WRITTEN QUESTION E-3112/03 by Giacomo Santini (PPE-DE), Elena Paciotti (PSE),Luciana Sbarbati (ELDR), Giovanni Pittella (PSE),Generoso Andria (PPE-DE), Enrico Ferri (PPE-DE), Carlo Fatuzzo (PPE-DE),Gianfranco Dell'Alba (NI), Roberta Angelilli (UEN), Stefano Zappalà (PPE-DE),Paolo Pastorelli (PPE-DE), Antonio Di Pietro (ELDR), Mauro Nobilia (UEN),Sebastiano Musumeci (UEN), Michl Ebner (PPE-DE), Roberto Bigliardo (UEN),Catherine Guy-Quint (PSE), Adriana Poli Bortone (UEN), Fiorella Ghilardotti (PSE),Monica Frassoni (Verts/ALE), Franz Turchi (UEN), Massimo Carraro (PSE),Guido Bodrato (PPE-DE), Francesco Musotto (PPE-DE), Vincenzo Lavarra (PSE),Vitaliano Gemelli (PPE-DE) and Giovanni Fava (PSE) to the Commission. EU information policy — legal basis for the European Carrefours ruraux and Info-Points Europe — urgent need for operational subsidy for 2004.
Date: 2003-10-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, administrative expenditure, common agricultural policy, dissemination of EU information, information centre, information network, information policy, public awareness campaign

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/449

This new procedure, which is intended to increase transparency in connection with the award of funding,
raises three questions to which the European Commission alluded without providing a detailed answer:

(cid:1) What criteria will be used to select the bodies which respond to the invitations to tender?

(cid:1) Will the logistical support measures continue after 2004?

(cid:1) In more general terms, the European Commission is now considering new forms of cooperation
which will ensure that information is readily available to the public locally, whilst complying with the
new rules laid down in the above-mentioned Financial Regulation. Can the Commission be more
precise on this point?

(1) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

(2004/C 78 E/0472)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3112/03

by Giacomo Santini (PPE-DE), Elena Paciotti (PSE),
Luciana Sbarbati (ELDR), Giovanni Pittella (PSE),
Generoso Andria (PPE-DE), Enrico Ferri (PPE-DE), Carlo Fatuzzo (PPE-DE),
Gianfranco Dell’Alba (NI), Roberta Angelilli (UEN), Stefano Zappalà (PPE-DE),
Paolo Pastorelli (PPE-DE), Antonio Di Pietro (ELDR), Mauro Nobilia (UEN),
Sebastiano Musumeci (UEN), Michl Ebner (PPE-DE), Roberto Bigliardo (UEN),
Catherine Guy-Quint (PSE), Adriana Poli Bortone (UEN), Fiorella Ghilardotti (PSE),
Monica Frassoni (Verts/ALE), Franz Turchi (UEN), Massimo Carraro (PSE),
Guido Bodrato (PPE-DE), Francesco Musotto (PPE-DE), Vincenzo Lavarra (PSE),
Vitaliano Gemelli (PPE-DE) and Giovanni Fava (PSE) to the Commission

(22 October 2003)

Subject: EU information policy (cid:1) legal basis for the European ‘Carrefours ruraux’ and ‘Info-Points Europe’

(cid:1) urgent need for operational subsidy for 2004

Considering that:

(cid:1) Parliament has on numerous occasions stressed the importance for information and communication
policy of the networks created by the EU in the Member States, including the European ‘Carrefours
ruraux’ and the ‘Info-Points Europe’ (IPEs);

(cid:1) the position is expressed in communications (1)

flexibility and
immediate proximity to the representatives of civil society and the general public make them
invaluable’;

the networks’

‘experience,

that

(cid:1) the Commission has consistently displayed its commitment to this policy, as in President Prodi’s reply
of 27 September 2002 to a written question by a number of MEPs (E-2357/02 (2)), in which he stated
that ‘knowledge and understanding of the policies pursued and projects implemented by the Union are
gaining ground thanks to the information networks’.

A letter sent out by DG PRESS on 29 September 2003 informed the national organisations that host the
networks (cid:1) contrary to previous announcements (cid:1) that the renewal of the agreement for 2004 will no
longer carry the right to a subsidy; for the future, the Commission will consider new forms of cooperation,
in the light of the entry into force on 1 January 2003 of the Financial Regulations 1605/2002 (3) and
2342/2002 (4).

These new and unforeseen circumstances are such as to jeopardise the very survival of the networks, and
will, at all events, drastically reduce their capacity to engage in dialogue with the public, at a crucial
moment in the Union’s history which calls for such capacities to be developed further.

C 78 E/450

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

Can the Commission state:

(cid:1) whether it believes it necessary to act as soon as possible in order to prevent the dispersal of the
existing fund of relationships, contacts, expertise and material and non-material assets which has been
built up over the many years of activity of the EU’s information networks, by drawing up a proposal
for a legal basis for the granting of legal personality to, or, at least, the recognition of the ‘Carrefours’
and the IPEs as delegated bodies or Community bodies pursuant to Articles 54, 55 or 185 of Council
Regulation 1605/02;

(cid:1) whether it intends, for 2004, to execute the budget heading (16 5 01) traditionally dedicated to the
funding of the information points in such a way as to reward, rather than penalise, those who have
made a long-term investment in them?

(1) COM(2001) 354 and COM(2002) 350.
(2) OJ C 92 E, 17.4.2003, p. 158.
(3) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 1.

(2004/C 78 E/0473)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3153/03

by Evelyne Gebhardt (PSE) to the Commission

(20 October 2003)

Subject: EU Info-Points

At the end of September 2003, the Commission informed the EU information centres that from January
2004, under the new Financial Regulation, overheads will no longer be subsidised. This endangers the very
existence of the Info-Points and information carrefours that have until now undeniably served citizens, the
European Parliament and not least the European Commission well. These Info-Points are essential
in
building trust between the people of Europe and the European Union institutions.

1. Why did this communication come so late and unexpectedly that those in charge of the Info-Points
and carrefours were unable to make the necessary preparations for the new situation when planning their
budget for 2004?

2. Why was no arrangement made to guarantee the survival of these valuable Info-Points, even though
the Financial Regulation the Commission is referring to has been in existence for over a year (since June
2002)?

Is the Commission prepared to introduce transitional measures to ensure the uninterrupted service of

3.
Info-Points during 2004?

4. What steps does the Commission intend to take to guarantee the lasting survival of Info-Points and
carrefours?

(2004/C 78 E/0474)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3240/03

by Thierry Cornillet (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Abolition of operating grants for Europe Info-Points

(3 November 2003)

The Commission recently decided to abolish the operating grant for Europe Info-Points despite the fact
that the present juncture will be decisive for the future of the European Union.

Given the current context, i.e. the Intergovernmental Conference, national campaigns for the adoption of
the future Constitution and the forthcoming European elections, is the Commission aware that its decision
could not have come at a more inappropriate time?

Does the Commission fully realise how valuable the Europe Info-Points are in terms of providing
information and serving as communication channels with a view to bringing Europe closer to its citizens?