§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library the set of criteria established for the Information and Communication 2003 Multi-beneficiary Programme, as referred to in the minute of the 97th Meeting of the Phare Management Committee (7 February 2003); which organisations received funding under this process; and if he will make a statement. [111075]
§ Hilary BennI have been asked to reply.
The Phare 2003 Information and Communication Programme has not begun spending as yet. It is not due to begin until the end of the current funding, which will expire between August and December 2003. As stated in the minutes of the 97th meeting of the Phare Management Committee the allocation for each country will be given to the respective EC Delegations in two segments. The first of these is to cover running costs and ensure continuity of the programme. The second will be allocated to each country on the basis of the following criteria; the referenda in each country, the state of public opinion in the country concerned (the main parameter used will be the Eurobarometer survey), the quality of the work programmes submitted by the EC Delegations and the administrative capacity of the delegation.
The relevant EC Delegation administers the sums allocated to each country. Some of the work carried out by the delegation, such as the publication of brochures, may have been subcontracted to local organisations and/or businesses. No data is centrally available on this.