WRITTEN QUESTION E-0753/00 by Avril Doyle (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Regional funding for southeast Ireland.
C 46 E/38 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 13. 2. 2001 Joint answer to Written Questions E-0745/00 and E-0746/00 given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission (17 April 2000) The Commission is presently reviewing the Communityís past experiences in the field of health, human immunedeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and population and presenting orientations for the Communityís future efforts. This exercise is part of the general discussion and reformulation of the Community development policy and the related discussion on a poverty action plan, a gender action plan and a review of priorities in social policy areas. Informal discussions have taken place with the experts from Member States and some other major partners. In general, the orientations have been well received, and will now be discussed in management, before wider consultations. The policy orientations will of course also become available for discussions in Parliament, but should be considered within the larger framework referred above. As regards management of the specific budget line mentioned by the Honourable Member, considerations will be given to human resources and technical assistance within the context of the overall exercise of policy and resource priority setting that is ongoing. Part of this exercise will be addressed in the follow up on the white paper (1) on reform of the Commission. In this framework the distribution of human and financial resources will be part of an overall exercise on priority setting and distribution of resources which will be completed by September 2000. (1) COM(2000) 200 final. (2001/C 46 E/043) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0753/00 by Avril Doyle (PPE-DE) to the Commission (13 March 2000) Subject: Regional funding for southeast Ireland Being in mind that the southeast region of Ireland has been classified as an Objective 1 in transition area, would the Commission pay special attention to the region while negotiating the dispersal of the various funding programmes in the light of recent figures published (1) by the Central Statistics Office of Ireland and which show that the region is not benefiting from the growth in the Irish economy as much as many other areas in Ireland hitherto classified as more needy? (1) Published on 21 February 2000. Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission (11 May 2000) The classification of the Southern and Eastern region of Ireland as an Objective 1 region in transition provides scope for more balanced economic growth across the region. A dedicated operational programme (the Southern and Eastern operational programme) with planned expenditure of almost € 4 000 million will complement expenditure through the inter-regional operational programmes in the region of € 31 000 million. Sub-regions found to be lagging behind in terms of infrastructure and industry or services will be targeted with differentiated assistance according to need with a view to eliminating imbalances within the region as a whole