WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2497/97 by John IVERSEN to the Commission. Stabex system
C 134/10 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30. 4. 98 › Holding back 30% of the grant until a period long after the end of the programmeís financial year (30 June 1998) forces universities to engage in prefinancing into a third financial year. Since the final report will not be drawn up until 15 November 1998, the remaining funds are unlikely to be allocated before early 1999. However, the internal administrative expenditure on prefinancing the remaining appropriations will be out of all proportion to the size of the total sum. This is, in fact, an unnecessary and additional burden on the administrative bodies which already have far too much to do (offices in other countries, Socrates coordinators etc. ), particularly as › thanks to the planned reduction › the Youth Technical Assistance Office in Brussels will scarcely be in a position to evaluate the final reports within an appropriate period of time and arrange for the final payments to be made. 1. Why does the new Socrates programme differ from its predecessors in terms of details of how aid is granted and the breakdown of money allocated? 2. Is the Council aware of the serious disadvantages this will cause universities and the relevant administrative bodies and, if so, how does it intend to reduce this additional bureaucracy? Answer (22 December 1997) Management of the Socrates Programme is the responsibility of the Commission. Articles 4 and 5 of the basic Decision (No 819/95/EC) stipulate that the Commission shall be responsible for implementing the programme with the assistance of a committee composed of two members designated by each Member State and chaired by the Commission representative. The Commission, to which the same question has been put, will provide the desired information. (98/C 134/14) WRITTEN QUESTION P-2497/97 by John Iversen (PSE) to the Commission (11 July 1997) Subject: Stabex system Will the Commission take the initiative to ensure that countries that receive money via Stabex abandon single-crop farming? Answer given by Mr Pinheiro on behalf of the Commission (4 September 1997) The aim of Stabex is to stabilise receipts for key exports from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries as part of a strategy to support their development efforts. Diversification is also encouraged; Article 186 (2) of the Lome· IV Convention stipulates that resources transferred under Stabex are to be devoted, in accordance with a framework of mutual obligations to be agreed between the ACP state concerned and the Commission, either to the sector that recorded the loss of export earnings or, where appropriate, to diversification, for use in other appropriate productive sectors, mainly agriculture. During discussions on the framework of mutual obligations, consideration is given to the appropriateness of operations aimed at diversifying exports of primary products and supporting processing activities in the producer countries and to their importance for the countryís macro-economic framework. Appropriate operations are then integrated into the framework of mutual obligations under preparation