WRITTEN QUESTION E-1939/99 by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission. Marketing agricultural sectors and products.
Date: 1999-11-04
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, agricultural product, export (EU), sales promotion

C 203 E/92

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.7.2000

(2000/C 203 E/116)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1938/99

by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission

(4 November 1999)

Subject: Payments for conversion to organic farming

Can the Commission detail the resources given over each of the past five years to enable farmers to
convert from non-organic to organic farming?

Is the Commission prepared to increase the amounts payable, in the light of the fact that conversion leads
to a drop of approximately 20 % in productivity, thus helping both to alleviate over-production and to
improve quality?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(24 November 1999)

Council Regulation (EEC) No 2078/92 of 30 June 1992 on agricultural production methods compatible
with the requirements of the protection of the environment and the maintenance of the countryside (1)
promotes the use of farming practices which reduce the polluting effects of agriculture. The programmes
launched by Member States also include aid for farmers who undertake to introduce or continue with
organic farming methods. The aid granted to farmers is cofinanced by the Community at a level of 75 % in
objective 1 areas and 50 % in non-objective 1 areas.

Depending on the economic situation of the organic sector compared to the conventional
farming
practices, Member States grant aid for the introduction of organic farming methods during the period of
conversion or support as well as the continuation of organic farming. The financial data available does not
differentiate between introduction and maintenance. Within the European agriculture and guiidance fund
(EAGGF) (cid:129) budget granted for agri-environmental measures under Regulation (EEC) 2078/92 (which in
1998 was € 1 727 million), about 8 % to 11 % are spent on organic farming.

As in the past, financial support for farmers is to be calculated on the basis of lost income and the
additional expenditure generated by special environmental requirements. In the next financing period the
upper ceilings on Community support for agri-environmental measures have been raised from those laid
down for measures accompanying the 1992 reform to € 600 per hectare for annual crops, € 900 per
hectare for perennial special crops and € 450 for other forms of land use.

In addition the Community provides funding for a variety of investment aids for farmers in general either
under Council Regulation (EC) No 950/97 of 20 May 1997 on improving the efficiency of agricultural
structures (2) or regional measures for diversification in objective 1, 2 and (5b) regions. The Commission
does not have detailed information on the use of such aids by organic farmers.

(1) OJ L 215, 30.7.1992.
(2) OJ L 142, 2.6.1997.

(2000/C 203 E/117)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1939/99

by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission

(4 November 1999)

Subject: Marketing agricultural sectors and products

Is the Commission prepared to help fund marketing schemes to promote certain sectors and niche
products within European farming outside the European Union?

18.7.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 203 E/93

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(24 November 1999)

The Commission would recall that it submitted in January 1999 a proposal for a Council regulation on
measures to promote and provide information on agricultural products in third countries (1).

This proposal covers all the agricultural products, in particular typical or quality products displaying high
added value.

The Commission proposes, following the management committee procedure, to draw up every two years a
list of the products and markets concerned by promotional activities.

(1) COM(98) 683 final.

(2000/C 203 E/118)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1942/99

by Isidoro SÆnchez Garc(cid:237)a (ELDR) to the Commission

(4 November 1999)

Subject: Implementing specific measures for the ultraperipheral regions in the field of state aid

Article 299(2) of the Treaty obliges the Commission to put forward specific measures for the ultraper-
ipheral regions, including in the field of state aids, in order to ensure that the application of the Treaty
provisions take due account of the particular difficulties faced by these regions, including their remoteness,
insularity, small size, difficult topography and climate and economic dependence on a few products.
Clearly, transport problems are not the sole specific problem caused by these factors, both singly and in
conjunction, operational subsidies are essential to compensate for all these disadvantages, since such aids
are intimately linked to the running costs which companies located in these regions have to shoulder.

regulations on aids make no provision for

Current
this situation, because the new wording of
paragraph 299(2) of the Amsterdam Treaty was not in force when they were adopted. Does the new
Commission intend to take these problems into account and incorporate them into any proposal it may
make?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(29 November 1999)

The Commission has always shown itself highly attentive to the problems of the Community(cid:146)s outermost
areas.

Special arrangements are made under the guidelines on national regional aid, namely:

(cid:129) exceptions to the maximum aid intensities:

the outermost regions qualify for an increase of
15 percentage points on the intensity authorised for the other regions eligible for a derogation
under Article 87(3)(a) (former Article 92) of the EC Treaty: in the case of large firms, aid may amount
to as much as 65 % of the net grant equivalent (nge) for the investment concerned instead of 50 %;
in the case of small and medium-sized firms, the intensity may be as much as 75 % nge;

(cid:129) the possible granting of operating aid to offset partially the additional transport costs, without any
time-limit or degressivity, provided that the region concerned is eligible for the exemption under
Article 87(3)(c).

Article 299(2) (former Article 227) of the EC Treaty provides that (cid:145)the Council, acting by a qualified
majority on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting the European Parliament, shall adopt
specific measures aimed, in particular, at laying down the conditions of application of the present Treaty to
those regions.(cid:146) The Cologne European Council called on the Commission to present to the Council before
the end of 1999 a report on the measures for implementing Article 299(2).