WRITTEN QUESTION E-2453/01 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Assessment of Dutch ESF expenditure without correct accounts.
Date: 2001-09-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Social Fund, Netherlands, employment policy, exchange of information, financial control, management, report, use of aid

16.5.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 115 E/89

(2002/C 115 E/092)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2452/01

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(11 September 2001)

Subject: Negotiations concerning incorrect use, and a claim for repayment, of Dutch ESF funds

1.
In accordance with the information given in the Dutch television programme Netwerk on Thursday,
16 August 2001 concerning the report commissioned in the Netherlands by ‘Arbeidsvoorziening’ . an
organisation which promotes employment . and submitted to the Minister of Social Affairs and
Employment by Raymond Potsdammer on 7 June 2001, can the Commission confirm that in 1999 it held
discussions with the Dutch ministry concerned about an ‘adjustment’ for the errors which had been made,
with Commission officials informally proposing that the amount of the ‘adjustment’ should be NLG 92,7
million (nearly € 42 million)?

2.
Can the Commission also confirm that the Netherlands rejected the offer referred to in question 3,
both on account of the expectation that, in the light of further inquiries, the ultimate repayment obligation
could not exceed NLG 58 million (a little over € 26 million) and because there was a reluctance to accept
responsibility for inadequate reporting?

3. Will the amount of NLG 70 million (nearly € 32 million) quoted in the Koning report, which was
promised to the Netherlands Parliament and published on 27 August, be taken into account in the
Commission’s eventual assessment if the Minister of Social Affairs incorporates this interpretation in his
response to the Commission’s previous statement of its position, which he is to give by 24 September?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(17 October 2001)

In 1999, after the discovery of the irregularities for Gelderland/Rijnmond and after the large scale Dutch
investigation for 1997, the Commission decided to put an amount of € 42 million in reserve for possible
irregularities during the years 1994-1996. This decision, which was probably referred to in the television
programme, was officially communicated to the Dutch authorities by means of a letter.

The decision to put money in reserve was taken unilaterally in order to safeguard the financial interests of
the Commission. It was never presented as an offer to financially close the years 1994-1996.

The Commission has asked the Dutch government according to Article 24 of Council Regulation (EEC) No
4253/88 (1) to present new information and arguments that can reduce the claim. If the Dutch government
decides to use information and arguments from the Koning report, the Commission will certainly consider
them.

(1) Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 of 19 December 1988, laying down provisions for implementing Regulation
(EEC) No 2052/88 as regards coordination of the activities of the different Structural Funds between themselves and
with the operations of the European Investment Bank and the other existing financial instruments . OJ L 374,
31.12.1988.

(2002/C 115 E/093)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2453/01

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(11 September 2001)

Subject: Assessment of Dutch ESF expenditure without correct accounts

1.
Can the Commission confirm that the claim for repayment of NLG 447 million (more than € 200
million) in subsidies paid in the Netherlands from the European Social Fund in 1994-1996 is based on
data supplied by the audit department of the Netherlands Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment

C 115 E/90

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

16.5.2002

indicating that 7 % was allocated incorrectly while no correct accounts could be supplied for a further
34 %, so that the Commission concluded that 41 % of the total must be regarded as having been paid
without justification?

In the light of the Commission’s data or assumptions, what percentage of ESF subsidies was spent on
2.
maintaining existing organisations in the Netherlands, particularly that concerned with promoting
employment, ‘Arbeidsvoorziening’, with the result that ESF funds were used to compensate for national
spending cuts?

On what basis does the Commission in its assessment distinguish . or not . between incorrect

3.
expenditure and expenditure in relation to which no proper accounts can be submitted?

Does the Commission now regard the sum of € 200 million as definitive if

4.
the Netherlands
Government cannot account for the 34 % which may have been correctly spent but in relation to which
no correct accounts can be submitted?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(29 October 2001)

The article 24 calculation (1) is based on the report of the accountant of the Ministry of Social Affairs
1.
and Employment, whereas the systemic nature of the irregularities is also evident from the control reports
of the Commission. The Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its reply to his Written
Question E-2451/01 (2) and to the list of control reports contained therein.

2.
The Commission does not make any assumptions on the suggested misuse of European Social Fund
(ESF) subsidies to maintain existing organisations in the Netherlands. The Commission examines all ESF
expenditure strictly in the light of the Structural Funds regulation.

Projects are rejected either because the declared expenditure is not eligible or because there is no
irregularities that are specifically

for the eligibility of the expenditure. Both are examples of

3.
proof
mentioned in the Structural Funds Regulation.

The Commission has asked the Dutch authorities to present evidence to the contrary that the

4.
article 24 claim of the Commission is not justified.

(1) Out of Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 of 19 December 1988, laying down provisions for implementing
Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as regards coordination of the activities of the different Structural Funds between
themselves and with the operations of the Europen Investment Bank and the other existing financial instruments .
OJ L 374, 31.12.1988.

(2) See page 87.

(2002/C 115 E/094)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2455/01

by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(11 September 2001)

Subject: The laying of the first sleeper of the Ferrol-Tui railway, and the highspeed link between Galicia,

Portugal and Central Europe

Last July, the Spanish Prime Minster and the President of the Government of Galicia, attended an
ostentatiously prepared and organised ceremony to lay the first sleeper of a dozen kilometres of highspeed
railway between Ferrol and the Portuguese border, which in principle forms part of the intermodal Ferrol
to Lisbon project within the Transeuropean Networks. Only three months after the Galician elections, the