WRITTEN QUESTION E-3405/03 by Concepció Ferrer (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Management of the Structural Funds.
Date: 2003-11-17
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Structural Funds, management accounting, public administration, supervisory power

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/539

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(22 December 2003)

1.
Between 1998 and 2002, a total of 75 letters of formal notice were notified to Ireland with regard to
cases involving bad application of Union environmental legislation (1). An additional number of letters of
formal notice were notified for cases
involving only issues of non-communication of national
implementing legislation or the non-conformity of such legislation, giving a total of 108 letters of formal
notice. Of the 75 letters relating to bad application, most related to complaint files, but 14 concerned files
opened on the Commission’s own initiative. These addressed the failure to classify sufficient special
protection areas for wild birds, the failure to sufficiently identify sensitive areas for purposes of urban
waste water treatment and the failure to submit reports or other information required by environmental
directives. Several
letters of formal notice involved a failure to respond to Commission information
requests, and were based on Article 10 of the EC Treaty (duty of co-operation). Other letters of formal
notice forming part of complaint investigations covered a wide range of issues, including the following: the
failure to undertake environmental impact assessments; threats to important wild-life sites from projects or
activities; the lack of effective action to deal with illegal waste activities; the failure to ensure adequate
groundwater protection; the lack of adequate protection of shellfish production areas from water pollution;
the lack of compliance with rules on animal experiments; the odour nuisance from an urban waste water
treatment plant.

In the period 1993-2003,

Ireland in relation to Union
2.
environmental legislation. The judgements concerned cases C-392/96 on impact assessment, C-354/99 on
animal experiments, C-67/99 on habitat nominations, C-177/2000 on sheep overgrazing, C-316/2000 on
polluted drinking water, C-394/2000 on major accident hazards, C-376/2001 on biocidal products and
C-67/2002 on pollution reduction programmes for shellfish waters.

judgements against

there were eight

3.

16 letters of formal notice were sent to Ireland for bad application in the period 1993-1998.

In mid-November 2003, the Commission had 85 complaint and own-initiative files open against
4.
Ireland for which no letter of formal notice had been sent. These files covered a range of matters, including
alleged failures with regard to environmental
illegal waste
operations and pollution of drinking water.

impact assessment, threats to wildlife sites,

5.
During the period 1993 to 2003, 279 Reasoned Opinions in total were notified to Member States
other than Ireland in cases involving bad application of Union environmental legislation. A total of 894
Reasoned Opinions was notified to other Member States in relation to all aspects of compliance with
Union environmental legislation, i.e. non-communication and non-conformity as well as bad application.

(1) Because of communications by Ireland, not all Commission decisions to notify a Letter of Formal Notice to Ireland

were implemented.

(2004/C 78 E/0561)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3405/03

by Concepció Ferrer (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(17 November 2003)

Subject: Management of the Structural Funds

With regard to the management of Structural Fund monies for Objectives 1, 2 and 3 (2000-2006), will the
Commission please state who the designated payment and management authorities are in Austria, Belgium,
France, Germany, Italy and Spain?

C 78 E/540

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

Supplementary answer
given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(30 January 2004)

A. Managing authorities in Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Austria:

(cid:1) The Honourable Member will find all relevant information concerning the managing authorities on
the Structural Funds

the four Directorates-General

responsible for

the respective websites of
mentioned below:

(cid:1) http://europa.eu.int/comm/regional_policy/manage/authority/authority_en.cfm

(cid:1) http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/rur/countries/index_en.htm

(cid:1) http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/esf2000/contacts-en.htm

(cid:1) http://europa.eu.int/comm/fisheries/doc_et_publ/cfp_en.htm

(cid:1) With respect to the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Honourable Member is referred
to the report on the review of management and control systems of 30 April 2003 which was
communicated to Parliament.

B.

Paying authorities in Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Austria:

(cid:1) The following bodies or types of bodies have been designated paying authorities for 2000-2006

programmes in Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Austria.

(cid:1) For the one Objective 1 and eight Objective 2 regional programmes in Austria, the paying authorities
are the Federal Chancellery for ERDF, the Federal Ministry of the Economy and Labour for the
European Social Fund (ESF), and the Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water
Management for the European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and the Financial
instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG). For Objective 3 (ESF) the paying authority is the Federal
Ministry of the Economy and Labour.

(cid:1) In Belgium, the three regional authorities (Ministère de la Région Wallonne, Ministerie van de Vlaamse
Gemeenschap and Ministère de l’Economie de Bruxelles-Capitale) provide the ERDF and ESF paying
authorities for the Objective 1 and 2 programmes in their regions (one Objective 1 programme and
two Objective 2 programmes in Wallonia,
four Objective 2 programmes in Flanders and one
Objective 2 programme in Brussels). The relevant regional authority (Ministère de la Région Wallonne)
also provides the paying authority for EAGGF and FIFG (only Objective 1). For the federal Objective 3
programme (ESF) the paying authority is the Ministry of Employment and Labour.

(cid:1) The ‘Préfet’ of the Region is the paying authority for ERDF and ESF for the 26 of the 27 programmes
(6 Objective 1, 21 Objective 2) in the French regions and the ‘départments d’outre mer’ DOMs. The
Préfet’s functions are exercised by the Secrétariat général des Affaires régionales in the relevant
préfecture. For one Objective 2 programme (Alsace) the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations now
exercises the functions of paying authority.

DATAR is the paying authority for Information Systems (Presage) programme, and the Ministry of the
Interior is the paying authority for the two Technical Assistance programmes (for Objectives 1 and 2).
For Objective 3 (ESF) the paying authority is the Ministry of Social Affairs, Labour and Solidarity. The
EAGGF paying authority for all programmes is the Cnasea. The paying authority for FIFG outside
Objective 1 is the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, for the four Objective 1
programmes in metropolitan France it is the Regional Treasury, while for the Corsica Objective 1
programme it is the Direction Générale des Affaires Maritimes in Marseilles.

(cid:1) In Germany the official paying authorities for all 16 regional programmes (six Objective 1 and ten
Objective 2) is the Bundesamt für Wirtschaft for ERDF, the Federal Ministry of the Economy and
Labour for ESF and the Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture for EAGGF
and FIFG. In practice, however, the functions of paying authority are performed by the relevant
ministries of the individual Länder. The Federal Ministry of Transport, Construction and Housing is the
paying authority for the horizontal Objective 1 Transport Infrastructure programme, while for the
horizontal Objective 1 Human Resources and Objective 3 (ESF) programmes it is the Federal Ministry
of the Economy and Labour.

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/541

(cid:1) For all ERDF-financed programmes in Spain (19 regional (cid:1) 12 Objective 1, seven Objective 2 (cid:1),
eight horizontal mono-funds and three horizontal pluri-funds) the ERDF paying authority is the
Ministry of Finance. The paying authority for the ESF in all programmes is the Ministry of Labour and
Social Affairs, while for EAGGF Guidance and FIFG it is the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and
Food.

(cid:1) In Italy, the paying authorities for all Funds in the regional programmes (19 in all, seven Objective 1
and 12 Objective 2) are located within the respective regional administrations. Central government
ministries provide the paying authorities for the horizontal programmes serving Objective 1, namely:
‘Local Enterprise Development’ (cid:1) Ministry for Productive Activities,
‘Transport’ (cid:1) Ministry for
‘Research’ (cid:1) Ministry for Higher Education and Scientific and
Infrastructure and Transport,
Technological Research,
‘Security in the Mezzogiorno’ (cid:1) Ministry of the Interior, and ‘Technical
Assistance’ (cid:1) Ministry for the Treasury, Budget and Economic Planning. The Ministry of Labour and
Social Security is the paying authority for the horizontal programme serving Objective 3 ‘Azioni di
Sistema’. For FIFG the paying authority is the Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry Policies.

(2004/C 78 E/0562)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3407/03

by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission

(17 November 2003)

Subject: Cabinda (cid:1) report on human rights

The media have reported that a report based on testimonies collected by Catholic priests in Cabinda
indicates that there have been frequent cases of torture, rape, murder, illegal detention, and the theft of
money and other property from the civilian population in the enclave. With reference to specific recent
cases, the report speaks of 30 civilian deaths and 16 rapes, inter alia.

The same source claims that following the death of Jonas Savimbi and the end of the war with Unita, the
Forças Armadas Angolanas (FAA) have relocated 30 000 men to Cabinda, to put an end to the guerrilla
fighting in the region. The report denounced human rights’ violations perpetrated both by FLEC forces and
the FAA, attributing most of the crimes to the latter.

The preface to the report was written by the Bishop of Cabinda, Dom Paulino Madeca, who states that
‘Unfortunately, the political situation has developed in the wrong direction in recent years. Thinking
predicated on warfare is the predominant approach to solving the ’Cabinda case‘. (…) Everybody can see
the results of the offensive, which can be summed up as systematic violation of human rights and crimes
against humanity, as the cases investigated show’.

What information does the Commission have as to the alleged recent violation of human rights in
Cabinda? Has the Commission analysed this report in detail?

Has the Commission taken measures to alert the Angolan authorities and make them aware of the need to
protect human rights in Cabinda? And likewise the rebel forces?

What contacts does the Commission maintain with the Church and civil society in Cabinda, so as to be
able to assess the situation in the territory on a non-partisan, independent basis?

What are the Commission’s expectations with regard to the longed-for pacification of Cabinda, and a
political solution to the conflict?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(22 December 2003)

The Commission has knowledge of the report and believes that, although it is not in a position to examine
all the allegations in detail, it serves as a further indication that the situation in Cabinda remains critical.