WRITTEN QUESTION E-2976/00 by Ioannis Souladakis (PSE) to the Commission. Funding of European Union island regions.
Date: 2000-09-20
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU regional policy, island region

C 151 E/34

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

22.5.2001

Reply

(22 December 2000)

The Council thanks the Honourable Member for his questions and would take this opportunity to point
out the following:

(cid:129) the General Secretariat of the Council regularly publishes, in all the official languages of the European
Union, a list of the members of the Governments of the Member States who regularly take part in
Council meetings. This list contains the names, forenames and positions of all Prime Ministers,
Ministers and State Secretaries;

(cid:129) after each change in the composition of the Government of a Member State, this list is updated on the
basis of the information appearing in the Official Gazette of that Member State. As regards the
Netherlands, the list was updated in April 2000, i.e. in the month following the reshuffling of the
Netherlands Government;

(cid:129) the lists are forwarded regularly for information to the relevant departments of

the European
Parliament and of the Commission. The document to which the Honourable Member refers is a
document published by the European Parliament;

(cid:129) the composition of the Governments of the Member States is also published for information on the
Internet website http://europa.eu.int/idea, under the headings (cid:145)Search by organisational entities(cid:146), then
(cid:145)Institutions(cid:146) and then (cid:145)Council of the European Union(cid:146) and (cid:145)Representatives of the Governments of the
Member States who regularly take part in Council meetings(cid:146);

(cid:129) in addition, each year, the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities publishes an
(cid:145)Interinstitutional Directory (cid:129) Who(cid:146)s who in the European Union?(cid:146). The latest version is that
of January 2000 (date of going to press) and thus contains all the members of Governments at that
date, and hence also the members referred to by the Honourable Member. The General Secretariat of
the Council, for its part, publishes an (cid:145)Extract from the Interinstitutional Directory(cid:146) in the autumn of
each year;

(cid:129) the mistakes to which the Honourable Member refers appear merely to be circumstantial ones.

(2001/C 151 E/043)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2976/00

by Ioannis Souladakis (PSE) to the Commission

(20 September 2000)

Subject: Funding of European Union island regions

In the first paragraph of the Commission(cid:146)s answer of 24 July 2000 to my Written Question No E-1738/
2000 (1) concerning the funding of European Union island regions, Commissioner Barnier states that the
Commission does not anticipate creating a legal basis for such funding, despite the provisions of the Treaty
of Amsterdam. Acting within its sphere of responsibilities, however, and in particular the 2001 budget
guidelines, the European Parliament has decided to make such funding a budget priority, especially in view
It is
of the fact that implementation of the Amsterdam Treaty has already begun this year, 2000.
surprising, therefore, that while the Commission should take initiatives to implement the Treaties,
it
appears from its answer that it is at the very least indifferent towards a matter of major importance for the
development of certain regions of the EU.

What practical steps will the Commission take, on the basis of a specific timetable, to create a legal basis
for the funding of EU island regions pursuant to the provisions of the relevant Treaties?

(1) OJ C 113 E, 18.4.2001, p. 38.

22.5.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 151 E/35

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(30 October 2000)

As the Commission mentioned to the Honourable Member in its reply to Written Question E-1738/00 (1),
it does not plan at this stage to create a legal basis for the financing of European Union island regions.
Indeed, these regions already receive special attention under existing Community policies since a consider-
able number of them are eligible for Objectives 1 or 2 of the Structural Funds for the 2000-2006
programming period.

A wide range of different situations exist within the EU island regions and as a consequence, their assets
and needs are extremely diverse. In order to understand these better, the Commission intends to launch a
study into all the island regions of the Community. This study will analyse and compare individual
situations on the basis of various statistical criteria connected with for example, demography, the socio-
economic situation, existing infrastructures or the environmental situation.

The results of this study are expected by the end of the first half of 2001 and will be communicated to
Parliament as soon as they are published.

(1) OJ C 113 E, 18.4.2001, p. 38.

(2001/C 151 E/044)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2986/00

by Vittorio Sgarbi (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(20 September 2000)

Subject: Communications in Sicily

In the Region of Sicily, regional, national and international transport facilities (cid:129) motorways, railways,
airports and ports (cid:129) are obviously underdeveloped. Meanwhile, definitive framework programme agree-
ments for the construction of the necessary infrastructures are being drawn up in collaboration with the
European Union.

Does the Commission consider that there has been excessive delay in setting the agreements in question in
train and that the Italian Government has been unjustifiably slow in making the requisite financial
resources available?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(9 November 2000)

The Commission is aware of the lag in Sicily(cid:146)s transport sector and the Structural Funds have already
contributed to transport projects in the 1994-1999 programming period.

In the 2000-2006 period measures to improve the region(cid:146)s transport infrastructure will be part-financed
by the Structural Funds under Objective 1, either through the Operational Programme for Sicily or
through the national Operational Programme for transport, covering all the regions of the Mezzogiorno.

On 8 August 2000 the OP for Sicily was one of the first Objective 1 programmes to be approved by the
Commission. The regional authorities are currently drawing up the programming complement governing
implementation of the programme.

The transport OP is currently being examined by the Commission. Before it can be finalised the Italian
authorities must prepare an operating instrument ((cid:145)strumento operativo(cid:146)) identifying the strategic choices
for this sector in the Mezzogiorno, based on the strategy laid down in the general plan for transport
published in July 2000.