WRITTEN QUESTION E-1275/01 by Jorge Hernández Mollar (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Community aid for the Euro-Arab Foundation in Granada.
Date: 2001-05-02
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Arab League countries, EU aid, EU relations, Spain, co-financing, educational institution

C 318 E/232

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.11.2001

For this reason, this sociological phenomenon should be closely monitored in order to continually assess
future developments and prevent possible adverse consequences of
it gaining broad support in the
countries of Northern Africa.

Does the Commission therefore consider that it should support a detailed and exhaustive study on North-
African Muslim fundamentalist movements in order to assess their development and their potentially
decisive influence in this geopolitical area?

Reply given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(31 May 2001)

The Commission has no plans to conduct such a study.

(2001/C 318 E/253)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1275/01

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

Subject: Community aid for the Euro-Arab Foundation in Granada

(2 May 2001)

The Euro-Arab Foundation established in Granada (Spain) in 1995 as an alternative to the failed Euro-Arab
University has also been a fiasco.

Both projects, which were promoted by the European Union and the Spanish Goverrment as a means of
cementing cooperation between Europe and Arab countries, failed for lack of funding. The plan is now to
relaunch the Foundation, providing it with the substance it never had.

Can the Commission say why it failed to provide the Euro-Arab Foundation in Granada with adequate
financial support and to what extent it would now be prepared to provide financial and logistical
assistance in order to ensure that the programme drawn up by those responsible for the relaunched
Foundation is implemented and thus achieve the medium and long-term objective of cementing
cooperation between the European Union and Arab countries?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(20 June 2001)

The Commission has been the biggest financial backer of the Euro-Arab Management School (EAMS) in
Granada since its establishment in 1995, contributing € 6 million to the School(cid:146)s capital and € 2,5 million
to its running costs.

Despite these investments, supplemented by Spanish national and regional contributions, the EAMS has
never managed to attain the requisite level of effectiveness to achieve its aims or an acceptable degree of
financial self-sufficiency. An overall assessment of the School requested by the Commission and carried out
by an international group of consultants in 2000 supported this conclusion.

Contrary to initial expectations, the favourable welcome for the new institution in the Arab world has not
been translated into active financial and operational support. The Arab League has actually paid out only
USD 1,7 million of the sum of USD 3 million pledged in 1998. Since the School was originally conceived
as a Euro-Arab project, active Arab institutional and financial participation must be considered
a prerequisite for its future success.

The reorganisation and relaunch of the School are two options currently being studied with a view to
setting it on new and more solid organisational and financial foundations.

Such restructuring requires management of the School and of its finances to be based on a genuine Euro-
Arab partnership. If these conditions are met, the Commission would be able to decide on a contribution
to the School(cid:146)s operating expenditure in a true spirit of partnership.