WRITTEN QUESTION E-0264/04 by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Community funding for the Greek National Cadastre.
Date: 2004-02-04
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, Greece, data processing, electronic government, land register, operational programme

C 84 E/344

Official Journal of the European Union

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3.4.2004

Furthermore, the Commission invited the European social partners to engage in a dialogue on anticipating
and managing change with a view to applying a dynamic approach to the social aspects of corporate
restructuring. The social partners agreed to incorporate this issue in their recently adopted pluriannual
work programme (3) (4).

(1) Council Directive 98/59/EC of 20 July 1998 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to

collective redundancies, OJ L 225, 12.8.1998.

(2) COM(2002) 347 final.
(3) As a strategic component of employment, training and social development policy.
(4) Social Security’s Budget.

(2004/C 84 E/0402)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0264/04

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(4 February 2004)

Subject: Community funding for the Greek National Cadastre

Can the Commission indicate the final amount of Community funding for the Greek National Cadastre and
the nature of the measures being funded, stating whether funding is being provided solely under the
‘Information Society’ programme and to what extent it intends to provide additional funding in future?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(12 March 2004)

On 10 February 2003, the Greek authorities submitted to the Commission a proposal for continuing the
Land Register in Greece. The outline of a business plan aiming to establish an operational land register by
2013, at a total cost of some EUR 500 million, has been agreed in principle.

In accordance with this revised Greek business plan, the land register project is divided into three modules
which can start in parallel but which will be managed as separate groups of deliverables:

(cid:1) the establishment of a digital database of registered property rights presently recorded on paper in

mortgage offices;

(cid:1) the legal validation of registered rights,
property rights clearly to land parcels;

in particular to examine claims by the State, and to link

(cid:1) the preparation and marketing of ancillary products and services.

Since the legal framework determining the circumstances in which the State will claim ownership rights is
still under review, co-financing by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is limited to the first
module.

It covers the following actions:

(cid:1) the creation of an Information Technology (IT) infrastructure for the digital registration of existing
property rights, and to validate state ownership claims. This comprises a digital map of Greece, where
each land parcel can be identified, with its associated rights. It will define the boundaries of areas for
which there is a presumption of state ownership (forest lands, coastal strips), as well as of urban areas
for which the State has recently renounced its claims relating to their past forest status,

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Official Journal of the European Union

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(cid:1) the digitalisation of existing rights retained by the mortgage offices in the metropolitan areas of
Athens and Thessaloniki. This concerns some 12 million property rights out of an estimated total of
33 million property rights in Greece. It should enable a better service for land transactions through
decentralised service centres and mortgage offices.

As this is, in practice, an e-government project, it will be financed within the Operational Programme (OP)
‘Information Society’, with the Ktimatologio SA as the final beneficiary. The necessary credits will be
assigned to this operational programme in the framework of the mid-term review.

The estimated budget is EUR 110 million and a Community contribution of 50 % (EUR 55 million) is
requested. It will be completed by 2006 and only new contracts will be co-financed.

Although this proposal is the basis for an agreement with the Greek authorities, a firm decision for its co-
financing has not yet been taken. First, the OP ‘Information Society’ has to be revised in order to include
this project. Secondly, the final beneficiary must submit its proposal to the management authority of that
programme for approval. Finally, as this constitutes a major project, an application for confirmation of its
co-financing should be submitted to the Commission by the managing authority of the OP ‘Information
Society’. The whole procedure is likely to take until the Autumn of 2004.

The Commission does not envisage, at this stage, any further financial contribution to this project.
However, it will offer technical assistance for the implementation of the entire business plan from its Joint
Research Centre, insofar as this is requested by the Greek authorities.

(2004/C 84 E/0403)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0265/04

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(4 February 2004)

Subject: Propagandist mileage from Community funding in the run-up to elections in Greece

Criticism has been voiced in the Greek press regarding the spate of propagandist media publicity in Greece
‘measures to improve
(particularly on television) being given to ‘new hospitals’,
educational standards’, etc. Many of which refer to the ‘2008 Community Support Framework’.

‘major projects’,

Is such publicity for EU-funded projects in the run-up to elections permissible under Regulation (EC) 1159/
2000 (1)? How many months prior to the date of elections must all such publicity be halted? What
penalties are imposable on Member States infringing the provisions of the above regulation? Can the
Commission take immediate action to end such promotional activity?

(1) OJ L 130, 31.5.2000, p. 30.

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(19 March 2004)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1159/2000 of 30 May 2000 on information and publicity measures to be
carried out by the Member States concerning assistance from the Structural Funds does not establish
specific rules relating to pre-electoral publicity. However, the Community Support Framework (CSF) for
Greece, for the period 2000-2006, states that information and publicity actions relating to Structural
Funds interventions should be suspended two months before European, national, district or municipal