WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3235/97 by Nikitas KAKLAMANIS to the Commission. Funding for third countries from EU programmes intended for Member States
30. 4. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 134/121 It is useful to remember that: › the overall amount of the commitments remains inside the indicative allocation provided for in the Regulation for each beneficiary Member State; › payments are made on the basis of requests by the national authorities reflecting the state of progress of the projects financed; › the appropriations which have been committed but not yet used are made available again and carried forward for financing new projects. (98/C 134/158) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3235/97 by Nikitas Kaklamanis (UPE) to the Commission (20 October 1997) Subject: Funding for third countries from EU programmes intended for Member States Although section III (áinternal policiesí) of the financial perspectives is intended to support measures in the EU Member States, regulations are continually being adopted to provide funding for third countries from programmes intended to meet the needs of EU Member States. This is despite the fact that section IV (áthird countriesí) is intended solely for countries outside the EU and is already providing generous funding for them. Can the Commission give the reasons for this situation and will it consider ways of limiting the diversion of funds towards countries outside the EU from programmes designed to cover the Unionís own major needs? Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission (1 December 1997) The Commission is collecting the information it needs to answer the question. It will communicate its findings as soon as possible. (98/C 134/159) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3241/97 by Alfonso Novo Belenguer (ARE) to the Commission (20 October 1997) Subject: Objective 1 regions On 16 July 1997 the European Commission published its Agenda 2000í, outlining the prospects for the European Union at the beginning of the next century. These prospects included a chapter devoted to the reform of the Structural Funds, in which the Commission envisages reducing the number of priority objectives from 7 to 3. It is proposed that after 1999 Objective 1 will apply strictly and invariably to the regions whose GDP is less than 75% the Community average. However, for the regions which are currently under Objective 1 and after 1999 will exceed 75% of Community GDP, there will be a transitional phase of support, i. e. a mechanism for gradually withdrawing the aid provided under Objective 1 of the Structural Funds. In view of this, can the Commission: 1. specify what exactly this gradual withdrawal mechanism will consist of; 2. if not, say when will it provide information about the mechanism?