WRITTEN QUESTION P-2984/01 by Carlos Coelho (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Life-Nature project Natura 2000 network of the Setúbal peninsula/Sado.
Date: 2001-10-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, EU programme, Portugal, countryside conservation, environmental protection

C 115 E/210

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

16.5.2002

(2002/C 115 E/221)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2984/01

by Carlos Coelho (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(22 October 2001)

Subject: Life-Nature project ‘Natura 2000 network of the Setúbal peninsula/Sado’

On 5 October 1998 AFLOPS * the association of forestry workers of Setúbal * initiated a project for the
conservation of various natural areas of Community interest located in the district of Setúbal, put forward
by Portugal in the context of the Habitats Directive. This is the largest Portuguese nature conservation
programme, under the aegis of the Life programme.

Since it was envisaged that the funding for this programme would be provided under the Life programme,
a Commission decision was adopted on 15 July 1998 approving the granting of this financial support.
Subsequently a contract was drawn up with DG XI concerning the forms of funding for the project.

Under the terms of the contract drawn up between the two sides, which provides for the possibility of an
intermediate payment (provided that a summary chart of expenditure and the report on the relevant
activities was submitted) the application for the payment was submitted, together with all the necessary
documentation, on 21 February 2001.

Can the Commission say why part of this second advance has only just been paid and why the payment of
the remaining amount has been delayed? According to AFLOPS, this delay is jeopardising the possibility of
fulfilling the various commitments inherent in the project.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(12 November 2001)

Aflops is receiving funding for an ongoing Life Nature project called ‘Rede Natura 2000 na Peninsula de
Setúbal/Sado’ (No B4.3200/98/499).

The Honourable Member wrote to ask about the same subject on 2 October 2001, to which the
Commission replied in a memo of 12 October 2001, giving the following information:

A payment of € 698 402,94 was made to Aflops on 13 August 2001. This sum corresponds to the total
due from the Commission as an interim payment.

In the case of Life Nature projects, the interim payment is calculated in the following way (Article 4(4) of
the standard administrative provisions for Life Nature):

1. The total amount of the interim payment is determined by applying the rate of support decided by the

Commission to the eligible expenditure declared by the beneficiary.

2.

In every case, the interim payment is limited to 40 % of the total Community contribution mentioned
in the Commission decision (Article 2 of the standard administrative provisions).

In the case of the project mentioned this question, the rate of support decided by the Commission is 70 %.

The total eligible expenditure at the phase of interim report stage is PTE 200 024 597,97, or € 997 718,49.
The interim payment must therefore be € 698 402,94 (70 % of € 997 718,49).

Therefore, no further interim payment was made to Aflops. It seems that the beneficiary believed it was
entitled to a payment of 40 % of the Community contribution, whereas this percentage was only the limit.