WRITTEN QUESTION E-2306/97 by Josu Imaz San Miguel (PPE) to the Commission (3 July 1997)

Subject: Olive oil

Mr Fischler, Commissioner, has recently visited various olive-growing regions in Spain and has been made aware of the social implications of the reform which he himself is proposing and which is based on the replacement of production and consumption aid by a scheme based on the number of trees. According to research carried out by the Spanish Social and Economic Council, this would lead to a loss of up to 12 million working days and the jobs of 120 000 self-employed people.

Mr Fischler experienced at first hand the sensitivity of Andalusian farmers and the Spanish State as a whole, which accounts for 30% of world olive oil production, and saw for himself how the replacement of production aid by per-tree aid would discourage genuine production and quality to the benefit of fictitious estates, which would enrich large landowners but lead to a reduction in employment.

The criteria on which Mr Fischler's proposed reform is based run counter to the competitiveness objectives which underlie Community policies and could even increase the level of fraud: the scheme proposed by the Commission would lead to large-scale fraud since per-tree aid would cause genuine production to be abandoned and favour estates which are olive farms in name only.

Has Mr Fischler changed his mind about the reform of the COM in olive oil as a result of his visit to Spain? Does he agree that the terms of the COM reform laid down by the Commission would lead to a decline in the quality of the olive oil produced? All this considered, is the Commission going to opt for a COM in olive oil based on a system of aid to production and consumption?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (28 July 1997)

As the Honourable Member knows, the Commission sent a Note to the Council and Parliament on the olive and olive oil sector, the need for reform of it and the alternatives envisaged. In this reflection paper it set out two broad options: the improvement of the existing market organization and aid per tree.

The discussion in depth provoked by the document has provided a better picture of a sector of great importance for certain Community regions marked by strong socio-economic imbalances affecting employment in particular. In some of these olive growing is the most important economic activity.

The Commission is still awaiting the reactions of the various Community Institutions to the document, in particular that of Parliament, so that it can consider all factors deemed important by all Institutions, partners and professional bodies with an interest in this sector.

Whatever type of reform is proposed the Commission will put in place the mechanisms needed to prevent abandonment of olive growing and monitor the implementation of a policy of higher quality in order to protect jobs, growers' incomes and consumers.

The Commission's intention remains to propose a reform of which the keynotes will be simplification and reduction of fraud to a minimum. The present very complex mechanisms require improvement in order to shape a modern sector able to meet the challenges of the future.