WRITTEN QUESTION E-3688/00 by Salvador Garriga Polledo (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Consistency in the development aid provided by the EU Member States.
Date: 2000-11-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU Member State, State aid, coordination of financing, development aid

C 163 E/196

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2001

Does the Commission therefore consider that it should propose an EU policy to promote the distribution
of European films and overcome the huge inequality in relation to American movies resulting from the
failure to deal properly with film distribution?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(17 January 2001)

In reply to the Honourable Member(cid:146)s question, the Commission would point out that, since 1991, it has
been pursuing an active policy, under the MEDIA I (1991-1995) and MEDIA II (1996-2000) programmes,
to support the distribution and screening of European films outside their main country of production. This
support is designed to increase the circulation and profitability of European films and to support common
strategies of the distributors of these films on the European market.

The evaluation of the MEDIA I programme and the interim evaluation of the MEDIA II programme
showed the positive influence of
including in terms of
organisation, on both the circulation of European films and the risks taken by distributors in their
campaigns to promote non-national European films.

the MEDIA programme,

the measures of

Since 1996 (when the MEDIA II programme entered into force), the number of European films distributed
outside their main country of production has risen by 85 % from 246 in 1996 to 457 in 1999. Over this
period, the number of people who saw these films increased by more than 20 million (20 %). It should be
noted that, of the 457 films shown in 1999, 287 (cid:129) or 62 % (cid:129) had received financial support from the
MEDIA II programme for their distribution. These 287 films were seen by more than 40 million people in
1999, in other words by over 90 % of the recorded number of people who saw non-national European
films in 1999.

Furthermore, the Community policy of support for the film industry, the transnational distribution of films
and the circulation of European works was strengthened with the adoption of the MEDIA Plus programme
(2001-2005), with a budget of € 350 million for measures to promote development, distribution and
promotion (57,5 % of which is expected to be devoted exclusively to support for the distribution of
audiovisual works), plus € 50 million for vocational training.

(2001/C 163 E/228)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3688/00

by Salvador Garriga Polledo (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(29 November 2000)

Subject: Consistency in the development aid provided by the EU Member States

According to studies by several NGOs, the individual Member States provide very unequal amounts of
development aid.

The 1 % of GDP allocated by Denmark is very different from Italy(cid:146)s 0,15 %. In some cases it might be said
that greater economic strength results in feebler aid.

Does the Commission think it appropriate to propose that the Member States standardise their develop-
ment aid and thus lay down a common minimum percentage of GDP to be used to eradicate poverty in
the world?

6.6.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 163 E/197

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(5 January 2001)

Official development assistance, measured in terms of a percentage of donor countries(cid:146) gross national
product (GNP) in line with the definitions approved by the Development Assistance Committee of the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), does vary widely from one country to
another. In general the Commission believes international official development assistance, which has fallen
to a fairly low level, should be stepped up. In the context of work on development financing within the
UN, the Community has reaffirmed its commitment to cooperation and its desire to work towards meeting
the target of 0,7 % of GNP. A number of Member States (cid:129) Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden (cid:129) have
either reached or exceeded this target. In 1999 the Community average was 0,31 % of GNP. In terms of
international performance it is not clear that a specific European target would offer any added value. On
the other hand, the scope for stepping up the Member States(cid:146) performance does deserve to be examined, in
particular as regards aid to the least advanced countries, by reference to the United Nations target of
0,15 % of GNP.

(2001/C 163 E/229)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3689/00

by Jorge HernÆndez Mollar (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(29 November 2000)

Subject: Research into the properties of olive-oil that prevent heart attacks

The Spanish Ministry of Agriculture and the Spanish Olive Grove Authority have entered into an
agreement with a leading Spanish medical research institute whereby an institute research team is to
study the benefits of olive-oil from the point of view of preventing heart attacks.

When the agreement was signed, the senior Agriculture Ministry representative welcomed the fact that this
new avenue of research had been opened up and pointed out that, because of Mediterranean eating habits,
the incidence of the various cardiovascular diseases in Spain was below average.

Given the interest of this medical research, does the Commission consider that it should assist the research
work by contributing part of the funding and enabling the final reports summarising the researchers(cid:146)
findings to be publicised as widely as possible?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(17 January 2001)

The Commission would like to inform the Honourable Member that it is aware of the fact that a low
intake of saturated and a high intake of monounsaturated lipid, which can be realised by including olive oil
in the diet, is associated with a low risk of heart disease.

The Commission might indeed consider an application for funding the research work described by the
Honourable Member under the condition that the research is submitted as a proposal to key action 1
(cid:145)Food, Nutrition and Health(cid:146) within the specific programme (cid:145)Quality of Life and Management of Living
Resources(cid:146) under the Fifth Framework Research Programme.

For the time being, the Commission is not funding a specific project on the relation between olive oil and
its anti-atherosclerotic functions, however, research is being carried out on the function of olive oil for
health and well-being among other aspects of the Mediterranean diet, within two projects within the
Fourth and Fifth Framework Programmes of research and technological development.

(cid:145)Dietary Habits Profile in European Communities with
The first project is a share-cost project entitled:
Different Risk of Myocardial
Infarction: The Impact of Migration as a Model of Gene/Environment
Interaction(cid:146) and will commence in January 2001. In this project, risk factors influenced by both nutrition
and genetic polymorphisms are being studied.