HC Deb 09 July 1998 vol 315 cc637-8W
Ms Squire

To ask the President of the Board of Trade which British companies have made applications to the European Commission DGXIII in respect of funding to create union lists of serials &c.; what advice the UK National Focal Point gave in respect of each application; which projects it supported; and if she will list the reasons for the advice and support in each case. [48453]

Mr. Battle

[holding answer 3 July 1998]: It is not the practice of the European Commission to publish details of applicants in answers to calls for proposals, but full details of all participants in successful projects are published widely, including on the Commission web site at http://www2.echo.lu/.

UK National Focal Points, or similar advisory bodies, provide advice on request direct to potential applicants for European Union funds under certain programmes rather than to the Department of Trade and Industry. Advice or support provided is a matter between the advisory bodies and the recipient.

Ms Squire

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment(a) her Department and (b) the UK National Focal Point have made of the application from the Scientific Documentation Centre Ltd. to INFO 2000 for a European resource of serials. [48452]

Mr. Battle

[holding answer 3 July 1998]: Scientific Documentation Ltd.'s application to the INFO 2000 programme was in response to the Call for Proposals (Official Journal No. C381 of 16.12.67) to stimulate the development and use of multimedia information content, directed at the exploitation of content resources in the public sector. Decisions on proposals under this call are a matter for the European Commission, as advised by an independent panel of evaluators and taking into account opinions given by Member States. The Commission plans to tell applicants its decisions on the call in the near future.

There is no National Focal Point for INFO 2000. However, advisory support is provided through MIDAS-NET which, in Scotland, is based on Scottish Enterprise, who discussed the application with Scientific Documentation Ltd. Neither Scottish Enterprise nor the Department of Trade and Industry made an assessment of the proposal. This is the function of the evaluators appointed by the European Commission.