WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1858/98 by Carmen DÍEZ DE RIVERA ICAZA to the Commission. Blue flags and Cantabria
C 13/104 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 18. 1. 1999 (1999/C 13/147) WRITTEN QUESTION P-1858/98 by Carmen Díez de Rivera Icaza (PSE) to the Commission Subject: Blue flags and Cantabria (8 June 1998) I am not entirely reassured by the Commissionís reply to the written question P-1421/98 (1) concerning the awarding of blue flags which I tabled in view of the complaints made against the awarding of such flags to the beaches at Arena, Tregandin, Berria, Magdalena, Concha, etc. , and I therefore ask the Commission once again what action it is planning to take with regard to the 1998 Blue Flag Campaign in order to prevent any repetition of the abuses brought to light in the complaints lodged by the ARCA and Mortera Verde associations, of which I am patron. (1) OJ C 402, 22 12. 1998, p. 130. Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (13 July 1998) Within the award procedure for the blue flags, the Commission is only associated to confirm compliance of candidate sites with the water quality criteria set out in Directive 76/160/EEC (1) on bathing water quality. This verification is done on the basis of data provided by the Member States under existing reporting obligations pursuant to the Directive. This information is also the basis for the Commissionís annual report on the quality of bathing water in the Community. The complaints mentioned by the Honourable Member are being investigated by the Commission in the light of Directive 76/160/EEC. The complainants will be informed in due course of the outcome. (1) OJ L 31, 5. 2. 1976. (1999/C 13/148) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1861/98 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (16 June 1998) Subject: Implementation of the Education and Initial Vocational Trainingí programme in Greece The Commission is reported to have proposed to the monitoring committee that funding for activities within the framework of the operational programme Education and Initial Vocational Trainingí in Greece should be cut. What scale of cuts was proposed for each subprogramme? Why has the Commission proposed these cuts? Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (3 September 1998) At the last meeting of the monitoring committee of the operational programme Education and initial trainingí, held in Athens on 7 May 1998, the Commission proposed the scaling down of the programme in question. Although it was not specified how each sub-programme should be scaled down, it is worth noting that sub- programme 2 (initial training) is advancing well and almost on target as far as European social fund credits take- up rate is concerned (47 % at the end of March 1998). The respective figures for the other sub-programmes are 20 % (secondary education); 23 % (tertiary education) and 16 % (administrative modernisation of the education system). Taking into consideration that the present programming period is rapidly coming to an end and all financial commitments have to be undergone by 31 December 1999, that the programmeís absorption rate amounts to 29 % and about 1 350 MECU remain still unused, that it is not realistic to expect such a dramatic increase in the take-up rate in the coming years, and that implementing structures and mechanisms are weak, the Commission proposed the above scaling down in order to ensure the full and timely use of European social fund credits in Greece