Brussels, 13/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, the European Parliament's Budgetary Control Committee adopted the report by Christos Folias (EPP-ED, Greece) slightly amending the Commission's proposal for the new rules governing the structural pre-accession instrument ISPA. The Committee is calling for the measures combating fraud, irregularities and corruption to be applied vigorously. The Commission is also requested to inform the EP about the investigations of irregularities and the administrative and judicial procedures that are being carried out, so that the EP can effectively exercise its monitoring competencies. The MEPs felt that the decisions concerning the participation of third countries in calls for tender and markets should be submitted to the relevant management committee.
ISPA covers the granting of Community aid (nearly EUR 1 billion in commitment appropriations in 2000) to candidate countries for carrying out environmental and transport infrastructure projects. The Commission's proposal amends the 1999 Regulation, aiming to facilitate the participation of international financial institutions (such as the EBRD or the World Bank) in funding ISPA projects.