WRITTEN QUESTION E-2515/99 by Mikko Pesälä (ELDR) to the Commission. Taking processing projects into consideration in the proposal on flax.
Date: 1999-12-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Finland, common agricultural policy, flax

3.10.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 280 E/59

The national legislation of most Member States authorises the employment of seamen from third countries
under the conditions applicable in their country of origin for international services and, to a lesser extent,
for cabotage services. A minority of Member States only authorise the employment of Community seamen
or seamen who are paid the same wages as their own nationals for these services. Council Regulation (EEC)
No 3577/92 of 7 December 1992 applying the principle of freedom to provide services to martime
transport within Member States (maritime cabotage) (1) authorises the host state to impose its own rules
with respect to manning nationality, minimum rates of pay, working conditions and social security. This
allows Member States which prohibit the employment of non-Community seamen to put on an equal
footing all competing operators in the very sensitive island cabotage sector.

With regard to transport between Member States, on 29 April 1998 the Commission adopted a proposal
for a Council Directive on manning conditions for regular passenger and ferry services operating between
Member States (2). The proposal defines at Community level minimum working conditions, including pay,
for seamen from third countries. The objective is to put operators on an equal footing by eliminating
social dumping in this very labour-intensive sector.

The Commission also adopted a proposal amending Regulation (EEC) No 3577/92 on maritime cabo-
tage (2). This proposal allows the host state to impose its rules regarding the proportion of Community
nationals in the crew for regular passenger and ferry services. This should rule out the employment of
seamen from third countries under non-Community conditions in this sector.

in 2000 the Commission will present a communication on the employment and training of

Lastly,
seafarers. One of the objectives will be to promote the use of Community crews.

(1) OJ L 364, 12.12.1992.
(2) OJ C 213, 9.7.1998.

(2000/C 280 E/060)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2515/99

by Mikko Pes(cid:228)l(cid:228) (ELDR) to the Commission

(22 December 1999)

Subject: Taking processing projects into consideration in the proposal on flax

The Commission(cid:146)s proposal for a new EU regulation on flax fibres creates problems for Finland, because it
proposes that the production of flax for fibres should be made subject to a quota based on quantities
cultivated in the past. In Finland, the growing of flax for fibres has hitherto been a small-scale operation.

The growing of flax for fibres is only in its infancy in Finland, and this is why the amount cultivated in
recent years has been small, at only a few thousand hectares per year. At present Finnish agriculture is
undergoing a structural change, with farms being forced to diversify into new directions and find new
profitable forms of crop. One promising alternative seems to be the production of fibre flax, a plant which
suits Finnish conditions very well. We have had per-hectare yields of the same order as in the best growing
areas in the EU, and the cultivation of flax for fibres is therefore expected to increase considerably in the
future. The imposition of quotas is the worst thing that could happen to Finnish flax production at this
juncture. At least three new flax processing plants are currently being built in Finland, which will require
in total by way of raw material the yield of at least 12 000 to 12 500 hectares of flax. If the Commission(cid:146)s
new flax regulation is implemented in its current form, it will deprive us of the opportunity to expand
domestic cultivation and the new factories will thus have to operate with imported raw materials. These
are not realistic conditions for developing the Finnish flax industry.

Furthermore, the requirement in the proposal that the product once made into fibre should contain not
more than 5 % of shives is too strict for the Finnish insulating wool production industry. The Commission

C 280 E/60

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

3.10.2000

proposal on subsidies also places Finland at a disadvantage in view of the low reference harvests it sets for
fibre flax crops, since the subsidies would be partly calculated on this basis. Different levels of aid are
proposed for the processing of long and short fibres, even though the definition of the differences between
the different types of fibre is not clear and their use in practice is largely the same.

What action will the Commission take to ensure that long- and short- fibre flax are not pointlessly
separated from each other by these new definitions? What does the Commission propose to do to ensure
that there are good conditions for the cultivation and processing of fibre flax in Finland as elsewhere? How
does the Commission propose to protect the development of flax cultivation and processing and its
prospects as a part of Finnish agriculture?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(20 January 2000)

The major increase in the areas sown with fibre flax and hemp in recent years has not been matched by a
comparable expansion in output or in real market demand for these products. The support scheme has
been destabilised by low-cost and very low-yield flax and hemp crops, developed with the sole purpose of
generating entitlement to assistance.

A series of legal provisions have been adopted in recent years to step up controls and to try to prevent
speculative crops. However,
it is clear that these
provisions have not had the desired effect. Their main consequence has been considerably to complicate
the legislation.

in view of the development of the areas cultivated,

The Commission(cid:146)s reform proposal (1) is intended to put the sector back on a healthy footing and to take
account of the technical developments of recent years, in particular in relation to new uses. The proposed
scheme is intended to ensure that economic activity is maintained in the traditional production of long-
fibre flax for use in the textiles industry, but it also aims at helping other economically viable outlets to
become established and find stable markets. Finnish flax producers will have an opportunity to develop the
crop as long as their output matches a demand on the market. However, subsidy-driven production will be
restricted.

The proposal thus aims at achieving balance on the market for new flax and hemp products, while
continuing the effort to simplify management and tighten up budgeting already under way in a number of
other sectors covered by the common agriculture policy (CAP). In the circumstances, budget stabilisers
must be introduced to prevent any fraudulent increase in quantities eligible for assistance and to avoid the
risk of Community expenditure running out of control. Bearing in mind the need for rigorous budgeting,
the stabilisers must be calculated on the basis of figures corresponding as far as possible to real levels of
output rather than on the basis of somewhat problematic forward estimates of expansion.

As to the differentiation between long-fibre and short-fibre flax, two products with quite distinct markets,
the proposal provides for criteria to be laid down in the implementing arrangements to be introduced by
the Commission at a later stage. Implementing rules are the most suitable instrument for transposing
technical definitions into law, because they are more adaptable to any technical progress in the sector.

(1) COM(99) 576 final.

(2000/C 280 E/061)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2517/99

by Adriana Poli Bortone (UEN) to the Commission

(22 December 1999)

Subject: The (cid:145)Sviluppo Italia(cid:146) company and breaches of Community rules

The (cid:145)Sviluppo Italia(cid:146) company was set up by a legislative decree of the Italian Government (1/99) to
In addition to resources from the
provide assistance to depressed areas of the Mezzogiorno region.