WRITTEN QUESTION P-0071/00

by Juan Ojeda Sanz (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(18 January 2000)

Subject: Delays in the payment of EU aid to olive growers in Andalusia

Thousands of olive growers in Andalusia have still not received the aid which the European Union allocates each year to the olive sector and which in many cases accounts for 40 % of those producers' income. Representatives of the sector report that the delay in payment is causing them serious hardship since they were relying on the aid as a means of offsetting the costs they incur during the marketing year.

They also maintain that the situation is attributable to the shortcomings of the Andalusia Regional Government, which is responsible for administering the aid. Thousands of producers are still waiting for their money, both for the most recent financial year and for previous years.

Is the Commission aware of this serious problem affecting olive growers in Andalusia?

What is the reason for the delays in the payment of the aid?

In addition to the delays relating to the 1998-1999 financial year, are there any payments outstanding from previous years? If so, what are the amounts involved?

Does the Commission intend to take any action to solve this serious problem, which is jeopardising the financial well-being of thousands of olive growers in Andalusia?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(15 February 2000)

The Commission is aware of management problems affecting Community agricultural aids in certain regions such as Andalusia. The main reason for the payment delays is deficiency of the financial administration arrangements of the organisation responsible for the actual payment to aid recipients.

Under the decentralised system in place for financial management of the common agricultural policy, paying agencies accredited by the Member States administer payments and guarantee compliance with the Community rules (including payment dates). In Spain the Autonomous Province of Andalusia is an accredited paying agency for Community agricultural aids.

To secure compliance with the time limits set in the agricultural legislation for aid payments to farmers, the Commission has for several years been applying the penalty system specified in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 296/96(1) to non-compliant Member States. Penalties are imposed only on the paying agencies, i.e. farmers remain entitled to receive in full the aid applied for.

By way of example, and disregarding any further decisions that may be taken as part of the accounts clearance exercise, in the 1999 EAGGF financial year corrections of PTA 521 million ( 3,3 million) were imposed on Spain for delays in paying olive oil sector aids.

It must be remembered in connection with aid applications for which payment is said to be outstanding that the Community rules set payment periods and it is only once the period is over that the Commission can consider payments as delayed and apply the financial penalties mentioned above.

The Honourable Member refers in this case to olive-oil production aid applications for the 1998/99 marketing year. The relevant payment period began on 16 October 1999 and ends on the ninetieth day following publication of the Regulation determining actual olive oil production for 1998/99. This must be adopted by the Commission at the latest eight months after the end of the marketing year. Consequently it is only around 16 October 2000 that the Commission will be able to consider the expenditure in question as delayed and apply penalties on the basis of Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 296/96.

In the case of payments relating to previous marketing years, the Commission can already detect delays when the EAGGF monthly expenditure statements are made and where appropriate apply the regulatory penalties.

Lastly, it must be remembered that this same check will be made as part of the accounts clearance exercises. This is a further constraint on Member States to meet their regulatory obligations on the dates of payments to farmers.

(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 296/96 of 16 February 1996 on data to be transmitted by Member States and the monthly booking of expenditure financed under the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and laying down certain detailed rules of application for Council Regulation (EC) No 1259/1999. OJ L 39, 17.2.1996; OJ L 331, 23.12.1999.