WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2691/97 by James PROVAN to the Commission. Use of European Regional Development Funds in Sobral, Portugal (SUPPLEMENTARY ANSWER)
5. 2. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 31/1 I (Information) EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT WRITTEN QUESTIONS WITH ANSWER (1999/C 31/001) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2691/97 by James Provan (PPE) to the Commission (1 September 1997) Subject: Use of European Regional Development Funds in Sobral, Portugal It has been drawn to my attention that EU grants are being made twice to people in Sobral, Porches, Portugal; once for orange-growing subsidies on land recently cleared, and once for the destruction of those new orange trees to make way for infrastructure development in the form of the new autoroute, the Via Infante de Sagres. What controls does the Commission employ to ensure that the projects qualifying for ERDF funds are not being used by the national authorities to pay compensation for land which has already been in receipt of EU subsidy for other purposes? Supplementary answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission (8 May 1998) In the absence of more precise information (the beneficiariesí names, exact location of the holdings concerned, year of grant of aid), the Commission is not in a position to check whether the aid for orange-growing was actually awarded. It is worth pointing out in this connection that any subsidy would have been conditional on maintaining the new plantings for a minimum of five-years. With regard to the construction of the Sobral-Algarve sections of the Via do Infante de Sagresí, the Portuguese authorities have confirmed in a letter dated 13 March 1998 that no funding from the European Regional Development Fund was awarded for these road sections. In the circumstances, the question of whether Community funding was awarded twice to the same people does not arise. (1999/C 31/002) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0222/98 by Markus Ferber (PPE) to the Commission (13 February 1998) Subject: EU aid from the social and regional funds for Bavarian Swabia Can the Commission provide the following information on EU economic and regional aid for the region of Bavarian Swabia: 1. How much EU structural aid › broken down by fund and Community initiative › went to that region in 1997? 2. What sum went to agriculture?