WRITTEN QUESTION E-1911/99 by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Progress in implementing the Community's URBAN initiative in Greece.
18. 7. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 203 E/87 To sum up, in relation to the total appropriation under the Structural Funds of € 167,65 million, the commitments of the three Structural Funds together amount to € 162,61 million, i. e. 97 %, and the payments to € 100,10 million, or 60 %. Of course, the figure for payments is the best indicator of the situation on the ground. (1) OJ C 289, 11. 10. 1999. (2000/C 203 E/108) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1910/99 by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission (29 October 1999) Subject: Progress in implementing the Communityís ásmall and medium-sized enterpriseí initiative in Greece Will the Commission say what progress has been made in implementing the Communityís ásmall and medium-sized enterpriseí initiative in Greece in terms of payment of scheduled appropriations? Does it consider that progress has been satisfactory and, if not, to what does it believe any delays are attributable? Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission (25 November 1999) The delay in implementing the Communityís ásmall and medium-sized enterpriseí programme (SMEs) in Greece was produced by the need to coordinate the 125 measures in favour of SMEs incorporated in Greeceís various national and regional operational programmes and other Community Initiatives. According to the information sent to the Commission by the Greek authorities, rapid progress has been made since the launch of the above programme. The Greek authorities have been able to commit the total allocation, with 56 % of payments made so far. On the basis of expenditure actually incurred, the Commission believes that it will be able to commit its total financial contribution by the end of this year. (2000/C 203 E/109) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1911/99 by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission (29 October 1999) Subject: Progress in implementing the Communityís URBAN initiative in Greece Will the Commission say what progress has been made in implementing the Communityís URBAN initiative in Greece in terms of payment of scheduled appropriations? Does it consider that progress has been satisfactory and, if not, to what does it believe any delays are attributable? Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission (25 November 1999) The delay in implementing the URBAN Community Initiative programme in Greece was produced by the need to set up a decentralised management structure, which entailed lengthy discussions and required management contracts to be signed between the Greek Ministry of Economic Affairs and the agencies in charge of implementing the programme in the six cities involved. Once this structure had been put into place rapid progress was made. The contracts have now been signed and all the projects are currently being implemented, while some have even been completed. Given the small scale of the projects, they should be completed by the end of the first half of 2000. C 203 E/88 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 18. 7. 2000 According to the information sent to the Commission by the Greek authorities, all the appropriations allocated to URBAN have been committed and it is therefore realistic to believe that all the appropriations allocated to this programme will be used. However, this is not reflected in the amount of payment appropriations, which are still relatively low as a result of the late start of the programme. (2000/C 203 E/110) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1913/99 by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission (29 October 1999) Subject: Imperial measurement Will the Commission confirm that its statement of 8 February 1999 will allow loose goods to be sold in the UK in imperial measures until the year 2010? Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission (1 December 1999) The use for trade, public health, public safety and public administration, in the Union and the European Economic Area, of units of measurement is harmonised by Directive 80/181/EEC (1), as last amended by Directive 89/617/EEC (2). This harmonised legislation lays down as the legal units for these uses the units of the International System (SI), except for a small number of specific uses for which internationally used non-SI units are allowed. The SI is the extended version of the metric system. To allow a smooth transition to the use of the SI in the United Kingdom and Ireland, transition periods were created for the phasing out in stages of the units from the imperial system. According to the last of these transition periods that is still in force, the use of the units áounceí (avoirdupois) and ápoundí is permitted for the sales by weight of goods, loose from bulk. This transition period comes to an end on 31 December 1999, after which date the kilogram (symbol: kg) becomes the legal unit for these trading transactions. The statement of 8 February 1999, to which the Honourable Member refers, relates to a proposed amendment (3) of Directive 80/181/EEC, that is currently being discussed by the Parliament and the Council. This proposed amendment would allow the use of non-metric units (such as imperial units) in supplementary indications for an additional ten year period (to 1 January 2010). However, while imperial units may be used during this transitional period in supplementary indications, it should nevertheless be emphasised that from 1 January 2000 the legal unit of measurement for the sale by by weight of goods, loose from bulk, will be the SI unit kilogram or decimal multiples or submultiples thereof. (1) OJ L 39, 15. 2. 1980. (2) OJ L 357, 7. 12. 1989. (3) COM(1999) 40 final. (2000/C 203 E/111) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1920/99 by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission (4 November 1999) Subject: Agricultural statistics concerning funding flows in the agricultural and rural development sectors The European Parliamentís Committee on Agriculture recently drew attention to the lack of transparency in relation to the destination and exact amount of the funds allocated by the European Union in the individual Member States. Clear information on the subject could be provided from time to time by unambiguous and up-to-date statistics, which should be made available to the public as promptly as possible