WRITTEN QUESTION P-1890/99 by Pietro-Paolo Mennea (ELDR) to the Commission. Facilities to be built close to Castel del Monte.
21. 11. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 330 E/3 activity detrimental to the Communitiesí interests (1), they shall inform their Heads of service or Directors- general or, if they consider it useful, the Secretary-general of the Commission or OLAF directly. Officials who provided or provide such information through those means had and have the guarantee that they shall in no way suffer inequitable or discriminatory tretament as a result of providing it. In the context of its administrative reforms, the Commission is in the process of developing an improved system which will ensure that, in addition to present provisions, officials who fulfil their duty to report evidence of alleged wrongdoing have further equitable and effective means for reporting, and obtaining thorough and active response to, their concerns and evidence. In compliance with provisions of the Staff Regulation, in the interests of the service, Mr van Buitenen 4. was assigned to a different department where the duties correspond to his skills and background. Reassignment in the interests of the service cannot in any way be regarded as a disciplinary measure. The post which he now occupies is at least equivalent to the one which he occupied before. 5. When the documents were divulged in December 1998, Mr van Buitenenís superiors warned him that he would be violating the Staff Regulations. Mr van Buitenen acted entirely on his own initiative and the Commission does not accept that it would be justifiable for the officials who were his superiors at the time, and acted in good faith, to be moved to other posts for advising him about the requirements of the rules in force and the possible consequences of disclosing the documents in question outside the Institution. (1) OJ L 149, 16. 6. 1999. (2000/C 330 E/003) WRITTEN QUESTION P-1890/99 by Pietro-Paolo Mennea (ELDR) to the Commission Subject: Facilities to be built close to Castel del Monte (14 October 1999) The town Council of Andria in the province of Bari has approved a project which will involve the creation of an area including facilities such as a ticket office, a book shop, a restaurant, various other services and a car park in close proximity to the octagonal castle built for Frederic II of Swabia between 1240 and 1250 known as Castel del Monteí. Its very definition as an artistic monument indicates that the castle and the hill on which it stands constitute a single cultural asset, which Unesco has included on its list of world heritage sites. It is quite clear that if the project is executed in its present form it will alter and cause unacceptable damage to the integrity of this historic site and the surrounding landscape. The project has benefited from EU funding, as it is one of the projects financed to develop and exploit tourism in Objective 1 regions (multi-regional operational plan for the Italian Mezzogiorno). Can the Commission say whether the project has been the subject of the required opinions from the competent authorities, in particular the Bari Environmental, Architectural and Artistic Heritage Office and the Ministry for Cultural Assets and Activities. Whether it intends to take steps to block the funding earmarked by the European Union, in order to ensure that the execution of the project is suspended in accordance with the relevant Italian conservation law and the European legislation designed to cover such cases? Can it also say whether it intends to make European funding subject to an appropriate modification of the project, whereby the envisaged facilities and car park would be moved downhill in order to preserve the local landscape and the beauty of this artistic and historic monument? C 330 E/4 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 21. 11. 2000 Supplementary answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission (18 February 2000) According to information from the Italian authorities, this project was submitted by the Soprintendenza per i beni Ambientali, Architettonici, Artistici e Storici della Pugliaí (Department for the environmental, architectural, artistic and historic assets of Apulia), not by the municipality of Andria (Bari). The project, entitled Castles routeí, includes an exhibition area, a restaurant, a ticket office and a bookshop, and the placing of direction signs. The programme does not, however, include the provision of a car park. The project has been part-financed by the Structural Funds under the Objective 1 programme, specifically measure 5a of sub-programme I the tourism multiregional operational programme. Community part-financing from the European Regional Development Fund amounted to ITL 899 million, 50 % of the total cost. tourismí, which forms part of Cultural From the information supplied, there is nothing which leads the Commission to call into question the financing of the project by the Structural Funds. (2000/C 330 E/004) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1962/99 by Gerhard Hager (NI) to the Commission (5 November 1999) Subject: Efficiency of award and monitoring mechanisms for the funding of projects In December 1998 one of the organisers of a áconferenceí entitled Zur Sache Schätzchen ü Die 68er und ihr Einfluß auf die Solidaritäts- und Dritte-Welt-Bewegungí ( All is revealed: the 1968 generation and their impact on the solidarity and Third World movementí) was the Vereinigte Sozialistische Partei (VSP: United Socialist Party), known to the Hamburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution as an áextreme left- wing organisationí. This event, with a huge presence of left-wing extremists, received funding from the Commission amounting to the equivalent of ATS 35 000. Is it normal practice for events attended by political extremists to receive funding from the 1. Commission? Has funding been given to any other events involving the VSP or other left-wing or right-wing 2. extremist groups? 3. What is the nature of existing award and monitoring mechanisms in respect of examining what groups receive funding? Does the Commission feel that the existing award and monitoring mechanisms are sufficiently 4. efficient to prevent misuse of EU funding? 5. 6. If so, how does the Commission explain the example described above? If not, what progress has been made with reform of such mechanisms? Answer given by Ms Schreyer on behalf of the Commission (7 April 2000) The Commission could not determine whether Union financing had been granted on the basis 1. and 2. of the information contained in the written question. It has contacted the Honourable Member requesting further information and will then be able to reply to the question. With regard to the Commissionís normal practice for funding events in the general interest, the criteria it applies are set out below