WRITTEN QUESTION E-0737/04 by José García-Margallo y Marfil (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Student participation in the Erasmus programme.
Date: 2004-03-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Community of Valencia, EU statistics, education statistics, student mobility

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/667

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(16 April 2004)

Up to the present, the Commission has not taken a decision to support through the Cohesion fund or
through the Structural Funds any project dealing with water transfer from the Ebro river to the East and
South-Spanish zones.

The Spanish authorities have submitted four proposals for co-financing regarding this project that are
currently being evaluated by the services of the Commission.

(2004/C 84 E/0752)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0736/04

by José García-Margallo y Marfil (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(11 March 2004)

Subject: Support for regions which will not be included in Structural Fund Objective 1 on account of the

so-called ‘statistical effect’

What transitional financial arrangements will apply to the regions which cease to qualify for Structural
Fund Objective 1 status on account of the so-called ‘statistical effect’ which is due to the arrival of regions
from the new Member States whose average income levels are well below the current Community average?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(13 April 2004)

The Commission adopted proposals for the future of cohesion policy for the period 2007-2013 in the
Third Report on economic and social cohesion which was adopted on 18 February 2004 and transmitted
to Parliament and to the Council. Among the proposals, the Commission considers that temporary support
should apply to regions where per capita the gross domestic product (GDP) would have been below 75 %
of the Community average in a Union of Fifteen but above 75 % in a Union of Twenty-five (the so-called
statistical effect of enlargement). These are regions where objective circumstances have not changed,
although their GDP per head will be relatively higher in the enlarged Union. In the interest of equity, and
to allow the regions concerned to complete the process of convergence, the Commission proposes that
support would be higher than decided in Berlin in 1999 for the so-called ‘phasing out’ regions of the
current generation (1).

(1) COM(2004) 107: A new partnership for cohesion.

(2004/C 84 E/0753)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0737/04

by José García-Margallo y Marfil (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Student participation in the Erasmus programme

(11 March 2004)

Has the Commission drawn up any precise statistics concerning the number of European university
students who have benefited from the Erasmus programme in the period since it was set up? Has it
produced a breakdown by Member State and by region? If so, what are the figures involved?

Has the Commission any specific data relating to the Valencia region which could enable a comparison to
be made with other regions?

C 84 E/668

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

Answer given by Ms Reding on behalf of the Commission

(19 April 2004)

The Commission is pleased to inform the Honourable Member that a range of statistics on Erasmus
mobility, including a breakdown by Member State, is available on the Web site of the Directorate-General
for Education and Culture. The Internet address is as follows:
(http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/
programmes/socrates/erasmus/stat_en.html).

As far as a breakdown of the statistics by region is concerned, there exists a more detailed database, which
is available in all the national Socrates/Erasmus agencies.

Consequently, as far as Valencia is concerned, the Commission suggests that the Honourable Member
contact the Spanish national agency at the following address:

Agencia Nacional Erasmus
Consejo de Coordinacion Universitaria
Ciudad Universitaria s/n
E-28040 Madrid
Contact person: Ms Maria Teresa Diez Iturrioz
Tel.: (34-91) 453 98 00
E-mail: mariateresa.diez@cuniv.mec.es

(2004/C 84 E/0754)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0739/04

by José García-Margallo y Marfil (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(11 March 2004)

Subject: The EU’s future regional policy for the outermost Mediterranean regions

Following the imminent enlargement of the European Union there will be a considerable reduction in
transfers of funding to the current Member States in the form of structural and cohesion funds. Michel
Barnier (Commissioner) has proposed that regions which lose their Objective 1 status (such as the Valencia
region in Spain) should continue to receive aid on a degressive basis.

In the light of this and bearing in mind the EU’s post-2007 financial perspective, has the Commission
carried out a detailed analysis of the impact which the reduction in aid and funding will have on the
economies of the Mediterranean regions which have hitherto enjoyed Structural Fund Objective 1 status
but which will lose it on account of their income level? It should be borne in mind that they will still be
outlying regions with income levels which will continue to be inadequate.

If this is the case, what will the impact be (in both qualitative and quantitative terms) on the Valencia
region?

In the case of regions which will gradually cease to receive funding, what action is the Commission
proposing to take in order to ensure that their economies are not significantly damaged?

Furthermore, how does the Commission consider it should compensate for the radical drop in financial aid
for the above regions which will occur when the Cohesion Fund is wound up?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(16 April 2004)

The Commission has just published the Third Cohesion Report on economic and social cohesion (1), in
accordance with article 159 of the EC Treaty, which includes a detailed analysis of the impact and value
added of Structural Funds. This report also includes a proposal for the reform of Cohesion for the period
2007-2013.