WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1866/97 by Johannes SWOBODA to the Council. Planned meeting schedule for the discussion on the ban of landmines
11. 3. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 76/61 Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission (16 July 1997) The Commission agrees that the incidence of irregularities in the management of the structural funds in the Member States is too high. However, all errors discovered are corrected. Moreover, in the great majority of cases, as the Commission has made clear in its replies to the Court of auditorsí reports, the advance payments made by the Commission to the Member States are nevertheless correct and do not need to be adjusted. This is because the Member Statesí payment requests are usually for a sum large enough, even after deduction of any ineligible expenditure because of irregularities, to trigger the advance payment made. If, after deduction of known ineligible expenditure, the net amount does not allow payment of the advance requested, the Member State is invited to present a new claim based on eligible expenditure. The question of recovery does not therefore immediately arise. But if, at the closure of the programmes, the Community contributions are higher than the amounts justified by the final expenditure figures declared by the Member State, the Commission makes the necessary recoveries. One of the important objectives of stage III of the SEM 2000 initiative is to address the problem of errors and irregularities in structural fund management. In this context the Commission adopted on 23 April 1997 decisions (1) clarifying the rules on eligibility of expenditure. It also intends to adopt in the near future a regulation specifying minimum standards for financial control of structural funds operations by the Member States, together with internal guidelines on the circumstances in which, in case of irregularity, it would be appropriate for the Commission to reduce its contribution under the funds to a given programme. (1) OJ L 146, 5. 6. 1997. (98/C 76/144) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1866/97 by Johannes Swoboda (PSE) to the Council (30 May 1997) Subject: Planned meeting schedule for the discussion on the ban of landmines What meetings will take place between May and December 1997 to determine the Councilís position on the ban of landmines as the issue is discussed in the Campaign for Disarmament and the Ottawa Process? Answer (25 September 1997) As the Honourable Member will be aware, the framework for the Councilís position on anti-personnel landmines (APL) is determined by the joint action on APL which it adopted on 1 October 1996. At the heart of this joint action is the expression of the European Unionís commitment to the goal of the total elimination of APL and to working actively towards the achievement at the earliest possible date of an effective international agreement to ban these weapons worldwide. Since adoption of the joint action, the EU has actively pursued its implementation. At the International Conference in Brussels on achieving a complete ban on anti-personnel landmines, held from 24 to 27 June 1997 which was attended by a European Parliament delegation, the Council Presidency gave a presentation of the EUís follow-up to the joint action. At Working Group level, the issue of APL is handled by the CFSP Working Group on Global Disarmament and Arms Control, which covers all disarmament issues dealt with in multilateral fora. The Working Group generally meets at least four times per Presidency. Since May 1997, it has discussed APL at three meetings, in mid-May, early June and in July. Other meetings are scheduled for September and November. Additional meetings will be scheduled as the need arises, either in Brussels or in the margins of sessions of international disarmament fora