WRITTEN QUESTION P-1727/02 by Mario Borghezio (NI) to the Commission. Elections to the first European Student Council.
Date: 2002-06-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: aid system, higher education, international organisation, student

14.11.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 277 E/241

(2002/C 277 E/265)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1727/02

by Mario Borghezio (NI) to the Commission

(10 June 2002)

Subject: Elections to the first European Student Council

The first elections (sponsored by the Commission) to the European Student Council were held from 9 to
23 May.

Voters had a choice between four ‘transnational’ student lists, all of which support the centralisation of
powers and responsibilities within the Brussels institutions.

Bearing in mind * inter alia * the results of the recent elections held in various European countries, the
fact that there is no Eurosceptic or ‘populist’ list, nor one which closely reflects current realities, means that
the elections to that Council will not be fully representative.

What is the exact value of the Commission’s financial support for the student elections?

Does the Commission not think that,
in future, this initiative should be more widely publicised (for
example, by means of announcements placed in major national newspapers), so as to enable parties of all
hues to take part in what constitutes a symbolic electoral contest?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(5 July 2002)

The ‘European Union Student Vote’ (EUSV) is a private initiative that does not benefit support from the
Commission.

In 2001 the EUSV organisers applied for financial support from the Commission (Directorates general
(DGs) Education and Culture and Information Society). Both DGs had carefully evaluated the project and
eventually rejected it.

Following the procedures, in April 2001 the organisers were regularly informed that their project had been
rejected.

The Commission does not recognise the ‘European Student Council’ elected through the EUSV. In the field
of Higher Education, the Students Associations that constantly dialogue with the Commission are those
which make up the ‘groupe de liaison européen’, i.e. the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), the European
Student Information Bureau (ESIB), and the Association des Etats généraux des étudiants de l’Europe
(AEGEE). For general matters related to the topic of ‘youth’, the Commission’s referent is the ‘European
Youth Forum’, a platform that gathers several European and national Associations.

(2002/C 277 E/266)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1728/02

by Carlos Carnero González (PSE) to the Commission

(10 June 2002)

Subject: Complaint submitted by the ‘Socialist-Progressive Municipal Group of Madrid City Council’ to the

European Commission regarding an infringement of Community law

On 31 May this year the city councillors Rafael Simancas Simancas and Isabel Villalonga Elviro submitted,
on their own behalf and on behalf of the ‘Socialist-Progressive Municipal Group of Madrid City Council’, a
complaint to the Commission alleging failure to comply with Community law on the part of the
Directorate-General for the Promotion of the Social Economy and the European Social Fund, the Sub-
Directorate-General of the European Social Fund Administration Unit (UAFSE) and implicating the Ministry
of Labour and Social Affairs too. The reasons for the complaint are that on 28 March 2001 the auditing
team from the UAFSE started checking the P.O. 940314 ES3 managed by the Madrid Institute for
Employment and Business Training (IMEFE). The checks led to the drawing up of two reports, one