WRITTEN QUESTION E-0478/00 by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Preparation by the European Commission of the proposed legal basis for the Archipelago action programme on the minority and regional languages of the EU.
C 374 E/82 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 28. 12. 2000 What will be the guidelines and requirements governing the eligibility of projects for Community funding? When can the selected projects hope to receive the Community funding allocated to them? (2000/C 374 E/096) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0478/00 by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Commission (24 February 2000) Subject: Preparation by the European Commission of the proposed legal basis for the Archipelago action programme on the minority and regional languages of the EU The European Commission is drawing up a legislative proposal to provide a legal basis (and, consequently, funding from the Community budget) for a Community action programme for the protection and promotion of the minority and regional languages of the European Community. The European Union has also set aside funding from the 2000 budget for a series of preparatory initiatives to promote minority and regional languages. In the light of the above, and given the need to finalise as quickly as possible the legislative procedure for the adoption of the legal basis, both in order to ensure the continuity and stability of the projects that are part of the preparatory initiatives for 2000, and to guarantee and enhance the promotion and protection of the regional and minority languages of the EU over the coming years, will the Commission give details of the approximate timetable for this legislative procedure and, more specifically, when the proposal will reach the EP? Will the Commission give details of the general principles of the proposal and, specifically, the total amount and duration of Community funding proposed? On what Treaty provisions is the Commission basing this procedure? Could the Commission define the concept of a minority or regional language as eligible for funding under the forthcoming action programme? Joint answer to Written Questions E-0465/00 and E-0478/00 given by Ms Reding on behalf of the Commission (2 May 2000) Budget heading B3-1000, entitled Cooperation in the fields of education and of youth policyí covers a áto support measures to total sum of € 4,5 million. This amount is intended, amongst other things, promote and safeguard the regional and minority languages and cultures of the Communityí. The Commission has earmarked a total of € 2,5 million for this purpose, as was stated in the preliminary draft budget presented to the Council and the Parliament. To this end, the Commission plans to publish a call for proposals as soon as possible, the text of which it is currently finalising. All the criteria for the presentation and selection of the proposals will be stated in the call. The Honourable Member will be notified directly as soon as the full picture becomes clear. The Commission is also examining the case for a specific study on the needs of the Unionís linguistic minorities that would complement the information already available on this subject. 28. 12. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 374 E/83 The development of measures to promote and safeguard regional and minority languages over the coming years will take into account the implementation of these actions and the European Year of Languages in 2001. The exact content of these measures will be decided at the appropriate time. The definition of regional and minority languages is based on Article 1 of the Council of Europeís European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages áregional or minority languagesí means languages that are traditionally used within a given territory of a State by nationals of that State who form a group numerically smaller than the rest of the Stateís population; and different from the official language(s) of that State; it does not include either dialects of the official language(s) of the State or the languages of migrants. (2000/C 374 E/097) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0468/00 by Isabelle Caullery (UEN) to the Commission (24 February 2000) Subject: European Union employment policy Can the Commission give a comprehensive list of the instruments and resources at the disposal of the European Union to combat the veritable scourge of unemployment in its Member States? Can it give initial statistical estimates for each of the Member States concerning the effectiveness of its measures since 1994 in creating and safeguarding jobs? Can it also say what are the main decisions which have been taken following the Luxembourg Summit, which was largely devoted to the unemployment situation in the European Union, and what have been to date the initial effects on employment figures? Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission (15 May 2000) In order to combat unemployment, it was necessary to adopt a comprehensive strategy for coordinating economic policies, structural reforms and the labour market, to follow on from the informal convergence strategy launched by the European Council in Essen in 1994 and the Commissionís White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness and Employmentí of 1993 (1). On the labour market, the main instrument used to combat unemployment is the implementation of the Title on employment provided for in the EC Treaty (Articles 125 to 130). It fixes a high level of employment as a target to be considered by Community policies (Article 127) and commits the Member States to coordinate their employment policies on the basis of common objectives, including quantified objectives (Article 128). It sets up the institutional mechanism for the monitoring and multilateral evaluation of the success or failure of the policies concerned. The Structural Funds, in the new programming (2000-2006), are the Communityís key instrument for providing assistance in the implementation of the employment strategy. The European Social Fund (ESF), in particular, aims to modernise and ensure the balanced operation of the labour markets, thus indirectly to create jobs. The territorial dimension to employment policies, highlighted in the employment guidelines for the year 2000, is, moreover, becoming increasingly important to all the Structural Funds. This dimension is recognised in the Commissionís approach to preparing and implementing the Structural Fundsí programming for 2000-2006. Particular emphasis has been placed on spreading territorial employ- ment pacts in the new operational programmes (2). Estimates of the effects of the measures The employment strategy cannot be properly evaluated until the end of the five-year period decided upon in 1997. The joint reports on employment for 1998 and 1999 already show examples of good practice in the implementation of the guidelines, in some cases with supporting figures on the impact in terms of the