WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2663/98 by Francis DECOURRIERE to the Commission. Med-Media Programme
8. 4. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/131 (1999/C 96/187) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2661/98 by Cristiana Muscardini (NI) to the Commission (1 September 1998) Subject: Deadline for the completion of the Ecoviaí project With reference to point 3 of Written Question E-1670/98 (1), can the Commission say what new deadline has been set for the beneficiary to complete the Ecoviaí project, for which the original deadline was 30 April 1998? (1) OJ C 50, 22. 2. 1999. Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (17 September 1998) The deadline for completion of the Ecovia project is now 30 September 1998. (1999/C 96/188) WRITTEN QUESTION P-2663/98 by Francis DecourriŁre (PPE) to the Commission (31 July 1998) Subject: Med-Media Programme Since the Commissionís decision to block funds earmarked for Med-Media projects, many project promoters and a number of film co-producers have met with serious difficulties. The Commission has in fact been informed of the harm which the non-allocation of funds is causing to these economic operators (film producers). The Commission has stated that many companies had decided at their own risk to implement film production projects in the full knowledge of the legal context in which the Commission is obliged to operate. However, making a film requires much advance planning. In view of this fact, would it not be possible to arrange for a derogation or come up with compromise solutions to guard against certain companies going bankrupt? Answer given by Mr Marín on behalf of the Commission (28 September 1998) On 22 April the Commission decided to relaunch decentralised cooperation programmes in the Mediterranean region under the conditions that emerged from in-depth discussions with Parliament. Parliamentís resolution of July last year called for the Med-Media programme to be confined to training schemes. As it has already made clear in this context, the Commission is not indifferent to the difficulties facing some production companies. It must, however, point out that the projects in question were selected on a cofinancing basis. The Commission was unable to provide its share of the funding in the absence of contracts with the projectsí coordinators. It does, however, hope that the recently launched Euro-Mediterranean audiovisual programme will go some way towards satisfying the expectations of those working in the sector