WRITTEN QUESTION E-2412/99 by Cristina Gutiérrez-Cortines (PPE-DE) to the Commission. The Murcia region and the ERDF.
Date: 1999-12-16
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Regional Development Fund, Region of Murcia, education, operational programme, vocational training

26.1.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 26 E/5

The ITU (www.itu.int) has produced figures that underline the impressive growth at the global level:

Compound annual growth rate

1990-1998

(%)

Telephone lines

Mobile subscribers

Internet hosts

6

52

81

Years taken to reach 50 million users

Years

Telephone

Radio

PC

Television

WWW

74

38

16

13

4

Nua Ltd. in Ireland (www.unua.ie) provides a useful consolidation of various industry estimates related to
the Internet. They provide estimates for usage and for advertising revenue, from a number of sources.

GlobalReach in California (glreach.com) gives Internet usage figures in terms of the distribution between
countries. However it is interesting to note that they give prominence in their analysis to linguistic
groupings rather than national boundaries (i.e. to French-speakers rather than France, to Portuguese-
speakers rather than Portugal).

GVU (www.gvu.gatech.edu) has various figures related to the primary place of access to the Internet (cid:129)
workplace, home, etc. (cid:129) in Europe.

(2001/C 26 E/006)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2412/99

by Cristina GutiØrrez-Cortines (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(16 December 1999)

Subject: The Murcia region and the ERDF

By Decision C(94) 2586/3 the Commission approved the operational programme for tackling the specific
problems of the Murcia region, with the intention of making its economy more competitive by setting up
development areas which would allow the economic fabric to be modernised and diversified and attract
investment, while guaranteeing the protection of the environment.

Will the Commission supply full details of

1.

all the subsidies and funding made available pursuant to this Decision in the field of education and
training, and

2.

all the recipients of these monies?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(21 January 2000)

The global grant from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the operational programme
(OP) for the Murcia region for the programming period 1994-1999 (1) is € 542,74 million

C 26 E/6

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

26.1.2001

Subprogramme 7 of this OP,
million in the construction and improvement of education and training centres.

(cid:145)Development of human resources(cid:146), provides for investment of € 32,31

The breakdown of aid by measure is as follows:

Body

Number of projects

Primary and infant education

Ministry of Education

Secondary education and vocational training

Ministry of Education

University infrastructure

Art education

Ministry of Education

Ministry of Education

Educational and training equipment

Autonomous Community

73

30

10

2

13

A detailed list of the recipients of the aid is being sent directly to the Honourable Member and Parliament(cid:146)s
Secretariat.

(1) Decision C(94) 2586/3.

(2001/C 26 E/007)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2439/99

by Ioannis Souladakis (PSE) to the Commission

(13 December 1999)

Subject: Protection of European companies in Kosovo

In reply to my oral question H-0608/99 of 16 November 1999 (1) to the Commission concerning
protection of the interests of European Union companies in Kosovo, Commissioner Patten indicated that
he had no information concerning pressure being brought to bear or threats being made against European
companies in Kosovo. To fill the gaps in his information concerning the subject, I personally gave him a
copy of correspondence between the (cid:145)Mytilinaios(cid:146) company and Mr Kouchner and Mr Dixon. I also asked
him to investigate the current situation regarding the functioning of telecommunications in Kosovo in
order to obtain a full picture.

Effective communications between the European Parliament and the Commission will help to protect the
interests of the EU wherever they may be under threat. The sovereign rights of European companies are
currently what is at stake in Kosovo. The Greek Telecommunications Organisation (OTE) and the Italian
STET International, which have respectively a 20 % and 29 % holding in Srbija Telekom, are suffering
losses as a result of non-payment of fees to Srbija Telekom for use of telecommunications services in
Kosovo, while, at the same time, the UCK and its covert supporters are insisting on the restoration by the
two companies of the damaged network and its subsequent nationalisation by Albania, in violation of
international agreements. However the most serious breach of the law occurred recently when a (cid:145)special
committee(cid:146) made up of UN representatives and Kosovar Albanians quite illegally transferred mobile
telephony rights to the French company Alcatel. These rights are the exclusive property of the OTE and
STET International,
in accordance with international agreements currently in force, which state that
Kosovo is part of the key area in which these two companies are entitled to operate and export their
profits.

What action will the Commission take to protect the legitimate rights of European companies in Kosovo
which at this moment are under threat by illegal networks in which even UN officials are starting to be
involved, contrary to their instructions regarding observance of the law in this area?

(1) Verbatim report of proceedings of 16.11.1999, p. 60.