WRITTEN QUESTION E-1594/99 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Operation of the ECIP programme.
20. 6. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 170 E/43 (2000/C 170 E/048) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1594/99 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission (1 September 1999) Subject: Operation of the ECIP programme instrument which The European Community Investment Partners programme (ECIP) since September 1988 has provided financial assistance to 60 developing countries in Asia, Latin America, the Mediterranean region and South Africa (the Alamedsa groupí). ECIP is very generously funded, and it is therefore unquestionably desirable to be vigilant about its management. In its annual report for 1993, the Court of Auditors of the EC already drew attention to a number of irregularities. is the financial The Commission recently admitted that a number of shortcomings in ECIP were being investigated. The German magazine STERN revealed in early August 1999 that € 42 million had disappeared. The magazine questioned the role of Commissioner Marín and the involvement of a senior European official in this connection. 1. Can the Commission provide a complete list of all projects which have received ECIP funding, stating the partners involved on the part both of the EU and of the recipient country? What progress has been made in the inquiry into the management of ECIP? Why was this inquiry only started recently? 2. What measures has the Commission taken in response to the observations made by the Court of Auditors in its 1993 report concerning ECIP? If it has not taken any, who was responsible for this? If it has taken measures, what action resulted? Is the involvement of officials ü that is, the official named by STERN ü being investigated? If so, 3. what is the current situation in this inquiry? If not, does the Commission intend to start an inquiry? 4. Since when has the Commissioner concerned been aware of possible misappropriations? Joint answer to Written Questions E-1590/99 and E-1594/99 given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission (26 October 1999) Reports in the press that € 42 million of European Communities investment partners (ECIP) funds have ádisappearedí are incorrect. These reports were based on press mis-interpretation of a public Commission note distributed to the Parliamentís budgetary commission which stated that € 42 million relating to 1 348 completed ECIP actions is in the process of reimbursement by the financial institutions members of the ECIP network. Such reimbursement is a routine aspect of the operations of the ECIP instrument. The institutions accredited to the ECIP network, each governed by a specific funds are held in financial framework contract with the Commission. In conformity with the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) 0213/96 of 29 January 1996 on the implementation of the European Communities investment partners financial instrument for the countries of Latin America, Asia, Mediterranean region and South Africa (1) these funds have been audited. Should analysis of these audits reveal any suspicion of irregularities or possible fraud, OLAF will be informed immediately. The Commission increased its efforts in 1999 to close out those files and to recover the € 42 million funds identified by the independent audit. The Directorate general execution is ensured by the Common service for external relations. for external relations is responsible for the ECIP programme. The financial The Commission provides to the Council and the Parliament each year a detailed progress report including statistical tables on the implementation of the ECIP programme. The Commission is sending direct to the Honourable Member and the Parliamentís Secretariat a copy of the 1997 report and the 1998 overview. C 170 E/44 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 20. 6. 2000 in accordance with the ECIP Regulation, the Commission has placed, after open public In addition, international tender, a contract with Deloitte S. A. to execute an independent appraisal which is due for completion before the end of 1999 and will be communicated to the Council and Parliament as soon as available. The measures introduced to further reinforce the management after 1995 of the ECIP programme were discussed and agreed with the Council and Parliament during 1994-1995 and are included in the present ECIP Regulation. These have been implemented fully by the Commission. They are independent evaluation appraisal studies (1990 Touche Ross, 1994 SEMA Group, 1999 Deloitte (in progress)), independent financial audits (1996 Coopers & Lybrand, 1997 Price Waterhouse Coopers), technical assistance units (1997 onwards), and specific anti-fraud provisions and penalty clauses in all contracts. (1) OJ L 28, 6. 2. 1999. (2000/C 170 E/049) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1591/99 by Hanja Maij-Weggen (PPE-DE) to the Commission (1 September 1999) Subject: Imports of Victoria perch How many times in the past three years has the EU embargoed imports of Victoria perch from Uganda, Kenya or Tanzania? On each occasion, why did it do so and how long did the embargo last? What has the Commission itself done to help the fish export industries concerned in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania by means of development aid, particularly with reference to the EUís hygiene requirements? What measures has the Commission adopted to assist the European partners of the fish-exporting industry around Lake Victoria in their cooperation with that industry? Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission (27 October 1999) During the past three years the Commission has suspended the import of fishery products, including Nile Perch from Lake Victoria only once for Kenya and Tanzania. The Commission has never suspended imports from Uganda. The reasons for the suspension are clearly explained in the recitals of Commission Decision 1999/253 EC of 12 April 1999 on protective measures with regard to certain fishery products from or originating in Kenya and Tanzania (1). These measures are still in force. In addition the Commission adopted on April 1997 Decisions 97/0272/EC, 97/0273/EC and 97/0274/EC on protective measures with regard to fishery products originating respectively in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania (2). These imposed a systematic check for the presence of Salmonella on all fishery products entering the Community. The measures were adopted following an inspection visit, which confirmed the serious microbiological contamination of the water of Lake Victoria and the poor hygienic handling of the fishery products in these countries. New protective measures were adopted by Commission Decision 97/0878/EC of 23 December 1997 concerning certain protective measures with regard to certain fishery products originating in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique (3) and confirmed by Commission Decision 98/0084/EC of 16 January 1998 on protective measures with regard to fishery products from, or originating in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique and repealing Decision 97/0878/EC (4), following the insufficient measures applied by the sanitary authorities of these countries to control the outbreak of cholera which occurred in these countries at the end of 1997. The measures adopted included the systematic control of all fishery