WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1615/97 by José VALVERDE LÓPEZ to the Commission. Spanish involvement in agri-industrial projects
25. 2. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 60/31 Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission (25 June 1997) The Commission has no data on the Cohesion Fund broken down by region. However, it is sending direct to the Honourable Member and to the Secretariat of Parliament the annual reports for 1994 and 1995 on the work of the Fund. Annex I to those reports contains the main points of environmental and transport projects part-financed in Spain, including those in Andalusia. (98/C 60/56) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1614/97 by Jose· Valverde Lo·pez (PPE) to the Commission (7 May 1997) Subject: Economic impact on Spanish agriculture of the negotiations on imports of agricultural products from Egypt Among the issues being discussed in bilateral negotiations between the European Union and Egypt is that of imports by the EU of Egyptian agricultural products. Egypt is said to be seeking to export produce to the value of ECU 1. 5 billion per year, including 750 000 tonnes of potatoes, 300 000 tonnes of oranges, 475 000 tonnes of rice and 30 000 tonnes of flowers. Has the Commission assessed the impact on Spanish agriculture of these agreements? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (17 June 1997) The Honourable Member refers to the negotiations held by the Commission with Egypt since 1995 for a new Euro-Mediterranean agreement. The different views concerning the reciprocal concessions on agricultural products constitute at present an important obstacle to the progression of the negotiations. The Commission believes that the Egyptian requests go beyond traditional trade and do not comply with the guidelines agreed with all the mediterranean partners in the Barcelona declaration in November 1995. The Commissionís position takes into account the Barcelona declaration and is in accordance with the current negotiating mandate adopted by the Council, which, as in the negotiations concluded with Morocco, Tunisia and Israel, is based on the traditional trade flows of agricultural products. The Commission can assure the Honourable Member that the Community position in the negotiations will take appropriate account of the sensitivity of each sector of production. (98/C 60/57) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1615/97 by Jose· Valverde Lo·pez (PPE) to the Commission (7 May 1997) Subject: Spanish involvement in agri-industrial projects The Commission has recently approved 62 projects under the agricultural research programme. The Commissionís selection of projects still inspires little confidence among researchers, who believe that procedures are insufficiently transparent and assessments inadequately based. Does the Commission plan to alter the procedures? How many Spanish scientific organizations are involved in the projects approved so far?