WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2923/98 by Alexandros ALAVANOS to the Commission. Commission's opinion regarding statement by the Greek Minister of Education
Date: 1998-09-25
Institutions: ALAVANOS, European Parliament
Subjects: EU programme, European Regional Development Fund, European Social Fund, Greece, education, financial intervention, operational programme, vocational training

29.4.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 118/169

(1999/C 118/213)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2923/98

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(25 September 1998)

Subject: Commission(cid:146)s opinion regarding statement by the Greek Minister of Education

On 9 September 1998, I published in full the reply given by Commissioner P. Flynn, dated 3 September
1998, to my Written Question E-1861/98 (1) concerning the implementation of the (cid:145)Education and Initial
Vocational Training(cid:146) programme in Greece. Following the publication of this reply, the Greek Minister of
Education then issued a statement contradicting what had been said by me and by a fellow Greek MEP,
who had also published a similar reply by the Commission. In his statement the Greek Minister indicated
that the sources quoted (the reply by Commissioner Flynn) were inaccurate and that the take-up rate of
funding was in fact 39 % and would reach 50 % by the end of the year. The Minister went on to say that
those concerned should (cid:145)seek reliable information from the Ministry and avoid exposing themselves to
criticism by the Greek public as a result of their irresponsible utterances(cid:146). Since the MEPs concerned are
being accused of irresponsibility for communicating to the Greek people the information provided by the
Commission itself on 3 September 1998, can the Commission confirm or deny the information contained
in its reply?

(1) OJ C 13, 18.1.1999, p. 104.

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission

(21 October 1998)

The figures given in the reply to Written Question E-1861/98 by Mr Alavanos correspond to the financial
situation of the operational programme in May 1998. They represent payments made by the Member State
as a percentage of the respective total budgets. These figures were presented by the Ministry of Education
at the meeting of the programme(cid:146)s monitoring committee held on 7 May 1998. At that time, the European
social fund (ESF) rate of payments for the programme was indeed 29 %.

In September 1998, the Commission proceeded with the final payment for 1997 on the basis of the
declaration of expenditure for that year submitted by the Member State. Taking into account this new
payment,
to 34,48 % and 37,39 %
respectively (payments and commitments in the Community budget as percentages of total ESF
contribution to the programme).

the current ESF rates of payments and commitments amount

In the meantime and in the framework of the mid-term review of the Greek community support framework
(CSF), the operational programme (cid:145)Education and initial training(cid:146) was scaled down by ECU 190 million of
ESF contribution (decision of the CSF monitoring committee taken on 21 July 1998). If this reduction of
the ESF allocation to the programme is taken into consideration, then the ESF rates of payments and
commitments become 41 % and 44,5 % respectively.

As far as the European regional development fund (ERDF) part of the programme is concerned, the
payments and commitments rates before the mid-term review were 34,5 % and 40,6 % respectively.
Following the reinforcement of the revised programme by ECU 49 million of ERDF credits, the above
figures become 28,3 % and 33,2 %.

Overall after the revision of the programme, the current rates of payments and commitments amount to
38,3 % and 42 % respectively.

(1999/C 118/214)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2927/98

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Salary of the President of the European Central Bank

(2 October 1998)

In accordance with the principle of transparency concerning the functioning of the Community
Institutions, can the Commission say what salary and total allowances are paid to the President of the
European Central Bank?