WRITTEN QUESTION E-0330/03 by Esko Seppänen (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Pensions payable to Members of the Commission.
Date: 2003-02-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Court of Justice of the European Union, EC Regulation, European Commission, European official, Finland, official language, pension scheme, translation

C 192 E/170

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

14.8.2003

3.

In this context the Commission can share the concern of the Honourable Member.

If this information is confirmed, the Commission could under the Cotonou Agreement examine the

4.
question raised by the Honourable Member with the authorities.

(2003/C 192 E/207)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0328/03

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Cultural activities on the theme of olives

(10 February 2003)

The Messinia Chamber of Trade and Industry has for the past five years been organising events on the
theme of olives, centring on the activity of ‘the olive and olive oil routes’ (cid:1) a cultural journey through the
places in which the olive is cultivated.

For future years, a proposal has been put before the Ministry of Culture entitled ‘Disseminating the culture
of olives: art, symbolism and culture’; activities include creating an international exhibition space in
Kalamata, designing and constructing a travelling museum with towed vehicles, and arranging for it to
tour, producing digital cultural material and organising tasting seminars and other events.

Could the Commission say whether actions of this kind are eligible for funding from the ‘Culture’
operational programme?

Answer given by Ms Reding on behalf of the Commission

(24 March 2003)

The Commission supports initiatives in the area of culture within the framework and according to the
selection criteria of the ‘Culture 2000’ programme, which is the sole instrument of the Union for funding
and planning cultural cooperation.

This programme is designed to support projects jointly developed and financed by at least three operators
from at least three countries that participate in the programme.

The Honourable Member may find additional information at the following site http://europa.eu.int/comm/
culture/eac/c2000condition_en.html.

Under Measure 2,1 of the Operational Programme Culture for Greece, a call for the submission of
proposals was published on 12 August 2002 for a total amount of EUR 2 118 000.

The Messinia Chamber of Trade and Industry submitted a project proposal on 30 October 2002, which
will be evaluated in accordance with the selection criteria as defined in the Programme Complement.

(2003/C 192 E/208)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0330/03

by Esko Seppänen (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Pensions payable to Members of the Commission

(10 February 2003)

In reply to my earlier questions about the emoluments and pensions of its Members the Commission has
given the appropriate answers. There is in fact a translation error in Article 9 of the Finnish version of
Regulation No 422/67/EEC (1), since 4,5 % of the last basic salary for each full year in office plainly denotes
the amount of pension and not the size of a pension increase (the correct word in Finnish being

14.8.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 192 E/171

‘maksetaan’ (paid) as opposed to ‘korotetaan’ (raised)). To clarify one specific point of interpretation, can
the Commission say whether the period in which a person receives the transitional allowance, as provided
for in Article 7, is credited to his accrued entitlement based on years of pensionable service?

(1) OJ L 187, 8.8.1967, p. 1.

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(21 March 2003)

The Commission agrees that the translation into Finnish of the terms in Article 9 of Council Regulation
No 422/67/EEC, 5/67/Euratom of 25 July 1967 determining the emoluments of
the President and
members of the Commission and of the President, Judges, Advocates-General and Registrar of the Court of
Justice, contains an error.

The Commission is grateful to the Honourable Member for drawing attention to the point and will
consequently undertake a revision procedure in order to correct the error. The text should in future read:

Eläkkeen määrä jokaiselta täydeltä vuodelta, jona kyseinen henkilö on hoitanut tehtäviään, on 4,50
prosenttia viimeisestä saadusta peruspalkasta.

As to the second part of the question, Article 7 of the above Regulation lays down that, during the period
that a former Member is in receipt of the allowance provided for in that Article, his/her pension rights do
not vary or increase. They therefore continue to be calculated on the basis of his/her period of service as a
Member of the institution.

(2003/C 192 E/209)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0336/03

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(10 February 2003)

Subject: Financial impact of the interim review of the common agricultural policy

the status quo. The results of

On 21 January 2003, the Commission presented its legislative proposals on the interim provision of the
CAP. The financial statement annexed to document COM(2002) 23 estimates the financial impact of the
indicate an approx.
current proposals vis-à-vis
EUR 2 180 million reduction in agricultural spending in respect of the markets budget for the EU15, and
approximately EUR 1 560 million for the EU25, between 2004 and 2013. The same financial statement
estimates the impact of so-called ‘digression and modulation’, and the sums to be transferred to the rural
increase annually from
development budget. The Commission estimates
EUR 228 million in 2007 to EUR 1 481 million in 2013, to be allocated by the Member States, following
criteria which include the agricultural area, agricultural employment and economic prosperity levels.

these transfers will

these estimates

that

Taking due account of the method employed, I should like to know:

(cid:1) What the Commission estimates as being the financial impact on Portugal of the current proposals
vis-à-vis the status quo by year (from 2004-2013) and by intervention type (total for market measures,
total for direct subsidies and overall total)?

(cid:1) What transfers for rural development the Commission estimates as a result of applying ‘modulation
and digression’, by year (from 2006-2013) and by Member State (and particularly Portugal)? Given
that the sums to be transferred will be co-financed by the Member States, what additional amount of
national co-funding will be required, by year and by Member State, to guarantee the full uptake of the
new funding to be made available?