Brussels, 03/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - By adopting the Joan Colom I Naval (Spanish PES) report on Thursday, the European Parliament approved the agreement reached with the Council on the "re-programming", for the period 2000-2006 of the credits for structural measures not used in 2000 (see EUROPE of 27 April, p.16). It is a question of 6.152 billion euro in commitment appropriations (2002: 870 million euro; 2003: 1,178 billion euro; 2004: 1.642 billion euro; 2005: 1.396 billion euro; 2006: 1.067 billion euro) consisting in: 3.589 billion euro for Objective 1; 864 million euro for Community initiatives (Leader, Equal, Interreg, Urban). Regarding the credits allocated to Community initiatives and innovative actions for 2000-2006, the EP has called on the Commission to meet the deficits that could result from the execution of budget 2000 and suggests that institutions assess the budgetary and financial effects of the timetable for enlargement as stemming from the state of progress in accession negotiations.
The same day, the Commission stipulated the context that prevailed in talks on the adaptation of the financial perspectives: "Contrary to the previous financial perspectives, the financial perspectives of Berlin (2000-2006) do not allow for a transfer, for the period as a whole, of all unused credits under the structural funds. This type of transfer is now limited to unused amounts in the first year of the financial perspectives, or 2000". Of the 26.297 billion euro the structural funds had in 2000, 12.107 billion were executed and 8.038 billion euro were carried over to 2001. Commissioner Michaele Schreyer, considered that they had to ensure that these funds were spent "in an effective manner and remain fully available. There was a consensus between the Commission and the budgetary authorities on the fact that the credits that were not able to be used in the first year of the financial period 2000-2006, had to be included in the budget of the following years. Our common goal - to use the structural funds to the best of the Commission's administrative ability and that of Member states - has been fully attained", she added..