WRITTEN QUESTION E-2708/03 by Raffaele Costa (PPE-DE) to the Commission. City-Res Network project.
Date: 2003-09-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU aid, EU programme, co-financing, exchange of information, project management, public awareness campaign, renewable energy, town

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/157

The Honourable Member may also be interested to read the evaluation of the management and of the
results of both successive Altener programmes for the years 1996-2000 (‘Evaluation of the Altener
Programme (1996-2000): Final report for the Directorate General Energy & Transport of the Commission’),
which was commissioned from external experts in the year 2000. This report does of course not
distinguish between projects with Italian coordinators and other coordinators. However, in case of interest
a copy of this Altener programme evaluation can also be provided on request.

(2004/C 78 E/0161)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2708/03

by Raffaele Costa (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(11 September 2003)

Subject: City-Res Network project

The aims of the City-Res Network project included the exchange of information and good practices and
raising awareness with regard to the use of alternative energies in the major cities of the European Union.
It received Community funding of EUR 200 000 and ended in 2000. Could the Commission indicate what
the results of this project were, which European cities were involved, what events were organised and how
the funds were spent?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(23 October 2003)

The City-Res project referred to by the Honourable Member and co-financed under the Altener II
programme for an amount of EUR 200 000 (1997 budget) as he mentions, started in 1998 and ended in
2000. It aimed at setting up a Union-wide network for promotion of renewable energy applications in
urban areas, and bringing both existing members of the association ‘Energie-Cités’, and further cities, on
board (1).

The tasks proposed and subsequently fulfilled were:

(cid:1) in particular monitoring of Altener I (1993-1997) and II (1998-2002) municipal projects in general,

(cid:1) setting up a monitoring centre for existing initiatives,

(cid:1) providing a dissemination service on the Altener programme targeted principally at municipal

officials,

(cid:1) creation and ongoing co-ordination of an experience exchange network,

(cid:1) the organisation of a relevant event (seminar in the spring of 2000 in Verona).

As provided in the work programme, 50 case studies within the theme of the project on cities had been
completed by March 2000, and the CD-ROM containing them distributed at the Verona meeting, and also
made available on the internet. A successor project, a brief description of which follows, resulted in an
updated and greatly expanded version of this CD-ROM, containing 105 Best-Practice case studies in Union
cities. The Commission is sending it direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament’s Secretariat.

This follow-up project, also co-ordinated by Energie-Cités (www.energie-cites.org) took the form of a larger
‘cluster’ of three distinct projects, with a total cost of EUR 1,13 million, with 50 % co-financing again from
the Altener programme (Ref. B4.1030/C/00-006). The eighteen-month project ended in September 2002.

C 78 E/158

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

The general aims were:

(cid:1) to continue stimulating the exchange of experience concerning renewable energies between

municipalities;

(cid:1) to invite them into, and further reinforce, partnerships between the different cities, and encourage

them to join an overall RES Partnership of European cities and regions.

The three different projects were:

(cid:1) ‘City-RES 2001’ (co-ordinated by Energie-Cités);

(cid:1) A plan for a climate-friendly 100 % regenerative energy-supply in the N. German district of Lüchow-
Dannenberg, including heat and power production (CHP) from renewable energies at selected sites (co-
ordinated by the Landkreis (local authority));

(cid:1) A Regional Energy Plan for Hartberg (Austria) (co-ordinated by Joanneum Research, Austria).

Whereas the second and the third project were Pilot Actions, in the form of Regional and Local Energy
Plans, including a Targeted Action on Combined Heat and Power Production (CHP), City-RES 2001 was
again mainly a Promotion and Dissemination Activity, with special emphasis on support to the Campaign
for Take-Off for Renewables managed by the Commission. In addition to relevant events, and further
networking, the major deliverable of the project was the CD-ROM of 105 city best-practice cases referred
to above.

(1) Reference B4.1030/Z/1998-07.

(2004/C 78 E/0162)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2732/03

by Herbert Bösch (PSE) to the Commission

(11 September 2003)

Subject: Possible conflict of interests at the Directorate-General for Competition

The Directorate-General for Competition is entrusted with a variety of sensitive tasks such as deciding
whether to approve company mergers, to approve them conditionally, or to reject them. As part of their
duties, Competition DG officials deal with a range of insider information, which, when made public, has a
considerable effect on the share prices of the companies concerned on Europe’s stock exchanges.

Is there a compliance code at the Competition DG and at the Commission’s departments privy to sensitive
information, as is the case at investment banks,
in order to prevent insider information from being
misused? Is there an official within the Commission responsible for compliance?

Do officials who work with such information have to declare their share-trading activities? Is there a watch
list or a block list covering shares in companies about which sensitive information is known? Do
Commission officials working with sensitive information have to declare the details of their bank accounts
used to carry out securities transactions?

How many in-house reviews has the Commission already conducted to ensure that insider information is
not misused?

Have any of these reviews uncovered cases of suspected misuse of sensitive information?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(14 November 2003)

In 1999, Directorate General
(DG) Competition developed a compliance code based on the Staff
Regulations for its officials, temporary and auxiliary staff, trainees and seconded national experts to
manage the risks concerning conflicts of interest and insider dealing. This code complements, and draws
staff’s attention to, the Belgian criminal law prohibiting insider dealing.