WRITTEN QUESTION No. 600/98 by Panayotis LAMBRIAS to the Commission. Civil aviation safety
9. 10. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 310/99 Finally, the Commission should be aware that fresh delays to the project may compromise the sound and full execution of Community funds for reasons which could not then be attributed to the national authorities. Given that we are coming to the end of CSF II, such delays might lead to an accumulation of projects in the final year of the CSF (1999). 1. Is the Commission aware that the grounds alleged by the losing bidder had already been substantially addressed in connection with the appeal submitted in Portugal and rejected by the competent national authorities? Is the Commission in a position to take steps to remedy the consequences arising from the delays caused by 2. its request for clarification in the event that those explanations show the appeal to be without foundation? If so, what will these steps be? Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (5 May 1998) The Commission does not doubt the importance of the proposed rail link for the public of Porto or the benefits it may bring for day-to-day life in the area. However, in is capacity as guardian of the Treaties, the Commission has the task of ensuring that the provisions of Community legislation are correctly applied and that, in this connection, all complaints lodged with it against practices that may be in breach of Community law are examined, irrespective of whether or not they have been lodged with the national authorities and irrespective of the outcome of presentation to the national authorities. It is the Commissionís duty in particular to intervene where Community funds may be involved, as is indeed so in the case at issue, so as to ensure that they are correctly used. A request for information has thus been sent to the Portuguese authorities, asking for a swift reply and suspending the award procedure until the matters raised have been fully clarified. Once it has received that information, the Commission will take all the steps that it deems appropriate. (98/C 310/132) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0600/98 by Panayotis Lambrias (PPE) to the Commission (4 March 1998) Subject: Civil aviation safety Given the concern felt by public opinion about safety in the wake of the recent air disasters, can the Commission confirm reports by the relevant organisations that the European Union is lagging behind the United States in investments aimed at promoting civil aviation safety,? What measures does it intend to take to remedy this situation? Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission (15 April 1998) The Commission is not aware of reports of the sort referred to by the Honourable Member and cannot therefore respond to this part of the question. If the Honourable Member has material relating to such reports he is welcome to provide them for the Commission. The Commission has taken a number of initiatives to contribute to an improvement in the already high safety standards of civil aviation in the Union. In particular, the Honourable Member is referred to the Commission Communication on Defining a Community aviation safety improvement strategyí (1) for further details of the actions proposed by the Commission. (1) SEC(96) 1083 final