WRITTEN QUESTION P-0337/04 by Gabriele Stauner (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Subsidies for Parmalat.
Date: 2004-02-04
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EAGGF, EU financing, Italy, dairy industry

C 84 E/776

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(13 April 2004)

The Sosnovy Bor nuclear power plant has four RBMK-type reactors (1) of which two are first generation
(commissioned in 1973 and 1975) and are considered by experts as not complying with internationally-
recognised safety standards. The Commission has always recommended the decommissioning of these and
other Soviet first-generation reactors. The Commission and the Russian Federation form part of a joint
working group (JWG) which has been set up to look at how Russian first-generation reactors might be
decommissioned. The Group’s work programme was endorsed by the G8 Nuclear Safety and Security
Group at its last meeting in Geneva on 4 February this year.

The Russian Federation has been a contracting party to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s
Convention on Nuclear Safety since 1996 and the Russian government has undertaken to guarantee the
independence and authority of the nuclear regulation agency (Gosatomnadzor) under the Convention.

The Russian Federation is responsible for the development and implementation of
its own nuclear
regulation system. Since 1994 Gosatomnadzor has received assistance under the Tacis programme from a
European consortium of European national safety authorities which has been helping it build a strong,
independent and competent organisation tailored to Russia’s particular needs and respecting the
fundamental principles set out in the Nuclear Safety Convention. Assistance has focused on promoting a
licensing system, developing quality assurance systems and improving safety analysis criteria. Significant
progress has been made on legislation,
regulations, procedures and working methods. However,
Gosatomnadzor’s independence vis-à-vis the operator of power plants and the political authorities is of
course a matter for the national authorities.

Although Russia signed the IAEA’s Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety
of Radioactive Waste Management in January 1999, the Convention has not yet entered into force in
Russia. It is therefore impossible at this stage to guarantee that the management and handling of waste
comply with international practices.

(1) Graphite-moderated water reactors.

(2004/C 84 E/0873)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0337/04

by Gabriele Stauner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(4 February 2004)

Subject: Subsidies for Parmalat

According to press reports, the financial scandal surrounding the Italian food manufacturer Parmalat seems
to be taking on ever greater proportions.

Can the Commission say whether the bankrupt dairy manufacturer Parmalat has received funding from EU
sources?

If so, can the Commission say what amounts were paid out and over what period?

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/777

Answer given by Ms Schreyer on behalf of the Commission

(29 March 2004)

Parmalat has received Community funding.

Since 1990 it has received, by way of expenditure directly managed by the Commission, payments
totalling EUR 2 278 448,00, broken down as follows:

Year/period

Amount

1990

1991-1998

1999-2003

733 747,76

677 636,24

867 064,00

Total

2 278 448,00

By way of indirect expenditure (under shared management), i.e. the award of Community aid financed or
co-financed by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) under the common
agricultural policy, the attention of the Honourable Member is drawn to the following two remarks:

(cid:1) firstly, the agricultural aid payments financed by EAGGF, Guarantee Section are managed by the
Member States under the provisions of shared management. The accounting information concerning
these aid payments is held by the Member States and transmitted to the Commission in accordance
with Regulation (EC) No 2390/1999 (1) which, under Article 2(3), obliges the Commission to ensure
that the information received is kept confidential. The Commission is therefore unable to provide
details of the amounts received by Parmalat under EAGGF Guarantee;

(cid:1) secondly, Parmalat may also have been awarded aid under programmes co-financed by EAGGF
Guidance. Rural development measures assisted under EAGGF Guidance are incorporated in
operational programmes in accordance with the Objective 1 programming rules laid down in the
regulations on the Structural Funds (2).
In accordance with these regulations the programmes in
question do not contain financial information at the level of the final recipient of the aid. Article 18 of
Regulation (EC) No 438/2001 (3) concerning the management and control systems for assistance
granted under the Structural Funds lays down the form and content of the accounting information the
Member States must hold.

(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 2390/1999 of 25 October 1999 laying down detailed rules of the application of
Regulation (EC) No 1663/95 as regards the form and content of the accounting information that the Member States
must hold at the disposal of the Commission for the purposes of the clearance of the EAGGF Guarantee Section
accounts, OJ L 295, 16.11.1999.

(2) Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds,

OJ L 161, 26.6.1999.

(3) Commission Regulation (EC) No 438/2001 of 2 March 2001 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of
Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 as regards the management and control systems for assistance granted
under the Structural Funds, OJ L 63, 3.3.2001.

(2004/C 84 E/0874)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0347/04

by Glenys Kinnock (PSE) to the Commission

(11 February 2004)

Subject: Use of ACT in treatment of malaria

Would the Commission outline its position on the use of ACT (artemisinine combination)
treatment of malaria?

for the