WRITTEN QUESTION P-1952/03 by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Commission. Serious delay in the implementation of the Cohesion Fund in Portugal.
Date: 2003-06-05
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Cohesion Fund, Portugal, commitment of expenditure, project management, quality of the environment

C 280 E/184

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

21.11.2003

Can the Commission answer the following:

(cid:1) What information does it hold regarding this state of affairs?

(cid:1) What action has it taken (or is it intending to take) (cid:1) in particular vis-à-vis the UK authorities (cid:1) in

response to the situation?

(cid:1) Is it considering the possibility of offering the workers any kind of support if the situation continues?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(15 July 2003)

The Commission is not in possession of the facts relating to the situation described by the Honourable
Member. Whilst it deplores the existence of situations such as these, the Commission must point out that
it cannot intervene unless the situation constitutes a violation of Community law.

It is not clear from the question whether the circumstances described fall within the scope of Directive 96/
71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of
workers in the framework of the provision of services (1), which states that, with regard to certain matters,
posted workers should enjoy the working and employment conditions applicable in the host country.
However, accommodation conditions are not covered by these measures to protect posted workers, nor by
any other Community provisions. In any event, it would be up to the national judicial or other authorities,
as a first resort, to monitor the proper application of these rules where they are contacted by those who
consider that their rights have been infringed.

(1) OJ L 18, 21.1.1997.

(2003/C 280 E/202)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1952/03

by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Commission

(5 June 2003)

Subject: Serious delay in the implementation of the Cohesion Fund in Portugal

The Commission’s communications 2003/C 123/03 (1) and 2003/C 123/05 (2) setting out the main points
of decisions to grant financial assistance to Portugal in 2002 under the Cohesion Fund, published in the
Official Journal of 24 May, are cause for serious concern.

According to these communications the Commission has approved only five new projects submitted by
Portugal for Cohesion Fund assistance in 2002, namely the treatment of solid urban waste in Vale do Ave,
water purification in the municipality of Braga (with a spelling error in the original, incidentally), studies
on water purification in the Algarve, the integrated management of solid waste by LIPOR, and the IP 6
road section linking Peniche to the IC 1, accounting for total funding of just over EUR 106 million.

If we bear in mind that this total corresponds to budgetary commitments for a number of years, the
amount is insignificant compared with the objectives approved by the Council at the Berlin Summit in
March 1999.

Bearing in mind that the Commission has repeatedly urged Members of the European Parliament to
monitor the implementation of structural funding measures in their constituencies, can it answer the
following questions:

1. What amount of budgetary commitments in 2002 does the total value of the five newly approved

projects described in the communications represent?

21.11.2003

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Official Journal of the European Union

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2. What amount of Cohesion Fund budgetary commitments for Portugal in 2003 will allow the country
the 2000-2006

to reach the annual average envisaged by the Berlin European Council
programming period?

for

3.

Supposing that the annual distribution of budgetary commitments for projects approved in the future
is the same as for the projects already approved, what would the total amount of the Community
contribution be for the projects which will have to be approved in 2003 in order to reach the average
referred to above?

(1) OJ C 123, 24.5.2003, p. 4.
(2) OJ C 123, 24.5.2003, p. 13.

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(27 June 2003)

As the Honourable Member indicates, Cohesion Fund assistance for the five Portuguese projects adopted in
2002 amounts to EUR 106 million, EUR 85 million of which is assigned to the 2002 budget, with the
remainder to be committed in subsequent budget years according to the state of advance of the projects.

On the basis of the midpoint of the indicative bracket applied to the commitment appropriations entered
in the budget
to
EUR 647 million: EUR 478 million relating to 2003 and EUR 169 million of appropriations for 2002
that could not be used.

the resources available for Portugal

for each financial year,

for 2003 amount

The sums committed or in course of commitment amount at the moment to around EUR 200 million. The
projects at present under examination could permit a maximum commitment of about EUR 240 million
were they all to be adopted in 2003. To absorb the target amount for 2003 Portugal would have to
present projects allowing commitment of a further amount in excess of EUR 200 million in order to
maintain a reasonable safety margin.

The answer to the Honourable Member’s third question depends on the commitment procedures for the
Community assistance.

Under the financial implementation rules commitments can be executed in two ways:

(cid:1) by annual instalments, in the case of projects where the aid is more than EUR 50 million and the

project realisation period more than two years;

(cid:1) otherwise, by a first commitment of 80 % when the project is adopted and a second of the remaining

20 % at a time depending on its state of advance.

In the first case the amount to be charged to each budget year depends on the financial plan drawn up for
the project. Thus unless the financial plans are already known it is impossible to determine the value of the
projects that will allow the amount available for 2003 to be reached.

In the second case the additional projects likely to be approved in 2003 should permit allocation of
assistance of at least EUR 260 million.

The amount to be committed following the approval of the new projects would of course be higher should
it not be possible to adopt all the projects now under examination.

(2003/C 280 E/203)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1981/03

by Elly Plooij-van Gorsel (ELDR) to the Commission

(10 June 2003)

Subject: Role of the Netherlands Broadcasting Corporation (NOS)

in European rules on invitations to

tender for Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) transmitters

The Netherlands Broadcasting Corporation (NOS) has drawn up tender specifications relating to the
operating licence for the development and management of DAB transmitters. DAB (Digital Audio