WRITTEN QUESTION E-2148/03 by Giovanni Pittella (PSE) to the Commission. Non-profit-making bodies.
Date: 2003-06-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing arrangements, financial regulation, non-profit organisation, youth movement, youth policy

C 33 E/226

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.2.2004

The key legislation in the food safety and animal health sectors include provisions to this effect. There is a
range of controls in place to ensure that these provisions are respected.

These can be summarised as follows:

(cid:1) third countries wishing to export live animals and animal products to the Community must be
approved. The approval process includes verification of the organisation and powers of the competent
authority, animal health status hygiene controls and controls on residues of veterinary medicines and
banned substances, legislation etc;

(cid:1) the Food and Veterinary Office of the Commission carries out periodic inspection missions in third
countries, in particular in countries seeking approval to export to the Community, to verify their
control systems;

(cid:1) establishments in third countries wishing to export animal products to the Community must similarly

be authorised by the Commission on the basis of guarantees from their competent authorities;

(cid:1) all imports must be checked at the point of entry to the Community, at border inspection posts. These
checks include documentary and identity and physical checks. Random checks for residues and
banned substances are also carried out;

(cid:1) Member States are alerted to breaches of food safety requirements from imports through the Rapid

Alert System on Food and Feed and are asked to take appropriate follow-up action;

(cid:1) there is a high level of harmonisation in relation to these measures. Moreover, new legislation is
increasingly being enacted through the use of regulations of the Council and the Parliament rather
than Directives which will ensure an even higher level of uniformity. The current proposal for a
Regulation of the Parliament and the Council on food and feed controls (1) will, in particular, provide
for an up-to-date regulatory framework;

(cid:1) where there is evidence that

the Commission takes
corrective action. This is a function of the seriousness of the situation but can extend to a requirement
for 100 % testing at import for banned substances or an outright ban on imports;

imported agricultural products are unsafe,

(cid:1) the Commission is satisfied that this framework ensures that there are equivalent levels of safety
between imported agricultural products and imports. This in turn ensures that European producers are
not put at a competitive disadvantage with respect to measures guaranteeing safety;

(cid:1) it is a fact that very high standards for animal welfare apply within the Community. In order to
safeguard the interests of the Community producer the Community proposes in the framework of the
next World Trade Organisation (WTO) round to exempt compensation of additional costs to meet
animal welfare standards from reduction commitments where it can be clearly shown that these costs
stem directly from the adoption of higher standards and thus are not, or at most minimally, trade
distorting.

(1) COM(2003) 52 final.

(2004/C 33 E/231)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2148/03

by Giovanni Pittella (PSE) to the Commission

(27 June 2003)

Subject: Non-profit-making bodies

Non-profit-making bodies, in particular ones set up by young people and active in the cultural sphere,
incalculably enrich European society and constitute a basic force for socio-cultural development and
integration.

6.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 33 E/227

However, even though it is considered important that non-profit-making bodies should tender for and run
EU projects, such bodies find it difficult to secure access to programmes co-financed by the EU on account
of the procedural problems they encounter and, in particular, the fact that they cannot implement projects
without having money to spend in advance.

In view of the above, is the Commission intending to propose a scheme whereby funding could be made
available in advance, subject to the performance of qualitative and quantitative checks on the bodies
concerned and the status thereof?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(1 September 2003)

The Commission agrees with the Honourable Member on the fact that bodies active at European level in
the field of youth are essential
in the socio-cultural development of European society and therefore
considers that participation by young people in civil society should be encouraged. More generally
speaking, the Commission’s administrative and financial procedures,
in conformity with the Financial
Regulation and the relevant legal basis, allow for support to youth groups through appropriate grant
schemes and payment mechanisms (e.g. simple application forms, prefinancing payments up to 80 %, use
of lump sums).

The Youth Programme has five application deadlines per year with the objective of ensuring that grants are
paid before the start of the projects concerned.

Regarding the support for operating costs to bodies active at European level
in the field of youth,
prefinancing payments are in fact made on a regular basis. The Commission also makes every effort to
ensure that organisations receive the grants as soon as possible in the year they are going to incur the
expenditure. In 2003 all pre-financing payments to non-governmental youth organisations were made
before April.

(2004/C 33 E/232)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2149/03

by Astrid Lulling (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(24 June 2003)

Subject: Eurostat

The debates conducted and the statements made concerning Eurostat in recent months have highlighted a
number of examples of incorrect practice: criminal proceedings are opened against individuals without
their knowledge and without them first being heard by the judicial authorities, the press prints serious
accusations which seem to go well beyond the information available, and the staff of Eurostat see their
professional competence called into question and their work disrupted by stringent checks which are in
some cases out of all proportion to the alleged actions which prompted them.

What steps is the Commission taking to ensure that the rights of the persons involved are properly
respected in the proceedings now under way?

What measures does it intend to take if departments are shown to have breached the rules on the
protection of those rights, despite their obligation to observe them?

Does it take the view that the reporting of the case has blown the accusations up out of all proportion to
the facts?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(3 September 2003)

The intense media interest in the Eurostat investigations even before their completion does not help to
provide an objective picture of the situation, particularly as some aspects have been taken out of context.
To this extent, certain press articles may, regrettably, have compromised full compliance with the principle
of the presumption of innocence.