WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1259/98 by Edith MÜLLER to the Council. Raising of a loan to purchase the D3 building in Brussels
Date: 1998-04-28
Institutions: European Parliament, MUELLER EDITH
Subjects: Brussels region, European Parliament, award of contract, competition law, corruption, public borrowing, public building, public contract

C 323/120

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

21. 10. 98

According to the provisions of the Europe agreements, associated countries from Central Europe have to pay
themselves the cost of their participation, with the possibility to part-finance their own contribution from their
national  Phare  allocation.  Financial  contributions  are  defined  in  association  council  decisions.  They  are
calculated  by  the  Commission  on  the  basis  of  objective  parameters  such  as  gross  domestic  product  (GDP),
population,  distances  (for  mobility  schemes)  and  other  parameters  inherent  to  the  programme  concerned
(e.g. health  standards,  energy  consumption  etc.).  Financial  contributions  are  defined  in  Association  Council
decisions. The amounts mentioned in these decisions are maximum amounts, their actual use will merely depend
on the quality of the applications of the country concerned. At this stage, it is not possible to assess the rate of
success of these applications.

All eligible Central Europe candidates (CECs) used the possibility to earmark part of their Phare allocations for
supplementing their own financial contributions, be it in different degrees. While remaining within the 10% limit
of  their  national  allocations,  some  countries  relied  heavily  on  Phare  during  the  initial  phase  of  participation
(Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania), but are committed to make a steadily increasing effort of their
own. Others (Hungary, Estonia, Czech Republic, Slovakia) followed a more balanced approach from the outset,
and pay more than 50% from their own budgets.

Ten countries from Central Europe signed association agreements (or Europe agreements) with the Community.
These agreements are all in force, except for Slovenia.

(98/C 323/183)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1259/98

by Edith Mu¤ ller (V) to the Council

(28 April 1998)

Subject: Raising of a loan to purchase the D3 building in Brussels

On  28  January  1998  the  Bureau  of  the  European  Parliament  decided  to  raise  a  loan  of  more  than
ECU 500 million, with the assistance of Socie·te· Espace Le·opold, in order to be able to purchase the D3 building
in Brussels.

Can the Council say whether this is in line with the outcome of the discussions held last year in this connection
between Parliament, the Council and the Commission?

(98/C 323/184)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1519/98

by Thierry Jean-Pierre (I-EDN) to the Council

(15 May 1998)

Subject: Purchase of D3 › Loan

The Bureau of the European Parliament has recently decided to ask Socie·te· Espace Le·opold (SEL) › a legal shell
safeguarding the interests of Belgian and French banks › to take out a loan of ECU 525 million and BF 7 billion
on the European Parliament(cid:146)s behalf, to enable the latter to purchase the D3 building complex from SEL itself.

Given its responsibilities in this regard, has the Council authorized what could at best be described as a

1.
surprising arrangement to that effect?

2.
Considering  the  capital  involved  and  the  unique  nature  of  the  operation  envisaged  by  Parliament(cid:146)s
authorities,  does  the  Council  not  take  the  view  that  Community  law  on  public  contracts  ought  to  be  strictly
adhered to and a notice of invitation to tender issued, thereby guaranteeing protection for Community taxpayers(cid:146)
interests, as well as compliance with the basic rules of competiton?

Is the Council aware of the inquiry by the Belgian legal authorities into acts of corruption linked to the

3.
construction of D3?