WRITTEN QUESTION E-1681/00 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Buying-out arrangement for Netherlands pig farms.
Date: 2000-05-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU aid, Flanders (Belgium), Netherlands, organic fertiliser, purchase, swine

13.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 81 E/69

together with the United States and Norway, have made some progress on this
The Community,
agreement with the Russian Federation, but some important issues still have to be resolved (nuclear
liability, exemption from taxes and duties, and access to the sites of implementation). The Commission
wishes to see these issues resolved and the MNEPR signed by the Russian Federation before making further
substantial grants on major investment projects. The Russians are well aware of this position. However, in
view of the urgency of the situation, in parallel to negotiations within the MNEPR, the Commission is
continuing to cooperate with some Member States and third countries including the United States and
Norway, in joint actions in Northwest Russia.

With regard to the enlargement process, the Commission would point out that environment is one of the
points under the accession negotiations. Since the Russian Federation is not one of the accession countries,
the Severodvinsk situation has no direct implications for these negotiations.

(2001/C 81 E/082)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1681/00

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(29 May 2000)

Subject: Buying-out arrangement for Netherlands pig farms

Appropriations intended for running down Netherlands pig herds are being used to buy up pig farms in
Flanders. The Netherlands measure consequently risks overshooting the mark at European level: the
upward pressure on the volume of fertiliser and manure produced in the Low Countries as a whole will
not change.

Since the Commission:

(a)

Is aware of the serious problems with which the Flemish Region is confronted owing to the presence
of significant quantities of phosphates and nitrates (E-2686/99), and

(b) Has brought a complaint before the European Court of Justice against Netherlands fertiliser policy,

a coordinated approach to the fertiliser problem in the Low Countries clearly is urgently required

1. Will the Commission ask the Netherlands government to take action to stop appropriations intended
for running down Netherlands pig herds from being used to buy up pig farms in Flanders, having regard
to the serious problems with which the Flemish Region is confronted owing to the presence of significant
quantities of phosphates and nitrates (E-2686/99), and to the complaint brought by the Commission
before the European Court of Justice against Netherlands fertiliser policy? If not, why not?

2. Will the Commission ask the Netherlands government to take action to stop appropriations intended
for running down Netherlands pig herds from being used to buy up pig farms in Flanders, since the
Netherlands measure risks overshooting the mark at European level (the upward pressure on the volume of
fertiliser and manure in the Low Countries as a whole will not change)? If not, why not, and does the
Commission consider the practice of buying up Flemish pig farms with appropriations released under the
Netherlands buy-out arrangement as compatible with a European approach to the fertiliser problem?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(7 July 2000)

The Commission is currently examining an existing scheme for the (intensive) livestock sector in the
Netherlands under state aid rules.

The Dutch authorities have confirmed that subsidies can only be granted after approval of the scheme by
the Commission. The statement that Dutch farmers are using subsidies granted for decreasing their pig
stock to buy capacity in Flanders has not been substantiated. Moreover, the Flemish authorities state that it

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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13.3.2001

is currently impossible for farmers, of whatever nationality, to buy up new manure rights, and thereby
increase the production of manure in Flanders.

At this stage, the Commission has not yet taken a position on the proposed Dutch aid scheme. Therefore,
it cannot yet indicate whether any conditions will be attached to a possible approval of the scheme.

(2001/C 81 E/083)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1682/00

by Camilo Nogueira RomÆn (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(7 June 2000)

Subject: Lisbon-Ferrol high-speed rail line linking Portugal and Galicia

Despite the statements of the President of the Galician regional government, Mr Manuel Fraga, to the effect
that the planned high-speed rail
link to Galicia will not be operative until the distant date of 2006,
the Mayor of Oporto, Mr Nuno Cardoso, has called for the construction of a high-speed rail line which
would link Lisbon, Coimbra and Oporto in Portugal to Vigo, Pontevedra, Santiago de Compostela, La
Coruæa and Ferrol in Galicia, with a maximum journey time of four hours. The Mayor of Oporto believes
that this railway would also greatly facilitate travel from northern Portugal to the European heartland, via
the proposed link connecting Galicia to Valladolid and to Irœn on the French frontier.

At a recent meeting of the European Parliament(cid:146)s Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism,
the Portuguese Minister of Transport and President-in-Office of the Transport Council, Mr Jorge Coelho,
replying to the author of this question, expressed his support for this Portuguese proposal for a Lisbon-La
Coruæa link, in the context of the need to define a joint project for the creation of a high-speed rail
connection between the Iberian peninsula and the European heartland, to be implemented immediately by
the Spanish and Portuguese governments.

Can the Council state what progress has been made on this matter? Can it also state what potential
political and economic obstacles need to be overcome or removed with a view to the implementation of
this project, which is of vital importance for the economic and social development of the Portuguese
regions and of Galicia, given that the Atlantic seaboard area is home to 11millionpeople and is of major
strategic importance for the Union?

Reply

(29 September 2000)

A high-speed rail network was provided for in the Community guidelines for the development of the
trans-European transport network (Decision No 1692/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 23 July 1996) (1). However, a line such as that mentioned in the Honourable Member(cid:146)s question
is not included.

New guidelines concerning the trans-European transport network are currently being prepared by the
Commission, and the Council expects the relevant proposals to be referred to it. The Council will give its
opinion when the time comes and is therefore not able at this juncture to anticipate what its position will
be.

The Council will nevertheless bear the Honourable Member(cid:146)s question in mind when looking at all aspects
of the matter as a whole.

(1) OJ L 228, 9.9.1996.