WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3041/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. Phare programme
C 117/134 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 16. 4. 98 for services (technical assistance), supplies or works. The awarding of service contracts is governed by Article 188 of the Financial Regulation and Article 7 of the Phare Regulation. The Financial Regulation stipulates that these contracts are to be awarded áafter restricted invitations to tenderí. Article 7 of the Phare Regulation stipulates that in the case of assistance exceeding ECU 50 000 participation in invitations to tender and contracts shall be open áon equal termsí to all natural and legal persons of the Member States. Is it true that the Commission has decided that service contracts exceeding ECU 50 000 should be subject to restricted invitations to tender with the result that access áon equal termsí for each one has not always been guaranteed? (98/C 117/181) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3041/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (1 October 1997) Subject: PHARE programme In its report on the implementation of the Phare programme, the Court of Auditors examines the lists of companies providing services in 1993 and 1994 and reveals that companies from certain PHARE countries were chosen from the lists more often than companies from other countries. In some PHARE countries the requirement for áreasonable geographical balanceí is particularly notable, the Court states. For example, companies with offices in Poland and Hungary are by far the most frequently consulted. The frequency with which companies are chosen from the restricted lists also indicates imbalances: a small group of 24 companies (representing approximately 3% of the total number of companies consulted) were selected between 10 and 31 times more often than the others. Will the Commission explain the reasons for this lack of transparency and say what action it intends to take? Joint answer to Written Questions E-3039/97, E-3040/97 and E-3041/97 given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission (11 November 1997) In his questions the Honourable Member picks up some of the statements and criticisms made by the Court of Auditors in its special report on the Decentralised Implementation System (DIS) for the PHARE programme, in particular the working of programme management units (PMUs), the procedure for placing service contracts and balance in the selection of tenderers. The Commission repeats: in connection with that report it gave a full answer to the Court’s remarks and did so in more detail than is possible in connection with these questions. The Commission wishes to point out again that it observed the relevant procedures and rules in a context in which it had at once to seek as far as possible to attain the objectives (which are sometimes hard to reconcile) of effectiveness, giving responsibility to the partner country, competition and openness in the placing of contracts. Here it must be borne in mind that the service contracts examined by the Court of Auditors (a 1993-94 sample) were predominantly in the field of technical assistance for a unique process of transition to a democratic and market-economy model. As the programme has advanced beyond the stage of early emergencies, and with growing experience in the partner countries’ official departments and the Commission, the fields identified as unsatisfactory by the report have been, or are on the point of being, addressed by the Commission. The chief decisions reached and corrections initiated relate to the following: › measures to implement Article 118 (revised) of the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977, applicable to the general budget of the European Communities; (1) in addition to publication in the Official Journal as required, PHARE service contracts are also advertised on the Internet and all expressions of interest are now subject to prequalification (the procedure was introduced in mid-1996);