# CE2004084EN.01002201.xml

| 3.4.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | CE 84/22 |
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3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 84/22

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(2004/C 84 E/0024)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2434/03

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(22 July 2003)

Subject:   Penalisation of Portuguese farmers

Subject:

At a recent meeting with milk producers from northern Portugal I was confronted with reports of the unjust treatment of Portuguese farmers who had exceeded the milk quota up to the end of March 2003.

These farmers have received penalties, whilst in Italy it has just been announced that an agreement has been approved to resolve the problem of Italian farmers in the same situation.

Can the Council provide information on the specific conditions of the Italian agreement and the measures which are being provided for or will be taken to remedy this injustice against Portuguese farmers?

Reply

(8 March 2004)

(8 March 2004)

Council Regulation (EEC) No 856/84 amending Regulation (EEC) No 804/68 on the common organisation of the market in milk and milk products introduced an additional levy scheme in that sector. The scheme has been extended several times, notably by Council Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92 establishing an additional levy in the milk and milk products sector. All Member States are obliged to comply with their respective reference quantities and must pay the Community, by way of the additional levy, an amount corresponding to any excess quantities produced.

The Council Decision of 16 July 2003, establishing the compatibility of the aid which the Italian Republic intends to grant its milk producers and published (1), lays down the following specific conditions:

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| — | the amounts owed to the Community by Italian milk producers by virtue of the additional levy on milk and milk products for the period 1995/1996 to 2001/2002 to be advanced by the Italian Government, |
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the amounts owed to the Community by Italian milk producers by virtue of the additional levy on milk and milk products for the period 1995/1996 to 2001/2002 to be advanced by the Italian Government,

| — | deferred payment of the debt by the producers in a number of equal annual instalments, without interest, over a period not exceeding 14 years. |
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deferred payment of the debt by the producers in a number of equal annual instalments, without interest, over a period not exceeding 14 years.

That specific Decision, based on the third subparagraph of Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty, was adopted unanimously by the members of the Council, on the basis of an assessment of the exceptional nature of the circumstances which prompted the Italian Government's request. Application of such a measure in other cases that might be considered comparable would therefore be a matter for individual assessment by the Council.

The Council also refers the Honourable Member to the conclusions of the European Council meeting in Brussels on 16/17 October 2003 and particularly to paragraph 38 of the conclusions in which the European Council welcomed the Commission's proposal to prolong the arrangement concerning the problems linked to the development of milk production in the Azores and invited the Council to examine it as soon as possible.

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(1)  OJ L 184, 23.7.2003.

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