EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 88/714

(2004/C 88 E/0734)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0853/04

by Terence Wynn (PSE) to the Commission

(19 March 2004)

Subject: New Regulation on sugar export and dispatch from outermost regions

I am led to understand that the Commission put to the consideration of the Management Committee for Exchanges on 20 January a proposal for amending Commission regulation (EC) No 20/2002 (1) concerning export and dispatch authorisations from the outermost regions of products included in the POSEI regimes (regimes for the development of local farm products and some food supply).

In this a large number of products are considered in the case of Madeira, although Madeira does not have an indigenous sugar production or refinery.

However, the Azores, which have an active sugar production and refinery industry, will be forbidden from exporting to the US and Canada (their traditional markets) or dispatching to European ones their local and artisan products using local sugar, like liqueurs, dairy products and marmalades.

Would you agree with the previous public declarations of a Member of the European Parliament, who represents the Azores, that there is a continuing attitude by the Commission of bias against the Azorean sugar facilities?

Could you confirm if Madeira is normally supplied through branches or associates of British Sugar?

Could you confirm that a subsidiary of British Sugar attempted and failed to acquire a controlling interest in the sole sugar producer and refiner of the Azores?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(30 April 2004)

On 16 March we adopted Regulation (EC) No 489/2004 (2) amending Regulation (EC) No 20/2002 laying down detailed rules for implementing the specific supply arrangements for the outermost regions introduced by Council Regulations (EC) No 1452/2001, (EC) No 1453/2001 and (EC) No 1454/2001.

This Regulation completes our review of the 2001 POSEI arrangements. It specifies the terms on which products that have undergone processing in the French and Portuguese outermost regions can be exported in the regional trade context.

We can inform the Honourable Member that:

1. The rules that we set have to be limited in their scope to implementation of the relevant Treaty and Council Regulation provisions. In response to the claim of discrimination in favour of Madeira against the Azores, we wish to make it clear that: (a) on several occasions, the first at the beginning of 2002, we asked the Permanent Representatives of the Member States concerned (France and Portugal) what goods they envisaged exporting in the regional trade context and to what countries. The product lists in Annexes II and III to Regulation (EC) No 489/2004 take over their wishes unmodified; (b) the Regulation (EC) No 489/2004 amendments in no way prohibit exportation to the United States and Canada of goods using locally obtained sugar, milk products and other agricultural products. Exportation of such goods to any destination has always been and continues to be totally free.

2. We do not know the identity of the enterprises that supply the outermost regions under the specific supply arrangements. The data the Member States send us for monitoring purposes consists of aggregated figures and enterprise names are not given.

3. We do not follow the progress of any negotiations on transfer of holdings in agri-food companies in the outermost regions that may occur. Tracking such negotiations is not a responsibility assigned to us under the Treaty or the secondary legislation.

(1) OJ L 8, 11.1.2002, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 79, 17.3.2004.