WRITTEN QUESTION E-0392/01 by Johannes Voggenhuber (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Assistance for Euroteam group.
Date: 2001-02-15
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Austria, EU financing, European Social Fund, fraud against the EU, project management

C 318 E/42

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.11.2001

The current lists of all committees and their members are available on the Commission(cid:146)s Public Health and
Consumer Protection Directorate General(cid:146)s web site as follows: http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph/
programmes/cancer/a-index.htm.

(1) OJ C 50, 26.2.1987, p.1.
(2) COM(89) 609 final.

(2001/C 318 E/043)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0392/01

by Johannes Voggenhuber (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(15 February 2001)

Subject: Assistance for Euroteam group

The Euroteam group of companies associated with entrepreneur Lukas Stuhlpfarrer (1) is the subject, in its
capacity as a recipient of assistance, of a committee of inquiry in the Austrian lower house of Parliament,
the Nationalrat. It is being investigated by the committee in connection with use of assistance (2) which is
not in accordance with the intended use.

Is the Commission acquainted with the Euroteam group connected with Lukas Stuhlpfarrer or is it
acquainted with individual companies in the group? If so, in what way?

What assistance has been paid, or what payments have been made in respect of contracts, by the European
Commission from Community funds or under EU programmes, to companies in the Euroteam group
either directly or indirectly through Austrian bodies (listed according to providers, recipients, projects,
period and project cost)?

What has been the nature of the correspondence with project sponsors and recipients and providers of
assistance?

In what way has the conduct of individual projects involving EU funds been checked? Do the Commission
or the Commissioner responsible have financial reports or audit reports from the project managers or
recipients of assistance?

Have penalties been called for by the Commission or the Commissioner responsible? If so, on what scale,
against whom and when?

(1) Euroteam Beteiligungsverwaltungs-AG (formerly L.S.-Beratungsgesellschaft

f(cid:252)r europ(cid:228)ische Integrationsfragen
GesmbH) and Verein Euroteam Vienna. These comprise: Verein Euroteam Burgenland; BFI (Berufsf(cid:246)rderungsinstitut)
Wien-Euroteam Fachhochschulstudiengangsbetriebsgesellschaft mbH.; Euroteam Vienna gemeinn(cid:252)tzige Forschung-
sprojekt GesmbH.; Euro-Team B (Burgenland) gemeinn(cid:252)tzige Forschungsprojekt GesmbH; Euroteam Beratungs-
gesellschaft, Consulting Group Euroteam-Europe SPRL; tbk-Euro-team Call Center GmbH; Vienna Immobilienver-
wertungsgesellschaft m.b.H.; Projektzentrum 15.

(2) Euroteam and its companies have received inter alia assistance under the Employment (cid:129) Youthstart Community
Initiative (cid:129) (cid:145)Professionet(cid:146), the Adapt Community Initiative (cid:129) (cid:145)European teleworking market(cid:146), the Employment (cid:129)
Now Community Initiative- (cid:145)Employment Anticipated(cid:146), the Employment (cid:129) Integra Community Initiative, Professions
for Roma (cid:129) (cid:145)Pro-roma(cid:146) and the Adapt Community Initiative project (cid:145)Euro Adaption Programme(cid:146). In addition,
independent contracts in respect of assistance have been concluded with the above companies under the European
(cid:145)Betriebsberatung 1(cid:146) and (cid:145)Entwicklung eines
Social Fund (ESF) on a cofinancing basis, e.g.
Fachhochschulstudienganges f(cid:252)r Exportwirtschaft(cid:146).

for the project

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(28 May 2001)

In the area of employment and social affairs, the Euroteam group of companies receives several grants
from the European Social Fund (ESF), mainly for cofinancing projects for various Community initiatives.

These subsidies are not managed by the Commission itself but by the Ministry for Economic Affairs and
Labour and by the Austrian employment service (Arbeitsmarktservice (AMS)). The Commission was in fact
aware of problems relating to the management of the projects and the declarations submitted by the
promoter.

13.11.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 318 E/43

This question was on the agenda of the annual bilateral meeting with the Austrian monitoring services, in
accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 2064/97 of 15 October 1997 establishing detailed
arrangements for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 as regards the financial
control by Member States of operations cofinanced by the Structural Funds (1).

At this meeting, the Commission and the relevant national services agreed:

(i)

(ii)

to abandon on-the-spot checks by the Commission for the time being. Due to a parliamentary
investigation, all administrative documents from the Ministry and the AMS have been seized and are
now with the Federal Assembly; as a result of the police investigations under way, the managers of the
Euroteam group have the right to refuse to reply, and parallel controls are impossible without
jeopardising the investigations already taking place;

to continue with the work of an independent auditor, the internal revision work called for by the
Ministry for Economic Affairs and Labour, and the exchange of information which will be used jointly
by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the Employment and Social Affairs Directorate-
General.

As part of the process to conclude the ESF programmes, the national authorities do not rule out removing
the disputed projects from the list of cofinanced projects and having the national budget cover the costs
and risks involved in recovering sums unduly paid, so that the relevant ESF programmes can be ended.

As the Commission does not directly manage the Euroteam group(cid:146)s projects, it is not in a position to
supply a list of projects and financial details. It must also be emphasised that these data change as the
investigations progress. The Commission has not been informed either of the conclusions of the Austrian
auditing authority, whose report has not yet been published.

In the field of education and culture, Euroteam compiled a guide to placements and exchanges which was
indirectly financed (€ 6 368) in 1996 by appropriations from the Leonardo da Vinci programme via an
Austrian body: this work was assigned to Euroteam by Austria(cid:146)s national Leonardo da Vinci agency. The
Commission was satisfied with the quality of this work and approved its expenditure in the breakdown
submitted by the Austrian national agency.

No Leonardo da Vinci funding has been paid to Euroteam directly or indirectly through Austrian bodies.
Two projects submitted by Euroteam in 1997 had been rejected.

Euroteam is a partner in five projects submitted by promoters from countries other than Austria in 1996,
1997 and 1998; the contracts for these projects are not with Euroteam but with the promoters who
submitted them. In two of these cases there are sums to be recovered; the other three are currently being
examined.

(1) OJ L 290, 23.10.1997.

(2001/C 318 E/044)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0401/01

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(15 February 2001)

Subject: Improving safeguards against harmful effects of cholesterol-reducing margarines on some

consumer groups

Is the Commission aware that margarine manufacturers are promoting some of their new products

1.
on the basis that they contain a cholesterol-reducing agent?

2.
Does the Commission agree that one effect of such claims can be that, rather than consulting a doctor
who will prescribe the right doses of medicines to reduce blood cholesterol levels, some consumers will be
tempted to use quantities of a particular margarine that may be too high or too low to achieve the
desirable effect attributed to it?