WRITTEN QUESTION E-1853/03 by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Community funding in Greece and intermediary agencies.
Date: 2003-06-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Community support framework, Epirus, Greece, Macedonia, Northern Aegean, Southern Aegean, culture, education, financial management, management audit, public health

6.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 33 E/179

(2004/C 33 E/181)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1850/03

by Angelika Niebler (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: EU funds for people with disabilities from 2004

(3 June 2003)

The European Commission declared 2003 the ‘Year of People with Disabilities’. Numerous projects, events
and initiatives promoting the integration of disabled people are being given financial support by the EU to
mark the occasion. The deadlines for submitting suggestions for projects were in March.

No specific EU programme currently exists to promote the integration of disabled people.

What plans has the Commission made in this area?

What programmes and actions will be maintained by financial support for work with disabled people after
the end of the ‘Year of People with Disabilities’?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(23 July 2003)

The Commission cannot commit itself to introducing a specific action programme at the moment. One of
the objectives of the European Year of People with Disabilities will be to identify new challenges to address
and to pave the way for new initiatives at Union level. In consultation with the various actors, the
Commission will evaluate the European Year and consider relevant initiatives to propose in order to move
the Union disability agenda forward. Moreover, account has to be taken by the fact that disability issues
are currently directly addressed in several new programmes which have just started such as the non-
discrimination programme, the EQUAL Community initiative or in the Commission’s actions to promote
In the context of the non discrimination programme, a series of disability-specific
social
activities are undertaken: national
information days, support to disability organisations, award for all
design and some transnational projects specifically dealing with disability discrimination issues.

inclusion.

In the Commission’s view, supporting citizens with disabilities to become an effective part of the economic
and social fabric of society means participation in the mainstream whenever it is possible and taking
account of their needs in all relevant policy areas: herein lies full social integration. The Commission
therefore aims to do this under all its relevant funding programmes, allowing access to these for disabled
people and the organisations which represent them, and thereby promoting an approach based on
mainstreaming and integration, rather than segregation into disability-specific arrangements.

(2004/C 33 E/182)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1853/03

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(3 June 2003)

Subject: Community funding in Greece and intermediary agencies

For some time now reports have been appearing in the Greek press expressing concern at the loss of
funding from the Community Support Framework (CSF). The leader of the ND Party Mr Karamanlis was
justifiably critical of the Greek Government for its handling of these funds under the second CSF, resulting
in a loss to Greece of EUR 468 m. It is also known that the agencies concerned select undertakings for
such funding and that certain regions are of particular importance to Greece, that is to say the Aegean
border areas and regions along the land border such as Ipirus, central and western Macedonia and Thrace.

C 33 E/180

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.2.2004

In many of these areas take-up of Community funding is relatively sluggish with obvious consequences
regarding their development. The Commission has already been kind enough to provide me with
information in the past regarding Ipirus, the Aegean and Thrace.

Can it now give me the following details concerning the regions of central and western Macedonia:

1. How does it assess the work of the agencies administering funding under the second and third CSF?

2. What are these agencies and how were they selected?

3. What is the exact amount of funding being administered under the second and third CSF?

4. Has the Commission or any other EU body investigated the activities of these agencies or other CSF

support mechanisms?

5. Which Community programmes or initiatives are currently being administered by these agencies and

with what precise budget?

6. What is the added value of the contribution by these agencies in areas such as culture and improved

standards of education and public health in the above regions?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(28 July 2003)

Intermediate bodies are to be considered as all public or private bodies or services acting under the
responsibility of managing or paying authorities or performing tasks on their behalf in relation to final
beneficiaries or the bodies or firms carrying out operations. Such bodies are selected in accordance with
the national legislation in force.

The relevant intermediare bodies in West and Central Macedonia are KEPA-ANEM, the ‘Company for
Development of Industrial Investments in Northern Greece’. KEPA-ANEM is also the common intermediate
entity operating for Western and Central Macedonia in the framework of the Operational Programm (OP)
‘Competitiveness’. In addition, the banks granting assistance to the small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs) and the ‘Local action groups’, which operate in the framework of Leader+, can be named as
intermediate entities. In the year 2000, the Commission services undertook a control of the ‘Company for
the development of private infrastructure in Northern Greece’.

It should be noted that in the framework of the Community Support Framework (CSF) III, intermediate
entities do not manage Operational Programmes but measures within them. The fields of intervention of
intermediate entities are mainly those concerning the development of the private sector and, especially,
SMEs, and in the case of Leader+, the management of selected rural territories.

The budget managed by the intermediate entities is, in principle, the allocation of the respective measure.
However, as CSF II is now undergoing the closure procedure, precise budgets remain at this stage to be
confirmed. As regards the 2000-2006 programming period, the situation concerning the intermediate
entities can be modified at any time by amending the Programming Complement. For future information
in this respect, the Honourable Member is kindly requested to contact the respective Managing Authorities.

it should be noted that intermediate entities do not operate in the sectors of public health,

Finally,
education and culture.