there are no grass roots
Community  initiatives  to  complement  the  other  strands  of  Objective  2.  Will  the  Commission  give  further
consideration to extending the best practice of Leader into a fourth Initiative for urban and industrial areas?

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

(4 March 1998)

With a view to strengthening the effectiveness, public profile and innovative character of the future Community
Initiatives, the Commission has indeed stated in Agenda 2000 (1) that they will concentrate on three topics only:
cross-border,  trans-national  and  inter-regional  cooperation;  rural  development;  and  human  resources  in  the
context of equal opportunities. The Commission is also looking at the advisability of explicitly including these
Initiatives in the new Regulations on the Structural Funds that are currently in preparation.

The concentration on a few topics should make it possible to reflect more closely the Community interest in
cooperation and innovation to promote the harmonious development of the Community territory, to encourage
new approaches within rural society in order to meet the proposed profound reform of the common agricultural
policy, and to better mobilise human resources, the latter aim in the context of employment in the Community
and access to the labour market.

The fact that the Commission is not proposing an initiative specifically for the areas affected by the decline of
industry  does  not  mean  that  such  areas  have  less  priority.  Both  Objective  1  (regions  lagging  behind  in  their
development which are also affected by difficulties in the production system and in employment) and Objective
2  (economic  and  social  conversion  of  areas  undergoing  economic  transformation,  including  industry  and
services and depressed rural and urban areas) as well as Objective 3 (development of human resources in other
areas) and the new Community Initiatives as proposed will be instruments for implementing projects in industrial
and urban areas.

(1)  COM(97) 2000 final.