WRITTEN QUESTION No. 4049/97 by José TORRES COUTO to the Commission. The CGTP-IN trade union and the ESF
17. 7. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 223/45 Answer (27 April 1998) The designation of the European City of Culture for 2001 is an intergovernmental decision, and the event 1. itself and the rules governing it were decided on by the Ministers for Culture meeting within the Council. The decision for 2001 will therefore be taken not by the Council but once again by the Ministers responsible 2. meeting within the Council. The proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision establishing a Community initiative for The 3. European City of Cultureí event which is under examination in the Council should not apply before 2002. 4. It would be premature at this stage to attempt to predict when the Ministers meeting within the Council will take a decision for 2001 or whether that decision - for which consensus is required - will relate to one city only. The United Kingdom Presidency is keen to have a decision taken as soon as possible. (98/C 223/52) WRITTEN QUESTION E-4049/97 by Jose· Torres Couto (PSE) to the Commission (14 January 1998) Subject: The CGTP-IN trade union and the ESF Two years ago, the Commission decided to suspend the professional training programmes of the UGT, one of Portugalís trade union federations, for áirregularitiesí allegedly committed by it, the existence of which has not to date been established by any Portuguese court. At the time, the Portuguese press published reports of irregularities committed by the other national trade union federation, the CGTP-IN › namely the falsification of invoices to justify irregular use of the Structural Funds. Subsequently, a director from DG V (ESF), of Portuguese nationality, informed me that virtually the entire operational expenses of the CGTP-IN were being met from ESF funds. Since the Commission has so far failed to provide any further information on the matter, can it, as a matter of urgency, explain the present state of affairs concerning the CGTP-IN and the ESF? Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (18 March 1998) In its normal control activity, the Commission has on different occasions controlled the actions developed by the General confederation of Portuguese workers (CGTP-IN), which were co-financed by the European social fund (ESF). The Commission requested in April 1997 the national authorities to carry out a control in addition to that performed by the Commission. In July 1997 the national authorities informed the Commission that this audit request was accepted and that it was already taking place. The Commission is waiting for the results of this audit. If necessary, it will take action in order to protect its financial interest. In the meantime, the Commission has been systematically examining dossiers for which irregularies have been found and, since the beginning of 1998, has made decisions to reduce co-funding in 14 instances and to suspend co-funding in 2 others. The amounts of money involved are ESC 218 658 132 and ESC 49 360 078, respectively