WRITTEN QUESTION E-1009/00 by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission. Vocational training or welfare.
C 26 E/142 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 26. 1. 2001 Reply (8 June 2000) The Council shares the concern expressed by the Honourable Member regarding the difficulties resulting from the trade sanctions imposed by the US on the industry of the EU. Following the condemnation of certain aspects of the EU banana regime by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body in April 1999, the USA was given authorisation to suspend concessions to the value of $191. 4 million, concerning a wide range of EU products. Since then, the Commission has conducted intensive contacts with interested parties with a view to putting forward a proposal, which would be generally accepted as resolving the dispute. In absence of a solution acceptable to all parties, the Commission has submitted to the Council in November 1999 a proposal amending the EC banana regime. The proposal, on which the European Parliament has been invited to give its opinion, is currently under examination within the Council. This document states that the discussions of the Commission with interested parties would continue during the period in which the Council and the Parliament are examining the proposal. By the time the Council is ready to take a decision, that is to say by the time Parliament expresses its opinion, the Commission will make a report on the outcome of the discussions with the interested parties. Since November 1999, the Commission reported to the Council at various occasions on the state of play concerning these discussions. At its meeting on 20 March 2000, the Council (Agriculture) agreed to resume its examination of the dossier when the Commission submits its report on the results of the negotiations with the third countries concerned. (2001/C 26 E/177) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1009/00 by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission (31 March 2000) Subject: Vocational training or welfare The Vienna Summit of 11 and 12 December 1998 rejected both Italyís employment plan, which was deemed to be áwelfare-oriented and ineffectualí, and its programme for vocational training, which was dismissed as ánon-existentí. Did the European funds allocated to vocational training during 1999 do anything to change this 1. assessment or were they used according to the usual criteria, which were so harshly criticised? 2. Is it true, as maintained by a survey in an Italian weekly publication, that young people receive little in the way of education and that only teachers and bureaucrats with the right connections are guaranteed jobs and salaries? Is it true that decisions on courses are taken not on the basis of labour market requirements but in 3. the light of the funds available? Is there an effective control system capable of examining whether courses funded by the Union have 4. met their stated aims and analysing the cost-benefit ratio? 5. Will the Commission provide information on the funds provided to Italy for training in 1998 and 1999, together with the amounts scheduled for 2000, broken down by region? Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission (26 May 2000) The Presidency conclusions of the Vienna European Council of 11/12 December 1998 dealt with the national action plans (NAPs) in point 31 (1). These are addressed to all the Member States and not to Italy in particular. 26. 1. 2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 26 E/143 The document setting out the Commissionís and the Councilís judgement on the Italian NAP is the Joint employment report (JER) for 1998, which was adopted in the wake of the Vienna European Council (2). Reference to the programme for vocational training may be found on the pages dedicated to Italy (pp. 86-89 of the JER for 1998) ü the phrase ánon-existantí is not used. 1. The European social fund (ESF) has been allocated for the period 1994-1999, not just for 1999. Some changes have been made to the programming mechanisms to bring the ESF in line with the European employment strategy. Young people are the most successful target group for ESF interventions. This means that the 2. expenditure and the coverage rate are very high. 3. Decisions on courses are taken by the responsible authorities, which are the region and the various ministries involved in the management. Decisions on the allocation of funds to various projects are usually based on the needs of the labour market. 4. Funds allocated from the ESF are the subject of control systems in the Member States and in the Commission. Every intervention is the subject of an ex-ante visa from the Commission and by ex-post on- the-spot controls made by the Court of auditors and by the Commission. Controls carried out by the Member State authorities are carried out in the framework of its national legislation. The Commission also carries out evaluations of the interventions in partnership with the Member States. These evaluations involve cost and benefit analysis and show to what extent targets have been reached. 5. A decision on the funds allocation for the period 2000-2006 is foreseen in the first half of the year. The Community resources devoted to objective 3 amount to € 3 888 million. As far as objective 1 is concerned, the total amount of structural funds devoted to the southern regions amounts to € 22 122 million. For information on the previous programming period, 1994-1999, a useful tool is the Europa website containing all the necessary information on the interventions in Italy (3). (1) Document 00300/1/98. (2) http://europa. eu. int/comm/employment_social/empl&esf/empl99/jer98_en. pdf. (3) http://europa. eu. int/comm/dg05/esf/en/public/leafs/it-it. htm. (2001/C 26 E/178) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1013/00 by Andre Brie (GUE/NGL) to the Council (6 April 2000) Subject: Fatalities and injuries at the European Unionís external borders in 1997-1999 According to investigations by the non-governmental organisation UNITED for Intercultural Action, nine hundred people died while attempting, in some cases illegally, to enter the European Union between 1 January 1997 and the end of 1999. Comparable figures were provided by other non-governmental organisations (Antirassistische Initiative, Forschungsgesellschaft Flucht und Migration), although it should be noted that they do not claim to be comprehensive. In view of the fact that the number of fatalities has risen since the beginning of the 1990s and in the knowledge that most EU Member States are increasing their (financial and technical) efforts to strengthen protection at the relevant borders, the Council is asked: 1. According to the Councilís information, from 1997 to 1999, how many people were found dead at the land borders, coasts, ports and airports and in the border regions of the EU Member States, how many inquests were opened on them and what were the findings of these inquests (please give details)? 2. According to the Councilís information, from 1997 to 1999, how many people were picked up with physical injuries (frostbite, hypothermia, suffering from hunger or thirst) sustained during their, in some cases illegal, border crossing (please give details)?