WRITTEN QUESTION E-0250/00 by Daniel Hannan (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Funds for federalist organisations.
13. 3. 2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 81 E/1 I (Information) EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT WRITTEN QUESTIONS WITH ANSWER (2001/C 81 E/001) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0250/00 by Daniel Hannan (PPE-DE) to the Commission (7 February 2000) Subject: Funds for federalist organisations A number of organisations, whose political goal is the unification of the continent of Europe, receiving funding from the Communities budget lines. Will the Commission identify which bodies ü endorsing the creation of a European superstate, federal entity or ever-closer union ü have received such funding, from which budget line, for the past two years? Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission (9 March 2000) Under line A-3021 of the Commissionís budget the budgetary authority authorises the Commission to spend money on ágrants to organisations advancing the idea of Europeí to cover their running costs. The names of the beneficiaries and the amount of their grant are communicated by the Commission to Parliament each year in the Report on Beneficiaries of Part A Grantsí. The list for 1998 can be found on Europa, the Commissionís Internet server, at: http://europa. eu. int/comm/secretariat_general/sgc/info_subv/beneficiaries_en. htm. The list of beneficiaries of a grant under line A-3021 for 1999 will be communicated to Parliament before the end of May 2000. In the meantime, apart from the 14 organisations listed by the budgetary authority in its remarks on budget line A-3021, a list of the beneficiaries is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliamentís Secretariat. The Commission will have to let the Honourable Member decide for himself which of these organisations come within his definition of áfederalistí. The Commissionís choice of which projects to finance is based on the finality of the action itself and not on the political goals of the organisation supporting the projects. The Commission is therefore not in a position to inform the Honourable Member which of the organisations receiving a grant for a project have as their objective the creation of a federation, since it does not hold the requested data. Furthermore, the Commission supports actions of the European Movement and of International federation of Europe Houses (FIME), which aim to animate a dialogue on European concepts (ideas), as requested by the European Parliament and stipulated in the commentary of the budgetary line B3-301