WRITTEN QUESTION E-1859/01

by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(27 June 2001)

Subject: Premiums for beef and veal (Belgium)

As part of its revision of the common organisation of the market in beef and veal, the Commission has decided to apply the limit value of 90 ABU per holding and age category more stringently when allocating the special premium, partly in order to reduce the production incentive and to stabilise the beef and veal market. The number of animals eligible for payment of the premium is determined on the basis of the stocking density of adult bovine units per hectare.

Can the Commission indicate:

- whether, in future, it intends to introduce the limit value of 90 ABU for all direct payment schemes;

- how many holdings in Belgium currently exceed that limit;

- how many holdings in Belgium are currently below that limit;

- what the implications (additional expenditure or savings) of this measure would be - in absolute figures and/or as a percentage - for the total budget for the beef and veal sector;

- whether it is considering the introduction of a ceiling of this nature for the payment of premiums in the sheepmeat sector and in other comparable sectors?

Joint answer to Written Questions E-1855/01, E-1856/01, E-1857/01, E-1858/01, E-1859/01, E-1860/01, E-1861/01, E-1862/01, E-1863/01, E-1864/01, E-1865/01, E-1866/01, E-1867/01, E-1868/01 and E-1869/01 given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(3 September 2001)

Under the Presidency compromise adopted at the Agriculture Council held in Luxembourg on 19 June 2001, Member States can continue to amend or waive the limit of 90 head of cattle per holding and age bracket (and not 90 LU as the Honourable Member states) applying to the grant of the special premium for male bovine animals, under certain conditions.

Thus, from 1 January 2002, the Member States can amend or waive this limit on the basis of objective criteria forming part of a rural development policy and only if environmental and employment considerations are taken into account.

In the case of stocking densities on holdings expressed in livestock units per hectare, the Commission would point out that, as part of the above compromise, it was decided to lower the stocking density factor limiting the number of animals qualifying for the special premium and for the suckler cow premium (currently set at 2 LU per hectare and calendar year) in two stages to 1,9 LU on 1 January 2002 and 1,8 LU on 1 January 2003.

The following points need to be made in response to the Honourable Member's request for statistics on the holdings in the various Member States that lie above or below that 90 head limit. Firstly, it is hard to satisfy this request since the text of the question and the request for statistics are unclear in that they refer to the limit value of 90 ABU. There seems to be some confusion here between the limit for granting the special premium expressed in terms of the number of animals, which is not linked to stocking density, and the stocking density itself, expressed as livestock units (i.e. adult bovine units) per hectare. Secondly, the information at the Commission's disposal on the number of premiums paid or the size of the herd per holding does not make it possible to produce statistics in the form requested.

It should be pointed out that the option of amending or waiving the limit of 90 head of cattle was introduced for 2000. The Commission does not yet have information on any structural changes that this measure might have brought about.

The measure proposed by the Commission was intended to halt the grant of the special premium to an unlimited number of male animals held on large holdings and to spread the benefits of the premium instead among small and medium-sized holdings. The financial statement attached to the proposal did not therefore indicate any savings for this measure.

A ceiling of this kind is not planned for any sector outside the special premium for male bovine animals.