WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3820/97 by Viviane REDING to the Commission. Agricultural prices and monetary fluctuations after the introduction of the euro
Date: 1997-11-28
Institutions: European Parliament, REDING
Subjects: Economic and Monetary Union, agricultural product, common agricultural policy, exchange rate, farmers' income, floating rate, intra-EU trade, monetary compensatory amount, representative rate













EUR-Lex - 91997E3820 - EN






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91997E3820

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3820/97 by Viviane REDING to the Commission. Agricultural prices and monetary fluctuations after the introduction of the euro  


Official Journal C 174 , 08/06/1998 P. 0137 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-3820/97 by Viviane Reding (PPE) to the Commission (28 November 1997)Subject: Agricultural prices and monetary fluctuations after the introduction of the euroAfter the introduction of the single currency in some of the Member States, what will happen to the meaures which compensate for losses caused by monetary fluctuations affecting intra-EU trade in agricultural products?It is understood that such fluctuations will Longer exist de facto within the euro area. The problem concerns trade between those countries in the euro area and the 'pre-in' countries: will exports of agricultural products from the euro area to the 'pre-ins' still receive this compensation when there are monetary fluctuations outside the euro area?What is the Commission's opinion on this specific aspect of the consequences of the introduction of the euro on the common agricultural policy?Answer given by Mr de Silguy on behalf of the Commission (9 January 1998)Preparations are well advanced for the start of the third stage of economic and monetary union (EMU) on 1 January 1999. In March 1998, in accordance with Article 109j of the EC Treaty, the Commission and the European monetary institute (EMI) will report (the convergence reports) to the Council on the progress made by Member States in the fulfilment of their obligations regarding the achievement of EMU. Having followed the procedure set out in Article 109j, the Council will decide and publish - in May 1998 - the list of Member States that will participate in the third stage of EMU from 1 January 1999. At the same time, the bilateral fixed exchange rates, which will serve as a basis for the determination of euro conversion rates on the starting date of the third stage, will be announced.At that time, given the significant progress made by Member States in terms of economic convergence, it is envisaged that a large number of Member States will participate in the euro area right from the start. For the same reason, it is also expected that the transition to the third stage of EMU will be relatively smooth.The Commission is aware of the preoccupations of Member States regarding the impact of the introduction of the euro on agricultural markets. As the Honourable Member acknowledges, the creation of the euro area zone, particularly given the expectation of participation of a large number of Member States, will considerably lessen the importance of the agrimonetary mechanisms in the third stage of EMU. Given that the decision has not yet been made on the list of participants in EMU, it would be premature to present any proposals now for any alterations to the compensation mechanism, which is currently in operation. The Commission will return to this topic once the configuration of Member States participating in EMU is known.