WRITTEN QUESTION E-1960/99 by Gerhard Hager (NI) to the Commission. PHARE.
C 203 E/96 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 18. 7. 2000 Hitherto it has been customary for this office to help trainees from the European Parliament too in their search for accommodation etc. In recent weeks I have had a number of queries about why this assistance has been suspended, and why trainees from Parliament in particular have been treated in a very brusque manner and are no longer provided with the list of rented accommodation. I should be glad if the Commission would inform me of the circumstances which led to this change of policy. Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission (6 December 1999) The assistance in finding accommodation for trainees to which the Honourable Member is referring is provided by the Reception Office (Bureau díaccueil et díinformation) operated by the Directorate-General for Personnel and Administration. The Reception Office provides initial assistance for newly recruited staff and trainees and helps them to settle (dealing with both the initial administrative requirements and practical matters relating to everyday life in Brussels). The Reception Office is not an inter-Institutional service and, consequently, priority has been, and still is, given to providing a service for the staff of the Commission, together with their families and dependants. In the interests of providing a quality service and of maintaining good public relations on behalf of the European Institutions, the Reception Office strives to respond to all enquiries, whatever the source (whether from the Commission, the Parliament or the Council). However, greater co-operation between the Institutions will be necessary if a better service is desired. One of the main services provided by the Reception Office is assistance in settling in Brussels, and particular help is given with the search for temporary accommodation (either for those whose stay in Brussels will be for a limited period only, as in the case of the trainees (stagiaires), or for purposes of establishing an initial contact pending a later decision on longer-term accommodation). In response to the demand for such services, the Reception Office has created a database which can be used to search quickly for information on the basis of a number of criteria. This database will soon be available on Europa Plus. There has been no change of attitude on the part of the Commission, or on the part of the Reception Office, towards potential clients from other Institutions. Greater co-operation between the Institutions would, naturally, assist with providing a better service if that was considered by the Institutions to be a desirable objective. The Commission does take that view and would, therefore, draw attention to the potential benefits of making the Reception Office more of an Inter-Institutional service. (2000/C 203 E/122) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1960/99 by Gerhard Hager (NI) to the Commission (5 November 1999) Subject: PHARE I understand that in 1996 a bank crisis in Bulgaria accompanied by a stop on payments resulted in the loss of ECU 9,1 million from the PHARE programme. Has it been possible to recover any of this money since, and if so, how much? What amount is likely to be irrecoverable? Who selects the EUís banking contacts, and on what criteria? Is the Commission aware of other cases in which Community appropriations have been lost as the result of the insolvency of banks and other credit institutions, and if so what amounts were involved? 18. 7. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 203 E/97 Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission (30 November 1999) The funds blocked in 1996 amounted to € 9 396 867 and DM 14 750 The amounts recovered were € 9 385 673,55 and DM 15 367,07. The criteria to open bank accounts in Bulgaria changed in March 1996. After an evaluation of the banking situation it was decided that the PHARE funds should be held in well-capitalised banks having a strong back up from their shareholders. The banks that, in the Commissionís opinion, fulfilled these requirements were the ING Bulgaria, the Bulbank, the Raiffeissen and the Dresdner bank. These are the banks with which the Commission has operated since then. From 1998 on the Commission redefined the criteria used in order to select the banks where the PHARE funds can be held. In this context, the PHARE funds related to programmes approved in 1998 and onwards must be held at the central bank or in a government guaranteed bank account. The Commission has no knowledge of further cases of a banking crisis affecting Commission funds. (2000/C 203 E/123) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1967/99 by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission (5 November 1999) Subject: Restructuring of Commission departments As the restructuring of Directorate-General X is justifiably giving cause for concern and raising question marks about the fate and future of the information for women unit of former DG X, will the Commission say whether that unit will be transferred to the Directorate-General for Employment, as originally planned? Can the Commission also provide details about the progress and development of the campaign for combating domestic violence? Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission (4 January 2000) The Commission would refer the Honourable Member to the reply it gave to Oral Question H-726/99 by Mrs Valenciano Martínez-Orozco during question time at Parliamentís December 1999 part-session (1). (1) Debates of the European Parliament (December 1999). (2000/C 203 E/124) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1969/99 by Piia-Noora Kauppi (PPE-DE) to the Commission (5 November 1999) Subject: Co-incineration of waste In its proposal for a Council directive on the incineration of waste (COM(98) 558) (1), the Commission proposes that the same requirements be imposed on fuel from combustible municipal waste sorted at the place of origin which is co-incinerated at local district heating plants as on fuels from waste incineration plants. In Finnish conditions, for example, this would mean in practice a sharp drop in the number of waste incineration plants and the concentration of waste incineration into large units. As a consequence, emissions from transport alone would increase considerably in the Nordic countries, where distances are