WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1138/97 by Cristiana MUSCARDINI to the Commission. Proposal to change milk quotas
Date: 1997-03-24
Institutions: European Parliament, MUSCARDINI
Subjects: EU law, EU law - national law, VAT, agricultural levy, agricultural quota, milk, production quota, regulation of agricultural production, sale, tax law













EUR-Lex - 91997E1138 - EN






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91997E1138

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1138/97 by Cristiana MUSCARDINI to the Commission. Proposal to change milk quotas  


Official Journal C 367 , 04/12/1997 P. 0083 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-1138/97 by Cristiana Muscardini (NI) to the Commission (24 March 1997)Subject: Proposal to change milk quotasIn order to make the rules on the fixing of milk quotas as effective and transparent as possible, will the Commission draw up a directive which:1. stipulates that subsidies for producers in the quota B category will be continued, and allows for quota A holders to increase production as a result of selective breeding and technical progress;2. confers immediate validity on the sale and leasing of quotas;3. provides for VAT on sales of quotas to be calculated on a flat-rate basis;4. abolishes the 15% reduction when quotas are sold anywhere in the national territory, except in mountain or hill farming areas;5. stipulates that the bulletin allocating quotas shall be published by 31 January of each reference year;6. provides for the immediate cancellation of those assigned quotas which have not been utilized in terms of the products actually supplied and invoiced in the two years preceding the application?Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (28 April 1997)First of all, it should be pointed out that the milk quota system is implemented by regulations, which are binding in their entirety and directly applicable in all Member States, and not by directives, within the meaning of Article 189 of the EC Treaty.1. Community rules and regulations, in this case Council Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92, which provides for an additional levy in the milk and milk products ((OJ L 405, 31.12.1992. )) sector, comprises a system which is to be applied to deliveries as well as producers' direct sales, without a distinction between 'A' quota and 'B' quota being made.2. Article 7 of the Regulation lays down the general framework under which the reference quantity (quota) available on a farm can, in certain circumstances, be transferred with the farm. The Regulation also makes Member States responsible for determining detailed application rules which take certain objective criteria into account, notably the surface areas used.3. Potential problems in calculating value-added tax (VAT) on quota transfers have to be solved either under Community, i.e. not common agricultural, legislation on VAT, or under national tax rules and regulations.4. Article 7 of Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92 provides for Member States to feed the national reserve by means of a deduction on transfers. It is therefore up to each Member State to decide whether or not to use this option.5. Community legislation allows the Member State to choose whether or not to publish the allocation of individual reference quantities (quotas) in the national official gazette. The Commission does not consider obligatory publication to be useful.6. Article 5(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92 states that the quota of a producer who has not marketed milk for a period of 12 months is to revert to the national reserve. Producers who resume milk production within a time laid down by the Member State can obtain a new quota in accordance with Article 4 of the same Regulation.