WRITTEN QUESTION No. 820/98 by José APOLINÁRIO to the Commission. The Community initiative, Interreg, and tourism
Date: 1998-03-26
Institutions: APOLINARIO, European Parliament
Subjects: EU action, EU financing, EU initiative, cross-border cooperation, frontier region, operational programme, principle of subsidiarity, regional development, tourism

21. 10. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 323/79

However, owing to the ever increasing number of applications and the concern expressed both by the European
Parliament  and  the  Member  States  to  see  a  significant  increase  in  information  on  Community  cultural
programmes, the Commission felt it would be productive to disseminate this information via (cid:145)culture desks(cid:146) in
the  Member  States.  To  this  effect,  it  made  proposals  to  the  committees  for  the  programmes  (Kaleidoscope
committee meeting of 14 February 1997) for the setting of these desks to be effected on a voluntary basis in the
Member States. The Commission would cover 50% of the establishment and annual running costs of one such
culture desk per Member State of up to ECU 80 000 per Member State in the case of the large States and up to
ECU  30  000  in  the  case  of  the  smaller  States.  The  desks  would  be  funded  jointly  under  the  budget  entries
corresponding to the Community Ariane, Kaleidoscope and Raphae¤l programmes.

The Community contribution is conditional on the presentation to the Commission of an action programme and
draft  budget  by  the  body  designated  by  the  authorities  of  the  Member  State  to  assume  responsibility  for  the
culture desk.

In  1998,  ten  Member  States  and  two  countries  of  the  European  Free  Trade  Association(EFTA/European
Economic  Area  (EEA)  made  use  of  the  opportunity  afforded  them  (Germany,  Greece,  France,  Ireland,  Italy,
Austria, Portugal, Finland, Sweden, United Kingdom, Iceland and Norway).

The tasks assigned to the culture desks on the strength of the commitments made towards the Commission are
essentially to ensure the promotion of Community programmes and provide information for potential applicants,
professionals and other interested parties (ongoing information, widest possible dissemination of information
concerning  the  cultural  programmes,  technical  assistance  for  professionals  and,  where  appropriate,  other
promotional measures for the attention of the target groups).

Subject to the availability of resources, the Commission will make further provision for the establishment of
these culture desks when drafting the new framework programme for culture.

(98/C 323/105)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0820/98

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

(26 March 1998)

Subject: The Community initiative, Interreg, and tourism

Will  the  Commission  give  the  total  amount  allocated,  per  Member  State,  in  the  1994-1999  financial
programming  period  to  actions  and  projects  specifically  involving  tourism  within  the  framework  of  the
Community initiative, Interreg II?

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

(20 April 1998)

Of the three strands of the Interreg II Community Initiative, only Interreg IIA (development of border areas and
cross-border cooperation) covers significant measures in the field of tourism. As is the case for the Structural
Funds in general, Interreg II is implemented in compliance with the principle of subsidiarity. Accordingly, the
Commission has approved 59 multiannual operational programmes under Interreg IIA, while the selection and
approval  of  the  projects  is  the  responsibility  of  the  national,  regional  or  local  authorities.  Moreover,  in
accordance with the spirit of genuine cross-border cooperation, operational programmes concerned with internal
borders do not normally allocate appropriations by Member State.

Consequently, only overall and approximate figures can be given for Community financial assistance from the
59 operational programmes for measures in the field of tourism. On the basis of current programming, this can be
estimated  at  ECU  300  million,  or  about  12%  of  total  Community  funding  for  Interreg  IIA.  For  example,  the
Spain/Portugal operational programme devotes about ECU 55 million (10% of the Community appropriations
for this programme) to measures concerning tourism.