WRITTEN QUESTION P-3918/00 by Carlos Coelho (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Socrates/Erasmus mobility grants.
Date: 2000-12-06
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU programme, education grant, socioeconomic conditions, student, student mobility

C 163 E/226

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2001

(2001/C 163 E/266)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3917/00

by Luciana Sbarbati (ELDR) to the Commission

(6 December 2000)

Subject: Initiatives to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of Giordano Bruno

The year 2000 marks the fourth centenary of
the death of Giordano Bruno, who was a writer,
philosopher, scholar and professor. He was of significance not only for Italy (he taught at various
European universities, including those of Paris, London, Oxford, Prague, Wittenberg, Helmsted, Frankfurt,
Toulouse and Geneva), was a symbol of
freedom of thought, was open to dialogue and respected
pluralism.

He was persecuted because he was considered a heretic in his own country, was opposed by the Calvinists
and the Lutherans and, after spending some time in the prisons of the Inquisition, he was burnt at the
stake.

Europe, which is founded on the indivisible and universal values of human dignity, liberty, equality and
solidarity, cannot but celebrate this man, who was a victim of intolerance above all.

In the context of its various activities, does the Commission intend to devise an appropriate way of
celebrating this important figure, who so tragically embodied the European cultural ideal in his receptive-
ness to all cultures?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(26 January 2001)

The Commission, while recognising the importance of Giordano Bruno, does not plan any specific
initiatives under the (cid:145)Culture 2000(cid:146) programme to celebrate the fourth centenary of his death.

For the year 2000, none of the projects selected under the (cid:145)Culture 2000(cid:146) programme involved an initiative
to celebrate the anniversary of the death of Giordano Bruno.

However, the Commission would point out to the Honourable Member that the call for proposals for the
(cid:145)Culture 2000(cid:146) programme for projects to be run in 2001 will be published in the Official Journal at the
beginning of this year and that cultural operators will therefore be free to submit projects to be considered
for funding under this programme and in accordance with its specifications.

(2001/C 163 E/267)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3918/00

by Carlos Coelho (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(6 December 2000)

Subject: Socrates/Erasmus mobility grants

Following my Written Question P-3174/00, to which I have already received a reply from the Commis-
sion, I should like to have the following point clarified.

The mobility of Erasmus students is organised on a decentralised basis and it is for the Member States to
determine their grant-allocation policy within the Commission(cid:146)s general guidelines. In its earlier reply the
Commission pointed out that, although it had encouraged the Member States to take the socio-economic
situation of students into account when deciding on the value of grants and to (cid:145)top up(cid:146) the funding
received from the Community using either national, regional or institutional sources, I have noticed that
some of the Member States follow this recommendation whilst others do not,
from which I have
concluded that there are variations in the practices adopted by the Member States.

I should therefore like to know what the differences are between each of the Member States.

6.6.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 163 E/227

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(22 January 2001)

According to the information provided by the national agencies responsible for implementing the Socrates
programme, students(cid:146) socio-economic circumstances are taken into account as follows in the allocation of
Erasmus mobility grants: in countries where students automatically receive assistance from the state, which
they retain when they go abroad as part of their education (generally the Scandinavian countries), socio-
economic factors are taken into account essentially at this level. In countries where the state provides no
systematic financial support, students who are less well-off generally receive supplementary assistance from
their home university(cid:146)s own funds or from regional funds; some countries base calculations for the
Erasmus grant entirely on students(cid:146) socio-economic level by defining several categories and different grant
levels for each, with the well-off students not receiving any grant but being entitled to the Erasmus (cid:145)label(cid:146)
and all the advantages which go with it. The Commission is currently analysing the 1999 student mobility
figures for the individual countries. When they have been finalised, the results of this analysis, particularly
concerning the extent to which socio-economic factors are taken into account, will be forwarded directly
to the parties concerned and to the Honourable Member.

(2001/C 163 E/268)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3932/00

by Francesco Turchi (UEN) to the Commission

(6 December 2000)

Subject: Conflict of interests on the stock market

Brokerage firms and merchant banks which place securities on the stock market often produce information
leaflets of questionable accuracy as regards both analyses, future prospects, management background and
solvency. One can understand that these analyses, devoid of any indication of critical value, are influenced
by the broker(cid:146)s desire to see the security do well, revealing an obvious conflict of interests with those
companies which are assessed favourably. Furthermore, merchant banks which are concerned with
increasing the capital of companies quoted on the stock market and suggest that investors buy shares,
and banks which have granted loans to companies launched on the stock market by the same credit
institution clearly show how widespread and influential the conflict of interests on the stock market is. It is
also well-known that no financial
institution ever openly admits to holding shares in the companies
analysed, and no efficient system of verification and checks has been introduced.

In the light of the above, does the Commission:

1. wonder about the accuracy of the prospectuses published when companies are floated on the stock

market;

2. wonder how independent the advice or recommendations issued in the reports drawn up by analysts

are;

3.

consider that this conflict of interests inevitably jeopardises investors and the integrity and credibility
of the market;

4.

intend to take any steps to safeguard savers and investors on the stock market?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(9 January 2001)

In order to create a common European market for capital and securities, several directives have been
adopted to harmonise the standards in the national securities legislation.