91997E4173

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4173/97 by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE) to the Commission (21 January 1998)

Subject: Cohesion policy and culture

In its communication COM(96) 512 final, Cohesion Policy and Culture: A contribution to employment (page 6), the Commission notes that approximately ECU 400 million under the Structural Fund programmes went directly to the cultural sector during the period 1989-1993.

Can the Commission say what cultural projects were cofinanced, specifying the countries involved, the regional objective under which each project came, the total cost of execution and the amount cofinanced by the Community?

Joint answer to Written Questions E-4173/97 and E-4174/97 given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission (9 March 1998)

The figure mentioned by the Honourable Member is based on an estimation carried out by external consultants for the Commission. As was pointed out in the communication, any figures relating to cultural activities are only estimates and therefore have to be interpreted with some caution. In particular, it is especially difficult to identify cultural aspects in programmes as they are often included under other priorities such as tourism, small and medium sized enterprises (SME) or training.

Given that the Member States approve and implement structural funds projects within programmes under their own responsibility, the Commission does not have any systematic information on projects in the area of culture. However several good examples were presented in the communication illustrating innovative integration of culture into regional development and job creation.