WRITTEN QUESTION E-2411/99 by Cristina Gutiérrez Cortines (PPE-DE) to the Commission. The Murcia region and the ERDF.
C 225 E/128 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 8. 8. 2000 Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission (17 January 2000) The aid granted under the Community initiative programme Interreg Spain-Morocco for the period 1994-1999 amounts to € 104,1 million. The breakdown by subprogramme is as follows: Support for socioeconomic development Cultural heritage and environment Improvement of cross-border communications Management and monitoring (in million euro) 38,78 10,85 54,40 0,07 Projects are managed by the following bodies: Administración Central; Junta de Andalucia; Ayuntamiento de CÆdiz; Ayuntamiento de MÆlaga; Ciudad Autónoma de Ceuta; Ciudad Autónoma de Melilla; Mancomu- nidad de Municipios del Bajo Guadalquivir; Diputación Provincial de MÆlaga; Diputación Provincial de CÆdiz; Red ElØctrica; Telefónica; Autoridad Portuaria de la Bahía de CÆdiz; Autoridad Portuaria de la Bahía de Algeciras; Autoridad Portuaria de Ceuta; Autoridad Portuaria de Melilla. Details of the projects part-financed by these four subprogrammes as well as the final recipients and the amounts which were granted to them can be obtained from the body responsible for chairing the monitoring committee, in this case the Spanish Ministry for Economic Affairs and Finance. (2000/C 225 E/138) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2411/99 by Cristina GutiØrrez Cortines (PPE-DE) to the Commission (16 December 1999) Subject: The Murcia region and the ERDF By Decision C(94) 2587 the Commission approved a global subsidy for modernising the production and marketing structures of companies working in the Murcia region, raising the regionís human resources standards and hence promoting the creation of long term employment. Will the Commission provide full details of: 1. the subsidies and funding paid out to date pursuant to this Decision, and 2. a list of the recipients of these monies? Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission (17 January 2000) The global grant allotted to the region of Murcia by decision C(94) 2587, under the European Regional Development Fund for the current 1994-1999 programming period, amounts to € 76,16 million. By 31 December 1998, the body responsible for managing the grant ( Instituto de Fomento de la Región de Murciaí) had granted aid to 4 434 enterprises in the region for a total amount of € 62,02. 8. 8. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 225 E/129 The breakdown of aid by measure is as follows: Aid for the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) Aid (Research and development) (R&D) Internationalisation of the products of the region Studies on adding value to the products of the region Improvement of the competitiveness of enterprises Local promotion associations Number of enterprises 2 192 136 1 172 136 77 1 A detailed list of the recipients of this aid is being sent to the Honourable Member and to Parliamentís Secretariat. (2000/C 225 E/139) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2413/99 by Ewa Hedkvist Petersen (PSE) to the Commission Subject: Competitive disadvantage and regional aid in Sweden (16 December 1999) The population density is low in northern Sweden and Finland, about 3,4 per square kilometre in the former. Undertakings operating in these sparsely populated regions for export markets have to transport their products for much greater distances than do those located close to major centres of population and urban markets. Regional aid such as reduced social contributions and transport subsidies is an important factor in making such undertakings less uncompetitive. Sweden and the Commission are at present negotiating the conditions for regional aid in Sweden. Why is the Commission unwilling to help Sweden grant such aid so that these undertakings can compete on equal terms? Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (20 January 2000) The Commission recognises that sparsely populated regions, such as North Sweden have special problems. It agrees that companies in these regions face particular handicaps due to the long distances to their markets. This is why the Commission decided in 1994, in anticipation of the accession of Sweden and Finland, to adopt special provisions favouring low population density regions (1). These special provisions were consolidated and further extended in the Guidelines on national regional aidí (2). The guidelines contain a number of provisions to ensure that Member States can include their low population regions in the assisted area maps under Article 87(3)(c), if they so desire. They also enable the Commission to authorise higher aid intensity ceilings for large firms in low population density regions. transport aid to compensate for the Finally, additional transport costs incurred by companies located in low population density regions. At the same time, though, the guidelines also specify that transport aid may serve only to compensate for the additional cost of transport of goods and that there should never be over-compensation of the additional transport costs. the guidelines provide that Member States may grant On 26 October 1999, the Commission authorised a transport aid scheme for the North of Sweden, under which Sweden will provide direct compensation for the additional cost of transport of goods incurred by companies located in that region. This should enable companies in North Sweden to compete on equal terms