WRITTEN QUESTION P-2013/01

by Joan Colom i Naval (PSE) to the Commission

(3 July 2001)

Subject: Aid for the meat marketing sector in the wake of BSE

The BSE crisis in the cattle sector led the Commission to approve aid to producers hit. However, those involved in marketing meat products were equally badly hit - butchers, offal merchants, meat transporters, meat suppliers, slaughter house staff, etc. They have all suffered major losses, and many of their businesses have been virtually ruined. While this is a general problem throughout the EU, in Barcelona and the surrounding province, we have the additional specific problem that this sector is mainly concentrated in municipal markets - i.e. we are speaking about specialist tradesmen - which are restricted to the sale of beef and mutton, and cannot diversify in terms of the products they sell (which would not be the solution either, given the particular idiosyncrasies of the markets in which they work). This means that their situation is even more worrying than that of their counterparts in the rest of the EU, since the latter are, in many cases, in a position to diversify the products on sale in their shops and sales points. Data supplied by the sector in Barcelona shows

that sales fell by as much as 70-80 % for butchers and almost 100 % for offal merchants, and that these figures now stand at 50-60 % for butchers and 80 % for offal merchants. In financial terms, the average loss is between 3 000 and 6 000 per business, or worse where loss of activity has led to staff being paid off.

What specific action has the Commission taken to mitigate the effects of the crisis, which could lead to many small family businesses in this sector closing down? Does the Commission intend to take any steps to assist this sector in respect of the damage caused by BSE? Does the Commission believe that economic measures should be adopted for those undertakings which have been obliged to cease trading as a result of the crisis?

In view of the precedents, e.g. swine fever, does the Commission believe that by lifting the embargo, the treatment applied to the UK has been similar to that given previously to other countries?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(4 September 2001)

No Community aid has been paid to beef and veal producers to help them cope with the recent bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis. However, following pressing demands for support of this type from certain Member States, the Commission agreed at the Agriculture Council held on 26 February 2001 to examine national aid proposals which complied with the rules laid down by the EC Treaty. Scrutiny of a number of such proposals is currently nearing completion.

Where trade and distribution are concerned, no specific measures are planned. However, the possibility of granting national aid to these sectors could also be investigated. This was done at the time of the 1996 BSE crisis, when the United Kingdom was authorised to assist the slaughter industry in order to maintain operations and preserve jobs.

In addition to the specific measures taken in connection with the management of the market in beef and veal under the rural development support scheme governed by Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending and repealing certain Regulations(1), Member States can propose support measures aimed at improving the marketing of agricultural products. It should be pointed out, however, that investments at retail level are ineligible for support. In this same context of rural development programming, Member States can propose measures aimed at diversifying activities linked to agriculture and encouraging craft activities.

The steps taken by the Community to mitigate the effects of the crisis have been aimed in particular at keeping the entire beef and veal production chain in operation as far as possible through:

- the purchase and storage of meat suitable for consumption, and the purchase of slaughtered animals of over 30 months which have not been screened for BSE,

- encouragement for exports,

- information measures targeted at importing countries,

- hygiene measures aimed at restoring consumer confidence and, therefore, domestic demand,

- a seven-point plan, recently approved by the Council, aimed at increasing the environmental and social sustainability of Community beef and veal.

The Commission considers that there has been no discriminatory treatment.

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999.