EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 70/255

(2004/C 70 E/276)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3315/03

by Caroline Lucas (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(3 November 2003)

Subject: FMD compensation

The UK government has claimed GBP 948,6 million from the European Commission for the cost of responding to the Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak.

The European Commission has so far paid only GBP 217 million.

Under European law, compensation is only payable to farmers whose animals are thought to have been exposed to the disease.

Is the European Commission withholding the compensation given neither the EU Directive in force then, nor the revised version, stipulate contiguous culling as a means of control?

What timescale does the Commission envisage for the completion of compensation payments?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(3 December 2003)

Community reimbursement of Member States' expenditure for eradication during epidemics such as foot-and-mouth disease is governed by Decision 90/424/EEC (1). As a general rule, expenditure listed in Article 11 of this Decision and recognised as eligible may be co-financed up to 60 %.

As for the expenditure incurred by the United Kingdom during the 2001 epidemic, the Commission adopted three specific financing Decisions on the basis of the aforementioned Decision 90/424/EEC:

— Decision 2001/654/EC (2), for the co-financing of the compensation paid by the British authorities for slaughterings carried out between February and June 2001,

— Decision 2003/23/EC (3), for the co-financing of the compensation paid by the British authorities for slaughterings carried out between July and October 2001, and

— Decision 2003/676/EC (4), for the ‘operational expenditure’ associated with eradication (cleaning, disinfection, destruction of carcasses, etc.).

The applications for co-financing up to 60 % submitted by the United Kingdom pursuant to these three Decisions are for EUR 887 million, EUR 102 million and EUR 510 million respectively.

At this stage, the Commission has completed its financial audit of the applications submitted pursuant to Decision 2001/654/EC and considers a sum of EUR378,2 million to be eligible, of which EUR355 million had already been paid as an advance. The excluded expenditure is not ineligible under Community law but the result of an overestimation of the value of the animals in the Commission's calculations as well as a flat-rate financial correction for the deficiencies of the administrative control system.

The applications submitted pursuant to the other two financing Decisions are still being audited. The audit is expected to be completed in 2004. The Community financial contributions will be paid upon completion of these audits.

An advance of EUR 40 million is on the point of being paid towards expenditure covered by Decision 2003/676/EC.

(1) 90/424/EEC: Council Decision of 26 June 1990 on expenditure in the veterinary field, OJ L 224, 18.8.1990.

(2) 2001/654/EC: Commission Decision of 16 August 2001 concerning a financial contribution towards the eradication of foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom in 2001, OJ L 230, 28.8.2001.

(3) 2003/23/EC: Commission Decision of 30 December 2002 concerning a financial contribution for the compulsory slaughter between 1 July and 31 October 2001 of animals due to foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom, OJ L 8, 14.1.2003.

(4) 2003/676/EC: Commission Decision of 24 September 2003 on an additional financial contribution from the Community towards the costs of the eradication of foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom in 2001, OJ L 249, 1.10.2003.