WRITTEN QUESTION No. 766/98 by Nikitas KAKLAMANIS to the Commission. Structural Fund appropriations (SUPPLEMENTARY ANSWER)
Date: 1998-03-18
Institutions: European Parliament, KAKLAMANIS
Subjects: Community budget, Community support framework, Structural Funds, budgetary power, closing of accounts, commitment of expenditure, financial year, payment appropriation, use of aid, validation of expenditure

C 323/70

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

21. 10. 98

(98/C 323/92)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0766/98

by Nikitas Kaklamanis (UPE) to the Commission

(18 March 1998)

Subject: Structural Fund appropriations

The amount of outstanding Structural Fund appropriations reportedly increased in 1997 by ECU 2.8 million.

In drawing up the 1997 EU budget, the Commission underestimated payment appropriations by ECU 2 billion,
while the budgetary authority cut them by a further ECU 1 billion, the effect of which was a premature halt in
1997 to the settlement of accounts because of a shortfall in payment appropriations.

It is also reported that there will be no extension for implementing Structural Fund commitment appropriations
for  1998  and  1999  beyond  1999  and  that,  therefore,  any  outstanding  appropriations  will  be  irrevocably  lost,
reducing the particular package of structural measures by an equal amount.

This  is  a  matter  of  vital  importance,  particularly  for  the  southern  Member  States  which  are  in  vital  need  of
Structural  Fund  appropriations  to  execute  the  infrastructure  projects  they  require.  Would  the  Commission
therefore say:

1. 

in what way the shortfall in payment appropriations tends to increase the amounts outstanding under the
Structural Funds, and

2.  what its formal position is on carrying over outstanding commitment appropriations for 1998 and 1999 to

subsequent budgets covered by the new Financial Perspective for 2000-2006?

Supplementary answer
given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(6 May 1998)

In  the  1997  preliminary  draft  budget,  the  Commission  proposed  the  amount  of  ECU 24 823  million  in
1.
payment appropriations for the Structural Funds. This figure was based on a study of the needs of Member States
in 1997. During the 1997 budgetary procedure, the budgetary authority reduced the amount by ECU 1 000 mil-
lion, bringing it to ECU 23 823 million.

The payment appropriations entered in the 1997 budget proved to be insufficient to meet all the payment requests
submitted by the Member States to the Commission. The shortfall, which totalled almost ECU 1 200 million for
Community support frameworks, had to be made up in 1998.

This  shows  that  the  Commission(cid:146)s  forecast  in  the  1997  PDB  was  correct.  Had  the  amount  of  payment
appropriations not been reduced, the rate of payments could obviously have been improved and the increase in
outstanding commitments could have been limited.

Under the current rules, all Community commitments relating to the Structural Funds must be cleared by

2.
31 December 1999.

The information currently available to the Commission does not indicate that under-utilisation of commitments
for the Structural Funds is likely in 1999.

(98/C 323/93)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0770/98

by Ge·rard Caudron (PSE) to the Commission

(18 March 1998)

Subject: Safety of children under the age of two in aeroplanes

Children under the age of two can fly free of charge or at very cheap rates. They are not reserved a seat and must
therefore sit on the knees of a parent or accompanying adult.