# CE2004078EN.01095402.xml

| 27.3.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | CE 78/954 |
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27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 78/954

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(2004/C 78 E/1010)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0542/04

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(26 February 2004)

Subject:   Active publication of information about subsidies and ratios between payments to large and small farms under the CAP

Subject:

| 1. | Is the Commission aware of the report by the British organisation Oxfam which indicates that seven large land-owners in Britain receive an average of GBP 285 714 per annum in cereal subsidies from the EU, while 15 181 small farmers in Britain receive an annual average of only GBP 3 632 in EU cereal subsidies? |
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1.

Is the Commission aware of the report by the British organisation Oxfam which indicates that seven large land-owners in Britain receive an average of GBP 285 714 per annum in cereal subsidies from the EU, while 15 181 small farmers in Britain receive an annual average of only GBP 3 632 in EU cereal subsidies?

| 2. | Can the Commission confirm that a very large proportion of these subsidies goes to the affluent regions of Eastern England and Lincolnshire and that this allocation ratio, which benefits large farmers, also will not change significantly after the proposed agricultural policy reform? |
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2.

Can the Commission confirm that a very large proportion of these subsidies goes to the affluent regions of Eastern England and Lincolnshire and that this allocation ratio, which benefits large farmers, also will not change significantly after the proposed agricultural policy reform?

| 3. | Is the Commission aware of similar situations in other EU Member States, particularly those where there are big disparities in the size of arable and livestock farms? Are such situations most extreme in the southern Member States? |
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3.

Is the Commission aware of similar situations in other EU Member States, particularly those where there are big disparities in the size of arable and livestock farms? Are such situations most extreme in the southern Member States?

| 4. | Can the Commission outline the distribution of EU farm subsidies to Dutch farmers in 2001, 2002 and 2003, broken down according to farm size? If so, how soon can it do so? If not, why not? |
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4.

Can the Commission outline the distribution of EU farm subsidies to Dutch farmers in 2001, 2002 and 2003, broken down according to farm size? If so, how soon can it do so? If not, why not?

| 5. | Can the Commission tell me which ten Dutch legal persons received most in EU farm subsidies in 2001, 2002 and 2003 and how much farm subsidy they received? If so, how soon can it do so? If not, why not? |
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5.

Can the Commission tell me which ten Dutch legal persons received most in EU farm subsidies in 2001, 2002 and 2003 and how much farm subsidy they received? If so, how soon can it do so? If not, why not?

| 6. | Does the Commission agree that the European public have a right to complete information about where EU farm subsidies go, who receives them and what kind of farms benefit most/least from them? If not, why not? |
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6.

Does the Commission agree that the European public have a right to complete information about where EU farm subsidies go, who receives them and what kind of farms benefit most/least from them? If not, why not?

| 7. | Will the Commission, in consultation with the Council, take measures to try to make such transparency possible in every EU Member State? If so, what steps will it take, and how soon? If not, why not? |
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7.

Will the Commission, in consultation with the Council, take measures to try to make such transparency possible in every EU Member State? If so, what steps will it take, and how soon? If not, why not?

Sources:

| — | Dutch newspaper ‘de Volkskrant’, 23 January 2004: ‘Rijkste Britten innen meeste landbouwsubsidies’ (Rich Britons receive most farm subsidies). |
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Dutch newspaper ‘de Volkskrant’, 23 January 2004: ‘Rijkste Britten innen meeste landbouwsubsidies’ (Rich Britons receive most farm subsidies).

| — | http://www.oxfam.org.uk/press/releases/subsidies220104.htm |
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http://www.oxfam.org.uk/press/releases/subsidies220104.htm

| — | http://www.oxfam.org.uk/press/releases/subsidies220104_facts.htm |
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http://www.oxfam.org.uk/press/releases/subsidies220104_facts.htm

| — | http://www.minlnv.nl/infomart/parlemnt/2003/par03100.htm |
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http://www.minlnv.nl/infomart/parlemnt/2003/par03100.htm

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(9 March 2004)

(9 March 2004)

The Commission is collecting the information it needs to answer the question. It will communicate its findings as soon as possible.

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