91998E3238

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3238/98

by José Valverde López (PPE) to the Commission

(26 October 1998)

Subject: Interreg initiative in Andalusia

What programmes and investments are planned or are being planned under the Interreg initiative in Andalusia?

Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission

(3 December 1998)

Andalusia benefits from two programmes under the Community Initiative Interreg, one concerning the cross-border areas between Spain and Portugal, and the other those between Spain and Morocco.

The financial resources are allocated to the programmes as a whole and are not distributed on a regional basis. Moreover, apart from projects of a certain scale which have already been specified, the projects to be financed under the programmes are selected by the authorities responsible for implementing them. The Commission is not therefore in a position to give detailed answers to the questions raised.

With regard to Interreg Spain-Portugal, only Huelva province is concerned by this programme in Andalusia. The purpose of the programme is to develop the cross-border area and to encourage mixed Hispano-Portuguese initiatives by supporting local development and small infrastructure measures. This programme covers the part-financing of the Lepe-Ayamonte motorway project in Huelva province, at a cost of over ECU 4 million, for instance.

The provinces of Cadiz, Malaga, Ceuta and Melilla are eligible under the Interreg Spain-Morocco programme in Andalusia. The programme provides for the development of cross-border cooperation and acceleration of the pace of adaptation and integration of the regional economy in the internal market. The biggest project involves underwater electricity connection at a total eligible cost of ECU 70,22 million, with a contribution of ECU 13,26 million from the European Regional Development Fund. This project has already been completed.