WRITTEN QUESTION E-0444/00 by Daniela Raschhofer (NI) to the Commission. Support for the press.
24. 10. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 303 E/195 the environment in the long term. Consequently, aid must be confined to situations in which it makes a genuine contribution to improving the environment significantly and enables firms to adapt to new circumstances, notably in the tax field. These provisions will be spelt out in the new guidelines for state aid for environmental protection, which is currently being drawn up and should be applicable as from 1 July 2000. 2. The use and development of renewable energies are encouraged by the Commission, which is aware that, in some cases, these forms of energy are still faced with higher production costs than traditional sources of energy. In the Commissionís view, therefore, temporary aid for renewable energies may be it must not be permanent and the firms concerned should adapt progressively to justified. However, market conditions. 3. and 4. The Commission has drafted new Community guidelines for environmental aid. They will be examined by Member Statesí experts at a meeting of the Advisory Committee and will then be adopted by the Commission. Organisations active in the environmental field are not consulted directly by the Commission but are usually consulted on an informal basis by the Member Statesí representatives who sit on the Advisory Committee responsible for giving an opinion to the Commission. The views of organisations active in the environmental field are therefore brought to the Commissionís attention indirectly. Where Parliament is concerned, the procedure does not provide for any consultations prior to the adoption of Community state aid guidelines. However, the Commissioner responsible for competition considers it extremely important that Parliament should be regularly informed of the Commissionís work. This matter should, therefore, be addressed at a forthcoming meeting. (2000/C 303 E/223) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0444/00 by Daniela Raschhofer (NI) to the Commission (24 February 2000) Subject: Support for the press Thank you for your answer (E-1876/99) (1) of 5 January 2000. I still have a number of questions regarding the criteria for selecting newspapers for support set out in the reply. 1. What objective criteria are used to assess the ácredibilityí of a medium to receive financial support from the Commission representation? 2. Are statistics yet available on the Commissionís 1999 expenditure on the Austrian media? 3. What financial support does the Commission plan to provide to the Austrian media in the year 2000? On what basis is this support calculated, and can the Commission predict at this stage which 4. Austrian newspapers will be receiving support in 2000? (1) OJ C 203, 18. 7. 2000, p. 78. Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission (24 March 2000) The credibility of a medium is assessed on the basis of continual monitoring over many years of the 1. factual accuracy of its reporting of Community affairs. C 303 E/196 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 24. 10. 2000 In 1999 the daily Der Standard received a grant of € 23,982 (after the final calculation) specifically 2. for a five-part series on Agenda 2000 and the future development of the Community. The Commission Representation in Austria did not make any other payments to newspapers or magazines. So far, the Commission Representation in Austria has no plans to commission any articles against 3. payment in 2000. 4. Payments for commissions in the printed media are calculated on the basis of the demonstrated additional costs linked to producing a special report on a subject specific to Europe and, according to the rules, may run to 50 % of those costs. (2000/C 303 E/224) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0461/00 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (24 February 2000) Subject: Delay in ESF payments Some 7 000 unemployed persons who have attended seminars as part of continuing vocational training programmes in Greece, mainly in the regions of Crete and Attica, have not yet been paid, even though eight months have passed since the programmes were implemented. Given that the programmes in question are funded primarily by the European Social Fund, will the Commission say: 1. Why has it not yet disbursed the sums of money owed to Greece by the European Social Fund? 2What measures does it intend to take to ensure that the unemployed are paid as rapidly as possible? Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission (21 March 2000) For the purpose of funding the European Social Fund (ESF), the Commission every year first establishes the financial commitments and then proceeds with the payments in accordance with the financial plan applicable to each operational programme (OP). The Commission wishes to comment as follows concerning the regions of Crete and Attica: The Commission established the financial commitment relating to the regional OP in Crete as soon as the Member State forwarded the required documents and it made the first advance payment for the 1999 financial year. The Commission received the Member Stateís request for the second advance payment at the end of the year in question, by which time all ESF payment appropriations were exhausted. This explains why the payment was effected in February 2000. In the Attica region, as in several other regions in Greece, the procedure for amending the OPís financial tables was considerably delayed. In addition, the decision-making procedure in the Attica region was further delayed because of the September 1999 earthquake. As a result, when the new financial plans were adopted at the end of 1999, appropriations were exhausted, as was the case in Crete. Consequently the commitment will be established and payment of the first advance effected as soon as the funds become available. the specific measures planned for the victims of