EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/75

(2004/C 84 E/0080)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3643/03

by Salvador Jové Peres (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(9 December 2003)

Subject: Reform of the common organisation of the market in olive oil

In 1998 the Council set national guaranteed quantities for olive oil, using figures which the Commission itself acknowledged as being questionable and on which the Court of Auditors also cast doubt in its special report 2/98. One of the objectives of the 1998 reform of the COM was to obtain reliable information on the true production situation. Exceeding the national guaranteed quantities entailed penalties which determined the amount of aid received during the period from 2000 to 2002. In its current proposal, the Commission suggests using this period as a basis for calculating future aid.

Does the Commission not consider that using information which it has acknowledged as unreliable will create distortion in future aid distribution? What efforts has the Commission made to verify the information used to determine the guaranteed national quantities in 1998? What was the outcome?

At the IOOC meeting in November 1996, slight changes were introduced consisting in the case of Greece of average reductions in production of 8 % and in surface areas of 63 %, in the case of Italy a reduction in surface areas of 54 % and an increase in production of 3 % and in the case of Spain, a slight reduction in production. This would suggest that olive oil production in Italy and Greece is higher than had been recorded. How does the Commission explain the adjustments made at the IOOC meeting in November 1996? Could there be other more likely explanations based on the unreliability of the figures used to determine the guaranteed national quantities?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(22 January 2004)

The NGQ distribution decided on by the Council in 1998 took a number of factors into account. Among them was production during the previous five-year period with extreme production years ruled out. Others included the circumstances of the sector in the various Member States.

The data yielded by the independent Olistat and Oliarea surveys has confirmed that the NGQ distribution corresponded to the production structure existing in 1998.

As was the case for the sectors dealt with in the first reform package, we are proposing that the national ceilings be calculated using the average of the payments received by growers during the reference period. For olive oil this is the 2000/2001 to 2002/2003 marketing years. This reference period is a key element of the reform. Its use guarantees consistency of financial treatment of the various CAP sectors.

At our request, the International Olive Oil Council re-examined its statistical series for the Member States in order to improve consistency between data sets, in particular for market prices.

This analysis of the statistical compilation methods in use showed that in some Member States olive oil utilisation covered human consumption alone whereas it should also have covered industrial uses and losses. It was also found that in some Member States marketing structures were such that many figures could not be known with better than 12 % accuracy.