WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2558/98 by José APOLINÁRIO to the Commission. The NUTS and Agenda 2000
C 96/116 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 8. 4. 1999 (1999/C 96/162) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2558/98 by JosØ ApolinÆrio (PSE) to the Commission (1 September 1998) Subject: The NUTS and Agenda 2000 Can the Commission confirm the geographical distribution of the areas eligible under NUTS 2 for the UK, following the submission of Agenda 2000? Answer given by Mr de Silguy on behalf of the Commission (13 October 1998) The Commission presented its proposals for Agenda 2000 (1) in July 1997. Its proposals for new regulations relating to the structural funds and the Cohesion fund for the period 2000-2006 were published in March 1998. In mid-1995, the Statistical office of the Community (Eurostat) was informed by the Office for national statistics (ONS) of the United Kingdom that following a comprehensive reform in regional and local administration, significant changes would be proposed to the nomenclature of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) system. The first draft proposal for reform of the NUTS in the United Kingdom was forwarded to the Commission for comment in mid-1996, followed by a formal proposal in June 1997. After examination of the technical merits of the proposals in the light of the underlying principles of the NUTS system, a new NUTS classification for the United Kingdom was agreed in June 1998. It involved very minor changes at the NUTS 1 level, a significant revision of the NUTS 3 regions with related changes at the NUTS 4 level, as well as more limited changes at the NUTS 2 level. (1) COM(97) 2000 final. (1999/C 96/163) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2567/98 by Peter Truscott (PSE) to the Council (1 September 1998) Subject: Respite and shared care for disabled adults Could the Council please clarify the following points about respite and shared care for disabled adults in the EU. What EU regulations relate to the standards for respite and shared care for disabled adults across Europe? What regulations exist for standards in day care facilities for disabled adults? And finally, how does the standard of provision compare between Member States? Reply (22 October 1998) The Council would like to inform the Honourable Member that there is no legislation at Community level in the fields to which his question refers. The Commission has not submitted any proposals on that subject to the Council. (1999/C 96/164) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2570/98 by Patricia McKenna (V) to the Commission (1 September 1998) Subject: Environment statistics database I am informed that the European Commission now has a new environment statistics database which is currently only available for use by the Commission and cannot be accessed by the European Parliament