WRITTEN QUESTION E-0022/02 by Elizabeth Lynne (ELDR) to the Commission. Funding for muscular diseases.
Date: 2002-01-21
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, EU programme, health policy, illness, medical research, national financing, organisation of research, therapeutics

C 172 E/126

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.7.2002

(2002/C 172 E/129)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0018/02

by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission

(14 January 2002)

Subject: Communication on cable-cars, ski lifts and similar apparatus

The Commission has been dealing with the issue of State aids for companies operating cable-cars etc., as
emerges, inter alia, from the 2000 Report on competition policy. The Commission has been made aware
in every possible way of the delicate nature of this issue, in the interests of preventing damage due to
measures not properly assessed in a sector vital to the mountain economy of Europe. For example, a
seminar was held by the European Parliament on 8 November 2000, in which experts and operators in the
sector from all over Europe took part. In the meantime Parliament expressed its views on mountain-related
issues in its resolution of 6 September 2001, dealing with the above subject in paragraphs 23 and 24. The
points made are totally consistent with what was written about mountain tourism in the Second Report on
Economic and Social Cohesion, adopted by the Commission on 31 January 2001. There is now talk of a
proposal
for a communication, about which neither the relevant organisations nor the European
Federation of Cable-car Operators have been officially informed.

Can the Commission say whether there is a proposal for a communication on State aids for cable-cars etc,
what it contains, what form of consultation there will be, in particular with the representatives of the
sector, and what timetable is envisaged for its adoption?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(4 March 2002)

At the moment the Commission does not envisage adopting an own Communication on State aid to
cableways.

It might be added that aid to the sector of cableway installations was the object of a Commission decision
to initiate the formal
investigation procedure in respect of State aid to cableway installations in the
Province of Bolzano, Italy (Case C 42/2000).

An invitation to all interested parties to submit comments pursuant to Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty was
published in the Official Journal (1).

Several comments were received including those of associations of operators of the sector and will be
taken into consideration in the adoption of a final decision on this case.

(1) OJ C 27, 27.1.2001.

(2002/C 172 E/130)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0022/02

by Elizabeth Lynne (ELDR) to the Commission

(21 January 2002)

Subject: Funding for muscular diseases

What level of funding, if any, is awarded in each of the Member States for: spinal muscular atrophy (SMA),
muscular dystrophy (MD or DMD), neuromuscular diseases?

More specifically, what level of funding is targeted for: research, support or general purposes?

18.7.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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What type of research is financed? (i.e. management research, therapy research, cure research)

What is the level of funding,
(EAMDA)?

if any, for the European Alliance of Muscular Dystrophy Associations

Answer given by Mr Busquin on behalf of the Commission

(27 February 2002)

The Commission has no data available on the level of funding in individual Member States for spinal
muscular atrophy (SMA), muscular dystrophy (MD/DMD) or neuromuscular diseases.

Three projects on muscular diseases, two concerning mainly diagnostic and therapeutic research and one
concerning research management, have been selected for funding within the ‘Quality of Life and
Management of Living Resources’ programme of
the 5th Framework Programme for Research and
Technological Development (RTD):

@ QLRT-1999-00870,

‘Genetic resolution of myopathies: European cluster’, project

funding: € 2,4

million;

@ QLG2-1999-00660, ‘A funtional genomics study of lysyl-tRNA synthesis as a target for the diagnosis
and treatment of microbial infections and mitochndrial myopathies’, project funding: € 1,4 million;

@ QLK3-2000-01038, ‘Disease insights from single cell signalling’, project funding: € 907,312.

Several such projects have been funded in the past, under the third and fourth Framework Programmes.
More detailed information on all projects can be found through search on the Cordis website http://
www.cordis.lu/en/home.html.

In addition, in 2000, DG Health and Consumer Protection, granted one recent (year 2000) project entitled
‘Muscle diseases for a prototype of rare and disabling disorders: creation of a European information
network’ (Project No 2000/RD:10003) with € 128,000. More detailed information on this project can be
found on the website: http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph/programmes/rare/proj1_en.pdf.

EAMDA did not receive any contribution from the Commission for the last three years.

(2002/C 172 E/131)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0026/02

by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission

(15 January 2002)

Subject: Clarification regarding the answer to Written Question P-2886/01 on North-South cooperation

schemes in the campaign against drug abuse

In its 1997 General Report the Commission maintained that in Regulation (EC) No 2046/97 (1) of
13 October 1997 the Council had provided a legal basis for budget line B7-6210 concerning North-South
cooperation for the campaign against drug abuse.