WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1880/98 by José GARCÍA-MARGALLO Y MARFIL to the Commission. SMEs
18. 1. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 13/111 Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (23 July 1998) In response to its call for the submission of proposals for general measures to inform and increase awareness of environmental problems published on 22 February 1997 (1) the Commission received 312 requests for subsidies, including 21 from Greek organisations. It selected 59 proposals. None of the Greek proposals were selected because they did not meet all the eligibility criteria published in the Official Journal, namely: choice of the priority topics listed in point 2 of the call for proposals; the significance of the multiplier effect of the proposed action at European level (in principle, projects should involve partners from at least three Member States); the long-term commitment of the partners concerned to environmental protection; the capacity to demonstrate effective and balanced cooperation between the various partners; the commitment to ensure that the results of the action are widely publicised; the quality of the cost/benefit ratio and the degree of financial participation by the other partners. (1) OJ C 53, 22. 2. 1997. (1999/C 13/157) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1880/98 by JosØ García-Margallo y Marfil (PPE) to the Commission (16 June 1998) Subject: SMEs The Commissionís report to Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the coordination of activities to assist small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the craft sector (COM(07) 0610)11. 6. 1998 (p. 58) briefly describes the Europartenariat and Interprise programmes aimed at encouraging international cooperation among SMEs. Are statistics available showing which regions have obtained the best results as regards opportunities for cooperation agreements and potential partners in relation to both types of competition? Answer given by Mr Papoutsis on behalf of the Commission (3 September 1998) On average around 400 companies from a host region and around 1 600 visiting companies from other regions participate in a Europartenariat event. The Commission estimates that on average 30-40 % of the companies of the host region conclude agreements with their visiting counterparts. Concerning the Interprise programme, around 30 events of this kind are organised each year with on average 100 participating firms in each event. In other words, around 3 000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) participate in this programme each year. Based on questionnaires sent out to the organisers of these events, the Commission estimates that more than 10 % of the participating firms conclude agreements as a direct result of these events. Although all organisers of events have to send in evaluation reports of the events, the nature of these reports and the statistics they provide are such that they do not allow for a direct comparison between regions concerning the success of the programme. The Commission intends to launch a major evaluation study of the Europartenariat programme later in the year. This study is intended to give a better insight into the qualitative and quantitative results of the programme, and a better understanding of the factors (regional or national policies, geographical position, state of the economy) that have a favourable or detrimental impact on these results