WRITTEN QUESTION E-2601/03 by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission. Refurbishment of the historic town centre of Rieti.
Date: 2003-08-20
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU programme, Latium, financing method, town, town planning, urban renewal

C 78 E/410

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

With regard to citizens, the increase in police cooperation, with the contribution of Europol, has raised the
guarantees offered to the public. It is also important that the public should be familiar with the security
features of the genuine euro banknotes. In this respect, the ‘look (cid:1) feel (cid:1) tilt’ method of checking the euro
banknotes’ authenticity, described in the information material of the ECB, has proved to be an effective
means of detecting counterfeits.

(2004/C 78 E/0431)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2601/03

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(20 August 2003)

Subject: Refurbishment of the historic town centre of Rieti

Rieti, one of the main towns in the province of Lazio, has a rich heritage in the form of historically and
artistically significant buildings and the town council is now endeavouring to implement a refurbishment
and restoration plan with a view to preserving that heritage.

The aim is to highlight the importance of the town as an historic monument, but also to restore it to its
role as a cohesive, properly functioning community by means of a wide range of measures, including street
repairs, improved street lighting, better road access to the historic town centre, restoration of the medieval
walls, replacement of the signs identifying buildings in the medieval town centre, etc.

The town council therefore needs to secure very substantial funding for this town-planning and restoration
work, drawing on all the available sources, including, in particular, EU grants.

Given that the second Urban programme, which is designed to provide funding for this type of work, has
already been completed, can the Commission state:

1. whether a third Urban programme is scheduled for 2004 or thereafter or whether fresh calls for

proposals are to be issued?

2. whether there are other programmes which could provide Rieti with the funding it needs to carry out

the work outlined above?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(16 October 2003)

As regards the Community initiative programme Urban II, the choice of towns to receive assistance in Italy
was proposed by the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport in accordance with the procedure
published in Italian Official Gazette No 168 of 20 July 2000. No provision is made for further funding for
other towns up to the end of 2006.

As regards other sources of possible funding, the town of Rieti is partly eligible under Objective 2, as set
out in the Commission Decision of 27 July 2000 (1).

Measure III.2 in the single programming document (SPD) for the Lazio Region, which governs European
Regional Development Fund assistance in this respect, allows funding for measures to promote the
development of areas, in particular historic centres, of significance in terms of tourism, culture or the
environment.

However,
it is for the managing authority responsible for the SPD (in this case the Regione Lazio (cid:1)
Economy and Finance Department) to examine whether particular measures may receive Community
funding.

In addition to the funding possibilities provided under the Structural Funds on the basis of the above, the
Commission may support initiatives in the cultural sector under and in accordance with the selection
criteria for the ‘Culture 2000’ programme, which is the single financing and programming instrument for
cultural cooperation in the European Union.

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/411

This programme is designed to support projects co-produced and part-financed by at least three promoters
from at least three countries participating in the programme. The Honourable Member will find further
details at the following address: (http://europa.eu.int/comm/culture/c2000).

(1) 2000/530/EC: Commission Decision of 27 July 2000 listing the areas of Italy eligible under Objective 2 of the
Structural Funds for the period 2000 to 2006 (notified under document number C(2000) 2327) (Only the Italian
text is authentic), OJ L 223, 4.9.2000.

(2004/C 78 E/0432)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2649/03

by Paul Rübig (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(10 September 2003)

Subject: Comparison of electricity network tariffs in the Commission’s second benchmarking report

The Commission’s ‘Second benchmarking report on the implementation of the internal electricity and gas
market’
(Brussels, 7 April 2003) shows the differing rates of progress towards liberalisation in the
individual Member States.

The report
benchmarking/doc/2/sec_2003_448_en.pdf).

is available on the following Internet site:

(http://europa.eu.int/comm/energy/electricity/

Table 1 ‘Implementation of the Electricity Directive’ on page 4 of the report (column headed ‘Overall
network tariffs’) reveals that Austria, Germany and Luxembourg have above-average network tariffs.

What data and/or studies were used as the basis for ascertaining the level of network tariffs?

Who supplied the data?

On what consumption indicators and parameters is the analysis based?

How was European comparability ensured (differences in pattern of consumption, security of supply,
topology, etc.)?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(13 October 2003)

The study was based on information submitted by national Ministries and electricity and gas regulatory
authorities. In some cases analysis from industry associations was used, for example the ‘Verband der
Elektrizitätswirtschaft’ (VdEW) and ‘Verband der Netzbetreiber’ (VdN) in Germany. This is explained in
more detail in Section 2 of the Annex to the document.

Standard customer types based on the price information collected by Eurostat were used, in particular:

(cid:1) large industrial user 24 Gigawatt hour (GWh) per year;

(cid:1) small commercial user 50 Megawatt hour (MWh) per year;

(cid:1) domestic user 3500 Kilowatt (KWh) per year.

The three Member States mentioned by the Honourable Member have above average network tariffs for
the customer types used.