WRITTEN QUESTION E-3613/02 by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Commission. Reduction in Cohesion Fund appropriations for Portugal.
Date: 2002-12-16
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Cohesion Fund, Portugal, aid system, commitment of expenditure, suspension of aid, water supply, water treatment

C 161 E/100

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

10.7.2003

(2003/C 161 E/103)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3613/02

by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Commission

(16 December 2002)

Subject: Reduction in Cohesion Fund appropriations for Portugal

Since the tabling of question E-3514/02 by the author of the present question, on a possible reduction in
Cohesion Fund appropriations for Portugal, the newspaper ‘Público’ has confirmed that the Commission
has decided to suspend budgetary authorisation for the financing from the Cohesion Fund of projects for
water supply and treatment of waste water in Portugal.

While it is not the author’s intention to impose an opinion on the legal disagreements between the
Commission’s internal market services and the Portuguese state, the Commission is nonetheless asked to
answer the following questions:

1. Does the Commission believe that it is fair, reasonable and proportionate to deprive a Member State
which is a beneficiary of the Cohesion Fund of several hundred million euros on the grounds of
uncertainties relating to procedures which have been in place, quite uncontested, for almost a decade,
while flagrant, open and repeated breaches of Community law by other Member States go completely
unpunished provided they do not refer to measures involving Community funds?

2. Has the Commission examined the consequences of its decisions as regards compliance with the EU’s

environmental objectives and the Portuguese state’s ability to meet them?

3. Does the Commission not consider it possible that new circumstances, a new conceptual approach or
a new reading of the facts could make it perfectly desirable for it to formulate a properly grounded
position for the future, without, however, calling into question actions carried out in all good faith in
the past?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-3514/02 and E-3613/02
given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(4 February 2003)

The indicative ceilings on Cohesion Fund resources for each country apply to the entire period
2000-2006, not year by year. In 2002, the four ‘cohesion’ Member States absorbed all the appropriations
entered for the Cohesion Fund in that year’s budget. Appropriations committed for Portugal amounted to
EUR 297 million, which is considerably below the amount corresponding to the average of the indicative
range for the financial year. The shortage of Portuguese projects was offset by adopting extra projects in
It is very important to ensure that enough projects suitable for adoption are
other Member States.
presented in 2003, since otherwise it will be difficult to avoid losing the appropriations entered in the
2003 budget for the Cohesion Fund, as other Member States can hardly be expected to take up the slack
once again.

On 23 October 2002, the Commission sent the Portuguese Government a letter of formal notice of failure
to comply with the provisions of the EC Treaty on public procurement, relating to the granting of
concessions to firms controlled by Águas de Portugal SA, in the framework of implementation of multi-
municipal waste disposal and water distribution systems.

Pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 of 16 May 1994 establishing a Cohesion Fund (1),
projects financed by the Fund must be in keeping with Community policies concerning the award of
public contracts. The Commission cannot contribute, even indirectly, to the implementation of national
measures liable to be in breach of Community law. Consequently, it cannot adopt any further Cohesion
Fund grant decisions for projects involving companies controlled by Águas de Portugal SA. Approval of
further grant decisions for such projects will be possible only once the infringement has ceased.

The Commission and Portugal have agreed to a reference framework setting out priority investment in
environmental projects to be part-financed by the Cohesion Fund.

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Official Journal of the European Union

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These priority investment projects include some to be carried out by companies controlled by Águas de
Portugal SA. They will be approved subject to compliance with Community legislation.

For the time being, the Commission has not suspended payments on projects already adopted.

The Commission shares the Honourable Member’s concerns, and understands his arguments. It hopes that
a solution can be found which will enable the planned investment to be carried out in strict compliance
with Community law.

(1) OJ L 130, 25.5.1994.

(2003/C 161 E/104)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3548/02

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN), Antonio Mussa (UEN)
and Sergio Berlato (UEN) to the Commission

(11 December 2002)

Subject: European Union assistance to tackle the natural disasters which have hit Northern Italy

The Council recently adopted a Regulation establishing the European Union Solidarity Fund (1), with a
budget allocation of EUR 1 billion, to be used for the benefit of European Union populations affected by
major disasters. Article 2, paragraph 2, second subparagraph of
the Regulation makes provision for
assistance from the Fund for regions hit by an extraordinary disaster affecting the major part of their
population. The recent exceptional floods, combined with landslides and overflowing rivers, which affected
a vast expanse of Northern Italy, including the regions of Liguria, Piedmont, Lombardy, Friuli-Venezia-
Giulia and the Veneto, have destroyed bridges, roads, railway lines and farming areas, together with crops
and livestock, forcing thousands of people to be evacuated. Housing has been seriously damaged and initial
rough estimates indicate that the necessary rebuilding work may cost about EUR 250 million. In view of all
this, can the Commission include these regions of Northern Italy among those to benefit from the
exceptional aid envisaged under the new Solidarity Fund for natural disasters?

(1) OJ L 311, 14.11.2002, p. 3.

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(24 February 2003)

In response to the recent flooding last summer 2002 that devastated many parts of Central Europe the
Commission immediately proposed creation of the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF), a new financial
instrument with resources of up to EUR 1 billion per annum. The focus is on giving immediate assistance
to people, regions and countries affected by major disasters to help them return to normal
living
conditions as quickly as possible. In close cooperation with Parliament and the Council the new instrument
was put in place in record time and came into effect on 15 November 2002 (1).

For the purposes of the Regulation a major disaster is one resulting, in a Member State or a country
involved in accession negotiations, in damage estimated at over EUR 3 billion or more than 0,6 % of its
Gross National Income (GNI). In the case of Italy the EUR 3 billion threshold would apply.

Under exceptional circumstances a region can also benefit from assistance from the Fund if it is has been
stricken by an extraordinary disaster affecting the major part of its population with serious and lasting
repercussions on living conditions and the economic stability of the region.