WRITTEN QUESTION E-1307/00 by Hanja Maij-Weggen (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Slaughter of seals.
Date: 2000-04-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Canada, EU competence, EU environmental policy, seal

20.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 89 E/25

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(15 May 2000)

The Sapard (Community support for pre-accession measures for agriculture and rural development) funds
cannot be released at least until the rural development plan has been approved. However, with the
envisaged decentralised system for implementation of the Sapard programme it is necessary also to
conclude bilateral agreements laying down obligations for both Poland and the Community. It is also
necessary for the agency charged with implementation of the Sapard programme and paying the Sapard
funds to be accredited and approved by the Commission. The draft rural development plan upon which
the programme is to be based was presented to the Commission on 6 April 2000. The Council Regulation
allows the Commission six months to approve this plan which must be scrutinised before it can be
accepted as a programme. Moreover, the agreements and the approval of the paying and implementing
agency are needed, not only for technical and legal reasons, but also to safeguard the Community(cid:146)s budget
resources.

Instrument for structural policies for pre-accession (ISPA) funds can only be committed to individual
projects which are submitted by Poland and approved by the Commission acting with the ISPA manage-
ment committee. Eleven environment projects were submitted to the Commission on 2 March 2000 and
one transport project on 24 March 2000. Once the projects have been assessed by the Commission to
ensure that they meet all the requirements set down in the Regulation, they will be presented to the ISPA
management committee for approval. Four meetings of the committee are scheduled for the examination
and approval of projects, the goal being to commit before the end of this year all ISPA funds available for
Poland, i.e. € 348 million. The first of these meetings of the ISPA management committee is scheduled for
6 June 2000 and three more meetings are scheduled in July 2000, August 2000 and November 2000.

The financial rules and procedures for ISPA were approved (with some minor exceptions) by the ISPA
management committee on 16 February 2000 and transmitted to the Polish authorities immediately
afterwards. The immediate priority at present is to close and prepare priority projects for submission to the
Commission. This does not require detailed knowledge of financial rules and procedures, most of which
will only become relevant when the first projects have been approved.

As regards the Sapard funds, the Polish authorities will need to respond to any questions that arise during
the process of approval of the rural development plan before it can be accepted as a programme. They will
also need to ratify the bilateral agreements and to complete work to establish the paying and implement-
ing agency.

The draft Commission regulation laying down detailed financial provisions for the decentralised manage-
ment of Sapard is currently put to the approval of Member States in the European agricultural guidance
and guarantee fund management committee. However, the Commission has started to inform the Polish
authorities systematically about work to be done, and has provided assistance to them under the Phare
programme since early 1999.

As regards ISPA, in order to make the funds productive, the Polish side needs to reinforce its implementa-
tion capacity in order to be in a position to produce well-prepared projects that meet the main strategic
priorities in the transport and environment sectors. The capacity to administer the projects financed under
ISPA also needs to be strengthened. In addition, the Commission(cid:146)s experience over the past year suggests
that stronger co-ordination is needed between the different parts of the Polish administration responsible
for the environment sector, especially between the Ministry of environment and the National fund for
environmental protection.

(2001/C 89 E/023)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1307/00

by Hanja Maij-Weggen (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(27 April 2000)

Subject: Slaughter of seals

Is the Commission aware that this year Canada has given authorisation for the killing of 275 000 harp
seals and 10 000 hooded seals?

C 89 E/26

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.3.2001

Is the Commission aware that 22 Canadian scientists have seriously advised the Canadian government
against allowing this slaughter of marine mammals, the largest in the world, to take place?

Is the Commission aware that as a result of the premature melting of ice in Eastern Canada many pups
were not born or suckled on time with the result that the young seal population is much smaller than
expected?

Is the Commission aware that because of the premature melting of the ice many hunters shot young seals
from their boats, resulting in many seals drowning so that the number of 275 000 dead seals is much
greater than permitted?

What can the Commission do to prevent slaughter on this scale next year?

Answer given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behaf of the Commission

(15 June 2000)

As stated in the Commission(cid:146)s reply to Written Question P-0395/00 by Mrs Corbey (1), Canadian catch
quotas for harp and hooded seals have remained unchanged since 1996.

Conclusions of a national marine mammal review committee meeting in Ottawa on April 11-12/2000, on
the stock status of the harp seal stated that the harp seal population has been stable since 1996 at the
highest level since estimates have been available (1960), the population estimate for 2000 is 5,2 million
seals (there is a 95 % chance that it is in the range of 4,0 to 6,4 million) and that aerial surveys results
provide an estimate of total pup production for harp seals in the Northwest Atlantic in 1999 of
approximately 1 million pups (range 200 000 to 1 200 000). Pup production has been increasingly steady
since the early 1980s.

Furthermore the Commission noted that the Ministry of fisheries and oceans has announced the formation
of an independent panel of scientists to evaluate the current state of scientific knowledge of the seal
population in Atlantic Canada and to provide advice on a long-term strategy for its management.

Although the facts mentioned by the Honourable Member concerning this year(cid:146)s ice conditions are
regrettable indeed, it does not appear that they pose a conservation threat to the species. Consequently
the Commission considers that, apart from a strict implementation of the Council Directive 83/129/EEC of
28 March 1983 concerning the importation into Member States of skins of certain seal pups and products
derived therefrom (2), there is no scope for Community involvement in this matter.

(1) OJ C 330 E, 21.11.2000, p. 150.
(2) OJ L 91, 9.4.1983.

(2001/C 89 E/024)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1329/00

by Marielle De Sarnez (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(27 April 2000)

Subject: Aid for French (cid:145)dØpartements(cid:146) affected by the recent storms

Following the violent storms which struck France towards the end of December 1999, a number of
severely affected (cid:145)dØpartements(cid:146) had to spend large amounts of money on rebuilding damaged infrastruc-
tures, even though much of the expense was covered by insurance.

Could the Commission take the plight of these departments and districts into account when next it decides
which areas of France are eligible to receive assistance from the Structural Funds?

Also, would it be possible to restore the budget heading covering aid for the victims of natural disasters?