WRITTEN QUESTION E-0336/00 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Exclusion of the prefecture of Arta from assistance under the Community Interreg 2000-2006 initiative.
8. 8. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 225 E/223 (2000/C 225 E/258) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0336/00 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (14 February 2000) Subject: Exclusion of the prefecture of Arta from assistance under the Community Interreg 2000-2006 initiative The Commission recently forwarded a draft notification to the EU Member States concerning the Communityís Interreg 2000-2006 initiative. From this it emerges that, although it meets the necessary criteria, the prefecture of Arta has not been included in a list of regions eligible for assistance under the cross-border cooperation arrangements (Section A), which will take up most of the funding. Since this effectively amounts to discrimination against the prefecture of Arta: 1. Can the Commission give the reasons for its decision to exclude Arta from the list of regions eligible for funding within the framework of cross-border cooperation? 2. Will the Commission remedy this injustice against the prefecture of Arta and include it in the list of regions selected in its final draft? Joint answer to Written Questions E-0150/00, E-0229/00 and E-0336/00 given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission (6 March 2000) The Commission is collecting the information it needs to answer the question. It will communicate its findings as soon as possible. (2000/C 225 E/259) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0178/00 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) and Helmuth Markov (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (31 January 2000) Subject: Discontinuing of train services between the Netherlands and Germany after upgrading of the Nieuweschans ü Weneer section of the TEN 1. Is the Commission aware that passenger rail services between Groningen in the Netherlands and Bremen in Germany have so far been restricted to three trains a day in each direction and that there has even been talk of cancelling the service, which would mean that there would no longer be any public transport between the northern regions of the two countries. 2. Is the Commission also aware that for years the main argument put forward in support of this restricted service was that the section of the line between the border localities of Nieuweschans (Nether- lands) and Weener (Germany, Lower Saxony) was dilapidated and single-track, as a result of which the speed had to be restricted to 30 km an hour in some places, and that the necessary repairs were not regarded as viable? Can the Commission confirm that as from 1 April 2000 rail traffic on the border section of the track 3. will be suspended for six months (and replaced by a bus service) so that this neglected line can at last be upgraded at a cost of at least EUR 16,5 million and the train speed increased to 120 km per hour, except on the swing bridge over the Ems between Papenburg and Leer, which is needed because of shipbuilding, and that the cost of the German section of the work is being funded partly with monies allocated to the trans-European networks?