WRITTEN QUESTION E-2625/99 by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission. EU funds for the earthquake in Umbria.
Date: 2000-01-12
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing arrangements, Italy, Umbria, aid to disaster victims, earthquake

C 303 E/84

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

24.10.2000

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(10 February 2000)

The permit to build a youth hostel at the Sports and Nature Centre was granted to the developer Valle de
los abedules S.L. by the communal authorities of Bustarviejo and is one of the prerequisites for the
Galsinma local action group to be able to make a grant partly met from Community funds.

The Community aid is also dependent on the hostel receiving an operating permit
requirements of the implementing legislation.

imposing all

The national legislation on which the implementing legislation covering building and operating permits is
based must take account of the Community Directives.

Among the requirements must be an obligation to meet the conditions set in the report drawn up by the
Directorate-General for Environmental Respect and Safety, otherwise the permit should not be issued. It
must be borne in mind that the village of Bustarviejo is very close (one or two kilometres) to Cuenca de
Rio Lozoya y Sierra Norte, ES3110002 proposed by Spain as a site of Community interest in the Natura
2000 network pursuant to Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural
habitats and of wild fauna and flora.

The information given by the Honourable Member and the claims of the environmental and other
associations mentioned in her question do not enable the Commission to conclude that Council Directives
85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the
environment and 92/43/EEC have not been respected.

(2000/C 303 E/076)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2625/99

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission

(12 January 2000)

Subject: EU funds for the earthquake in Umbria

Since September 1997, when an earthquake devastated Umbria, thousands of people who lost their homes
in the earthquake have been living in containers. Reconstruction in the earthquake-stricken areas, with the
exception of certain historic monuments, has not yet begun and local people, about to face another winter,
are exhausted. The European Union has earmarked funds to help the people affected by this natural
disaster.

Can the Commission answer the following:

1. Has it actually allocated funds to the Italian Government in respect of the above earthquake?

2. What is the amount of these funds?

3.

4.

For what precisely had these funds been earmarked?

For what were they actually used?

5. Will it set up a committee of inquiry on human rights to help the earthquake victims and to ascertain
that the Community funds have actually been used for reconstruction and to help the displaced
persons?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(17 February 2000)

By the Commission decisions of 4 August 1998 amending the decisions approving the single program-
ming documents (SPDs) for Community structural assistance under Objective 5(b) in the Marche and
Umbria Regions, the national authorities and the Commission provided for new operations under the SPDs

24.10.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 303 E/85

to contribute towards the reconstruction of areas affected by the 1997 earthquake. Those decisions granted
additional financial resources amounting to EUR 500 million, of which EUR 325 million was for the SPD
for the Umbria Region and EUR 175 million for the SPD for the Marche Region. Those resources were
made available in particular through the solidarity of the other Italian regions, which agreed to reduce
their share of the Community funds originally allocated to them. In the Region of Umbria alone, the
contribution from the Guidance Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund
(EAGGF) amounts to EUR 190 million and that from the ERDF to EUR 102 million. The remainder, which
is contributed by the European Social Fund (ESF), is for targeted training measures.

In the two Regions, assistance part-financed by the EAGGF is used for rebuilding the production potential
of agriculture, reconstructing farmers(cid:146) principal dwellings and rural
infrastructure and restoring the
architectural heritage in rural villages. Assistance part-financed by the ERDF is used in part for rebuilding
non-agricultural production potential and reconstructing infrastructure for small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) and in part for rebuilding and restoring the public and private architectural heritage
(integrated projects). Such operations are eligible solely in areas affected by the earthquake.

The Commission is kept constantly up to date on the way the Structural Funds are used thanks to the
partnership system and in particular through Monitoring Committee meetings attended by its officials. At
its latest meeting on 9 December 1999, the Monitoring Committee for the Umbria Region was told that
the Region was in a position to commit the whole allocation within the time limit laid down.

Since reconstruction work will not be completed before the deadline on 31 December 2001, details of
progress can be neither exhaustive nor final. However, according to a recent estimate, the Region has now
selected and financed approximately 3 000 reconstruction projects, about one third of which are now
under way. At this stage the Commission does not intend setting up a committee of inquiry and regards
these measures as having been adequately monitored and inspected in accordance with the regulations
governing the operations of the Structural Funds.

(2000/C 303 E/077)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2627/99

by Francesco Speroni (TDI) to the Commission

(12 January 2000)

Subject: Seat belts in cars

The benefits of car seat belts are all too often rendered meaningless by the failure to comply with the
statutory obligation to fasten them.

Does the Commission not believe that the time has come for it to issue rules obliging car manufacturers to
install mechanisms to prevent cars from being driven if the seat belts are not fastened?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(24 February 2000)

The technical standards for safety belts with which motor vehicles must comply are contained in Council
Directive 77/541/EEC of 28 June 1977 on the approximately of the laws of the Member States relating to
safety belts and restraint systems of motor vehicles (1) and the successive amendments.

The use of safety belts, in particular their compulsory use, are governed by Council Directive 91/671/EEC
of 16 December 1991 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to compulsory use
of seat belts in vehicles of less than 3,5 tonnes (2), which stipulates that Member States shall ensure that the
driver and passengers occupying the seats of vehicles on the road do wear safety belts.