WRITTEN QUESTION E-2411/99 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, aid recipient, distribution of aid, employment aid, financial control, management, modernisation aid

C 225 E/128

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

8.8.2000

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(17 January 2000)

The aid granted under the Community initiative programme Interreg Spain-Morocco for the period
1994-1999 amounts to € 104,1 million.

The breakdown by subprogramme is as follows:

Support for socioeconomic development

Cultural heritage and environment

Improvement of cross-border communications

Management and monitoring

(in million euro)

38,78

10,85

54,40

0,07

Projects are managed by the following bodies: Administraci(cid:243)n Central; Junta de Andalucia; Ayuntamiento
de CÆdiz; Ayuntamiento de MÆlaga; Ciudad Aut(cid:243)noma de Ceuta; Ciudad Aut(cid:243)noma de Melilla; Mancomu-
nidad de Municipios del Bajo Guadalquivir; Diputaci(cid:243)n Provincial de MÆlaga; Diputaci(cid:243)n Provincial de
CÆdiz; Red ElØctrica; Telef(cid:243)nica; Autoridad Portuaria de la Bah(cid:237)a de CÆdiz; Autoridad Portuaria de la Bah(cid:237)a
de Algeciras; Autoridad Portuaria de Ceuta; Autoridad Portuaria de Melilla.

Details of the projects part-financed by these four subprogrammes as well as the final recipients and the
amounts which were granted to them can be obtained from the body responsible for chairing the
monitoring committee, in this case the Spanish Ministry for Economic Affairs and Finance.

(2000/C 225 E/138)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2411/99

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

(16 December 1999)

Subject: The Murcia region and the ERDF

By Decision C(94) 2587 the Commission approved a global subsidy for modernising the production and
marketing structures of companies working in the Murcia region, raising the region(cid:146)s human resources
standards and hence promoting the creation of long term employment.

Will the Commission provide full details of:

1.

the subsidies and funding paid out to date pursuant to this Decision, and

2.

a list of the recipients of these monies?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(17 January 2000)

The global grant allotted to the region of Murcia by decision C(94) 2587, under the European Regional
Development Fund for the current 1994-1999 programming period, amounts to € 76,16 million.

By 31 December 1998, the body responsible for managing the grant ((cid:145)Instituto de Fomento de la Regi(cid:243)n
de Murcia(cid:146)) had granted aid to 4 434 enterprises in the region for a total amount of € 62,02.

8.8.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 225 E/129

The breakdown of aid by measure is as follows:

Aid for the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

Aid (Research and development) (R&D)

Internationalisation of the products of the region

Studies on adding value to the products of the region

Improvement of the competitiveness of enterprises

Local promotion associations

Number of
enterprises

2 192

136

1 172

136

77

1

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

(2000/C 225 E/139)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2413/99

by Ewa Hedkvist Petersen (PSE) to the Commission

Subject: Competitive disadvantage and regional aid in Sweden

(16 December 1999)

The population density is low in northern Sweden and Finland, about 3,4 per square kilometre in the
former. Undertakings operating in these sparsely populated regions for export markets have to transport
their products for much greater distances than do those located close to major centres of population and
urban markets. Regional aid such as reduced social contributions and transport subsidies is an important
factor in making such undertakings less uncompetitive.

Sweden and the Commission are at present negotiating the conditions for regional aid in Sweden. Why is
the Commission unwilling to help Sweden grant such aid so that these undertakings can compete on equal
terms?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(20 January 2000)

The Commission recognises that sparsely populated regions, such as North Sweden have special problems.
It agrees that companies in these regions face particular handicaps due to the long distances to their
markets. This is why the Commission decided in 1994, in anticipation of the accession of Sweden and
Finland, to adopt special provisions favouring low population density regions (1). These special provisions
were consolidated and further extended in the (cid:145)Guidelines on national regional aid(cid:146) (2).

The guidelines contain a number of provisions to ensure that Member States can include their low
population regions in the assisted area maps under Article 87(3)(c), if they so desire. They also enable the
Commission to authorise higher aid intensity ceilings for large firms in low population density regions.
transport aid to compensate for the
Finally,
additional transport costs incurred by companies located in low population density regions. At the same
time, though, the guidelines also specify that transport aid may serve only to compensate for the additional
cost of transport of goods and that there should never be over-compensation of the additional transport
costs.

the guidelines provide that Member States may grant

On 26 October 1999, the Commission authorised a transport aid scheme for the North of Sweden, under
which Sweden will provide direct compensation for the additional cost of transport of goods incurred by
companies located in that region. This should enable companies in North Sweden to compete on equal
terms.