WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3040/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. Phare programme
16. 4. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 117/133 (98/C 117/178) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3038/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (1 October 1997) Subject: Age discrimination The IGC should have acted to eliminate discrimination on grounds of age by inserting an article (6a) in the new Treaty. Documents in my possession indicate that this was not the case. Nonetheless, this is a genuine problem and we are faced with cases of discrimination in our daily lives. What is more, this problem is occurring as the average age of Europeís citizens continues to rise almost exponentially. Will the Commission tackle the problem, particularly as regards harmonizing the rules on notices of competition and their enforcement? Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (24 November 1997) The Commission would like to inform the Honourable Member that the Amsterdam Treaty has introduced a new legal basis for the adoption of Community measures to combat, inter alia, discrimination based on age (new Article 6a of the EC Treaty). The Commission will consider any measures which might be appropriate in this field once the Amsterdam Treaty has been ratified. (98/C 117/179) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3039/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (1 October 1997) Subject: Failure to act by the Commission › Phare programme The EU Court of Auditors has drawn up a Special Report on the functioning of the decentralized system for the implementation of the Phare programme (1990-1995) for the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs) (1). We know that the Commission created decentralised implementation systems (DIS) to streamline the programmes and speed up the mobilization of financial resources. The programme management units (PMUs) responsible within the national administrations of the beneficiary countries for administering the Phare funds lack staff and training. The Commission contributed to funding the staffing and operating costs of the PMUs but did not define the principles governing the funding, accounting procedures and monitoring. The Court of Auditors also confirms that the intensive use of technical assistance providing administrative and operational support for the PMUs is costly, particularly because of the árestricted competitioní in awarding contracts (where transparency is always lacking). Some consultancies were awarded a disproportionate number of contracts. The Commission also delayed setting up a system to monitor the PMUsí expenditure and did not ensure an adequate evaluation of the programmes carried out. What is the Commissionís answer to this very serious charge? (1) OJ C 175, 9. 6. 1997, p. 4. (98/C 117/180) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3040/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (1 October 1997) Subject: Phare programme The Court of Auditors has levelled serious criticism at the manner in which the Commission applied the rules on awarding contracts. Some 80% of the Phare funds managed on a decentralized basis are spent on contracts