WRITTEN QUESTION No. 774/98 by Helena TORRES MARQUES to the Commission. DAPHNE projects
C 304/156 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 2. 10. 98 (98/C 304/237) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0766/98 by Nikitas Kaklamanis (UPE) to the Commission (18 March 1998) Subject: Structural Fund appropriations The amount of outstanding Structural Fund appropriations reportedly increased in 1997 by ECU 2. 8 million. In drawing up the 1997 EU budget, the Commission underestimated payment appropriations by ECU 2 billion, while the budgetary authority cut them by a further ECU 1 bn, the effect of which was a premature halt in 1997 to the settlement of accounts because of a shortfall in payment appropriations. It is also reported that there will be no extension for implementing Structural Fund commitment appropriations for 1998 and 1999 beyond 1999 and that, therefore, any outstanding appropriations will be irrevocably lost, reducing the particular package of structural measures by an equal amount. This is a matter of vital importance, particularly for the southern Member States which are in vital need of Structural Fund appropriations to execute the infrastructure projects they require. Would the Commission therefore say: 1. in what way the shortfall in payment appropriations tends to increase the amounts outstanding under the Structural Funds, and 2. what its formal position is on carrying over outstanding commitment appropriations for 1998 and 1999 to subsequent budgets covered by the new Financial Perspective for 2000-2006? Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission (8 April 1998) The Commission is collecting the information it needs to answer the question. It will communicate its findings as soon as possible. (98/C 304/238) WRITTEN QUESTION P-0774/98 by Helena Torres Marques (PSE) to the Commission (5 March 1998) Subject: DAPHNE projects Will the Commission state what projects have been approved as part of the DAPHNE initiative, how many Portuguese projects were submitted and why none of the latter have been approved? Answer given by Mrs Gradin on behalf of the Commission (24 March 1998) 428 projects were submitted in 1997 under the Daphne initiative. 47 of these were accepted by the Commission to receive financial support. Only two of the 428 projects were submitted by Portuguese non-governmental organisations (NGOs). One was ineligible for consideration on technical grounds › the sum requested was ECU 110, whereas for administrative reasons, the guidelines stated that the minimum subvention which could be considered was ECU 10 000. The other project was rejected after evaluation as lacking added-value at European level and as lacking the necessary main partners