OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE on the proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 1765/92 establishing a support system for producers of certain arable crops
Date: 1996-01-31
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: aid per hectare, aid system, fallow, oleaginous plant, production aid













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51996AC0098

OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE on the proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 1765/92 establishing a support system for producers of certain arable crops  


Official Journal C 097 , 01/04/1996 P. 0030 





Opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Council Regulation (EEC)  No  1765/92 establishing a support system for producers of certain arable crops ()(96/C  97/10)On 20  December 1995, the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social  Committee, under Articles  43 and 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the  above-mentioned proposal. The Section for Agriculture and Fisheries, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work  on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 11  January 1996. The Rapporteur was Mr  Pricolo. At its 332nd Plenary Session (meeting of 31  January 1996), the Economic and Social Committee  adopted unanimously the following Opinion. 1. Introduction1.1. It seems advisable to point out first of all that, in taking the  initiative to present to the Council a proposal which in fact seeks to amplify, rather than amend,  the basic Regulation 1765/92, the Commission is motivated by the wish to implement the pledge made  by the EC to the USA concerning oilseeds under GATT (the 'Blair House Agreement'). 1.2. Regulation 1765/92 sets up a system of compensatory aid per hectare as from the 1993-1994  marketing year for producers of certain arable crops in order to compensate the loss of revenue  resulting from the reduction of institutional prices, i.e. the progressive alignment of EC prices  on those on the world market. 1.3. Any producer who asks for the payment of per hectare aid under the 'general regime' (a  'simplified regime' is provided for small producers) is obliged to withdraw some of his farmland  from production (the initial percentage was 15 %; currently it is 10 %), for which he receives  compensation under Article  7(4) and (5). 1.4. The 'Memorandum of Understanding' on oilseeds concluded by the EC and the USA in  June 1993  stipulates that the EC 'shall take appropriate corrective action within the framework of the CAP  reform' if 'the by-products made available as a result of the cultivation of oilseeds on land set  aside for the manufacture within the Community of products not primarily intended for human or  animal consumption exceed one million tonnes annually expressed in soya bean meal equivalent'. 1.5. The Commission considers there has been a big increase in the cultivation of oilseeds on  set-aside land and fears that the 1 million tonne limit may be exceeded; so, it is now proposing to  the Council that measures be introduced to monitor and forecast production trends in order to avoid  any breaches of the limit on by-products (oil cake and meal) intended primarily for use as animal  feed. 1.6. Basically, a scheme for monitoring the delivery contracts concluded annually between farmers  and seed crushers will enable the volume of soya meal equivalent which could be produced to be  worked out. 1.6.1. If production estimates suggest that the 1 million tonne ceiling might be breached, the  amount of by-products authorized in each delivery contract would be reduced. 2. Comments2.1. The ESC feels that from a purely formal standpoint the Commission's proposal  fits in with the EC's pledges to the USA under GATT. 2.2. However, it considers that there is no real or imminent risk of the 1 million tonne ceiling  for soya meal equivalent being breached. 2.2.1. Production of oilseed by-products on set-aside land remained below this threshold in 1995. 2.2.2. There should be no increase in EU production in 1996 for the following reasons: a) the percentage of set-aside has been reduced from 15 to 10 %; andb) no measures have been  adopted at Community level to remove taxes on fuels of agricultural origin. 2.3. In addition, world output for 1996 is expected to be 2 to 3 % down on the previous year due to  forecasts of a 7 million tonne drop in the US soya harvest and a big fall in Brazilian production. 2.4. Although the Commission's initiative is aimed basically at setting up, under the basic  Regulation 1765/92, the legal machinery for ensuring that the Blair House pledges are kept, the ESC  would still point out that, at the end of the day, the proposed measures will discourage the  growing of crops which might be used for the extraction of fuels. Done at Brussels, 31  January 1996. The Presidentof the Economic and Social CommitteeCarlos FERRER() OJ No C 12,  17. 1. 1996, p. 11.