WRITTEN QUESTION E-3093/00

by Ioannis Averoff (PPE-DE) and Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(4 October 2000)

Subject: Funding for Greece for reafforestation and flood prevention schemes

Although the Commission has been asked repeatedly in the past about the number of flood prevention and reafforestation schemes it has funded in Greece, it has hitherto failed to give clear answers as to the precise programmes which have received funding, the exact amounts made available, and the results of those programmes. Following the summer fires, which affected almost the whole of Greece, both Attica and many regions of provincial Greece, particularly Epirus and the Peloponnese, are threatened by flooding.

Can the Commission state specifically:

1. how many flood prevention schemes it has funded in Greece, exactly which projects are involved, the amount of finance per project, and whether the projects have been fully completed,

2. where exactly reafforestation has been carried out in Greece; whether the frequently announced reafforestation of Pendeli in Attica, for example, has been completed, and

3. what measures the Greek Government has taken to use up Community funds in response to this year's disasters, and how the Commission responded to the Greek Government's requests?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(20 November 2000)

There is currently no computerised and standardised information system making it possible to rapidly identify flood control projects and their main features. However, working together with the regional authorities in the three regions to which the Honourable Members refer particularly, namely Attica, the Peloponnese and Epirus, the Commission has compiled a detailed list of projects which can be made available if desired. In future, the new management information system (MIS) should ensure better transparency of implementation. As regards the flood control projects part-financed so far in Greece under the above three regional programmes in the Community support framework that is now nearing completion (CSF II), a total number of 102 projects to combat flooding have been part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The volumes committed and payments made so far are set out in the following table. Under the subsidiarity principle, the selection of individual schemes falls to the national government. It is worth noting that eligible expenditure under CSF II can still be made by final recipients up to 31 December 2001.

>TABLE>

Under CSF II and the Community initiatives covered by the EAGGF Guidance Section in 1994-1999, a total of 159 million was allocated to the forestry sector in Greece as part of a national operational programme and 134,2 million as part of 13 regional operational programmes. The Community contribution was 75 %. The public expenditure under the regional programmes has gone towards complementary measures targeted more selectively than under the national programme (measures of a horizontal nature).

So far, most of this funding has been taken up by Greece: 150 million under the national programme and 105,6 million under the regional programmes. The remaining expenditure committed for 1994-1999 can be carried out by Greece up to mid-2001.

Turning more particularly to the three regions in question, i.e. Attica, the Peloponnese and Epirus, the ratio of commitments to take-up is as follows:

>TABLE>

These sums cover a broad range of activities and a multitude of interlinked project sites in the forestry sector, such as fire prevention, forest protection, laying of forestry roads, stabilising of river banks, reafforestation and forestry development. The number of schemes and the figures above show the intensity of effort in the forestry sector in Greece, including reafforestation in Attica which contains the Penteli mountains. In fact, during the period in question, 2 229 hectares were reafforested in Attica, 1 369 ha in the Peloponnese and 727 ha in Epirus.

Under CSF III for Greece (2000-2006), the Greek national and regional authorities have already made major requests for funding in the forestry sector in their draft national and regional operational programmes, including reafforestation and anti-flooding works. The Commission is currently negotiating these programmes with the national and regional authorities with a view to finalisation soon. The number of works and schemes in the fields of reafforestation and flood control will appear in the programming complements that are to be submitted by the Greek authorities to the Commission after it has adopted these programmes.