WRITTEN QUESTION E-3527/00 by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Access to basic knowledge.
Date: 2000-11-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: backwardness at school, basic education, child, marginalisation, new technology, project evaluation, young person

C 163 E/154

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2001

follow at the end of 2000 or beginning of 2001 and Portugal at a later stage in 2001. All relevant
information is on the OECD-website: http://www.oecd.org/daf/nocorruption/annex2.htm

It is generally acknowledged that, compared to other conventions, ratification and implementation of the
OECD anti-bribery convention have been rather speedy so far. The Commission however assumes that on
top of the usual difficulties with ratifying international legal texts, the (cid:145)lagging-behind(cid:146) of certain Member
States could be due to parallel ratification of a number of instruments dealing with corruption, drawn up
by the Community, the Council of Europe and the OECD respectively. Hence, they wish to adopt their
national legislation in compliance with all of these international texts, which differ in scope, Union and
Council of Europe conventions being more far-reaching.

The Commission agrees with the Honourable Member that those countries that did not fully comply with
the highest international anti-corruption standards and still pointed to other countries with respect to their
corrupt practices would lose credibility. As stated above, all Member States will soon have enforceable laws
in place, which make the bribery of all foreign public officials including those of international public
organisations a punishable offence. In this context, the Commission wishes to highlight, that under the
recent Community (cid:129) African, Caribbean and Pacific States Agreement ((cid:145)LomØ V(cid:146)) signed in July 2000, the
fight against corruption will for the first time be an integral part of the Community(cid:146)s development policy.
A consultation procedure is foreseen in serious cases of corruption with the possibility of suspending
assistance. The Common service for external relations (SCR) manual of instructions on contracts for works,
supplies and services concluded for the purposes of Community cooperation with third countries already
provides the possibility to (cid:145)suspend or cancel project financing if corrupt practices of any kind are
discovered at any stage of the award process and if the contracting authority fails to take all appropriate
measures to remedy the situation.(cid:146)

In view of the above, there will be no longer any relevant discrepancy in Member States(cid:146) laws in this
respect. The Commission draws the Honourable Member(cid:146)s attention to the fact, that it was one of the
principal goals of the OECD Convention to even out inequalities in anti-corruption legislation with a view
to removing the unethical competitive advantages to which the Honourable Member refers.

The Community is not a party to the OECD Convention. The Commission has therefore no legal means to
influence the ratification procedures of Member States although it agrees with the Honourable Member
that swift ratification by the missing Member States would be highly desirable. The Commission also
recalls that it actively supported the preparation of the two Community joint positions, which contributed
to the establishment of the Convention.

(2001/C 163 E/172)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3527/00

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(13 November 2000)

Subject: Access to basic knowledge

Universities and research institutions in Spain, Denmark, Sweden and France have submitted a project
entitled (cid:145)Children and adolescents with social difficulties in gaining access to basic knowledge: the new
technologies as tools for improving their educational and cultural resources(cid:146) (SERD-2000-00234).

Given this project(cid:146)s enormous importance to the whole issue of preventing social exclusion in years to
come, can the Commission tell me what stage it has got to in evaluating it?

6.6.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 163 E/155

Answer given by Mr Busquin on behalf of the Commission

(18 December 2000)

The Commission with the help of independent experts evaluated in October 2000 the proposals sub-
mitted in the context of the second call key action (cid:145)Improving the socio-economic knowledge base(cid:146)
(IHP-KA1-001) including the proposal mentioned by the Honourable Member.

The coordinator of the proposal has been informed of the outcome of the evaluation results, which was
that the proposal received a final mark beneath the evaluation threshold and will not be retained for
possible selection.

A copy of the evaluation summary report of the proposal is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to
the Secretariat general of the Parliament.

(2001/C 163 E/173)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3533/00

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(13 November 2000)

Subject: Programmes for young farmers

In Greece, money from the European Union programmes for young farmers ceased to be approved or paid
ten months ago. Could the Commission say when it expects the programmes under Regulation 1257/99 (1)
for young farmers in Greece to be approved?

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 80.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(13 December 2000)

The Commission acknowledges that there was some delay in 2000 in implementing measures for young
farmers in Greece. The reasons were as follows.

These measures form part of the 2000-2006 operational programme (OP) for rural development which in
turn forms part of the national strand of the Community Support Framework (CSF III). According to the
rules governing the Structural Funds, the OP cannot be approved until the CSF is formally adopted by the
Commission, which took place only on 28 November 2000.

This OP has already been the subject of negotiations and discussions with the Member State. Following
these negotiations,
the OP
during November 2000 in order to assess whether it could immediately begin the approval procedure.
However, expenditure under the operational programmes has been eligible for Community part-financing
as from the date of admissibility by the Commission, in this case April 2000.

the Commission awaited the transmission of

the final version of

The Commission would however like to reassure the Honourable Member that Commission Regulation
(EC) No 2075/2000 (1) of 29 September 2000 amending Regulation (EC) No 1750/1999 (2) laying down
detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 (3) on support for rural
from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund states that, as regards
development
applications for aid submitted by young farmers for the first time in 2000, the condition of being of less
than 40 years old has to be fulfilled at the time of submission of the application (and not at the time of the
individual decision to grant aid). This transitional provision partially offsets the effects of the delay in
approving the OP for young farmers who were not yet 40 in 2000 and had submitted an aid application
in that year.

(1) OJ L 246, 30.9.2000.
(2) OJ L 214, 13.8.1999.
(3) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999.