WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2010/97 by José APOLINÁRIO to the Commission. Eurostat statistics on per capita GDP in the Algarve
C 45/142 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 10. 2. 98 (98/C 45/183) WRITTEN QUESTION P-2010/97 by Jose· Apolina·rio (PSE) to the Commission (4 June 1997) Subject: Eurostat statistics on per capita GDP in the Algarve In a recent report on development in European regions, Eurostat gave the figure for GDP in the Algarve as 74% of the Community average, an increase of 15 points from 1993 to 1994 (from 59 to 74%). The figure for Andalusia, which borders on the Algarve, was given as 57% of the Community average. Given the level of development of the two regions, these figures are hard to understand and somewhat contradictory. Will the Commission provide a full explanation of this abrupt increase in wealth, explaining what criteria lie behind this distortion and supplying a comparative table of the criteria used in 1993 and 1994? Will it also say what criteria were used for Andalusia? Answer given by Mr de Silguy on behalf of the Commission (3 July 1997) The figures of 59% and 74% referred to by the Honourable Member are not comparable. As explained in Statistics in Focus › the Regionsí, which sets out the results, national figures for gross domestic product (GDP) are regionalized for each Member State on the basis of the most recent regional structure of gross value added, as transmitted by the national statistical institutes. When the estimates for 1993 were being made, the most recent data for Portugal related to 1990. Regional per capita GDP for the Algarve, expressed as a percentage of the Community average, was estimated at 59%. In 1996, the National Statistical Institute of Portugal (INE) furnished the Commission with revised information for the period 1988-1992. These new data took into account the first results of ongoing work to improve the methodology of national and regional accounts in Portugal. The new data led to a revision of regional GDP for the Algarve, which is now estimated at 73% of the Community average for 1993 and 74% for 1994. The corresponding data for Andalusia are 58% in 1993 and 57% in 1994, but it is difficult to make a direct comparison between the two regions. Andalusia (approximately 87 300 km2 and 7 million inhabitants) is much bigger than the Algarve (approximately 5 000 km2 and 340 000 inhabitants). Consequently, the Spanish region is much less homogeneous than the Portuguese Province. A more detailed geographical analysis (at NUTS3 level), moreover, shows that per capita GDP in Andalusia varies from 53% of the Community average in Granada Province to 65% in Almeria Province. Furthermore, the discrepancy between the level and rate of development in the two regions is due to the difference in the structure of gross value added by branch of activity. In particular, the share accounted for by the branch Recovery and repair, trade services, catering and accommodationí, which includes a large portion of the activities connected with tourism, is 38% in the Algarve, but only 25% in Andalusia. (98/C 45/184) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2014/97 by Klaus Lukas (NI) to the Commission (11 June 1997) Subject: Benes decrees Under the mandate conferred on it by the Copenhagen European Council, the Commission is required, inter alia, to review the realization of fundamental democratic rights and the rule of law in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe which are implementing reforms and have applied for accession to the EU