WRITTEN QUESTION No. 448/98 by Gerardo BIANCO , Michl EBNER , Pierluigi CASTAGNETTI to the Council. Cavalese (Trento) tragedy
C 304/108 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 2. 10. 98 Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission (31 March 1998) As with the Structural Funds in general, the Interreg II (1) Community Initiative is implemented in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity. The Commission therefore approved multiannual operational programmes, while the selection and approval of projects is left to the national, regional or local authorities, as appropriate. Under Interreg II, the Commission has allocated ECU 484. 7 million (in 1994 prices) to Spain for Interreg IIA (development of the border areas and cross-border cooperation), ECU 80 million (in 1995 prices) for Interreg IIB (construction of interconnectors between the Portuguese and Spanish gas grids) and ECU 116. 1 million (in 1996 prices) for Interreg IIC (regional planning), including approximately ECU 10 million for transnational cooperation projects and ECU 106 million to alleviate drought. Spain is currently involved in several cross-border or transnational operational programmes (OPs) in receipt of the above Community funding, namely: › OP for Spain-France, total volume: approximately ECU 140 million; total Community contribution: ECU 1. 6 million; › OP for Spain-Portugal, total volume: approximately ECU 755 million; total Community contribution: ECU 52. 0 million; › OP for Spanish regions bordering Morocco, total volume: approximately ECU 185 million; total Community contribution: ECU 100. 0 million; › OP for the Mediterranean and the French and Italian Alps, total volume: approximately ECU 23 million; total Community contribution: ECU 13. 3 million; › OP for South-West Europe, total volume: approximately ECU 10 million; total Community contribution: ECU 5. 2 million. (1) OJ C 180, 1. 7. 1994. (98/C 304/162) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0448/98 by Gerardo Bianco (PPE), Michl Ebner (PPE) and Pierluigi Castagnetti (PPE) to the Council Subject: Cavalese (Trento) tragedy (27 February 1998) On 3 February 1998 an American military plane cut the cables of the Mount Cermis, Cavalese, cable car, causing the death of 20 people of six different nationalities. The plane was on a low-level training flight and is suspected of violating the safety rules for such military operations Does the Presidency intend to intervene vis-a‘-vis all commands of air forces operating over European territory and take all the steps needed to ensure compliance with the safety standards laid down by flight regulations? Answer (4 June 1998) The Honourable Members are certainly well aware of the great importance the Council attaches to matters regarding aviation safety. With the aim of improving standards, the European Community is now about to apply for membership of Eurocontrol with a view to establishing and implementing a mechanism for the multilateral development and harmonisation of safety regulations in air traffic management. At the same time, the European Community is studying the possibility of creating an European Aviation Safety Authority. Regarding lessons to be drawn from the particular accident referred to by the Honourable Members, the Council has not received any proposal from the Commission