WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1473/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. Holidaying regional officials
25. 2. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 60/21 It should also be pointed out, however, that both the environmental impact assessment procedure and the Commission’s own checks take place before a project goes ahead. In this instance, the road would already appear to have been constructed and completed. The project has not received Community funding. (1) OJ L 175, 5. 7. 1985. (98/C 60/41) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1473/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (30 April 1997) Subject: Holidaying regional officials Emma Bonino has stated that training weekends have been held in Brussels to improve regional officialsí knowledge of structural fund procedures. I must point out that the Italian regions are the only ones which send different people each time, as if it what was on offer was a holiday prize rather than a work opportunity. Whatever it may think of such statements, will the Commission state what regions the holidaying officials come from, and will Commissioner Bonino publish the names of the persons concerned? Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (23 June 1997) The Honourable Member is probably referring to training courses organised within the Commission for national civil servants involved in the management of the Structural Funds. These Commission-run courses are co-financed by the European Social Fund and are intended primarily for national civil servants responsible for the Objective 1 Structural Funds (measures for Italy’s Mezzogiorno). They offer civil servants a good opportunity to gain more insight into various aspects of the management of Community resources. The Commission does not therefore feel that it is necessary to publish the lists of participants. (98/C 60/42) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1505/97 by Guido Podesta‘ (UPE) to the Commission (30 April 1997) Subject: Coal At the Fifth Euracom Conference on the future of coal › held in Strasbourg on 17 February 1995 in connection with the Unionís energy policy guidelines › the Member of the Commission responsible for energy, Mr Christos Papoutsis, declared that: Solid fuel is obviously at an advantage in terms of competitiveness and security of supply and is the most abundant and competitive source of energy available. All the economic indicators, however, reveal that the Member States are engaged in an alarming intensive race to cut the use of coal for electricity generation, a trend which runs blatantly counter to the decisions being taken by the leading non-European countries. The current energy policies of the Member States are neglecting coal and giving priority instead to more expensive and less plentiful resources, i. e. both as regards the known reserves which can be tapped by means of existing technologies and as regards their geographical spread