91997E1930

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1930/97 by Salvador Garriga Polledo (PPE) to the Commission (4 June 1997)

Subject: Structural Funds

Will the Commission explain the procedure to be applied with respect to outstanding amounts from the Structural Funds at the end of the current programming period (1994-1999)?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission (15 July 1997)

Payments related to commitments made in the current programming period will continue to be effected after 1999. The Commission responds to payment requests introduced by Member States, which in turn depend on the progress of programme implementation. The speed with which outstanding commitments are cleared therefore depends mainly on Member States.

In the grant assistance decisions there exist deadlines for final payments. These deadlines can be prolonged on a case-by-case basis upon request and when justified.

Normally, for the structural funds an immediate first advance payment of 50% is made in respect of new commitments. The remainder becomes an outstanding commitment. After the first advance payment, further payments can only be effected in line with the progress of implementation.

With an increasing level of commitments, the volume of outstanding commitments will necessarily increase. A rising level of outstanding commitments, measured in absolute terms, cannot in itself be considered a problem. On the contrary, it seems quite natural that this level would increase in the course of a programming period.