WRITTEN QUESTION E-1885/99 by Esko Seppänen (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. The Commission's information material.
Date: 1999-10-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU publication, European social policy, Finland, Structural Funds, information policy, popularising science, product quality

18.7.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 203 E/81

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(8 December 1999)

The town-planning study for the town of Rio is not part-financed under the Community Support
Framework for Greece for the period 1994-1999. The Commission has no information on any seismicity
studies of the region.

(2000/C 203 E/099)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1885/99

by Esko Sepp(cid:228)nen (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(29 October 1999)

Subject: The Commission(cid:146)s information material

The Commission has produced a press release dated June 1999 entitled (cid:145)Four years of the structural funds
in Finland 1995-1999(cid:146). This document is full of inaccuracies and contains many factual errors. How does
the Commission propose to correct the content of this material, and does it intend to produce more
reliable press releases in future?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(6 December 1999)

The Honourable Member complains of
inaccuracies in the figures quoted in the (cid:145)Infopress(cid:146) and of
misleading comparisons between the budgets for the current and new periods of the structural funds in
Finland.

The Directorate general for regional policy publishes (cid:145)Infopress(cid:146) brochures on the structural funds for each
Member State holding the Union presidency. They are meant as short guides for the general public.
Although one mistake was made in the figures quoted in the Finnish brochure (cid:129) that of € 2 200 million
for the approximate expenditure by the structural funds in Finland in the new period, instead of the actual
figure which was nearer € 2 100 million (cid:129) this was largely due to the unclear situation at the time the
brochure was written about the allocation for Community initiatives. The Commission does not accept
that the comparisons made between the current and new periods were misleading for the general reader
for whom such brochures are intended.

All regulations, decisions and guidelines concerning the structural funds and their finances in the new
period are published in extenso on the Commission(cid:146)s Internet websites. In 2000, after the structural fund
programmes have been adopted, it will publish more detailed brochures on the various programmes.

(2000/C 203 E/100)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1886/99

by Alexander de Roo (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(29 October 1999)

Subject: Commercial fishing problems

Overfishing and the need to preserve dwindling fish stocks are matters of great concern to the European
Union.

Virtually no concern is expressed about the welfare of fish being caught and, in particular, the method by
which they are killed. Scientific studies in both the Netherlands and the United Kingdom have shown that
fish possess the physiological, anatomical and biochemical structures which, in mammals, are identified
with pain sensitivity.