WRITTEN QUESTION E-1940/00 by Christopher Heaton-Harris (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Budget items relating to culture.
Date: 2000-06-16
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing arrangements, non-profit organisation, promotion of the European idea

C 72 E/152

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.3.2001

The EQUAL programme does not in any way call into question the national provisions applicable to
2.
asylum seekers. Asylum seekers are required to conform with the rules and specific legislation in force in
the different Member States in all circumstances.

Transnational cooperation in the context of EQUAL takes on several forms and is not confined to the
physical mobility of the final beneficiaries. Experience with ADAPT and EMPLOI has shown that different
types of transnational actions can be developed (cid:129) including the simple exchange of experience and
information; the development of innovative approaches in parallel; the adoption or transfer of new
methodologies;
joint developments with sharing of tasks, and, finally, the exchange of trainees and
management personnel.

(2001/C 72 E/190)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1939/00

by Christopher Heaton-Harris (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(16 June 2000)

Subject: Budget Item A-3021

(cid:145)Organisations advancing the idea of Europe(cid:146) are allocated € 1 800 000 from Item A-3021. Could the
Commission indicate which organisations receive this money and the projects in which they are involved?

To whom are these organisations accountable, and what systems are in place to monitor this use of
Community funds?

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(18 July 2000)

The grants awarded under budget line A-3021 are published every year in the annual
(cid:145)Report on
Beneficiaries of Part A Commission Grants(cid:146) which the Commission sends to Parliament and which is also
published on Europa, the Commission(cid:146)s server at:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgc/info_subv/beneficiaries_en.htm.

In fact, 14 of the organisations receiving a grant in 1999 were earmarked by Parliament in the remarks to
the Budget rather than selected by the Commission, amounting to 85 % of the total appropriations on the
line.

Organisations receiving a grant under budget line A-3021, like all organisations receiving a grant from the
Commission, are required to submit both an activity and a financial report on the use of their grant. This
has to be approved by the Commission before the final instalment is paid. Organisations are also subject to
on-the-spot inspections by the Commission and are liable to auditing by the Court of auditors.

(2001/C 72 E/191)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1940/00

by Christopher Heaton-Harris (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Budget items relating to culture

(16 June 2000)

Could the Commission indicate the structure and aims of the (cid:145)Our Europe(cid:146) Association, which receives
Community funding from Item A-3020?

Why was this organisation in particular chosen for a European grant?

6.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 72 E/153

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(18 July 2000)

The association (cid:145)Our Europe(cid:146) was set up in 1996 as a non-profit-making organisation registered under the
French Law of 1901 as the (cid:145)Groupement d(cid:146)Etudes et de Recherches: Notre Europe(cid:146). Its object, as set out in
its registered articles of association, is: (cid:145)To conduct studies, research and training on Europe, its past, its
civilisations, its progress towards unity and its future prospects. The association develops its action in the
spirit of a closer, federal union between the peoples of Europe, comprising a common defence and a single
currency, upholding the Community acquis and underpinned by common policies that promote full
employment, competitiveness and solidarity. To that end, it organises educational activities and confer-
ences, conducts studies and consultations,
issues publications, mounts information campaigns, awards
grants and prizes, and carries out any other activities of European interest.(cid:146)

The association was given its own heading in Chapter A-30 of the budget in 1997 in agreement with both
the Council and Parliament, which considered that its activities would make it a useful think-tank on the
process of building Europe.

(2001/C 72 E/192)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1941/00

by Christopher Heaton-Harris (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(16 June 2000)

Subject: Budget Item A-3025

(cid:145)Journalists in Europe(cid:146) are allocated € 250 000 from Item A-3025. Could the Commission indicate exactly
how these funds are used and to whom it is allocated?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(13 September 2000)

The funds provided under Item A-3025 are intended to cover the Commission(cid:146)s financial contribution to
the association (cid:145)Journalists in Europe(cid:146).

The aim of this association is to help journalists from various countries throughout the world to get to
know Europe, the various countries of which it is made up, its common institutions and its history.

To this end, the association organises study programmes and courses providing a knowledge and under-
standing of Europe, not only of its economic and social characteristics but also of its cultural and political
aspects. It organises meetings and publishes documents relating to its aims. It also awards grants to allow
journalists to take part in its activities.

Since its foundation in 1974, (cid:145)Journalists in Europe(cid:146) has received 707 journalists from 98 countries.

(2001/C 72 E/193)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1944/00

by Luis Berenguer Fuster (PSE) to the Commission

(16 June 2000)

Subject: Compatibility with the single European market of the (cid:145)golden share(cid:146) retained by the Spanish

Government in the merger between Telef(cid:243)nica and KPN

The Spanish Government has made frequent use of the so-called (cid:145)golden share(cid:146) to prevent Spanish firms
merging with foreign firms. Recent cases have included Telef(cid:243)nica and KPN and the block on the
acquisition of HidrocantÆbrico by a company in which EDF (ElectricitØ de France) was involved.