WRITTEN QUESTION E-0853/02 by Maria Sanders-ten Holte (ELDR) to the Commission. Technical Assistance Offices for the Leonardo, Socrates and Youth programmes.
Date: 2002-03-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, EU programme, administrative structures, financial management, outsourcing, teaching, youth policy

C 229 E/148

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

26.9.2002

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(15 May 2002)

The Commission has received information on the issue mentioned by the Honourable Member.

Although all cetacean species are strictly protected by the Habitats Directive, Council Directive 92/43/EEC
of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (1), which imposes
Member States specific obligations in this regard, the Commission is increasingly aware that a Community
action may be necessary to increase the effectiveness of the protection of small cetaceans from undesired
effects of fishing activities. These measures could include, where appropriate, an overall downsizing of the
fishing effort, and also more targeted measures aimed to avoid significant impacts on some sensitive
species, such as cetaceans.

information available and has
In this respect, the Commission is gathering all scientific and technical
requested the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries,
(STECF), and also the
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, (ICES), to provide the scientific and technical support
that may allow the Commission to propose regulatory measures, in consultation with all interested parties.
The possible impact of paired trawling has been included in this analysis.

As soon as the advice of STECF and ICES will become available,
the Commission will design the
appropriate measures in the field of fishing activities, following consultation with interested parties. This is
expected to take place before the end of 2002. The measures shall be adopted by the Council
in
accordance with the procedure set out in Article 43 of the EC Treaty.

(1) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.

(2002/C 229 E/170)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0849/02

by Rosa Miguélez Ramos (PSE) to the Council

(3 April 2002)

Subject: Mobbing at work

What steps will the Spanish Council Presidency take with a view to introducing a legal definition of
mobbing so that effective prevention policies can be shaped, for example by including it in the Framework
Directive on health and safety at work, and with a view to a Green Paper being drawn up containing a
detailed analysis, action plan and specific timetable?

Reply

(27 June 2002)

While emphasising that its shares the Honourable Member’s concern, as it had occasion to point out
during the April question time in reply to Question H-204/02 on the same subject, the Council confirms
that in the absence of a Commission proposal in this area it cannot act on its own initiative and that it is
in any case the Commission’s task to draft the Green Paper that the Honourable Member wishes to see
published.

(2002/C 229 E/171)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0853/02

by Maria Sanders-ten Holte (ELDR) to the Commission

(27 March 2002)

Subject: Technical Assistance Offices for the Leonardo, Socrates and Youth programmes

Following the problems with the Leonardo programme which led to the resignation of the Santer
the Leonardo, Socrates and Youth
Commission,

the Commission proposed that management of

26.9.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 229 E/149

programmes should no longer be left to Technical Assistance Offices, but, rather, that it should itself take
over the management of them. Since then, there have been more complaints about increased red tape and
hold-ups in handling matters. Furthermore, national agencies complain that, because of the scale of
technical assistance they have to provide, they no longer have the time to provide information and advice
and carry out monitoring and evaluation.

Is the Commission aware of such complaints, and is it minded to bring about improvements in this

1.
connection?

If so, does the Commission plan to take on additional staff for the new Decentralised Implementation

2.
Units (DIUs) to be set up for the above-mentioned programmes, in order to deal with the complaints?

3.
One improvement would involve appointing seconded ‘hands-on’ experts in the field, in a managerial
capacity too, to the new DIUs to be set up for the new programmes. Is the Commission prepared to do so?

4.
To ascertain more speedily and more effectively what is going on in the sector, it would be helpful to
bring representatives of the above-mentioned programmes’ target groups onto the monitoring committees.
Does the Commission have plans to do so?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(30 May 2002)

The Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci and Youth programmes involve thousands of transactions every year in
the 30 participating countries, which the Commission, given its level of resources, cannot manage fully on
its own and which, in part, it would in any event not be desirable for the Commission to manage, out of a
desire for proximity with the final beneficiaries. For the implementation of
these
programmes that are managed centrally, the Commission is therefore drawing on the services of a
transitional Technical Assistance Office (TAO) until it can entrust their management to an implementation
agency. In order to ensure that this transitional Office does not perform any public authority tasks,
payments to final beneficiaries are now made directly by the Commission. For the implementation of
measures managed decentrally,
the Commission uses networks of national agencies set up by the
participating countries.

the measures of

The Commission is aware that the introduction of the new procedures for the internalisation of
1.
payments may have caused some delays in dealing with dossiers, and it recognises that the decisions to be
taken on the granting of the funds at its disposal (BA lines, the amount of which is fixed by the budgetary
authority for the funding of the transitional TAO common to the three programmes; main lines of the
programmes, for which the distribution of funds must be approved by the programme committees in the
case of co-financing of the operating expenses of the national agencies) mean that it is not always possible
to provide these intermediaries with all the resources that the Commission would like to see granted to the
management of such mass programmes. At the same time, the Commission intends to be uncompromising
as regards financial management and the checks to be carried out on the projects supported by the
programmes. In this area, it is endeavouring to simplify, as far as possible, in accordance with the principle
of sound financial management, the rules that apply to the management of the programmes, witness a
forthcoming proposal for revising the legal basis of the Socrates programme and other simplification
measures (greater use of flat-rate payments, for example).

The proposal for a framework regulation for the establishment of implementation agencies is
2. and 3.
still under discussion. Moreover, the level of human resources that it will be possible to assign to these
agencies will depend on the appropriations available to the Commission for
funding. The
Commission is unable, at this stage, to specify the level or composition of the staff of the agencies. It
will endeavour to ensure that these implementation agencies have the number and quality of staff they
need, from the outset, in order to guarantee satisfactory management, especially as regards compliance
with deadlines for dealing with dossiers.

their

4.
The programme committees are set up on the basis of the Decisions, and the Commission cannot
change their composition unilaterally. It should nevertheless be noted that, for example, the opinion of the
national agencies may be directly expressed. Moreover, representatives of the target groups are sometimes
called on to take part in the meetings of the committees; this applies to the European Youth Forum for the
Youth programme, and to representatives of the European social partners for the Leonardo da Vinci
programme.