WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3637/97 by Luciano VECCHI to the Commission. Guarantees required in respect of participation in the employment initiative in Sweden
16. 6. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 187/33 Given that such matters are subject to different regulations in the various Member States of the Union, would the Commission state whether Spain requires non-profit-making undertakings (and, in general, firms in the cooperative, mutual and non-profit sector) to provide financial or bank guarantees and, if so, on what terms? (98/C 187/57) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3637/97 by Luciano Vecchi (PSE) to the Commission (13 November 1997) Subject: Guarantees required in respect of participation in the employment initiative in Sweden As has already been pointed out in earlier questions, the Italian authoritiesí decision to require non-profit-making undertakings to provide bank guarantees in order to participate in employment initiatives has proved costly and punitive for undertakings which obviously have difficulty in providing financial guarantees of their own. Given that such matters are subject to different regulations in the various Member States of the Union, would the Commission state whether Sweden requires non-profit-making undertakings (and, in general, firms in the cooperative, mutual and non-profit sector) to provide financial or bank guarantees and, if so, on what terms? Joint answer to Written Questions E-3624/97, E-3625/97, E-3626/97, E-3627/97, E-3628/97, E-3629/97, E-3630/97, E-3631/97, E-3632/97, E-3633/97, E-3634/97, E-3635/97, E-3636/97 and E-3637/97 given by Mr Papoutsis on behalf of the Commission (30 January 1998) The Commission has no information on the obligation imposed by Member States on non-profit organisations to provide a bank guarantee in order to gain access to funding under the various Community programmes. This is a matter of national law. As regards the granting of subsidies under the Employment initiative, it is up to the national authorities which sign the agreements with the project promoters to require bank guarantees in accordance with the national rules in force. In Austria, Germany, Greece, Portugal and Spain, such guarantees are not normally required from potential promoters to gain access to the Employment initiative. While it is true that the provision of a bank guarantee may be an additional burden, particularly for enterprises operating in the context of the social economy, it is nonetheless true that this is essential when the consequences of failing to fulfil a contractual obligation may exceed the debtorís financial means. The Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities of 21 December 1977 (1), as last amended (2), requires the provision of security by contractors when very large contracts are awarded or when subsidies are granted for the performance of projects involving high sums. However, the majority of non-profit associations are rarely affected by this obligation, given the small scale of the projects they propose. (1) OJ L 356, 31. 12. 1977. (2) OJ L 240, 7. 6. 1995. (98/C 187/58) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3638/97 by Christof Tannert (PSE) to the Commission (13 November 1997) Subject: EU-wide recognition of training in special needs teaching and social work professions in Berlin The Berlin Senate is planning to introduce legislation on State recognition of special needs teaching and social work professions in Berlin (the Social Professions Recognition Act › SozBAG). The intention is change the training of social workers and special needs teachers (currently comprising three years of study plus practical training) by halving the period of practical training from the current 12 months to six, for a transitional period lasting at most until 31 December 2006