WRITTEN QUESTION E-1202/00

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(12 April 2000)

Subject: Crisis in the apple-growing sector

Cultivation of Jonagold apples is currently undergoing a crisis. Fruit growers in Limburg have been forced to sell below cost price. The problem is not confined to growers in the Flemish province of Limburg, but is apparent in other regions, too.

1. Is the Commission aware of the crisis in the apple growing sector, with particular regard to Jonagold? If not, will the Commission seek detailed information on the apple crisis?

2. Will the Commission take action to provide a solution to the apple crisis? If so, what action, and will it involve structural or emergency measures? If not, why is the Commission unwilling to take action?

3. Does the Commission advocate a quota policy for the production of apples in the European Union as a means of providing a structural solution to the crisis in the apple growing sector? If so, when and in what way will the Commission draw up a quota scheme? If not, why does the Commission reject a quota policy as a structural solution to the apple crisis, and what alternative approach does it advocate?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(22 May 2000)

1. The Commission is also aware that apple prices have generally been lower during the 1999/2000 marketing year than in the previous marketing year. Prices are, however, roughly the same as in the 1997/1998 marketing year. This overall trend is largely attributable to the relatively high level of Community production (almost 8,5 million tonnes, i.e. about 10 % more than the average for the last few marketing years). This figure conceals a degree of variation by Member State, however: for example, Belgian apple production amounted to almost 550 000 tonnes in 1999, i.e. 30 % more than the average for the previous marketing years. Against this background, Community production of the Jonagold variety has likewise reached record levels at over 900 000 tonnes. Producer prices for Belgian apples, and particularly for the Jonagold variety, are therefore logically lower than usual.

2. In such circumstances, producers are able to call on several types of financial instrument under Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 of 28 October 1996 on the common organisation of the market in fruit and vegetables(1). Producer organisations may decide to implement the intervention arrangements through market withdrawals, the aim of which is to support prices for products remaining on the market. Also, the operational funds provide producer organisations with considerable public financial resources which they can use to make structural improvements. These measures have been devised to enable producer organisations, which account for 70 % of fruit and vegetable production in Belgium, to deal with short-term crises and to take steps that will improve their competitiveness.

This framework therefore provides apple producers with adequate instruments through which to alleviate the effects of the short-term production crisis. It is not necessary to devise new, special measures. With more specific regard to the Jonagold variety, which accounts for 50 % of Belgian production, the operational funds likewise mean that producers have the financial resources to convert their orchards to less over-produced varieties.

3. Nor does the Commission plan to introduce a production quota system for apples. The common organisation of the market does not provide for this type of measure, which does not appear suited to crops for which producers cannot readily forecast their final production. Since 1996 the Council has instead chosen to assist the fruit and vegetable sector by providing producer organisations with structural support through the operational funds, so that producer organisations which concentrate supply should be able to manage short-term fluctuations in production more and more effectively.

(1) OJ L 297, 21.11.1996.