WRITTEN QUESTION E-2071/01 by Raina Echerer (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Funding for the Life-Environment programme.
Date: 2001-07-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU programme, eligibility criteria, environmental policy, fund (EU), project evaluation

18.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 93 E/55

(2002/C 93 E/070)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2071/01

by Raina Echerer (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

Subject: Funding for the Life-Environment programme

(13 July 2001)

The European Council set the funding for the Life-Environment programme at EUR 610 million for the
period 2000-2004. In view of the importance of the programme, Parliament increased that funding to
EUR 680 million.

At the meeting of the management committee for the Life-Environment programme held on 18 June 2001
a decision was taken to award funding of EUR 62 million for environmental projects in the years 2000/
2001. If funding had been awarded in accordance with the Parliament decision, that figure could certainly
have been increased to EUR 82 million. At the meeting of the management committee the European
Commission argued that too few project proposals had been submitted. In fact, many projects which have
been favourably assessed never get off the ground, since they allegedly fail to meet the organisational and
administrative conditions governing the disbursement of a large volume of funding. For that reason,
appropriations totalling EUR 20 million have been returned to the general budget and will thus lapse.

How many projects were submitted for approval to the meeting of the management committee for the
Life-Environment programme held on 18 June 2001, how many of those achieved the requisite rating of
41 points or more, and how many projects were actually granted funding?

What are the reasons for the rejection of projects which have been favourably assessed?

Will the full volume of appropriations, EUR 680 million, be utilised? It not, why not, if a sufficient number
of suitable proposals have been submitted?

Does the European Commission feel bound by Parliament’s decisions concerning funding for the Life-
Environment programme?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(7 September 2001)

The total budget for the financial instrument for the environment (LIFE) for the period 2000-2004 is EUR
640 million.

The Commission has given the following reasons for its decision: Altogether, 369 projects were deemed
eligible and of these, 157 achieved a rating of 41 points or more. A provisional list of 136 projects was
drawn up and presented to the Member States on 14 March 2001. These projects met the required
standard for cofinancing. The total figure for the list was EUR 89,3 million, a sum equivalent to the budget
provision, plus 10 %.

The projects on the shortlist were selected because of the number of points they had and the Commission’s
previous practice of proposing a shortlist exceeding Community cofinancing possibilities by 10 %.

In the weeks preceding the management committee meeting several projects were withdrawn or rejected
the changes proposed by the Commission to make them acceptable. The number of projects on the list
dropped to 116, for cofinancing totalling EUR 62,4 million.

The Commission explained that it had decided not to add other eligible projects to the list so as to avoid
financing projects which did not meet the quality requirements and because this would have given it a
great deal of extra work.

The Commission feels bound by Parliament’s decision provided that the projects submitted meet the
required standard for Community cofinancing and that it has the resources to manage them.

C 93 E/56

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.4.2002

The Commission would draw the Honourable Member’s attention to the fact that the administrative
burden of project management has been made heavier by the fact that many projects have not kept to
their schedules or fulfilled their commitments. This is mainly because they were not well planned from the
beginning, so many changes and adjustments have had to be made when they were already in progress.
Many projects have not obtained the expected results, which has led to a high rate of decommitment of
allocated resources. This clearly shows that in order to reduce the risk of failure, it is important to ensure
from the outset that projects are coherent and of a very high standard.

(2002/C 93 E/071)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2077/01

by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Commission

(13 July 2001)

Subject: Listeria ‘O’ criterion

Patrick Lardeux, a small-scale farmer and cheese producer, has written an open letter to all Members of the
European Parliament, a copy of which could on request be sent to the Commission.

In his letter, Mr Lardeux describes a number of problems which confront small-scale producers in their
attempts to comply with the regulations imposed on them, and which have caused him to cease trading.

One of these problems is the imposition of what he refers to as the listeria ‘O’ criterion.

Would the Commission say what the legal basis of this criterion is? Would it provide a list of all
Community acts which impose regulations to be complied with by small-scale cheese producers?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(1 October 2001)

The Commission would like to inform the Honourable Member that
is a
bacterium which can cause serious illness, and in some cases death, in people in certain risk categories. It
is for this reason that the provisions of Community legislation ensure the highest level of safety in relation
to this bacterium for both industrial and small-scale or farm-based cheese production.

‘Listeria monocytogenes’

The two Community texts which cover public health aspects for the milk and dairy sector are Council
Directive 92/46/EEC of 16 June 1992 laying down the health rules for the production and placing on the
market of raw milk, heat-treated milk and milk-based products (1) and Council Directive 93/43/EEC of
14 June 1993 on the hygiene of foodstuffs (2).

The ‘absent in 25 grams of product’ criterion, to which the Honourable Member refers when he mentions
the ‘listeria O criterion’, concerns ‘Listeria monocytogenes’ in certain dairy products, on removal from the
processing establishment. This criterion is included in the Annex to Commission Directive 92/46/EEC, the
scope of which includes production and placing on the market but excludes direct supply to the consumer.

Directive 93/43/EEC, which does not mention any microbiological criteria, completes Community rules on
small-scale or farm-based production, which is restricted to direct sales, and distribution. This text is based
on the HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) system and encourages the use of guides to good
hygiene practice, developed by interested parties and validated by the relevant national authority. Article 7
of Directive 93/43/EEC stipulates that Member States may, subject to the EC Treaty, maintain, amend or
introduce national hygiene provisions that are more specific than those laid down by this Directive,
provided that such provisions are not less stringent than those given in the Annex to the Directive.
Microbiological criteria may therefore be set by Member States at the consumer supply stage. Objectives
may also be set by the operators as part of their self-monitoring procedure.