WRITTEN QUESTION E-0376/01

by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission

(15 February 2001)

Subject: BSE

The recent uproar over mad cow disease has caused serious misgivings about the application of purely commercial criteria to livestock farming, an attitude which has led to the current crisis in the production sector while also placing the emphasis on certain high-yield breeds of cattle at the expense of other, traditional breeds.

This attitude, in addition to having proved to be a danger to health, has jeopardised, and to some extent destroyed, Europe's extraordinarily extensive legacy of biodiversity. This is particularly important in mountainous regions, where the presence of traditional local breeds is linked to long-standing Alpine farming practices which are beneficial in terms of conservation and result in very high-quality milk and cheese products, often designated as being of protected origin.

In view of the foregoing, has the Commission taken any action in the past to protect these traditional breeds of cattle? Does the Commission agree that it would be useful in future, in the context of new legislation, to devise suitable policies to enable such breeds to be preserved and put to the best possible use?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(28 March 2001)

From 1993 and throughout the programming period which ended in 1999 the Commission approved programmes in most Member States to promote rearing breeds of farm animals, including cattle, threatened with extinction. The programmes were designed to contribute towards achieving one of the agri-environmental objectives referred to in Article 1(c) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2078/92 of 30 June 1992 on agricultural production methods compatible with the requirements of the protection of the environment and the maintenance of the countryside(1), namely to promote ways of using agricultural land which are compatible with protection and improvement of genetic diversity. The Community's effort on this matter is continuing in the 2000-2006 period under 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(2), which incorporates into a single regulatory instrument all rural development support measures and also the objectives of Regulation (EEC) No 2078/92.

Under Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999, and in particular the agri-environmental measures referred to in Articles 22 to 24, support is granted to farmers who commit themselves for at least five years to agricultural production methods designed to protect the environment and to maintain the countryside; that support is also intended to promote genetic diversity. Article 13 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1750/1999 of 23 July 1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)(3) provides for agri-environmental support for commitments to rear local farm animal breeds in danger of extinction. Most of the rural development programmes which Member States have drawn up and which the Commission has approved for the 2000-2006 programming period provide for agri-environmental premiums for rearing local breeds, including cattle, threatened with extinction.

In view of the above, the Commission considers that it has already taken the steps needed to protect cattle breeds which are under threat.

(1) OJ L 215, 30.7.1992.

(2) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999.

(3) OJ L 214, 13.8.1999.