Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Regulation (EC) No 1868/94 establishing a quota system in relation to the production of potato starch"

(2002/C 80/11)

On 6 December 2001 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Articles 36 and 37 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Economic and Social Committee decided to appoint Mr Donnelly as rapporteur-general for its opinion.

At its 387th plenary session held on 16 and 17 January 2002 (meeting of 16 January) the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 61 votes for and 1 abstention.

1. Gist of the Commission proposal

1.1. The aim of this proposal for a regulation is to allocate the three-yearly quota for the 2002/2003, 2003/2004 and 2004/2005 marketing years between potato-starch producing Member States on the basis of the report from the Commission to the Council on the quota system for the production of potato starch, thus amending Regulation (EC) No 1868/94.

1.2. It is proposed that the present quotas be maintained for the next three years.

1.3. If appropriate, account will be taken for each potato-starch producer in each Member State of the amount by which the quota was exceeded in the marketing year 2001/2002, as provided for in Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) 1868/94.

1.4. The Commission proposal to extend the existing quotas is subject to any measures, which might be needed on the basis of the 2001 audit of the starch sector by the Court of Auditors, an external consultancy study and the mid-term review of the Agenda 2000 reform.

1.5. The Agenda 2000 reform involved changes to the payment terminology. In Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1868/1994 the wording compensatory aid should be replaced by the wording payment.

2. General comments

2.1. In the audit by the European Court of Auditors of the EU starch sector published on 1 October 2001 the Court of Auditors does not object to the framework of the quota system in the potato-starch sector. The Commission has come to the same conclusions based on the information presented in its own report and in particular as regards the market balance between potato starch and cereal starch.

2.2. The level of the quotas has been reduced following the Agenda 2000 reform by 2,87 % for the smaller producing countries and 5,74 % for the larger producing countries. According to professional sources for the time being quota and demand are in equilibrium. As indicated in point 1.2 above, the Commission proposes that the quotas will stay at the same level for the period 2002-2005. The starch sector supports the proposal. In case the market for potato starch will grow further the industry would like an increase of the quota after 2005.

2.3. The potato-starch industry is dependent upon the contracted farmers for its raw material supply. Starch potatoes are a very important crop for farmers. If there were to be in the future a minimum price decrease for starch potatoes to farmers, it would need to be compensated for. Farmers would need this to continue in production. The basis should be the text on the cereal sector as stated in the conclusions of the 1999 Berlin summit of the Council.

2.4. The 5 % flexibility clause should remain to take account of climatic change.

2.5. It is crucial that the institutional equilibrium between potato starch and maize starch will be guaranteed in the future.

3. Conclusion

The ESC endorses the present Commission proposal for a Council regulation.

Brussels, 16 January 2002.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke Frerichs