WRITTEN QUESTION No. 4196/97 by José GARCÍA-MARGALLO Y MARFIL to the Commission. Agenda 2000 and Objective 1: population 1993-1997
Date: 1998-01-21
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU aid, EU regional policy, European Investment Bank, Eurostat, Structural Funds, gross domestic product, regional aid, regional statistics, terms for aid

C 323/12

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

21. 10. 98

Answer given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission

(4 February 1998)

Information obtained by the Commission is to the effect that the Turkish Minister of the Interior was recently
questioned by a Turkish Member of Parliament about the issue raised by the Honourable Members. In his answer
(31 December 1997) the Minister stated that the Government was in no way minded to forbid religious teaching
by the Syrian orthodox community, either to intervene or restrict its freedom of worship.

Whenever it is in contact with the Turkish authorities the Commission stresses the importance of improving the
human rights situation and continuing the process of democratisation in Turkey.

It was pointed out at the European Council in Luxembourg in December 1997 that the strengthening of Turkey(cid:146)s
links with the Union also depends on its pushing ahead with the political and economic reforms which it has
initiated, notably the alignment of standards and practices in the field of human rights on those prevailing in the
Union.  The  European  Council  also  pointed  out  that  a  strengthening  of  Turkey(cid:146)s  links  with  the  Union  also
required respect for and protection of minorities.

(98/C 323/15)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4196/97

by Jose· Garc(cid:14)·a-Margallo y Marfil (PPE) to the Commission

(21 January 1998)

Subject: Agenda 2000 and Objective 1: population 1993-1997

At the end of November the Director-General of Regional Policy and Cohesion, Eneko Landa¤buru, suggested, in
the presence of press representatives, that 11 European regions, including Valencia (Spain), were to lose their
Objective  1  status  under  the  terms  of  the  Commission  proposals  to  reduce  the  Structural  Funds  before  the
accession of new Member States.

Mr  Landa¤buru(cid:146)s  calculations  were  based  on  the  provisional  data  currently  available  to  the  Commission.
However,  in  the  specific  case  of  Valencia,  official  Eurostat  statistics  show  that,  in  1993,  the  Valencia
Autonomous Community(cid:146)s GDP was 74.9% of the European average and that, in 1994, the figure was even lower
(73.6%). The threshold for Objective 1 eligibility is 75%, hence there are no grounds for supposing that Valencia
is going to fail the eligibility test in the near future.

Should  the  average  income  of  the  various  regions  during  the  1993-1997  period  be  taken  as  the  criterion  for
calculating GDP, it is important that the macro-economic data for each region should be known for all of the
years concerned.

What was the population in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997 to the 15 Member States and the following regions:

Anatolia, Macedonia, Thessaly, Crete, Pelopennese, Central Greece, Ipiros, Attica, Ionian Islands, Aegean,
Sterea (Greece)

Hainaut (Belgium)

Thuringia, Brandenburg, East Berlin, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, Munster (Germany)

Galicia,  Extremadura,  Castilla  la  Mancha,  Castilla  y  Leon,  Ceuta  and  Melilla,  Valencia  Autonomous
Community, Asturias, Andalusia, Canary Islands, Murcia (Spain)

Valenciennes, Avesnes, Douai, Overseas Departments (France)

Ulster, Connaught, Leinster (Ireland)

Molise, Apulia, Sicily, Basilicata, Sardinia, Calabria, Campania (Italy)

Flevoland (Netherlands)

Burgerland (Austria)

Northern Region, Alentejo, Algarve, Lisbon, Tagus Valley, Central Region (Portugal)

Western Isles, Highlands, Merseyside, Northern Ireland (United Kingdom)?