WRITTEN QUESTION E-3651/98

by Cristiana Muscardini (NI) to the Commission

(3 December 1998)

Subject: Protection of mountainous agricultural areas

Law 335/95 delegated the task of rationalising the tax concessions for disadvantaged agricultural areas to the Italian Government. Legislative Decree 146/97 provided for a new classification of these areas to apply from 1 January 1998, subsequently changed to 1 January 1999. This classification is decided on by the CIPE (Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning), but the ministry responsible for this area has submitted reclassification proposals to the trade organisations, prompting reactions from elected representatives and local authorities worried about further difficulties for agriculture and the certain failure of the companies that are still operating in these areas. It would appear that the criteria used by the Ministry of Agriculture are based on so-called objective parameters, which are applied across the board without regard for the special circumstances of certain provinces.

In order to establish whether or not the criteria are analogous with the Community criteria and aims adopted in relation to the protection of disadvantaged mountainous areas under the CAP,

1. can the Commission say what classification criteria it used;

2. did it taken account of the territorial scope of the companies in question and their fragmented nature;

3. did it consider the lower productivity of the funds and the higher production costs;

4. did it take account of the existence of regional planning constraints of a territorial (parks, nature reserves and sanctuaries), hydrological and environmental nature;

5. did it assess the ecological risks associated with closure of production facilities, caused by the increased poverty of populations living in mountainous areas?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(15 January 1999)

The Honourable Member's questions concern the aid scheme to benefit less-favoured agricultural areas laid down by Council Regulation (EC) 950/97 of 20 May 1997 on improving the efficiency of agricultural structures(1).

1. Mountain areas are characterised by either very difficult climatic conditions resulting in a shortened growing season, or steep slope excluding the use of machinery or requiring the use of very expensive equipment. Alternatively a combination of these factors may lead to the classification of mountain areas. For Italy, under Council Directive 75/273/EEC of 28 April 1975 concerning the Community list of less-favoured farming areas within the meaning of Directive No 75/268/EEC(2) the specific criteria are a minimal average altitude of the commune of 700 m for Northern and Central Italy and of 800 m for Southern Italy, or slopes steeper than 20 %, or a minimum altitude of 600 m for Northern and Central Italy and of 700 m for Southern Italy and, simultaneously, slopes steeper than 15 %.

2. Neither the surface cultivated by each individual farm nor the fragmentation of the terrain is taken into consideration as a criterion for classification. However, for the granting of compensatory allowances to farmers in less-favoured areas a minimum threshold is three hectares of usable agricultural area (two hectares in the Italian Mezzogiorno).

3. These aspects are inherently related to the definition of mountain areas. In addition Member States fix the amounts of compensatory allowances to be granted according to the severity of the permanent natural handicaps affecting farm activities.

4. Criteria other than altitude and slope are not taken into account for the classification of mountain areas. Environmental and hydro-geological constraints can be considered for classification of "small areas affected by specific handicaps," the third type of less-favoured area.

5. The Commission emphasises that the impoverishment of the agricultural population as well as its consequences such as abandonment of fields, degradation of the environmental and depopulation are the major concerns of the Community aid scheme for less-favoured areas as reflected in its definition. Furthermore, depopulation is one of the explicit criteria for classification of "less-favoured areas in danger of depopulation," the second type of less-favoured area.

Finally it should be mentioned that the Commission is not aware of any initiative of reclassification mentioned by the Honourable Member. Member States communicate to the Commission the proposed amendments of the boundaries of the less-favoured areas and submit all relevant information. For the modification of an existing classification the decision level (Council or Commission) depends on the extent of the modifications.

(1) OJ L 142, 2.6.1997.

(2) OJ L 128, 19.5.1975.