WRITTEN QUESTION E-0295/01 by Isidoro Sánchez García (ELDR) to the Commission. Cities benefiting from the URBAN Community initiative.
Date: 2001-02-09
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU Member State, EU programme, aid recipient, distribution of aid, town planning, urban area

C 235 E/174

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

21.8.2001

All the projects approved since 1993 are listed in the annual reports of the Cohesion Fund for 1997, 1998
and 1999. A copy of these reports has been sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament(cid:146)s
Secretariat.

(2001/C 235 E/203)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0295/01

by Isidoro SÆnchez Garc(cid:237)a (ELDR) to the Commission

Subject: Cities benefiting from the URBAN Community initiative

(9 February 2001)

55 cities already benefit from the URBAN Community initiative. According to Commissioner Barnier, this
number has now risen to seventy.

Will the Commission say which additional cities now benefit from this initiative and state the criteria on
which their inclusion has been based?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(26 March 2001)

In its communication of 28 April 2000 laying down guidelines for the URBAN II Community Initiative (1),
the Commission proposed that total assistance from the European Regional Development Fund would
amount to € 700 million for the 2000-2006 programming period and that around 55 urban areas,
distributed as in Annex II, would be covered.

Under point 28 of that communication, the Commission has accepted requests from the Member States for
that number to be increased. In the case of each request for an increase, account has been taken of the
number of areas originally fixed, the level of financial resources originally allocated, the extent of the urban
problems, the large number of applications received by the national authorities under URBAN II and
compliance with the threshold of € 500 per inhabitant and 20 000 inhabitants per urban area.

Following the requests sent to the Commission, the total number of urban areas was extended to 70,
distributed as follows:

Member State

Original
number

Final
number

B (cid:129) Belgium

DK (cid:129) Denmark

D (cid:129) Germany

EL (cid:129) Greece

E (cid:129) Spain

F (cid:129) France

IRL (cid:129) Ireland

I (cid:129) Italy

L (cid:129) Luxembourg

NL (cid:129) Netherlands

A (cid:129) Austria

P (cid:129) Portugal

FI (cid:129) Finland

S (cid:129) Sweden

UK (cid:129) United Kingdom

2

1

10

2

8

7

1

8

(cid:129)

2

1

2

1

1

9

3

1

12

3

10

9

1

10

(cid:129)

3

2

3

1

1

11

21.8.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 235 E/175

All the proposals for URBAN II programmes are drawn up in accordance with the provisions of the
communication and are submitted to the Commission by the national authorities since the choice of the
urban areas is a matter for the Member States.

(1) OJ C 141, 19.5.2000.

(2001/C 235 E/204)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0302/01

by Minerva Malliori (PSE) to the Commission

(2 February 2001)

Subject: Rare species of falcon becoming extinct

Eleonora(cid:146)s falcon is an important species of falcon, and 95 % of its nesting area lies within the territory of
the EU Member States (chiefly in Greece, Italy and Spain).

According to data from the Museum of Natural History of the University of Crete for the period 1999-
2000, a considerable number of deaths has been recorded for birds of this species in Crete, putting
Eleonora(cid:146)s falcon under threat of extinction.

In view of the above, could the Commission say:

1. whether this species is included in the Community directive on the protection of wild birds?

2. whether it intends to draft an action plan for the protection of Eleonora(cid:146)s falcon to ensure that this
species does not become extinct, particularly in areas (Greece) with a delicate ecological balance?

Answer given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behalf of the Commission

(26 March 2001)

The Eleonora(cid:146)s Falcon (Falco eleonorae) is listed in Annex I of Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April
1979 on the conservation of wild birds (1), as a species which must be the subject of special conservation
measures concerning its habitat. The Member States have in particular to classify Special Protection Areas
for the conservation of species listed in Annex I.

Greece has not classified sufficient areas for the protection of wild birds listed in Annex I, including the
Eleonora(cid:146)s Falcon. The Commission has therefore opened a file and is investigating the matter.

The Commission has arranged for the preparation of Action Plans for certain bird species listed in Annex I
that are considered as priority for funding under the LIFE programme (2). In this context, an action plan for
F. Eleonorae has been prepared by Birdlife International and agreed at the last meeting of the Ornis
Committee of Member State official representatives, which assists the implementation of the above-
mentioned Directive.

This action plan includes recommendations specific to Greece, which holds important breeding colonies of
the species. The implementation of these recommendations is a matter of national competence.

(1) OJ L 103, 25.4.1979.
(2) Regulation (EC) No 1655/2000 of the Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000 concerning the Financial

Instrument for the Environment (LIFE) (OJ L 192, 28.7.2000).