WRITTEN QUESTION E-0791/03 by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission. EU funding of religious organisations.
Date: 2003-03-14
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Crete, EU financing, Orthodoxy, access to EU information, enlargement of the Union, financial aid, general budget (EU), promotion of the European idea, religious group, religious institution

9.10.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 242 E/177

(2003/C 242 E/183)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0784/03

by Christos Folias (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(14 March 2003)

Subject: Aid for producers

It is well known that there is no land register or register of farmers in Greece.

How will the issue of the lease of agricultural land be tackled? Is there any possibility of financial aid
intended for producers ending up in the pockets of the owners of agricultural
land and not of the
producers entitled to receive it, owing to the familiar bureaucratic procedures and administrative
shortcomings in the Greek Ministry of Agriculture?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(4 April 2003)

Article 20 of the Commission’s proposal establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the
common agricultural policy (CAP) (1)
set up an integrated
administration and control system. This system, for Greece as well as all other Member States, will be
based on the existing integrated system for direct aids. In this context, Greece has already put in place a
Land Parcel Identification System, which, however,
is not yet fully operational. Moreover, a system to
record the identity of each farmer who submits an aid application has also been set up. The existing
systems will be extended to cover the new elements of the Single Payment Scheme.

that each Member State shall

states

The new-styled integrated system shall comprise of an extension of the existing computerised data base
and identification system for agricultural parcels but will
include a system for the identification and
registration of payment entitlements. An integrated control system covering aid applications and a single
system to record the identity of each farmer who submits an aid application will also be adapted from the
existing integrated control system.

In order to ensure that the Single Payment will be paid to the producers entitled to it, Article 24 of the
same proposal states that the system for the identification and registration of payment entitlements shall be
set up allowing verification of entitlements and cross-checks with the aid applications and the
identification system for agricultural parcels. Article 26 lays down an obligation on Member States to
carry out administrative checks on the aid applications including a verification of the eligible area and the
corresponding payment entitlements.

(1) COM(2003) 23 final.

(2003/C 242 E/184)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0791/03

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(14 March 2003)

Subject: EU funding of religious organisations

Reports have appeared in the international press about the funding of religious organisations through
specific lines of the Community Budget and other Community initiatives.

Will the Commission give the names of these religious organisations (whether or not they are recognised)
which have been funded under the Community Budget and say exactly how much money they have
received since 1995? Have any Orthodox Christian organisations or institutions been funded over the same
period and, if so, what are they? With enlargement could religious organisations and Churches from the
new Member States (for example, the Church of Cyprus) receive funding from these Community initiatives
so as to promote their social projects and strengthen mutual understanding and religious tolerance and, if
so, from when? Could Churches from third countries with a huge social commitment (such as the
Orthodox Church of Albania and others) be included in these Community initiatives?

C 242 E/178

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

9.10.2003

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(28 April 2003)

The Commission would like to inform the Honourable Member that the running costs of religious
organisations are not funded by the EU.

Only the Church & Society Commission, an organisation based in Brussels which provides the secretariat
for ‘Soul for Europe’ and covers the main religious persuasions (Christian, Muslim and Jewish) and also the
humanists, was awarded a grant for activities related to the coordination and representation of religious
organisations at European level during the period 2000-2002. This grant is set aside by Parliament under
budget
line A-3021. The sums allocated for 2000, 2001 and 2002 were respectively EUR 44 000,
EUR 41 000 and EUR 39 780.

The EU also awards grants on an annual basis to associations and federations of European interest,
including religious ones, for European activities and projects carried out by these organisations, such as
reflection on the ethical and spiritual values and sources of European integration.

Until 1998 these grants were awarded under heading A-3030 of the EU’s general budget, and since 1998
they have been awarded under heading A-3024.

While organisations receiving grants must be legally constituted and registered in one of the fifteen
Member States, activities may nevertheless be carried out in partnership with organisations from the
accession countries.

With regard to Orthodox organisations and institutions, one body received a grant for the period 2000-
2002. This was the Orthodox Academy of Crete, which received EUR 22 473,50 in 2000 and EUR 25 000
in 2002 for two different projects.

The grants must be submitted annually to the budgetary authority (Parliament and Council) and are due by
30 May 2003.

The Honourable Member can therefore access all
information on grants awarded since 1995 in
Parliament’s library, in the Reports on Beneficiaries of Part A Commission Grants. These reports have
also been published on Europa since 1998 and may be consulted at the following address: http://
europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgc/info_subv/beneficiaries_en.htm.

(2003/C 242 E/185)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0798/03

by Christopher Heaton-Harris (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(10 March 2003)

Subject: Airinc

Eurocost has been replaced with Airinc. Would the Commission give details of how much Airinc is
receiving annually?

What were the grounds on which Airinc was awarded the contract to replace Eurocost?

Who are the principal directors of Airinc? Do any of the directors or owners of the company have links
with either Eurocost or the European Commission?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(28 March 2003)

Airinc received a contract for the value of EUR 766 500 in 2000, EUR 781 500 in 2001 and EUR 796 500
in 2002.

Consistent with the general policy at that time of making outsourced work available to the widest number
of interested entities, Eurostat decided to stop the grant agreements with Eurocost for financing the
production of the correction coefficients and to launch open calls for tender. Consequently, in 1999 an