WRITTEN QUESTION No. 417/98 by Freddy BLAK to the Commission. Combating unemployment
Date: 1998-02-24
Institutions: BLAK, European Parliament
Subjects: EAGGF, European Regional Development Fund, European Social Fund, FIFG, fight against unemployment, integration into employment, investment aid, job access, regional aid, vocational training

C 323/36

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

21. 10. 98

(98/C 323/44)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0417/98

by Freddy Blak (PSE) to the Commission

(24 February 1998)

Subject: Combating unemployment

What EU funds are used to combat unemployment in the trade sector, broken down by area?

Which Directorates-General administer the funds, and what is the basis for assessing the priority to be given to
the projects submitted?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission

(6 May 1998)

The European social fund (ESF) is the Community(cid:146)s main tool for developing human resources and improving
the workings of the labour market throughout the Community. It is not sectoral in its approach, but covers a
broad range of activities aiming to improve the employability of people on the local labour market by training
them to fill the jobs available or by giving them access to new employment opportunities. Local authorities may,
however, within the agreed Community support framework and in accordance with the ESF regulation propose
specific  programmes  that  favour  local  employment  development  in  a  specific  sector.  More  than  half  of  the
amounts  dedicated  from  the  ESF  to  human  resources  development  during  1994-1999  are  spent  on  measures
generally aimed at those excluded or exposed to exclusion from the labour market, but it is not possible to break
these overall figures down by sector.

While the ESF is instrumental for enabling people with different points of attachment to the labour market to
maintain  or  improve  their  employability,  other  structural  funds  like  the  European  agricultural  guidance  and
guarantee  fund  (EAGGF),  the  Financial  instrument  for  fisheries  guidance  (FIFG)  and  the  European  regional
development fund (ERDF) underpin and develop employment opportunities through investments in infrastruc-
ture  and  capacity  building  as  well  as  through  investment  in  rural  areas  and  on  farms.  The  criteria  used  for
determining the nature of projects eligible for support from the structural funds are put forward in accompanying
guidelines, most recently in the context of the mid-term review (1).

(1)  Community Structural Assistance and Employment, COM(96)109 final.

Note for Guidance concerning operations in the declining industrial areas (Objective 2) for the second programming period 1997-1999 of
29.4.1996.
Priorities for the adjustment of Structural Funds programmes to the end of 1999 › Commission Guidelines of 30.5.1997.

(98/C 323/45)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0419/98

by Gu¤ nter Lu¤ ttge (PSE) to the Commission

(24 February 1998)

Subject: Exemption from competition for certain services pursuant to Directive 96/67/EC on groundhandling

The  footnotes  to  points  5.1  to  5.3  in  the  annex  to  Directive  96/67/EC (1)  on    groundhandling  services  allow
certain services to be exempt from competition if they are provided by the air traffic service.

Does the Commission agree that in this case the provisions of the German (cid:145)Law on groundhandling services at
airports(cid:146) would also not apply to these services, since they are exempt as a matter of principle from the scope of
the Directive and hence from its transposition?

What information does the Commission have about interpretation of the Directive by the Member States, and
how does it plan to ensure uniform interpretation?

(1)  OJ L 272, 25.10.1996, p. 36.