WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3561/98 by Klaus LUKAS UNRWA and missing EU funds (SUPPLEMENTARY ANSWER)
Date: 1998-12-01
Institutions: European Parliament, LUKAS
Subjects: Member States' contribution, UNRWA, auditing, budgetary control, humanitarian aid

C 348/2

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

3.12.1999

(1999/C 348/002)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3555/98

by Cristiana Muscardini (NI) to the Commission

(1 December 1998)

Subject: St. Teresa di Lerici sailing school

On 30 December 1993, the local authority in Lerici approved the above project, financed by the Liguria
regional authority and the Community’s Reneval programme.

On 16 April 1997, work on the project was completed for the local authority in Lerici.

To date, five years after the funds for the project were approved and 18 months after work on the project was
completed, the local authority has still not managed to make the sailing school operational. Furthermore, the
fact that the school has remained unused for an extended period has led to the deterioration of the buildings,
which have also been damaged by vandals.

Is the Commission aware of the reasons for this disgraceful delay and does it know where responsibility

1.
for the delay lies?

Is it in a position to assess whether the expenditure on the implementation of the project tallies with the

2.
funds made available?

3.

4.

Can it state how much funding was made available for the project under the Reneval programme?

Do the rules in force stipulate a deadline for the implementation of a project once aid has been granted?

5. What are the consequences of a deadline not being observed?

Supplementary answer
given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission

(5 March 1999)

1.
The situation described by the Honourable Member remains primarily a matter for the Italian authorities
in application of the subsidiarity principle. On the basis of information received from them, the Commission
understands that the delay can be ascribed principally to two factors. The municipal administration of Lerici set
up a special company to take charge of the building, which had to be handed over formally to it by the
administration. This turned out to be a lengthy procedure. It was followed by a call for tenders in July 1998 to
choose a company to run the sailing school. The tender procedure was completed in September 1998 when
the Caprera sailing centre was selected.

The cost of the project was estimated originally at 1,26 billion Lire (about 651 000 euro) of which
2. and 3.
475 million Lire (about 245 000 euro) were structural funds made available under the Renaval programme.
Final expenditure amounted to 1,3 billion Lire (about 671 000 euro) but the amount of the structural funds did
not change.

The normal deadline for the completion of payments on projects is two years from the end of the
4.
programme. The sailing school project was completed within the time limit of 31 December 1996. However a
clear distinction must be made between physical implementation of a project, which in this instance related to
the enhancement of premises in an industrial area, and the project’s end use which, for the reasons explained
above, did not become immediately operational.

5.

Payments made after the deadline are not eligible for structural fund support.

(1999/C 348/003)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3561/98

by Klaus Lukas (NI) to the Commission

(1 December 1998)

Subject: UNRWA and missing EU funds

The Member undersigned has been given information according to which EU funds totalling approximately
ECU 2 million which had been provided for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees are said to be ‘missing’.