WRITTEN QUESTION E-0845/00

by Astrid Lulling (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(21 March 2000)

Subject: Harmonisation of the conditions of production of family fruit growers and family producers of natural spirit

In the European Union Member States there are differing legal provisions for the production of natural spirit.

For some Member States, financial assistance is granted to family producers of natural spirit, because they maintain the old orchards, pass on know-how to the young, and motivate them to continue arboricultural activities and hence the cultivation of fruit tree parkland in the rural regions. In other countries such as France, the right to distil 10 litres pure alcohol per annum tax free can no longer be transmitted by succession, which means that young people are put off continuing the activity, with disastrous effects on the upkeep of orchards and in particular the conservation of old fruit varieties and hence the landscape.

With a view to safeguarding the cultural and economic wealth of the countryside and the production of natural spirit in the Community, which makes up only 0,1 % of the alcohol consumed, and to avoid any discrimination between producers and any distortion of competition in the single market, does the Commission not think that there are grounds for promoting a certain harmonisation of legislation concerning producers?

What are the options that the Commission can envisage under the rural development policy to support actions to conserve orchard and old fruit varieties harvested to produce fruit juice and jam and to distil fruit fermented in the cask?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(19 April 2000)

The Commission is aware that there are no common rules governing the production of alcohol, including the production of spirits by small producers. Over the past thirty years the Commission has put forward a number of proposals for the common organisation of the market in alcohol of agricultural origin. The Council, however, has failed to reach agreement because the Member States wanted to retain their own arrangements. As these arrangements now no longer apply or are under serious review, the sector itself and several Member States have expressed an interest in establishing a framework of common rules covering alcohol. The Commission is at present discussing with national experts the need for such a framework within which competition aspects could be addressed. On the question of tax, Council Directive 92/83/EEC of 19 October 1992 on the harmonisation of the structures of excise duties on alcohol and alcoholic beverages(1) harmonises the rules on excise duties and provides in Article 22 that Member States may apply reduced rates of excise duty to ethyl alcohol produced by small distilleries. The practical arrangements for applying this measure are the responsibility of the Member States.

Under the rural development policy, whose legal basis is Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending and repealing certain Regulations(2), Member States may put forward programmes granting support for a number of agricultural activities and their redevelopment. Among the various measures that can be used to conserve the types of farming and production referred to by the Honourable Member, a special role could be played by the agro-environmental measures. These provide support for agricultural production methods aimed at protecting the environment and safeguarding the countryside. As stated in Article 13 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1750/1999 of 23 July 1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of the above Council Regulation(3), support may include commitments for preserving plant genetic resources naturally adapted to the local and regional conditions and under threat of genetic erosion. These could include in particular measures to conserve old fruit-bearing tree and plant varieties and long-established orchards.

(1) OJ L 316, 31.10.1992.

(2) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999.

(3) OJ L 214, 13.8.1999.