WRITTEN QUESTION E-2579/01 by Jules Maaten (ELDR) to the Commission. Environmentally harmful subsidies, with particular reference to road transport and energy.
Date: 2001-09-24
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU programme, OECD, United States, aid system, developing countries, economic support, environmental policy, environmental protection, reduction of gas emissions, road transport

C 134 E/50

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2002

In the framework of the partnership,

5.
management and control systems implemented by the Member States.

the Commission has, to a great extent,

to rely on the

According to Article 23 of Regulation No (EEC) 4253/88, the Member States should take the necessary
measures:

* to verify that operations have been properly carried out;

* to prevent and to take action against irregularities;

* to recover any amounts lost as a result of an irregularity or negligence.

The financial control
throughout all Member States has been further strengthened by Commission
Regulation (EC) No 2064/97 (3). In accordance with Article 8 of this Regulation, all Member States will
have to certify the validity, the legality and regularity of the operations underlying the final declaration of
expenditure for the programming period 1994-1999.

Irregularities found after controls by the Commission lead to corrective actions by the Member State or to
a financial correction by the Commission in application of Article 24 of Regulation (EEC) 4253/88.

Given the number of projects receiving ESF support throughout the Community and despite the controls
carried out by the Member States and the Commission, the Commission is not in a position to give
complete assurance that all ESF projects that were not subject to controls, comply fully with all the rules in
force.

6.

The aforementioned answers apply to the programming period 1994-1999.

(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.

(2) Commission Regulation (EC) No 1681/94 of 11 July 1994 concerning irregularities and the recovery of sums
wrongly paid in connection with the financing of the structural policies and the organization of an information
system in this field, OJ L 178, 12.7.1994.

(3) Commission Regulation (EC) No 2064/97 of 15 October 1997 establishing detailed arrangements for the
implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) 4253/88 as regards the financial control by Member States of
operations co-financed by the Structural Funds, OJ L 290, 23.10.1997.

(2002/C 134 E/051)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2579/01

by Jules Maaten (ELDR) to the Commission

(24 September 2001)

Subject: Environmentally harmful subsidies, with particular reference to road transport and energy

1.
Environmentally harmful subsidies are those granted with a particular objective, often unrelated to
the environment, but which may have unintended negative side-effects on the natural and social
environment. A study by Van Beers and De Moor (Public Subsidies and Policy Failures. How Subsidies
Distort the Natural Environment, Equity and Trade, and how to reform them, Edward Elgar Publishers,
Cheltenham, UK, 2001) shows that environmentally harmful subsidies are a widespread phenomenon in
the road transport sector. These include in particular fuel prices which are too low, public expenditure on
the construction and repair of new roads and bridges, failure to levy parking charges, and a lump sum
payment for travel to work by car. Does the Commission have a sufficient overview of these hidden
environmentally harmful subsidies?

Is the Commission prepared to carry out detailed studies on hidden environmentally harmful

2.
subsidies in the transport sector?

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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Does the Commission agree with De Moor and Van Beers (Het internationale klimaatcompromis [The
3.
international climate compromise], Economisch-Statistische Berichten, 29/06/2001, p. 552-554, and
André de Moor, Towards a Grand Deal on subsidies and climate change, Natural Resources Forum 25
(2001), 167-176) that, in the negotiations on Kyoto with the USA, a compromise can be found with the
USA on one of
its objections (non-participation by developing countries)? This could be done by
proposing that all environmentally harmful energy subsidies be abolished in the OECD countries provided
the OECD countries use (part of) the funds thus released for financial aid and technology transfer to help
the developing countries do the same, with the developing countries offering in return to cooperate in
international agreements on emissions reduction and accept national objectives for the emission of
greenhouse gases.

Is the Commission prepared to launch an investigation within the EU in order to obtain a good

4.
overview of hidden energy subsidies?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(23 November 2001)

The Commission is well aware of the existence of subsidies harmful to the environment including in

1.
the transport sector.

The Commission therefore plans to propose a framework directive to establish principles of infrastructure
charging and pricing structure for all modes of transport in 2002. In many cases, it is the structure rather
than the overall level of prices and charges that creates incentive structures harmful to the environment.

2.
The research project UNITE (Unification of accounts and marginal costs for Transport Efficiency)
funded under the 5th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development will develop
pilot transport accounts for the fifteen Member States plus Switzerland, Hungary and Estonia. These
accounts will comprise of all modes of transport and of all costs (both fixed and variable) of the transport
system and the revenues collected in the form of taxes, charges and subsidies to cover the costs. The cost
elements covered are infrastructure, accidents, emissions, noise and congestion. By comparing the costs
with revenues, an indicator for hidden subsidies can be derived. All the results of UNITE will be publicly
available by summer 2002 while the pilot accounts for Germany and Switzerland will be completed by the
end of 2001.

to say for

3. Whether the proposed ‘Grand Deal’ would be acceptable or not for the United States and the
developing countries is difficult
the basic premise of all
environmentally harmful energy subsidies being removed within the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries seems somewhat hypothetical, taking into account the
social and regional considerations other than environmental protection lying behind the existence of such
subsidies. As far as the Community is concerned, it is to be noted that the amount of energy subsidies, in
particular in the hard coal sector, is showing a clear downward trend, that is expected to continue in the
coming years.

the Commission. However,

The issue of developing countries accepting quantitative emission limitations similar to the ones by OECD
countries, will have to be negotiated under the UN Framework Convention on climate change for the
period after 2012.

One of the actions contained in Commissions proposal for a 6th Environment Action Programme (1)
‘undertaking an inventory and review of energy subsidies in the Member States with

4.
is that of
consideration to the compatibility with climate change objectives.’

(1) COM(2001) 31 final.