Vol. 546 No. 4
106 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if funds are available through his Department from the EU to assist local communities in their objections to the development of landfill sites; and if a decision was made in this regard recently by the EU. [32035/01]
There is no such funding available from or through my Department, nor am I aware of any decision by the European Commission in this regard.
The European Commission operates a community action programme to promote non-governmental organisations, NGOs, primarily active in the field of environmental protection at European level. Under this programme, NGOs must apply for assistance directly to the Commission, which then decides on funding allocations.
The current action programme ends on 31 December 2001. The European Council of Environment Ministers recently agreed the next Community Action Programme, which will run from 2002-06. The text of the relevant draft decision has been submitted to the European Parliament for a second reading under the co-decision procedure.
