WRITTEN QUESTION E-3753/00 by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Commission. The European Spatial Development Perspective and the Structural Funds.
Date: 2000-12-04
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU initiative, Structural Funds, enlargement of the Union, impact study, town and country planning, town planning

21.8.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 235 E/15

(2001/C 235 E/019)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3753/00

by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(4 December 2000)

Subject: The European Spatial Development Perspective and the Structural Funds

At the informal Council of Ministers responsible for spatial planning held in Potsdam in May 1999, the
Member States and the Commission adopted a document on a (cid:145)European Spatial Development Perspective(cid:146)
(ESDP; currently known as (cid:145)European Spatial Strategy(cid:146) or ESS), embodying a strategic vision of spatial
planning at Community level and incorporating perspectives in this area with a view to EU enlargement.

Can the Commission provide information on the implementation of the ESDP to date, with particular
reference to the guidelines and to the application of the action plan adopted by the Commission and the
Member States in October 1999 in Tampere?

Can the Commission state whether the ESDP has been taken into account in the preparation of the
guidelines for the various Structural Funds and Community initiatives for the programming period 2000-
2006?

Should the above be the case:

(cid:129) can the Commission state to what extent the ESDP has been and will continue to be taken into
account in the preparation of the guidelines for the Structural Funds and in the adoption of the
documents concerning programming and specific projects for the programming period 2000-2006?

(cid:129) can the Commission state to what extent the ESDP has been and will continue to be taken into
account in the preparation of the guidelines for the URBAN Community initiative and in the adoption
of the documents concerning programming and specific projects for the programming period 2000-
2006?

(cid:129) can the Commission state to what extent the ESDP has been and will continue to be taken into
account in the preparation of the guidelines for the Interreg Community initiative and in the adoption
of the documents concerning programming and specific projects for the programming period 2000-
2006?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(9 February 2001)

The European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) action programme was decided in October 1999 at
the Tampere informal meeting of ministers responsible for regional development planning. The pro-
gramme comprises three guidelines defining twelve actions which the Commission and the Member States
are committed to implementing.

Practical shape will soon be given to two of the six actions planned under the first guideline, which
concerns promoting the spatial dimension in policies at Community and national level. The first action
relates to publishing, by the beginning of 2001, a final report on the spatial impact of Community policies
as regards agriculture, the environment and transport. The second relates to cooperation on urban policies
within the Community. The conclusions of a report concerning a multiannual programme were discussed
at the conference on Europe(cid:146)s cities and regions held in Lille on 3 November 2000, and the work
programme for the coming period is still due to be discussed with Member States.

Under the second guideline (cid:129) which concerns improving knowledge, research and information on spatial
development (cid:129) four actions have already been launched on: cooperating with the European Spatial
Planning Observatory Network (ESPON); producing ESDP-based geography textbooks for secondary
schools; the future regions of Europe trophy; publishing, in spring 2002, a guide to integrated strategies
for coastal areas.

C 235 E/16

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

21.8.2001

The third guideline, which concerns preparing the Community for enlargement, includes examining the
spatial impact of enlargement on Member States and non-member countries. This has been done within
the framework of the second report on economic and social cohesion, which was adopted by the
Commission on 31 January and which will be presented at a forum in Brussels on 21 May.

The Commission has generally accorded the ESDP special attention within the framework of regional
policy. The ESDP objectives are among the Community priorities which the Commission adopted for the
Structural Funds(cid:146) 2000-2006 programming period, and strand B (transnational cooperation) of
the
Community Initiative Interreg III is designed to implement the ESDP objectives.

The Commission will start evaluating implementation of
the ESDP guidelines with regard to the
Structural Funds and the Community Initiatives Interreg and Urban once all programming has been
adopted. The evaluation will form part of two communications in 2001 on the results of negotiations on
Objective 1 and 2 programmes, which will be sent to Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social
Committee, and the Committee of the Regions.

(2001/C 235 E/020)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3763/00

by Giovanni Pittella (PSE) to the Commission

(4 December 2000)

Subject: Outlook for the JRC

The JRC (Joint Research Centre) engages in extremely worthwhile activity as a scientific agency working for
the Community, since it enables the different European schools of thought to be pitted against one another
in the field of scientific experimentation and affords an opportunity for the individual Member States to
compare and ascertain scientific developments in various areas of interest.

The role of the JRC has been scaled down once before, not least because its staff complement was reduced
by 200.

There are rumours of another staff cut involving a further 200 posts, in spite of the 1998 agreement in
which the Council expressed its determination to keep the staff complement at 2 080 in the light of the
Fifth framwork programme.

Can the Commission, and specifically its President, Mr Romano Prodi, and the Member concerned,
Mr Philippe Busquin, say:

(cid:129) whether it is true, as has been reported, that the staff complement is to be reduced by 200;

(cid:129) whether it is true that, if the staff cut is implemented, the Petten and Ispra centres will be transferred
from the Community(cid:146)s responsibility to the responsibility of the Member States in which they are
situated?

(2001/C 235 E/021)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3778/00

by Armando Cossutta (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(4 December 2000)

Subject: Ispra Joint Research Centre

The Ispra Joint Research Centre has been operating for decades and has proved very useful in that it has
made it possible to compare the scientific experiments carried out by the various European schools of
thought and ascertain the scientific progress of the different Member States and the economic, social,
environmental, and other spin-offs.

There have been calls in the past to scale down the role of the JRC (resulting in a cut of 200 jobs from the
staff complement), and it has recently emerged that a further 200 jobs are to be shed, even though the
Council agreed in 1998 to keep the staff complement at 2 080 in the light of the Fifth framwork
programme.