WRITTEN QUESTION E-0773/01

by Jorge Hernández Mollar (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(13 March 2001)

Subject: Cultivation of grapes to produce certain varieties of dried grapes

On 22 July 1999 the Commission adopted Regulation (EC) No 1621/1999(1) on aid for the cultivation of grapes to produce certain varieties of dried grapes.

Since this regulation came into force and despite its generous provisions, in Málaga province (Spain) the area given over to muscatel grapes intended for the production of dried grapes has been reduced.

The regulation establishes a contract-based system as the main channel for receiving aid. However, the deadlines chosen are creating producer insecurity: 1 August is too early to set a price adjusted to demand (muscatel raisins are traditionally sold at Christmas), and the contract mechanism thus obliges producers to make a contract on pain of not receiving any Community aid.

In the last marketing year prices were offered in November to non-contract producers at a level exceeding - by ESP 100/kg - the average price laid down in contracts signed three months previously. While the regulation provides for the possibility of negotiating, in practice this does not happen since buyers are not interested: accordingly, the contract price prevails.

Some standard contracts define the payment date as being six months from delivery of the dried grapes: this is too long a time-lag for fragile economies such as those of this sector. Buyers may also attempt to tie the date of payment of Community aid (31 May) to the date of payment for the product.

Is the Commission willing to consider altering the contract timetable for muscatel grapes cultivated in Málaga province with a view to the production of dried grapes by setting a date (e.g. 31 October) more in line with demand for the product?

Should this not be possible, would the Commission consider introducing a system to put an end to the dominant position of the buyer in the case of dried grapes?

Would the Commission consider proposing that the contract should no longer make reference to the payment date, given that this is not required under Regulation (EC) No 1621/1999, or, should such reference continue to be made, that the payment period should in future not extend up to the delivery deadline?

(1) OJ L 192, 24.7.1999, p. 21.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(26 April 2001)

Article 3(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1621/1999 of 22 July 1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 as regards aid for the cultivation of grapes to produce certain varieties of dried grapes(1) stipulates that the aid is to be granted on specialised plots, production from which has been delivered to processors under contracts.

That provision meets the producers' need for security as regards the disposal of their production as well as that of the processors as regards supplies to their plants.

The time limit for signing contracts strikes a fair balance between the need for the contract to be drawn up early enough to be fully effective and the competing need for operators to be provided with up-to-date data on the coming harvest.

Over the marketing year fluctuations in prices for perennial crops and non-perishable products are slight. Nonetheless, the Commission made provision in Article 5(2) of the abovementioned Regulation to allow prices agreed upon in contracts to be revised up to 30 November 2001.

The selling price is to be agreed between the contracting parties. The time limit for payment is one of the components of the price. The Commission will look into the advisability of bringing this time limit into line with those applying in other aid schemes for products processed from fruit and vegetables.

However, the best way to strengthen the producers' position vis-à-vis the distributors and processors is to improve producer organisation and increase the concentration of supply. To that end Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 of 28 October 1996 on the common organisation of the market in fruit and vegetables(2) provides for specific measures to encourage the setting-up and development of producer organisations.

(1) OJ L 192, 24.7.1999.

(2) OJ L 297, 21.11.1996.