WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3899/98 by Patricia McKENNA to the Commission. Participation of Commissioner Emma Bonino in the 1998 Bilderberg meeting
21. 7. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 207/143 The thrust of the programme is two-fold: to promote multilateral youth exchanges and a number of voluntary service activities. There will also be some activities to provide incentives, kick-starting and assistance to improve the quality of both the exchanges and the levee of involvement of the young people concerned: short training courses, the provision of information, study visits, support for the setting-up of national youth councils, and cooperation on studies into the situation of young people. The programme will draw on the experience gained through the Community programme Youth for Europe, with the assistance of the Socrates technical assistance office. National officers will be appointed in each of the 12 partner countries to promote and manage the programme in liaison with the European coordinating organisations, in particular the national Youth for Europe agencies in each of the Member States. The programme was submitted to the Euro-Mediterranean Committee in Barcelona on 25 November 1998 and was endorsed by the 27 Euro-Mediterranean partners. It will become operational in early 1999. Since 1995, the Youth for Europe programme has supported projects involving young people in the Community and Mediterranean partner countries to the tune of some EUR 1 million annually; since 1996 it has funded a number of young European volunteers as part of the European Voluntary Service initiative. (1999/C 207/195) WRITTEN QUESTION P-3893/98 by Arlindo Cunha (PPE) to the Commission (11 December 1998) Subject: Tomato quotas How can the Commission be planning to redistribute the 1999 tomato quotas on the basis of data supplied by each Member State, when it knows that there are legitimate grounds for doubting the veracity of some of these figures? What procedure will the Commission adopt if, once the quotas have been redistributed, it should indeed be proven that the figures used were false? How will producers in the Member States be compensated for the losses suffered as a result of the decision establishing their quotas? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (13 January 1999) As regards the veracity of the data used to calculate the allocation of the quotas between the Member States for the 1999/2000 marketing year, which the Honourable Member has cast doubts on, the Commission is aware only that judicial investigations are under way in one Member State. The Commission will calculate the relevant quotas using the official information from the Member States, which it must use as long as such information is not invalidated by accurate and undeniable findings (especially legal) to the contrary. If the Honourable Member has this information, he is invited to provide it to the Commission. (1999/C 207/196) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3899/98 by Patricia McKenna (V) to the Commission (4 January 1999) Subject: Participation of Commissioner Emma Bonino in the 1998 Bilderberg meeting Concerning the Bilderberg meeting attended by Commissioner Bonino in Turnberry, Scotland from 14-17 May 1998, could the Commission state: 1. What the items were which made up the total travel and whether the costs were reimbursed at the time, or if not who paid them?