WRITTEN QUESTION No. 4063/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. IRAP (a regional tax on production)
Date: 1998-01-14
Institutions: AMADEO, European Parliament
Subjects: Italy, VAT, corporation tax, investment cost, production cost, tax harmonisation, tax on employment income, tax on income, wage cost

17. 7. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 223/49

The inclusion of additional sinks such as agricultural soils and other land use change and forestry activities will
be  considered  by  future  conferences  of  the  parties.  In  order  to  resolve  remaining  scientific  uncertainties  and
methodological problems associated with the inclusion of additional sink categories, the Commission actively
contributes to the ongoing work of the intergovernmental panel on climate change and the relevant subsidiary
bodies of the Convention.

The  ongoing  work  in  the  field  of  (cid:145)environmental  indicators  and  green  accounting(cid:146)  takes  into  account  the
valuation of the carbon binding process of forests and the changes in land use in the Member States.

At  the  global  level  the  Commission  works  through  a  number  of  programmes  and  projects  to  support  forest
conservation and sustainable management of forests. These programmes address a variety of environment and
development issues, including conservation of biological diversity, use of renewable resources and the aspect of
carbon sinks.

2.1.
For some years the Commission has generally been pursuing a policy which favours renewable energies,
on  energy,  environmental  and  employment  grounds.  This  has  resulted,  inter  alia,  in  such  Community
research-development and demonstration programmes as Joule, Thermie and FAIR, which have done much to
help create an industry with major potential (including on export markets), as well as the Altener programme,
which has supported many renewable energy infrastructure projects.

As  for  the  (cid:145)green  fuels(cid:146)  mentioned  by  the  Honourable  Member,  the  Commission  would  point  out  that  the
common agricultural policy (CAP) lays down measures concerning energy crops. Specifically, Article 7(4) of
Council Regulation (EEC) No 1765/92 of 30 June 1992 establishing a support system for producers of certain
arable crops (1) provides for the possibility of non-food crops on fallow land.

2.2.
The Commission, aware of the importance of energy and environment issues, recently produced a White
Paper (Energy for the future: Renewable sources of energy (2)) containing a set of proposals and measures in the
form of an action plan for renewables. The plan includes quantified objectives and costs and forecast benefits, as
well as the Commission(cid:146)s undertaking to ensure ongoing monitoring.

The Community strategy and the 2010 action plan for renewable sources of energy, as presented in the White
Paper, set out to double the share of renewables in the energy balance to 12% in 2010.

Biomass  plays  an  important  part.  Energy  use  of  biomass  includes  energy  crops,  rational  use  of  forests,
agricultural and forestry residues and organic waste of agricultural origin and from the agri-food industry, inter
alia.

The Commission believes that, in addition to its energy objectives, this initiative also contributes significantly
towards the Kyoto objectives.

(1)  OJ L 181, 1.7.1992.
(2)  COM(97) 599 final.

(98/C 223/58)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4063/97

by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission

(14 January 1998)

Subject: IRAP (a regional tax on production)

The added value on which the tax IRAP is to be levied in Italy includes the salaries of employees and the interest
paid  on  debts  and  company  loans,  in  other  words  on  money  which  is  not  at  the  disposal  of  the  owner  of  a
business.

Can the Commission say whether this will cause serious problems as regards fair competition between Italian
businesses and those in other Community countries?