WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2366/97 by Jan MULDER to the Commission. Forestry management in Central and Eastern Europe
Date: 1997-07-10
Institutions: European Parliament, MULDER
Subjects: Central and Eastern Europe, EU programme, deforestation, environmental protection, forest conservation, forestry legislation, privatisation, silviculture

11. 3. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 76/101

(98/C 76/201)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2366/97

by Jan Mulder (ELDR) to the Commission

(10 July 1997)

Subject: Forestry management in Central and Eastern Europe

According  to  reports  in  the  Dutch  press  the  current  wave  of  privatizations  of  forests  in  Central  and  Eastern
Europe is having an extremely adverse impact on the environment. In Hungary, for example, the denationali-
zation of forests is alleged to have caused deforestation on a major scale. The new owners are selling their wood
as quickly as possible and are not required to replant. In Romania too a similar development is believed to be
imminent with all the adverse environmental effects it entails.

1

Can the Commission confirm these press reports?

Is  the  Commission  involved,  through  the  PHARE  programme  or  in  any  other  way,  in  the  sustainable
2.
exploitation of forests in Central and Eastern Europe and in the two above-mentioned countries in particular?

If the press reports are true, is the Commission prepared to take the necessary steps to ensure that the forests

3.
in Central and Eastern Europe are exploited in a sustainable manner?

4. Can the Commission state what concrete measures it plans to take?

Answer given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission

(9 September 1997)

The  Commission  is  not  in  a  position  to  confirm  press  reports  on  deforestation  as  a  consequence  of

1.
privatisation in Hungary and Romania.

2.

The Commission has supported a major project in Poland concerning the biodiversity of forests.

A  project  to  give  general  assistance  in  forest  management,  has  just  started  as  well  as  a  project  focusing  on
national and nature parks.

In  Hungary,  the  Phare  agricultural  programme  has  supported  a  study  on  the  situation  of  the  forestry  sector.
Forestry  projects  are  directly  supported  by  the  government  of  Hungary  which  approved  the  (cid:145)National
Afforestation Programme(cid:146) (government Decision 3224/91) with the ambitious goal of afforesting 150 000 hec-
tares of land until the year 2000. The Hungarian government supported the afforestation with 1 billion Forint in
1996 and 1.3 billion Forint allocated in 1997. Phare assistance has been requested by the Hungarian ministry of
Agriculture for this programme.

3.
The Commission is prepared to support projects for sustainable forestry. However, the Community has no
legal competence to intervene in forestry management in any third countries including the Central and Eastern
European countries.

At the international level, there is efficient cooperation between the Community and the Central and Eastern
European countries on forestry issues, in particular in the commission on sustainable development and on the
intergovernmental  panel  on  forests.  These  countries  formally  associated  themselves  with  the  Community
statements  and  positions  and  have  also  signed  the  resolutions  of  the  Helsinki  Conference  on  forests  and  are
participating in the follow-up process.

Concrete steps can be undertaken in the future when requested by the relevant governments following their

4.
environmental approximation strategies.

(98/C 76/202)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2371/97

by Patricia McKenna (V) to the Commission

(10 July 1997)

Subject: Community contributions to the Internal Fund for Ireland

Fifteen million ecu from the Community budget were allocated to supporting projects chosen by the International
Fund for Ireland between 1989 and 1995. On April 20 last the Commission proposed that a further contribution
be made to this fund for 1998 and 1999.