WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3346/97 by Frank VANHECKE to the Council. Belgian contribution to the European budget
C 158/90 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 25. 5. 98 The position of the Union with regard to respect for human rights in Turkey was recently confirmed at the 3. European Council meeting in Luxembourg on 12 and 13 December 1997. In particular, the European Council recalled that strengthening Turkeyís links with the European Union also depended on that countryís pursuit of the political reforms on which it has embarked, including the alignment of human rights standards and practices on those in force in the European Union. (98/C 158/116) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3346/97 by Frank Vanhecke (NI) to the Council (23 October 1997) Subject: Belgian contribution to the European budget At the meeting of Finance Ministers in Mondorf on 13/14 September, the Netherlands requested a reduction in its contribution to the Union, claiming, on the basis of its own table of figures, that it was the biggest net contributor to the Union. Can the Council supply a copy of this table of figures cited by the Netherlands? Does the Council have calculations of its own which give a detailed indication of which Member States of the Union are net contributors or net beneficiaries and, to what extent, for the years 1995, 1996 and 1997? Answer (20 January 1998) 1. The working paper to which the Honourable Member refers was mentioned by the Netherlands delegation at an informal meeting of Finance Ministers and was not the subject of an official communication to the Council. According to customary practice, when a delegation forwards an internal document of that kind which is discussed in an informal setting, it is the responsibility of that delegation alone, i. e. in this case the Netherlands delegation. 2. With regard to the second question, the Council has taken note of the figures prepared by the Commission relating to the breakdown of resources and most expenditure per Member State. Similar information was also made available to the Council during discussions on previous financial packages and is included in the Court of Auditors reports. However, neither the Council nor the Commission has ever formally drawn up net balances per Member State. (98/C 158/117) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3351/97 by Helena Torres Marques (PSE) to the Commission (22 October 1997) Subject: Projects funded by LIFE II In July 1997 the Commission selected 188 new projects to be co-funded by Life II, the Communityís financial instrument for the environment. Will it say whether the selected projects include any Portuguese projects, and, if so, which ones?