WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2331/98 by John McCARTIN to the Commission. WTO Agreements on EU beef exports
Date: 1998-07-27
Institutions: European Parliament, MCCARTIN
Subjects: EU production, GATT, World Trade Organisation, agreement (EU), beef, export, export refund, third country

C 118/58

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

29.4.1999

Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste (3) refers to Article 7 of Directive 75/442/EEC and requires the
authorities to (cid:145)draw up, either separately or in the framework of their general waste management plans,
plans for the management of hazardous waste and [to] make these plans public(cid:146).

Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste (4) requires the Member States to include a specific
chapter on the management of packaging and packaging waste in the waste management plans.

Not having received the waste management programmes in accordance with the abovementioned
Directives, the Commission sent the Greek authorities a letter of formal notice, in reply to which the
said authorities sent a draft law transposing Directive 94/62/EC.

As programmes have not been set up in accordance with Directives 75/442/EEC, 91/689/EEC and
94/62/EC, the Commission will press ahead with infringement proceedings against Greece.

It is the Court of Justice which decides that a Member State has failed to fulfil an obligation. The Member
State must then (EC Treaty Article 171) take the necessary measures to comply with the Court(cid:146)s judgment,
failing which the Commission may bring the case before the Court and propose a penalty to be paid by the
in its judgment (5). In its
Member State. The Court alone has the authority to fix the amount,
communication of 28 February 1997 the Commission laid down the method for calculating the penalty
payment provided for in Article 171 of the Treaty (6).

(1) OJ L 194, 25.7.1975.
(2) OJ L 78, 26.3.1991.
(3) OJ L 377, 31.12.1991.
(4) OJ L 365, 31.12.1994.
(5) OJ C 242, 21.8.1996.
(6) OJ C 63, 28.2.1997.

(1999/C 118/070)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2331/98

by John McCartin (PPE) to the Commission

(27 July 1998)

Subject: WTO Agreements on EU beef exports

Can the Commission state whether the EU has exported to third countries the full amount of beef
permitted under the 1992 WTO agreements over the last three years and, if not, what is being done to
promote sales of beef to third countries in order to reduce amounts held in intervention?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(8 September 1998)

In the first general agreement on tariffs and trade (GATT) year 1995/1996 (1 July-30 June) the Community
could export 1 137 000 tonnes of beef with refunds. The final export figure was, however, only 1 019 090
tonnes, due to the commercial effect of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis.

In the second GATT year 1996/1997 the export ceiling was reached by the end of June.

In the third GATT year 1997/1998, the export ceiling was 1 010 900 tonnes. A preliminary figure indicates
that the Community exported 957 253 tonnes of beef, 950 007 tonnes with export refunds and 7 246 tonnes
of intervention beef. The quantity left over may be used for exports of intervention beef during the fourth
GATT year. To that effect several selling regulations are currently in application, which include both
bone-in and boneless beef.