WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1280/97 by Daniela RASCHHOFER to the Commission. 'Letter to Farmers' in the 1996 annual report of the Commission's representation in Austria
Date: 1997-04-11
Institutions: European Parliament, RASCHHOFFER
Subjects: Austria, EU publication, common agricultural policy, confidentiality, dissemination of EU information, distribution cost, farmer, primary sector

C 60/16

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

25. 2. 98

Provided that Community citizens are in all cases entitled to be issued with a residence permit which complies
with the requirements laid down by Community legislation, it is admissible for national law to provide for the
existence  of  other  types  of  residence  permit  issued  on  the  basis  of  national  law  and  conferring  additional
advantages in return for compliance with additional requirements.

(1) 

In  Community  legislation,  this  requirement  exists  only  with  reference  to  workers’  families-see  Article10(3)  of  Regulation
(EEC) No 1612/68 (OJ L 257, 19.10.1968).

(98/C 60/34)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1260/97

by Quin(cid:14)·dio Correia (PSE) to the Commission

(2 April 1997)

Subject: Late payment of subsidies to banana producers in Madeira

There have recently been reports of lengthy delays in the payment of Community subsidies to banana producers
of the Autonomous Region of Madeira.

›  Can the Commission confirm that these delays have occurred?

›  On what date were the monies transferred by the Commission to enable these subsidies to be paid and what

were the amounts in question?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(21 April 1997)

Under  the  common  organization  of  the  market  in  bananas,  aid  is  granted  to  organizations  of  Community
producers to offset loss of income.

Compensatory  aid  for  a  given  year  is  calculated  in  the  first  months  of  the  following  year,  once  the  annual
marketing data is available and has been verified. There is a problem with certain data for 1996 and additional
checks are needed. This is why the balance could not be paid by the deadline of 31 March. However, the delay in
payment can hardly be considered that great at this stage. Moreover, it should be remembered that producers(cid:146)
organizations received advances on the compensatory aid during 1996.

In view of the outstanding problems, the Commission is unable to specify either the final amount of aid or the
exact date on which it will be fixed. However, some indication of the time scale involved can be given. The draft
Regulation fixing the amount of compensatory aid for 1996 should be submitted to the Management Committee
for Bananas in mid-April.

(98/C 60/35)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1280/97

by Daniela Raschhofer (NI) to the Commission

(11 April 1997)

Subject: (cid:145)Letter to Farmers(cid:146) in the 1996 annual report of the Commission(cid:146)s representation in Austria

The (cid:145)EU Letter to Farmers(cid:146) issued every month by the Commission(cid:146)s representation in Austria is a four-page
supplement  to  the  Austrian  Farmers(cid:146)  Association(cid:146)s  magazine  (cid:145)idk(cid:146),  and  contains  background  information
relating  to  agriculture  and  up-to-date  information  on  the  CAP  with  particular  reference  to  Austria.  This
supplement which appeared eleven times in the year in question was sent to 3 700 Austrian farmers or farmers(cid:146)
representatives.

Will the Commission say:

whether it is acceptable that the Commission(cid:146)s representation in Austria should distribute its information in

1.
the form of a supplement to publications of political parties, as is the case with the (cid:145)Letter to Farmers(cid:146)?

2.

How much this Commission supplement ((cid:145)Letter to Farmers(cid:146)) costs?